News from Around the Art World: October 2nd, 2018
What Sold at Expo Chicago
On most occasions, art fairs feel like their own little worlds—festive bubbles cocooned in the thick walls of climate-controlled convention centers, humming on coffee and champagne, impervious to natural light and whatever is happening in the real world.
By Anna Louie Sussman, Artsy
Art on theMart kicks off with a really big-screen question: Is Chicago ready for video art?
Art on theMart, in the inaugural showing of what is being pitched as a three-decade, ongoing public art work, showed itself to be surreal, populist, inscrutable, obvious, confounding and engaging Saturday before a crowd that included city bigwigs down on the Riverwalk and thousands of Chicagoans up on the closed-off Wacker Drive.
By Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune
Art helps bring a divided Chicago neighborhood together
Their task was to learn about one another — and differences surfaced quickly. An African American boy from a public school pulled up a pant leg to show where a bullet had pierced his calf. His partner, a white boy who attends a private school and lives three blocks away, was shocked and saddened. The 40 or so kids who had gathered found common ground, too: a love of family, sports, animals and video games; a wish to succeed.
By Associated Press, via The Washington Post
When Auctioneers Don’t Know or Can’t See Their Buyers
Live online bidding came to some of the major fine art auction houses about a decade ago, but it was not until about five years ago that it became commonplace for auction sales. Today, it is a fundamental part of how auctions work, said Jussi Pylkkanen, global president of Christie’s and an auctioneer.
By Nina Siegal, The New York Times
