Museums Manuel Segade, the Reina Sofía’s New Director, Wants to Reimagine the Madrid Institution as a ‘Kinder,’ Softer Museum The newly appointed director of Spain’s most-visited museum envisions “contemporary art as a way of producing social transformation." By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 14, 2023
Law A Judge Ruled Against an Artist Who Claimed Maurizio Cattelan Copied His Duct-Taped Banana, Deciding the Two Works Are Apples and Oranges The judge found the 2001 work too "obscure" to have been known about or copied by the Italian conceptualist. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 14, 2023
Art World Photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto Has Unveiled His First Major Work in the U.S.: A Towering Sculpture That Pierces the San Francisco Sky The new landmark will be the crowing glory of Yerba Buena's new Infinity Point Park, opening later this year. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 13, 2023
On View In Pictures: A Series of Paintings Basquiat Made During an Italian Residency He Loathed Have Been Reunited at Switzerland’s Beyeler Foundation Basquiat later described the arrangement in Italy as "a sick factory," and it ended after his gallerists had a dispute. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 13, 2023
Museums After Months of Searching, a Sculpture Stolen From a North Dakota Art Museum Has Turned Up—Next to a Casino Dumpster The lucky pair who accidentally discovered the sculpture were given a $1,000 reward by the grateful museum. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 13, 2023
Politics An Artist Said a Hungarian Biennial Pushed Him to Alter a Work That Took Aim at the Country’s Conservative Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán An uncensored version of the work will be included in a special exhibition organized by Budapest Pride on June 16. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 9, 2023
Crime Germany Has Returned a 16th-Century Venetian Jewelry Box, Ancient Ceramics, and Other Stolen Artifacts to Italy Some of the precious artifacts were stolen in recent years from Italian museums. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 6, 2023
Museums The Met Returns $550,000 in Donations From Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bankrupt Crypto Exchange The company is scrambling to recover $93 million worth of donations to repay creditors. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 5, 2023
On View See Inside Gagosian’s Sweeping Show on Abstraction, Featuring More Than 40 Artists From Vija Celmins to Oscar Murillo The survey of contemporary abstract art comes courtesy of high-ranking museum curator Gary Garrels. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 5, 2023
Science & Tech A.I.-Generated Versions of Art-Historic Paintings Are Littering Google’s Top Search Results Google is apparently rolling tools that should make it easier to assess the context and credibility of search results. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 2, 2023
Art Fairs How Is the Art World Responding to the Tech Revolution? Here’s Our Pick of A.I. and Tech-Centered Art Shows, Talks, and Events at Zurich Art Weekend While interest in NFTs is lagging, a whole host of artists are moving forward the conversation around A.I. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 2, 2023
On View Is A.I. Coming for the Drag Queens Next? A Deep Fake Cabaret at the V&A Exposes the Tech’s Limitations What happens when you queer the dataset? By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 2, 2023
Crime Italian Police Recover a Long-Lost Roman Marble Head Nearly 50 Years After Its Theft The precious antiquity was traced to a private collection in Switzerland. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, Jun 1, 2023
People Ilya Kabakov, the Ukrainian American Conceptual Artist Who Lived Through Totalitarianism But Dreamed of Utopia, Has Died at 89 The artist died peacefully during the night on Saturday, surrounded by his family. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, May 30, 2023
Museums The Tower of London Has Updated Its Crown Jewels Exhibit to Offer a More ‘Honest’ Account of Their Colonial History The new exhibition concedes that India was 'compelled' to hand over the magnificent Koh-i-noor diamond. By Jo Lawson-Tancred, May 26, 2023