Celia Paul, Edward Hopper, Saif Azzuz

Weekly Newsletter

Deep cuts at Pace gallery, artists threaten to sue the Venice Biennale, and the importance of reintegrating art with life

Tell me, who needs an eight-story gallery in Manhattan that feels like a mall, plus cavernous outposts in Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Geneva, Seoul, and Tokyo? Who needs a roster of 135 artists, including a battery of estates? Who needs those so-called “museum-quality” exhibitions that reframe art history for us through the narrow lens of a bottom-line-oriented dealer? Pace, a mega gallery, made headlines this week after it slashed one-third of its artists and one-fifth of its staff. Its CEO, Marc Glimcher, blamed a “broken” gallery model for the cuts, the same model he helped create. The good news is that Pace is now more true to itself: a business that was made to sell art. The bad news: It’s the artists and art workers who pay the price. 

Now tell me, did you know you produce culture every time you go grocery shopping, eat dinner with your family, or take a walk with a friend? In her opinion piece, curator and former museum leader Laura Raicovich argues that many of society’s problems come from the separation between art and life. The remedy lies in the reintegration of the two, because art is everywhere, not just across the eight floors of a mega gallery. 

Much more to read this week, including Saif Azzuz’s ancestral landscapes, Ali Eyal’s satirical Iraqi Pavilion at an LA gas station, Edward Hopper’s portraits of American solitude, and Celia Paul’s inward-looking paintings.   

—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief

News

• Pace Gallery has cut 50 artists from its roster and laid off 50 staff members in what CEO Marc Glimcher characterized as a “model correction.” This comes just years after inaugurating its $100 million flagship building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and positioning itself as a leader in the crypto art space.
• Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian-French artist, director, and author of the graphic novel Persepolis, has died at 56. An outspoken critic of the Iranian government, Satrapi helped bring the experiences of modern Iran to a global audience.
• Over 100 participants have threatened legal action against the Venice Biennale Foundation, alleging that Biennale leadership has not honored their official withdrawal from the new “Visitor Lion” awards last month.
• NY SNAP has expanded to include cultural nourishment for participating New York residents through the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Millions of residents across New York State are now eligible for the “Explorer” program, which offers perks like streamlined entry and special previews.
• Approximately 44% of fine and studio arts Master’s degree programs in the United States could lose the ability to matriculate students who rely on federal loans to pay for their tuition, according to new guidelines proposed by the Trump administration.
• Lucian Freud’s widely exhibited nude painting of model Sue Tilley, “Sleeping by the Lion Carpet” (1995–96), could fetch up to $47 million at Sotheby’s in London this June.
• A new Brooklyn subway mural by Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze adds a touch of whimsy to commuting.

From Our Critics

Features

Opinions

Guides

• Art Movements: Makeda Best is joining as MoMA’s chief curator of Photography,  the Asian Cultural Council awards $1.6M in grants to artists, and at least one sector of the art market is hot as hell.
• Required Reading: Esperanto on Duolingo, a Black Panther Party stud grandma, Arsenal and Africa, queer fish, the secret leftist history of Renaissance faires, and more.
• A View From the Easel: Rachelle Mozman Solano films, cuts paper, and paints in the solitude of her Brooklyn studio of over two decades.
• In Memoriam: Remembering Alan Saret, Julio Le Parc, and Hilde Lynn Helphenstein 

Opportunities This Month