Biennial as experimentation

In 2017, a barge drifted along the Chicago River. It wasn’t carrying the usual Ozinga concrete or gravel; instead it floated a museum. Produced by the Floating Museum, an interdisciplinary collective comprised of architect Andrew Schachman, artists Faheem Majeed and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford, and poet avery r. young, the museum barge showcased artwork from dozens of local and national artists. But for those lingering along the Chicago Riverwalk, the barge’s approach was announced by song: every Wednesday night, the group would float up the river, transporting a chorus led by young. 

Today, the Floating Museum has ascended from participants to artistic directors of the 2023 edition of the CAB, which opens September 21. Borrowing from their experience in 2017, they’ve named this year’s biennial theme, “This Is a Rehearsal.”

Via The Chicago Reader

It’s Pablomonium! A Bonanza of Major Picasso Shows Will Hit Dozens of Museums in 2023 to Mark 50 Years Since the Artist’s Passing

April 8, 2023, will mark the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death, and to celebrate the incomparable artist’s legacy, museums around the globe are staging a bonanza of shows.

A commission organized by the French and Spanish governments has coordinated 42 exhibitions at top European and American institutions, from the Centre Pompidou to the Mint Museum in North Carolina, all under the banner “Picasso Celebration 1973-2023.”

The effort “aims to highlight the career of an essentially European artist who, with a deep knowledge of the heritage and principles of tradition, as well as an understanding of both classicism as an ethical value and of modern issues in art, has projected throughout the world universal symbols,” reads a statement from the commission.

Via Artnet

Newfields, Still Reeling from Controversy, Names Indianapolis Museum Director After Lengthy Search

Newfields has appointed Belinda Tate as the next director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfield, concluding a nearly four-year hiring process and crisis of identity for the 140-year-old institution.

Tate comes to Indianapolis from Michigan’s Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, where she has served as executive director since 2014. She will begin her tenure on November 6 and be the first at Newfields to hold the title Melvin & Bren Simon Director, which was established in February 2021 as the not-for-profit museum revamped its executive structure.

Via Artnews