Should gallerists apologise for their part in gentrification?
Citing philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah and Madonna song "Human Nature", New York gallery Tramps' Director, Parinaz Mogadassi, reacted to accusations of her part in the gentrification of the Chinatown district.
Whilst the area is home to numerous first-rate galleries, such as the Miguel Abreu Gallery and James Cohan, an article published in 4Columns magazine saw journalists Jamie Chan and Leah Pires go as far as accusing Mogadassi and Werner (gallerist Michael Werner is also involved) of offering "an urban safari for art world voyeurs en route from Tribeca to Cologne". Read further via ArtNews.
Installation view of “Kai Althoff: Häuptling Klapperndes Geschirr,” 2018, at Tramps, New York.
The Benjamin Mecz Foundation launches a call for projects
The foundation, created in honour of the artist who died in 2017, has launched a call for projects for a biennial prize of 10,000 Shekel ($2,660).
"We seek to allow new and original thinking and innovative forms of art. By supporting artists to collaborate with different professional fields, we wish to encourage multidisciplinarity as a practice. The grant is awarded to a collaborative project: a group of minimum two people presenting a common project. One application per participant is accepted. At least one of the participants must be an Israeli artist under 40 years."
Projects must be proposed before January 20 of 2019, with the results to be announced in April. Read further here.
Benjamin (Ben) Mecz (1985-–2017)
