October 30 | Turner Contemporary gets bigger

Article
South of London, one of England’s most exciting contemporary art hubs has announced an expansion. Elsewhere, Sotheby’s scoops yet another artist estate, while Tyburn Gallery has added a new artist to its roster.

Turner Contemporary is planning a £5 million expansion

The Margate gallery, on England’s southeast coast, has announced that it is currently discussing with its founders and partners a £5.3 million expansion, which could include the creation of a new building on the seafront adjacent to its existing space.

Arts Council England is backing the expansion project and has approved a £3 million stage-one grant application. Turner Contemporary is working with its key funder, Kent County Council, to develop a stage-two application. Its director, Victoria Pomery, has said: “The next phase of Turner Contemporary will be designed to ensure that the organization is sustainable into the future”. The news comes as England’s south coast is increasingly turning into an arts hub for artists who have been priced out of London in recent years. More via artnet news.

 

Sotheby’s is representing the estate of Robert Graham

Sotheby’s advisory arm Art Agency Partners has announced that it is now representing the sculptor’s estate — one of the twelve clients the firm has signed since being established earlier this year.

Graham, who passed away unexpectedly in 2008, leaving little indication for his heirs to carry on his legacy, was best known for his bronze sculptures of female nudes, as well as for his plexiglass dioramas. Works by Graham were recently featured at an exhibition held at Sotheby’s S|2 gallery. Read more on artnet news.

 

Works by Robert Graham. Ace Gallery, Beverly Hills, 2008. Courtesy the artist.

 

Tyburn Gallery is now representing Wallen Mapondera

The Zimbabwean artist (b. 1985) is now represented by the London-based gallery.

Mapondera, who lives and work in Harare, works with painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and performance, and is best known for his complex wall-sculptures which create richly tessellated, abstract surfaces out of cardboard and textiles. He is also the co-founder of the Post Studio Arts Collective, a visual arts group that works toward the acknowledgement of visual art as an important aspect of education, spreading awareness through classes, exhibitions and workshops. Mapondera’s first show at Tyburn Gallery will take place in 2018.

 

Wallen Mapondera, Kupingudza. 2014. Courtesy the artist.

 

Art historian Linda Nochlin has passed away

American art historian Linda Nochlin has passed away, aged 84. She was a prominent feminist art historian and writer, and she served as the Lila Acheson Wallace Professor Emerita of Modern Art at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.

 

Kathleen Gilje, Linda Nochlin in Manet's Bar at the Folies-Begère, 2005.

 

In 1971, she penned the influential article “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists” for ARTnews, analyzing the long-standing patriarchal frameworks that have prevented women from establishing themselves as influential artists. In addition, she was a Gustave Courbet expert, and she made influential contributions to the study of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and contemporary art. In addition to a 1988 Courbet retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, she also organized the show “Women Artists: 1550 to 1950” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art”. More via ARTnews.