What We're Reading: 5/23/22
Nick Cave may be the artist we need right now
The question struck Nick Cave the moment he learned about the death of yet another Black man, Michael Brown, at the hands of police in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.
“Is there racism in heaven?,” the artist asked himself in the Chicago studio where he employs several full-time art assistants but often works alone.
He immediately started Until, a room-swallowing installation of kinetic wind spinners that is the first thing you see entering his new mega-show at the Museum of Contemporary Art. From a distance, the spinners shimmer and sparkle like suncatchers you might see in a backyard garden. Up close, they are tear drops, bullets and guns.
Via WBEZ
Iconic ‘Hope’ portrait of Obama sells at auction for $735,000
The original Shepard Fairey “Hope” portrait of former President Barack Obama has sold in an auction for $735,000.
The iconic red and blue portrait was displayed in April as part of EXPO CHICAGO by Heritage Auctions (222 W. Hubbard St.), which reported the sale Friday. It was created in 2008 by the Los Angeles-based street artist as a form of grassroots activism to support then-Senator Obama’s first campaign. Fairey based the image on an Associated Press photograph by Mannie Garcia.
Contemporary Artists Rashid Johnson, Sheree Hovsepian Ask $4.995 Million for Manhattan Townhouse
A Manhattan townhouse owned by contemporary artists Rashid Johnson and Sheree Hovsepian is hitting the market for $4.995 million.
Via the Wall Street Journal
A phishing scam targeting the Twitter account of the popular digital artist Beeple made off with over $400,000 in cryptocurrency and NFTs yesterday.
According to on-chain analysis of the scam, hackers were able to gain access to Beeple’s Twitter account for approximately five hours, tweeting out two separate links to a malicious website that would, in turn, drain victims’ MetaMask wallets of Ethereum and high-value NFTs such as Mutant Ape Yacht Club, VeeFriends and Otherdeeds, among others.
Via Artnet