Yayoi Kusama Is Creating A New Infinity Mirror Room For London
In further news: Glasgow School of Art to be rebuilt; Philadelphia Museum of Art gets a Frank Gehry-designed restaurant
In further news: Glasgow School of Art to be rebuilt; Philadelphia Museum of Art gets a Frank Gehry-designed restaurant
Yayoi Kusama returns to London this October – and she’s creating a new infinity mirror room, featuring polka-dot-covered paper lanterns suspended from the ceiling, for the show at Victoria Miro gallery. Her last exhibition at the gallery two years ago produced a social media frenzy and queues of fans who waited hours for entry. Alongside the infinity mirror room – ‘conveying the illusion of being unmoored in endless space’ – the Victoria Miro show this autumn will also exhibit her iconic pumpkins, in red, yellow and green-painted bronzes, and the artist’s bronze flowers will extend to the gallery’s waterside garden.
The director of the Glasgow School of Art has confirmed that the Mackintosh building – gutted by fire last month – will be rebuilt. There has been much speculation that the 110-year building was structurally destroyed beyond repair and would have to be slated for demolition. But speaking to The Guardian, in his first interview since the fire, director Tom Innis said: ‘From our point of view and that of the city of Glasgow, it is critically important that the building comes back as the Mackintosh building.’ The rebuilding process will begin after engineers begin an 8-week-long job of dismantling the unsafe sections of the building, which according to structural engineer Dominic Echlin, is thought to be in a dangerous condition. Don’t miss our survey of famous alumni of the GSA – Turner Prize winners and nominees including Martin Boyce and Ciara Phillips – on what made Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s iconic building so magical.
The Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation is to reopen in October. The Paris-based institute established in 2003, will relocate to larger premises in a converted garage in the Le Marais neighbourhood on 17 October. The new venue, designed by Novo agency architects – which will be inaugurated with a show by documentary photographer Martine Franck – triples the Foundation’s exhibition space.
A new UK Culture Secretary has been announced amidst the cabinet reshuffles following a series of high-profile resignations. The attorney general for England and Wales Jeremy Wright has been promoted to the position of Secretory of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The former criminal lawyer will be the third culture secretary since Theresa May became Prime Minister. Critics including the Labour Party’s shadow culture secretary Tom Watson have questioned Wright’s suitability for the role, referencing his Twitter account which has been inactive since 2015.
New York’s Paula Cooper Gallery had to temporarily close due to fire. The blaze was contained within an hour, no injuries were reported, and gallery works were not threatened, but staff from other galleries in the nearby area were also evacuated – the fire affected the gallery’s storage space, with damage yet to be assessed. The gallery commented: ‘Thankfully no persons were hurt in the incident. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the New York City Fire Department as well as to our neighbouring galleries on 21st Street and 22nd Street for their swift actions.’
Frank Gehry is set to design Philadelphia Museum of Art’s restaurant. The renowned architect will lead the renovation of the museum’s restaurant and cafeteria, scheduled to open in October. The 76-seated venue will incorporate several Gehry-inspired design elements such as an undulating ceiling, frosted glass, Douglas fir walls and red oak floors. Gehry is currently redesigning the museum which was built in 1928, with completion of the USD$196 million project set for 2020.
In appointments news: Nicodim Gallery has appointed Aaron Moulton as Creative Director – Moulton has previously worked as an in-house curator for Gagosian in Los Angeles; Postmasters Gallery has named the founder of fashion and art platform Waves & Archives and former executive editor of ArtObserved Manan Ter-Grigoryan as director; Kathy Noble, previously interdisciplinary curator at Tate Modern, has joined performance art nonprofit Performa in the newly created role of Curator and Manager of Curatorial Affairs; San Francisco’s Untitled fair has named Kamal Zargar as director of strategic development; and Christie’s veteran Liberté Nuti has been appointed International Senior Director Impressionist & Modern at Hauser & Wirth.
And finally, in awards news: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has announced its spring 2018 grants, awarding USD$3.6 million to 42 cultural organizations including Los Angeles’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art; 89 artists in the state of New York have been awarded a total of USD$623,00 through the annual NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship – the fellowship programme of the New York Foundation for the Arts; Chicago gallery Corbett vs. Dempsey has announced multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee and pedal-steel virtuoso Susan Alcorn as winners of the inaugural USD$50,000 Instant Award in Improvised Music; and Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery has named artist Jacqui Hallum as the winner of the John Moores Painting Prize – she will receive a GBP£25,000 prize and is the 30th winner of the award.
