NEED-TO INFORM
December 2019
1.- Museum of Photography Coming to London: The 89, 000- square-foot photography venue, located near the Whitechapel Gallery, will be run by the Swedish organisation Fotografiska, which founded a similar museum in Stockholm in 2010.
2.- Art and Law: A judge in Monaco has thrown out criminal charges of fraud and money laundering against Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier, who has been embroiled in a year-long dispute with Russian oligarch Dmitry RYboloviev. Rybolovlev, who alleges that Bouvier defrauded him to the tune of $ 1 billion by misrepresenting the purchase of artworks in 38 deals brokered over the course of many years, is still pursuing legal remedies in the USA; London, Paris, and Geneva.
But an appellate judge in Monaco said that the investigations In the city-state found that “all investigations were conduced in a biased and unfair way without the defendant being in a position to retrospectively redress these serious anomalies that permanently compromised the balance of rights of the parties”, according to a statement.
The timing of the decision, which comes after a corruption scandal revealed Rybolov´s outside influence on Monaco authorities and police, is surprising.
In September 2017, Philippe Narmino, the minister of justice for Monaco, resigned after French newspaper Le Monde, published text messages revealing that he worked on Ryboloviev´s behalf to influence the case against Bouvier.
3- „National geographic“ Turned to a Photo Historian to Help Reckon With Its Colonialist Past. Even He Was Unsettled by What He Found. John Davis Mason, a historian of race and photography, spoke to Ben Davis about examining the famed magazines troubled history. After more than a century of covering the Earth's manifold splendour and diverse peoples through distinctly Western eyes, learning it open to charges of colonialism (if not outright racism), National Geographic has now turned its lens on itself. The magazine dedicated an issue to examined the subject of race from a variety angles, theories of the social construction of race, the present day renaissance ng of an event. of historical black colleges, the mounting tensions triggered by the demographic shifts in the nation. Yet National Geographic editor Susan Goldberg's letter introducing the topic has made the biggest splash, with its blunt admission: „For Decades Our Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past. We Must Acknowledge It“. But given National Geographic´s status a an icon of mainstream taste and its role in shaping how generations have viewed the world, the magazines mea culpa has been something of an event. Goldbergs letter has Gaines widespread media attention and Benn debated across social media- which makes sense, considering that the 130 year-old magazine also claims to be the world’s biggest social media brand, boasting a staggering 350 million followers across various platforms, and thus a huge ability to shape public conversation.
ART MARKET
1.- Pantone Releases New Purple in Honor of Prince- In collaboration with the Purple Rain singers estate, the Pantone Color Institute has memorialised Prince with a new shade of purple, the singers signature color, titled „Love Symbol #2“. The hue is inspired by his bespoke purple Yamaha piano.
2- MAG Rochester Acquires Bill Viola Work- The University of Rochester Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) has acquired a video installation by Bill Viola. Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), originally commissioned by London's St. Paul’s Cathedral, comments on how mass media turns us all into spectators of suffering, it will go on view October 11.
Nely Friedrich
