Hey art squad, are you having a difficult time seeing the bright side of life right now? We don’t blame you, with all the negative headlines in the news at the moment, it’s not easy to be so positive about the world. Art fairs and exhibitions are being postponed and delayed every five minutes, with many arts professionals worried about the impact on their jobs and careers. Everything seems uncertain right now BUT, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. We’ve been working hard to bring you some light-hearted content to make your new routine a little easier. And, in the meantime, here’s a list of ten GOOD things that happened in the art world this week. Stay strong guys!
Art Basel Goes Online
One of the first art fairs to respond to the coronavirus pandemic was Art Basel Hong Kong, and while most fairs postponed or cancelled their fairs, Art Basel instead chose to launch online viewing rooms, allowing art lovers, artists and collectors alike to attend the art fair in the comfort of their pjs. Keeping the art market moving during times of crisis, the online viewing rooms are open until March 25.
Art Girl Club Marguerite Launches Initiative To Help Freelancers
UK based female art club Marguerite has launched an initiative to help freelance art professionals find work during these times where regular work seems uncertain. Marguerite encourages freelancers and companies, as well as art girls looking to start a side hustle, to connect with each other to come together and make magic. As they say: ‘When life gives us lemons, we make lemonade”!
KAWS Releases Free Digital Sculpture
Have you ever wanted to own a KAWS sculpture? Well, now you can! KAWS has teamed up with Acute Art on an augmented reality exhibition of 12 sculptures, that also allows you to have your own COMPANION figure in your home. This is all thanks to a free trial of the app, which is free until April 15 (download here).
Google Allows You To Visit Museums From Home
We’re all stuck at home, and those of us who spend most of our times at galleries and museums are going to find it hard to stay away from our favourite art institutions. But, thanks to Google Arts and Culture, we can still visit 500 museums from across the world online. Amongst the institutions available for an e-visit are the Guggenheim, the British Museum and the Van Gogh Museum.
Billionaire Boys Club Collabs With Artist Meguru Yamaguchi
Art and fashion collabs continue to live on! Billionaire Boys Club has just dropped pieces made in collaboration with Japanese artist Meguru Yamaguchi. The paint splatted capsule includes BBC’s Astronaut logo and is available to purchase online.
Venice Canals Get Clean
So, there is one positive of this whole pandemic, the water quality in the Venetian canals are becoming cleaner and clearer. While the city is on lockdown, a drop in water traffic and less rubbish being littered on the streets means that the art world’s favourite city is getting a break, and finally getting a clean!
LVMH Provides French Hospitals With Hand Sanitizer
LVMH is donating 12 tonnes of hand sanitizer to 39 Parisian hospitals. The hand sanitizing gel is being produced inside the cosmetic factories at Christian Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain and LVMH has pledged to keep on producing the gel for as long as necessary. Bravo!
Prada Donates Intensive Care Units To Milan Hospitals
Prada is doing its bit for the world by donating medical equipment to hospitals in Milan, including two complete intensive care units to Vittore Buzzi, Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals. We love seeing everyone helping out where they can.
Online Exhibition Tackles Social Distancing
How can you think of art in a time like this? Well, how can you not?! When times get tough, sometimes art is exactly what we need to get through. Curators Barbara Pollack and Anne Verhallen have produced an online exhibition called How Can We Think Of Art At A Time Like This to function as a platform for the exchange of ideas at this time of crisis. Posting new artists each day, the site/exhibition space is also a platform for free expression, inviting visitors to post responses on their commons page.
Artists Seen As One Of The Safest Careers
And to finish, the news we all needed! According to a new survey by the New York Times into the jobs most likely to contract coronavirus, it seems that artists are pretty low risk. I mean, we all know that arty types like to shut themselves off in their studios for ages so it shouldn’t really be a surprise.So now is a better time than ever to support all your artist friends to continue making art! (In fact, there is only one career choice deemed safer: loggers!)
Text Lizzy Vartanian
