February 8 | BIENALSUR announces shortlisted projects

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While BIENALSUR releases an exciting shortlist of artists projects and Hans Haacke is given a respected award, elsewhere in the artworld the news is more macabre… the trial continues for the Indian artist suspected of having his wife murdered and her corpse dumped in a sewer.

BIENALSUR announces shortlisted projects

BIENALSUR — the International Contemporary Art Biennial of South America – has released a pre-selection of 378 projects by artists and curators for its first, 2017 edition.

This pre-selection — chosen from the submissions made via the biennial’s open call — does not necessarily imply that these projects will be included in the biennial exhibitions, however it does indicate which projects aroused the greatest interest from the jury. The final selection of projects will be developed in different locations across South America, Europe and Africa between September and December 2017, in the hope of generating a evenly matched dialogue between leading international galleries and their South American counterparts. Among the artists whose projects have been shortlisted are Pedro Cabrita Reis (Portugal), Reza (Iran), Angelika Markul (Poland), Arnaud Cohen (France) and Tatiana Trouvé (France). The pre-list is available here.


 

Hans Haacke wins prestigious award

German conceptual artist Hans Haacke has been awarded the Roswitha Haftmann Prize, endowed with 150,000 CHF (circa $146,600).

The prize — which is awarded in Zurich every three years — recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the visual arts. Haacke is well known for his 1970s works, which criticized social and political systems, in particular the system of exchange between museums and corporations. Find out more via the Roswitha Haftmann Foundation’s website.

Hans Haacke's Gift Horse, 2014,  a work he conceived for London's ongoing forth plinth installation project. Courtesy the artist and Paula Copper Gallery

 

 

Swiss Arts Council inaugurates Moscow office

The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Moscow is celebrating the official opening of its Moscow liaison office on February 25, 2017 with a program of Swiss plays, performances and installations at the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre.

Through the opening of its Moscow base, Pro Helvetia hopes to support and develop cultural exchange between Switzerland and Russia. The Moscow office adds to Pro Helvetia’s existing network of liaison offices worldwide in Cairo, Johannesburg, New Delhi, Shanghai, Paris, Rome/Milan, New York and San Francisco. The program will feature Swiss artists including contemporary dance choreographer and performance artist Yann Marussich and the dance collective Delgado Fuchs. The full details of the program are available here.


Delgado Fuchs, DFFM Delgado Fit Fuchs Method, 2007, video installation. Courtesy the artist

 

 

Husband of murdered artist is denied bail

India’s Bombay High Court has rejected the bail application of artist Chintan Upadhyay, who was arrested in connection with the death of his wife, artist Hema Upadhyay, who was murdered on December 11, 2015.

Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer, Haresh Bhambani, were found in a ditch in a suburb of Mumbai shortly after Hema and Chintan had finished moving through their divorce proceedings. Three suspects — Shivkumar Sadhu Rajbhar, Azaad Rajbhar, and Pradeep Rajbhar — were all arrested within days of the murder. Chintan, who claims he has been falsely accused, asked for bail last November, but his request was rejected late last week by Justice Sadhana Jadhav, who said, “There is more than sufficient material to show that Chintan nurtured a grudge against Hema and he expressed this in his diary and also said that he wanted to eliminate her.” The judge maintained that “this court feels this is not a fit case to grant bail at this stage.” Artforum has the full story.

Hema Upadhyay, the artist at her Studio in Mumbai, India. Photo credit: Mandar Deodhar/The India Today Group


 

Auctions

The 16th edition of Christie’s “The Art of the Surreal” sale, which takes place in London on February 28, 2017, will be led by a Magritte work estimated at £14-18 million.

Painted by Magritte in 1960, La Corde Sensible is distinguished by its unique motif, which is not repeated anywhere in the artist’s oeuvre. Also on sale is Magritte’s Le domaine d’Arnheim (1938), one of the largest canvases he painted, with an estimate of £6.5-8 million. Other highlights include Max Ernst’s 1933 Portrait érotique voilé, estimated at £1.5-2.5 million, and his 1925 work Les deux oiseaux (£100,000-150,000). The works will be exhibited in London from February 23 to 28. This sale along with the “Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale” will launch “20th Century at Christie’s,” a series of auctions which take place from February 28 to March 10. Art Market Monitor has further details.


 

Another high-ticket work coming to Christie’s London in the following weeks is Peter Doig’s early painting of a snowstorm, Cobourg 3 + 1 More.

Executed by the Scottish painter in 1994, the work was initially acquired by German insurance company Provinzial Rheinland. Now, Cobourg 3 + 1 More will go under the hammer for the first time at Christie’s Postwar and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on March 7. It is expected to fetch up to £12 million. More information via The Herald.

René Magritte, La Corde Sensible, 1960. Image via Art Market Monitor