July 8, 2022 • View in browser

Good morning. ☁️ Can anyone explain to me why auction houses are now selling dinosaur skeletons to the highest bidder? How is that okay? Another one will be up for auction at Sotheby’s later this month. Where’s the decency? Where’s the government?

Also today: The Metropolitan Museum is showing replicas of ancient Greek and Roman statues in color (because they were never supposed to be pale); someone blew up a bizarre doomsday monument in Georgia; a new book reveals that British intelligence spied on artists and writers, and more.

Finally, check out this week’s Required Reading to see a special farewell to resigned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

— Hakim Bishara, interim editor-in-chief 

Met Exhibition Brings Back the Color to Ancient Sculptures

Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color reminds us, once again, that our view of the ancient world is whitewashed. | Elaine Velie

IN THE NEWS

The Georgia Guidestones issued 10 principles for humanity after the apocalypse. (via Wikimedia Commons)

• An explosion partially destroys the “Georgia Guidestones” doomsday monument.

• Sotheby’s is bringing the first Gorgosaurus to auction, which could sell for up to $8 million.

LATEST IN ART

Sean Scully's Abstract Paintings Have Stories to Tell 

Minimalism sought to empty out narrative pictorial content. Scully's goal has been to put it back. | David Carrier

Pope.L Invites Us to “Enter The Mess” When Things Fall Apart

Whether through expansion or confusion, Pope.L plays with the instability of time and shows how tapping into this instability can unlock creative shifts in thinking. | Allison Conner

MORE FROM HYPERALLERGIC

New Book Reveals the British Security Service's Surveillance of Major Artists 

Red List lists a vast range of painters, sculptors, filmmakers, writers, and academics who were tracked by the MI5 for their perceived political affiliations. | Billy Anania

Samuel Delany, Grand Master of Afrofuturism

Surveying decades of his writing and criticism, Occasional Views contributes to a greater understanding of Delany’s unimpeachable stature. | David Brazil

Required Reading

This week, Kate Bush makes a comeback, Boris Johnson goes home, stop saying "OK Boomer," and more. | Hakim Bishara

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TRANSITIONS

Steven L. Bridges was appointed interim director at Michigan State University’s Broad Art Museum.

Vincenzo de Bellis was named Art Basel's inaugural director of fairs and exhibition platforms.

Jenny Moore has stepped down from her role as director of the Chinati Foundation. Marella Consolini will serve as interim director.

Denise Murrell was appointed the Metropolitan Museum of Art's inaugural Merryl H. and James S. Tisch Curator at Large.

Katie Pfohl was named associate curator of Contemporary Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Jacqueline Stewart was named director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

Sophie Wright was named executive director of Fotografiska in New York.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Miguel Arzabe, Gregory Rick, and Astria Suparak were named Artadia’s SF Bay Area Awardees.

Kate-hers RHEE received the Korea Arts Foundation of America (KAFA)’s 2022 award.

Abbas Zahedi has won the 2022 Frieze Artist Award.

MOST POPULAR

1. Reviving the Lost Craft of Jewish Papercuts 

2. Black Artist Attacked in White Supremacist March in Boston

3. The Pioneering Feminists of French Art

4. As NYC Slashes School Budgets, Art Teachers Are Feeling the Squeeze

5. Philadelphia Faces Criticism for Commissioning a Harriet Tubman Statue From a White Artist