DAMIEN HIRST'S SHARK FINDS A NEW HOME AT THE MET
The Metropolitan Museum in New York confirmed this week that Damien Hirst's shark in formaldehyde, entitled 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living', will go on view in its modern and contemporary art galleries in September. The work, which was acquired by the hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen from the Saatchi Gallery, will be on display for two or three years. Cohen has released a statement saying, 'I am very excited that the piece will be displayed at the Met with other art-historical treasures.'
EXHIBITION OF GAY ART CANCELLED IN MILAN
An exhibition with 150 works about art and homosexuality has been closed down in Milan. A number of works in the exhibition, which had already been installed, w ere criticised for being either blasphemous, pornographic or pedophiliac in character. The exhibition came with a warning that visitors under the age of eighteen would not be allowed to visit, but after the mayor requested the removal of 12 works the exhibition was cancelled. The exhibition will, however, be shown in Naples in its entirety.
FRIEZE FILM COMMISSIONS ANNOUNCED
The Frieze Art Fair has commissioned a series of four short film as part of its curatorial programme for 2007. Oliver Payne and Nick Relph, Wilhelm Sasnal, David Shrigley and Kara Walker will each have their films premiered at the fair and broadcast on Channel 4 television in the prime time '3 Minute Wonder' slots during the week of the fair.
NEW YORK LOOKS SET TO RESTRICT PHOTOGRAPHY IN PUBLIC PLACES
We reported earlier this year on concerns that the UK government was preparing to restrict photography in public places; now we hear that new rules are being considered by New York's Office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting which would require any group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than half an hour to get a city permit and liability insurance for $1 million. The same requirements would apply to any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a public location for more than ten minutes, including the time it takes to set up the equipment. According to the New York Times, the film office has said that the rules are not intended to apply to families on holiday or amateur filmmakers or photographers, but the New York Civil Liberties Union has said that the proposed rules, as strictly interpreted, could have that effect. The new rules will be finalized in late July.
QUEEN'S PHOTO SHOOT WITH AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER ANNIE LEIBOVITZ ELICITS BBC APOLOGY
A furore has erupted in the UK over a trailer for an upcoming BBC documentary entitled 'A Year with the Queen' which gave the impression that the Queen had stormed out of a photo shoot with the American photographer Annie Leibovitz. An inquiry into this episode has unearthed other serious breaches of editorial standards in a range of programmes including from phone-in shows, the children's programme Blue Peter and BBC2's Newsnight. "Deceiving the public is utterly unacceptable, it is a gross breach of discipline. We have to get our house in order, ' said the Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson.
SPENCER TUNICK SEEKS VOLUNTEERS FOR GLACIER SHOOT
'Wanted: volunteers willing to take their clothes off and have their picture taken on a freezing cold Alpine glacier.' The New York artist Spencer Tunick, famous for taking pictures of thousands of naked people in public settings worldwide, has put out a call for volunteers to take part in a photo shoot on Switzerland's shrinking glaciers in order to highlight the effects of climate change. The photo shoot, which is being done in collaboration with Greenpeace, will take place in August at an undisclosed location in Switzerland. For more information visit www.spencertunick.com.
WARHOL FOUNDATION SUED FOR MANIPULATING THE ART MARKET
An American filmmaker, Joe Simon-Whelan, is suing the Warhol Foundation for allegedly manipulating the market and inflating the prices of Warhols' work. According to the New York Times, Simon-Whelan contends that the foundation has waged a 20-year conspiracy to bend the art world to its will and, by way of "enforcers," "secret meetings" and doctored files, has tried to win "total domination" of the Warhol market. He goes on to claim that the main purpose of the "Warhol conspiracy" is to reject "as many works as possible so as to induce artificial scarcity in the market for Warhol works, thereby maintaining and increasing the value of the foundation's own substantial holdings."
UNILEVER TO EXTEND ITS FUNDING OF TURBINE COMMISSIONS
The Tate in London has announced that Unilever will be extending its sponsorship of The Unilever Series at Tate Modern for a further five years until 2012. This will include a commission created for the year of the London Olympics. The sponsorship over five years is £2.1 million, which will bring Unilever's total support of The Unilever Series to over £4 million. Over 17 million people have come to the Turbine Hall to see The Unilever Series since it began in 2000 when Tate Modern opened. The extended sponsorship means that Tate will be able to continue to commission leading international artists to create new works of art for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern each year.
PRIZES AND AWARDS
The Berlin-based Danish artist Danh Vo has been awarded the blauOrange Prize for 2007, which is organized by the banks Deutsche Volksbank und Raiffeisenbank, and includes €20,000.
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