3 min read · 09 Aug 2024
Tomie Ohtake's sculpture installed at the artist's home and studio during the Aberto/03 design fair in São Paulo. Photo by Roy Texeira
This was the week Banksy went on a summer spree, unveiling five works across the city on buildings, a bridge and a TV satellite dish, the last of which disappeared within hours, reportedly stolen. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund took a minority stake in Sotheby’s in a $1 billion deal. Meanwhile, at Phillips in London, Damien Hirst’s new series, The Civilisation Paintings, went on show accompanied by a HENI editions drop.
New York: Iván Argote's 16-foot-tall pigeon, an homage to Manhattan's unofficial mascot, is due to land on the High Line in October.
London: Yayoi Kusama’s first public work of art in London has arrived at Liverpool Street. Infinite Accumulation is a series of steel arches and mirrored balls, which stretches almost 100m near the entrance of a new Elizabeth line station.
Shows: Carrie Mae Weems has unveiled an art billboard in support of Kamala Harris’ Presidential campaign. Artists For Democracy plan to reveal further billboards in key election states, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Market: Damien Hirst’s Civilisation, four unique prints after his latest series "The Civilisation Paintings", are available as HENI edition, limited by demand during the drop window, which ends on 19 August.
New York: Keith Haring’s Carmine Street Pool Mural faces an uncertain future after the city’s parks and recreation department announced tentative plans to demolish the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center in the West Village, reports The Architect’s Newspaper.
Market: Tadashi Sato’s painting was the star lot at Bonhams $926,600 The Art of Hawaii auction. The untitled work set a new auction record for the artist, a 127% jump.For all the highlights, check out the HENI News report.
Moscow: Sasha Skochilenko, a dissident artist who was arrested in 2022 for opposing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, was freed along with Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich.
In other news
New York: The 2026 Whitney Biennial will be co-organized by Marcela Guerrero, the museum’s first curator of Latinx art, and Drew Sawyer, its curator of photography.
Market: ADQ, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, has taken a minority stake in Sotheby’s in a $1 billion deal with its owner, Patrick Drahi.
Sao Paulo: Aberto, the art and design exhibition presented in Modernist masterpiece returns to the Brazilian city. This year venues include the Brutalist home and studio of Tomie Ohtake, Galerie reports.
"‘Jeff Koons didn’t want to show Dakis Joannou what he was working on, and he even made the DESTE team sign a non-disclosure agreement.’ The Greek collector recalls how the artist came to Hydra and revealed his sun sculpture as a surprise."
- Observer
Keith Haring’s Carmine Street Pool Mural. Copyright the artist’s foundation. Photo by Allison Meier/Flickr via The Architect’s Newspaper