Saatchi launches new space
London’s Saatchi Gallery will launch a new commercial space called SALON on February 24.
SALON will be dedicated to exhibiting and selling the work of leading international artists who have not had a high level of exposure in the UK. The project, which is being driven by the Saatchi Gallery’s senior director Philippa Adams, will involve collaborations with galleries and artist’s estates to stage selling exhibitions. SALON will launch with a show of works by Japanese artist Tsuyoshi Maekawa organized in collaboration with the gallery Lévy Gorvy. Maekawa was a prominent member of the Gutai Art Association, Japan’s most significant avant-garde collective of the Post War era. More information via Artlyst.
Knoedler Gallery scandal wraps up
Glafira Rosales, the art dealer involved in the Knoedler Gallery forgery scandal who made millions via the sale of fake Rothko and Jackson Pollock paintings, has avoided further time in prison after claiming in court that she was the victim of an abusive boyfriend who was “the true mastermind” behind the $80 million scheme.
Rosales, who admitted to tricking a number of expert buyers and sellers into purchasing fake works, argued that she did it out of fear of her boyfriend Jose Carlos Diaz, who was arrested in Spain in 2014. Rosales’ lawyer Bryan Skarlatos claimed that it was Diaz who dreamt up the decades-long scheme, then threatened his girlfriend’s life whenever she tried to back down. In 2013, Rosales pleaded guilty to money laundering, wire fraud and tax crimes, and faced 99 years in jail. Skarlatos managed to drastically reduce the sentence to nine months house arrest by arguing that, “her actions, though legally voluntary, were not the result of free rational decision-making.” More information via The Art Newspaper. For a two-minute rundown of the scandal, see our article here.
Glafira Rosales, image via The Art Newspaper
Winners of HSBC Prize for Photography announced
Laura Pannack and Mélanie Wenger have been named the winners of the 2017 HSBC Prize for Photography.
For 18 years, the award has given support to two up and coming photographic talents, helping them promote and develop their work. Art advisor María García Yelo presented a selection of 10 photographers to the jury, from which the two successful candidates were chosen. Known for her documentary work and her portraiture, British artist Laura Pannack explores the complex relation between subject and photographer, and the varying social implications of that relationship. French artist Mélanie Wenger is a documentary photographer whose series “Wasted Young Libya” looked at migrations between Belgium, Malta and Libya.
Laura Pannack, David (Surrey, United Kindom), 2009. Courtesy the artist
Trump to slash arts funding
Donald Trump has prompted yet further outrage among the American arts community with his apparent plan to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The erasure of federal funding for the arts and humanities is part of the blueprint for Trump’s future budget. A White House petition has been set up protesting such budget cuts, stating: “The Arts and Humanities are a vital part of our cultural identity and enhance the quality of our lives. They connect us to the past, they speak to us in the present, and they are our legacy, our gift to the future.” The Independent has more.
