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THE HEADLINES
ASPEN’S GRASP. Known for winter sports and other outdoor recreation, Aspen, Colorado, has become increasingly celebrated as an art destination, reports The Art Newspaper. The Aspen Art Week brings together collectors, curators and artists in a culture festival co-ordinated by Aspen Art Museum. This summer, the Aspen Art Fair (29 July-2 August) joins in with a debut at the high-profile Hotel Jerome, in the city center. About 30 exhibitors and projects—from Los Angeles (Carlye Packer, Casterline Goodman), New York (Miles McEnery, Nancy Hoffman) and abroad (El Apartamento from Havana and Madrid, Galerie Gmurzynska from Zürich, Perrotin from Paris)—are in the art fair’s lineup. Admission to the event costs $30 per day, except for those statying at the hotel who get complimentary passes. “It’s really important to us to be part of the citywide cultural conversation year round,” said Becca Hoffman, the director of the fair.
TO RETURN OR TO LOAN? Objects from London’s British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum are on loan at the Manhyia Palace Museum in the center of Kumasi, Ghana, while Los Angeles’s Fowler Museum has transferred ownership of seven items, reports The Art Newspaper. The UK loans include gold items, soul-washers’ badges, a figure of an eagle and a symbolically charged peace pipe, as well as the important ceremonial sword known as the Mponponsuo. There are also seven items from the Fowler Museum on view. Most of the returned items are colonial loot, seized by British troops during the Asante wars. A few others were legitimately acquired, not in battle. Ownership of the seven Fowler items has been formally transferred to the Asantehene, who is now free to use the regalia for ceremonial purposes. The BM and V&A objects, however, are required to be treated as artworks. The UK museums are returning material as three-year loans, with the option of a three-year extension.
THE DIGEST
Dr. Robert Boulay, who devoted his life to identifying Kanak works for the world’s most prestigious museums, including Paris’s Quai Branly, has died at the age of 80 years old. [Le Quotidien de l’Art]
Collectors Andrée and Gérard Patt have given the town of Audincourt, in the Franche-Comté region, 236 works of modern and contemporary art. The retired couple, who started amassing their treasures in the early 2000s, aquired their first paintings from a gallery in Megève. Their donation includes pieces by Salvador Dali, Pierre Alechinsky, Roberto Matta, Lucio Fontana, Arman, Hervé Di Rosa, Jean Messagier… [Le Quotidien de l’Art]
Seven artists with connections to Los Angeles, including contemporary conceptualists Glenn Kaino (b. 1872) and Charles Gaines (b. 1944), were commissioned to bridge sports and culture, by creating works for the Intuit Dome, an indoor arena under construction in Inglewood, California. [The New York Times]
An extremely rare vinyl record by the Sex Pistols has been sold by record specialists Wessex Auction Rooms for a record-breaking price. The controversial single God Save the Queen was released in the 1970s. About 25,000 records were withdrawn from sale after a backlash to lyrics describing the monarchy as a “fascist regime”. A few copies remained in circulation, including the one that sold for £24,320. [BBC]
Linda C. Harrison got the profile treatment from Tiffany Dodson in Harper’s Bazaar, the director of the Newark Museum of Art’s, one of the few African-Americans leading a major art museum. She assisted the institution in becoming more inviting to residents of the New Jersey city. [Harper’s Bazaar]
THE KICKER
LOONEY TURN OF EVENTS. Sydney artist Philjames’ oil on lithograph “Jesus Speaks to the Daughters of Jerusalem”, depicting Christ overlaid with Looney Tunes characters, was removed from the Blake Art Prize exhibition at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Center, after fierce criticism hit the artist and gallery on Friday, just two days before the eight-week exhibition ended. The biennial award recognizes contemporary artworks that explore spirituality and religion, and draws talents from all beliefs and cultural backgrounds. However complaints suddenly broke out online. Some protesters, who see the work as an insult to Christianity, have threatened the museum and its staff, including volunteers, with violence. [The Guardian]