Disgraced Florida Dealer Gets Prison Time for Peddling Fake Basquiats, Warhols

Palm Beach art dealer Daniel Elie Bouaziz has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison, followed by three years’ probation, for a money laundering scheme to sell counterfeit contemporary artworks, including pieces purportedly by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Banksy. 

Via Artnews

Celebrities Like Beyoncé and Jay-Z Have a New Obsession: An 81-Year-Old Japanese Architect

Ando clients are more art patrons than homeowners, and the resulting home becomes “an art form that you inhabit,” said architect Leo Marmol, who has worked on two Ando projects.

“It is about pushing design ideals to a level that is not normal,” he said. “The client has to be willing to embrace that, and look at the relationship with Mr. Ando as working with a true master.”

Via WSJ

Benin bronzes: whose restitution is this, anyway?

To date, accounts of cultural restitution have predominantly been a story about Western institutions, told from the West’s perspective. The protagonists are benevolent European and North American organisations, whose virtue is manifest in their return of colonial looted objects “for free”. The focus of Western media on this “decolonisation” has given rise to a growing set of photo opportunities, accompanied by lengthy interviews with Western curators, followed by a few words of gratitude from “representatives of Nigeria”.

When the same media lens momentarily shifts to Nigeria, it does so only to find inadequacy. “Chaos” and “fiasco” are among the milder word choices. To these commentators, it seems fine for the West to take more than a hundred years to begin to act on restitution, but unforgivable that Nigeria does not resolve complex domestic and historical issues instantaneously.

Via The Art Newspaper

Bridgeport Tufting Studio Lets Crafters Make One-of-a-Kind Rugs

If you’ve ever wanted to make your own rug, we might have the place for you. A tufting class in Bridgeport aims to bring more fun to the South Side.

“I’ve lived in Bridgeport for 20 years and love the neighborhood,” said Erni Pun of Freestyle Ceramics and Tufting, 2927 S. Archer Ave. “I really wanted to bring something fun to Bridgeport.”

With a simple desire, Pun called her now partner, Susan Li, and Freestyle Ceramics and Tufting was born.

Via WTTW Art