Pérez Art Museum Miami receives third annual acquisition gift from New Dealers Art Alliance
MIAMI—PAMM associate curator María Elena Ortiz and assistant curator Jennifer Inacio have selected the 2019 painting New Hat by Dominican-American artist Kenny Rivero from Charles Moffett’s booth at NADA Miami 2019 for acquisition by the museum.
“We are thrilled to have acquired Kenny Rivero’s exceptional painting into our collection as it dialogues with PAMM’s commitment to Latinx and Caribbean artists,” the curators said. “We are grateful for NADA’s support and for presenting another great fair this year with groundbreaking art.” The initiative is funded by ticket sales of NADA Miami 2019.
High Museum of Art announces closure of Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings six weeks early
ATLANTA—Following a six-stop international tour that included runs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paumehe in Paris, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta has announced the closure of Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings six weeks ahead of schedule. In an email, High Museum director Rand Suffolk explained the decision:
I am writing to let you know that regretfully, we have made the difficult decision to close Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings as of today, six weeks ahead of schedule. This is not a decision that we came to lightly, and I know that those of you who have not yet had the chance to visit the exhibition may be disappointed.
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You may remember that we previously closed the exhibition right before the Thanksgiving holiday to address a recurring leak on the third floor of the Anne Cox Chambers Wing. We thought we had fixed it, but last Friday during the heavy rains it returned again.
We’ve consulted with the co-organizing institutions and tried to explore every option possible to keep the exhibition open. No artwork was damaged, but we must maintain exceptionally high standards of climate control and stability which are currently being challenged. Our ability to present shows like this depends on the High’s reputation and the trust we receive from artists and lenders to ensure that their works of art are protected according to museum standards. It is out of respect for these high standards that we made the tough decision to close the exhibition early.
Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings was originally scheduled to run through February 2020.
Artist and writer Aria Dean appointed editor and curator of net art platform Rhizome
NEW YORK—Aria Dean has been appointed the editor and curator of Rhizome, the nonprofit which advocates for the preservation of digital-born art and culture. Dean was previously associate curator of net art at Rhizome, which has been affiliated with the New Museum since 2003. Dean served as a visiting artist and critic for Burnaway’s Art Writing Incubator in 2019. Her artwork is currently on view in the exhibition Great Force at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Artist and civil rights, anti-war activist May Stevens dies, aged 95
SANTE FE—May Stevens—feminist, activist and artist—died last week in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Stevens engaged the Civil Rights movement and its struggles, making work addressing racism, oppression, state violence and the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the exhibition catalogue introduction to her 1964 exhibition Freedom Riders at the Roko Gallery in New York. She was one of the co-founders of Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics, which ran from 1977 to 1992, and, though she never addressed the rumors directly, Stevens is believed to have been one of the original Guerilla Girls, an activist group tackling sexism and lack of equal representation in the art world. She was 95.
W.A.G.E. releases five years of financial data
NEW YORK—Collating data from sixty-eight member institutions, W.A.G.E. (Working Artists in the Greater Economy) released a report this week reflecting five years of its work advocating for fair compensation for arts workers. Sixty-nine percent of reported artist fees exceeded the organization’s minimum recommended rate, while only 16% of fees failed to meet minimum requirements. The W.A.G.E data set includes payment records from between December 2013 and November 2019. During this period, a total of $5,557,516 was paid out in artist fees through 6,970 transactions. Burnaway was certified by W.A.G.E. in March 2019.
Janitors protest low pay, parodying Cattelan banana at Art Basel Miami Beach
MIAMI—Using the imagery of Maurizio Cattelan’s viral banana artwork at Art Basel Miami Beach earlier this month, janitors in Miami demonstrated outside SFM Services, CRS Facilities, and Pritichard Industries, some of the largest janitorial services in the area, protesting some of the lowest wages in the country. According to UCLA’s Center For Neighborhood Knowledge, the median pay for janitors in Miami is $8.50 an hour.
Andrew Durbin becomes editor in chief of Frieze
LONDON—Writer Andrew Durbin, who currently serves as senior editor of Frieze, has been announced as the magazine’s next editor in chief. He will begin this new position in January, working between London, New York, and Berlin. The May 2020 edition of Frieze will be the first issue of the magazine under his leadership. On his appointment, Durbin said: “Frieze has played a key role in shaping art discourse for the past thirty years. Amidst the complex challenges facing artists and writers today, our history of building strong connections between art communities is now more important than ever. As editor in chief, I look forward to bolstering our international efforts to resist insularity and promote great art for a changing world.” Durbin served as a visiting artist and critic for Burnaway’s Art Writing Incubator in 2019.
