Artist arrested following Castro’s death
Shortly after the news of Fidel Castro’s death, Cuban activist and graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado Machado, known as ‘El Sexto,’ was abducted from his home.
El Sexto had been a target of the Cuban regime for some time due to his powerful protest art. According to the artist’s mother, Maria Gonzalez, he was beaten before being brought to the police unit in San Agustin on 51st Avenue. No official charges have been released and there is no record of his detention. Miami New Times has more.
Doubts cast over Helsinki Guggenheim
Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa has expressed concern about the Guggenheim’s project to build a museum in the country’s capital, Helsinki.
His criticism follows a recent proposal by Finnish politician and architect Anders Adlercreutz that a second competition should be held to find a new design for a different site. Adlercreutz and the British architecture critic Jonathan Glancey have proclaimed that the current design by Kusunoki Architects is the "wrong building for the wrong site.” More via archdaily.
Kapsch Contemporary Art Prize announces winner
Austrian artist Anna-Sophie Berger is the first winner of the Kapsch Contemporary Art Prize.
The prize was jointly established by the Kapsch group and mumok, Austria’s largest museum for art after Modernism, to promote young artists who live and work mainly in Austria. The winner receives €5,000 and a solo exhibition at mumok which will be accompanied by a publication. Berger’s exhibition, entitled “Places to fight and make up,” calls into question the effect of mass media on human communication in modern society. Read more on artdaily.
Art organizations swarm to new “.art” domain
More than 60 organizations will take up “.art” URLs — the new top-level domain for artists and art-related institutions.
The domain was created by .ART as a way of distinguishing art institutions from other websites, with the ultimate aim of “preserving the cultural legacy of the global art world.” Among the artists and institutions who will create microsites with the .art URL are Marina Abramović, the Walker Art Center and Istanbul Biennial. The .art domain is set to launch officially to the public in summer 2017. ARTnews has the full 60 names.
Rallying call to save arts space in Dakar
A petition has been launched to save the Dakar studio of art collective Laboratoire Agit-Art, one of Senegal’s most important cultural spaces.
The Laboratoire Agit-Art studio, which was set up by the artist Issa Samb, known also as Joe Ouakam, is under threat from a property agency who wishes to evict Samb from the space. The petition urges Macky Sall, the president of the Republic of Senegal, to take legal measures in order to stop the disappearance of the Laboratoire Agit-Art studio, which it says would constitute “a cultural, ecological and human disaster.” Read the petition here.
Auctions
It was a weekend of mixed sales in Hong Kong last week.
Phillip’s evening sale of 20th century and contemporary art & design, which took place on November 27, realized $19 million, with many of the top lots exceeding their estimates. The top lot was Roy Lichtenstein’s Landscape With Grass (1996) which sold for $4.6 million, followed by Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (1992), which sold for $2.6 million. More details Art Market Monitor.
On November 26, Christie’s sale “The Pioneers,” which celebrated the trailblazers of Modern and Contemporary Asian art, realized $48.66 million. Top lots included Zao Wou-Ki’s Water Music, which sold for $6.3 million, and Chu-Teh Chun’s Vertige Neigeux, which fetched $11.9 million. Read more Art Market Monitor.
