4 min read · 26 Apr 2024
Mickalene Thomas, (Detail) Din avec la main dans le miroir et jupe rouge (2023). Copyright Mickalene Thomas, courtesy of The Broad.
The Venice Biennale, which opened to the public this week, announced the Golden Lion award winners with an Indigenous artist from Australia and Maori collective from New Zealand making history. A Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement went to the veteran Brazilian artist Anna Maria Maiolino, whose work is a highlight of Adriano Pedrosa’s main exhibition “Foreigners Everywhere” (until November 24).
1 Archie Moore made history at the Venice Biennale when he became the first Indigenous Australian artist to win the Golden Lion for his installation in the Australian Pavilion.
2 Mataaho Collective, which consists of four Maori female artists, won the Golden Lion for their spectacular, woven installation in the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
3 Damien Hirstreleased The Archangels, a series of four limited edition HENI prints based on paintings from his "Cherry Blossoms" series.
4 Blek Le Rat's Tango (2021) set a new auction record for the street artist. The painting sold for $118,400 at Phillips, a 51% increase on the artist’s previous record sale.
5 Tarsila do Amaral will be one of the ten artists featured in "Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism" due to open at London’s Royal Academy in January 2025.
6 Gerhard Richter’s monumental sculpture, STRIP-Tower, was unveiled in London's Kensington Gardens by the Serpentine and Royal Parks.
7 Mickelene Thomas told Wallpaper why her work is “all about love”. She was speaking ahead of the opening of her museum show opening at the Broad in Los Angeles next month, which features works partly inspired by Jet, the magazine for adult African Americans.
And in other news
Vienna: Gustav Klimt’s long-lost Portrait of Fräulein Lieser sold for $37m at the auction house im Kinsky. Questions persist over its history during the Nazi era, however.
Paris: The director of the Louvre has suggested the Mona Lisa could be moved to a dedicated space, possibly in the museum’s basement.
London: Tate announced the four artists who are the nominees for the 2024 Turner Prize. They are: Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas .
Coming next week
New York: Frieze art fair returns to The Shed, opening on Wednesday, May 1, to invited collectors, as does 1:54. The art fair of contemporary African art takes place at the Starrett-Lehigh Building, 11th Avenue, for the first time.
"‘Gold and guns are the American dream.’ Maurizo Cattelan tells the Times about the inspiration for his new work, Sunday, a gold-plated ‘execution wall’ riddled with bullet holes going on show at Gagosian, New York. "
- The New York Times
Maurizio Cattelan at Gagosian Sunday, a gold-plated wall riddled with bullets from pistols, rifles and semiautomatic weapons at a New York firing range. Photograph by Vincent Tullo for The New York Times