The Artist Pension Trust faces backlash from artists (again)
Following the announcement that the Artist Pension Trust would start charging artists a monthly fee for storage space, several of them have threatened to pull out of APT or destroy works they can’t afford to store.
APT’s monthly fee would charge artist $6.50 for each artwork stored. In spite of the mutual assurance fund’s attempt to provide “long-term financial security” for artists, it seems clear that the introduction of a monthly fee represents “a breach of trust and a tactic to mitigate financial pressure on APT while transferring the burden to the artists themselves”, in the words of artist Kirsten Hassenfeld. On the other hand, Al Brenner, CEO of the Mutual Art Group, which includes APT, stresses that the move is “not about raising money to balance [the company’s] books”, but that it represents an example of APT’s new approach — aiming to give artists more control over their selling process. The news comes months after a APT’s fiasco at Sotheby’s in April, when 18 lots were pulled after complaints by artists and galleries involved. More information via artnet news.
Things are moving for Istanbul’s SANATORIUM gallery
SANATORIUM's booth at Art Basel 2016.
Istanbul’s SANATORIUM gallery will have a lot of moving around to do. The gallery has announced it will both move to a new location in Istanbul, and open a new space in Vienna.
SANATORIUM’s new Istanbul address will be Kemankeş Mah. Mumhane Cad. Laroz Han No:67 Karaköy — opening September 10 with an inaugural show by artist Kemal Özen. On September 7, the gallery’s Vienna space will open at Schleifmühlgasse 3, 1040. SANATORIUM was founded in Istanbul in 2011, and represents artists including Ludovic Bernhardt, Luz Blanco, Orhan Cem Çetin, Mehmet Dere and Yunus Emre Erdoğan.
The MET fills five positions
In the wake of Thomas P. Campbell’s resignation, New York’s Metropolitan Museum has announced five new senior staff appointments.
Associate exhibition director Quincy Houghton will become deputy director for exhibitions; after ten years as curator in charge of the Robert Lehman Collection, Dita Amory will now also be its administrator; Kim Benzel will be in charge for the department of ancient Near Eastern art; Jayson Dobney will now be in charge of the musical instrument department whilst Janina Poskrobko was named conservator in charge for textile conservation.
In other MET-related news, ex-director Campbell was awarded the Getty Rothschild Fellowship. For eight months, Campbell will be conducting research into the history, collection and conservation of art at the Getty in Los Angeles and Windsor Manor in Buckinghamshire, England. More via ARTnews.
Sam Durant is awarded the Rappaport Prize
Sam Durant.
The Boston-born multimedia artist Sam Durant was awarded the $25.000 prize by The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln. The award recognizes the work of artists who hold a relationship with New England.
John Ravenal, the deCordova Museum’s executive director has congratulated Durant for his “thoughtful and timely exploration of social justice and civil right”, despite its controversial reputation. Most recently his sculpture Scaffold caused quite a stir among Native Americans when it was installed at the Walker Art Center’s sculpture garden earlier this year. The work was later removed. Read more on ARTnews.
Sooud Al Qassemi joins MCA Chicago’s board of trustees
The founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation will join the institution’s board of trustees. In addition, the Sheikh Sultan will also pilot the MCA’s new Global Vision Initiative — launched last year to support contemporary art and artists from the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Details via ARTnews.
