Sculptor Alma Allen will get the biggest show of his life when he represents the United States at next year's Venice Biennale but has lost two galleries in the process.
The artist, whose selection was confirmed yesterday by the Department of State, will show old work alongside "several new site-responsive sculptures" for the show organized by curator Jeffrey Uslip and called Alma Allen: Call Me the Breeze.
Allen told the New York Times he did not apply for the commission and was contacted by Uslip, who he had never met, asking him if he would accept it.
He said he had not been asked to "do anything in service of the Trump administration" but his galleries, Mendes Wood and Olney Gleason, asked him not to accept and dropped him when he did because they were "afraid of something they can’t really define".
Both galleries confirmed they no longer represent Allen but would not comment further.
His appointment is the latest twist in a saga that has seen artist Robert Lazzarini claim he had been chosen for the commission only for the deal to fall apart over its financial backing and right-wing influencer Curtis Yarvin promote himself as a candidate with a project inspired by Titian's The Rape of Europa.
The official announcement was also held up by the government shutdown.
Previous artists selected to represent the United States at the event include Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Jenny Holzer, Jasper Johns and Simone Leigh.
Mark Bradford and Martin Puryear both represented the US during President Trump's first term in office.
