Activist and total legend Greta Thunberg spoke at a pre-COP26 youth summit in Milan this week, and held politicians accountable after they made promises to help the environment but ended up with “30 years of blah, blah blah”.
Elsewhere in Milan, Milan Fashion Week was a huge success and mega-star Dua Lipa made her runway debut for Versace.
Art Basel wrapped up last week, with 272 galleries from 33 countries attending. Prior to the fair, Art Basel made history with a first-of-its-kind 1.5 million CHF solidarity fund which would help participating galleries should they not break even. We think that support systems like this are brilliant!
We’re here – as per – to wrap up the art news you might have missed this week.
Hugs,
The Girls x
Art
Danish Artist Pockets $84k in Protest
This is definitely our favourite story of the week. Danish artist Jens Haaning was commissioned by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg to recreate one of his previous works ‘Work it Out’, which looked into the relationship between labour and payment. The piece was meant to be a picture frame filled with cash. What Haaning did instead was send the museum two empty frames, having kept the money for himself and renaming the work ‘Take the Money and Run’. Haaning says it’s a comment on poor working conditions and not being paid enough.
Sotheby’s Face Lawsuit
Sotheby’s is facing a lawsuit over claims that the auction house helped a (currently nameless) collector to evade their taxes. It’s claimed that they helped the collector avoid sales tax on $27 million worth of artworks. The lawsuit was filed in November and claimed that between 2010 and 2015, paperwork filed by Sotheby’s made this client appear to be a “broker” and not a collector, meaning they wouldn’t need to pay city and state taxes. Ouch.
Fashion
James Bond in Pink
Block-colour statement suits have been a staple on this year’s red carpets and runways, and the premier of the new 007 film No Time to Die was no different. Daniel Craig – who is playing James Bond for his last time – wore a cerise pink suit jacket to Tuesday’s event. Some people are suggesting that this marks a new, more feminine, more emotional era of Bond – but we don’t think it’s that deep.
Savage x Fenty Screening Causes Uproar
Last Friday, RiRi’s Savage x Fenty lingerie show was screened on Amazon Prime. The show sparked outrage when many white models were seen wearing braids, which is cultural appropriation. Neither Rihanna or Savage x Fenty have made comment yet.
Market
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Opens in LA
The new museum all about movies opened on Thursday 30th, with a gala event on Saturday to celebrate. A-listers aplenty attended the gala including Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Nicole Kidman. The museum was originally meant to open back in 2017, and cost $484 million collected from many high-up Hollywood donors and institutions.
British Museum to Sell NFTs of The Great Wave
The British Museum is going to sell NFTs of Hokusai’s most famous works – including The Great Wave Off Kanagawa – in sync with their exhibition of the Japanese master’s work that opened on the 28th. The museum is selling the NFTs with the help of LaConnection and only two “ultra-rare” NFTs of The Great Wave will be on offer.
Author: Verity Babbs
