Historian Offers New Mona Lisa Theory, Artist Creates Monarchy-Blocking Browser Plugin, and More: Morning Links for May 4, 2023

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The Headlines

FAIR PLAY. For the first time, Art Basel’s fair in beautiful Basel, Switzerland, will have a dedicated director, Maximilíano Durón reports in ARTnews. That leader will be Maike Cruse, the director of Gallery Weekend Berlin, who will take up the job in July, shortly after the event’s run in June. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Cruse, who was a communications manager for Art Basel in the mid-2000s. Cruse will be reporting to Vincenzo de Bellis, the firm’s director for fairs and exhibition platforms. Another appointment may be in the offing: Art Basel said that “a search is underway” for a director of its Miami Beach fair, a position once held by Art Basel’s CEO, Noah Horowitz.

BRIDGE TO THE PAST. So beguiling is the Mona Lisa’s smile that it can be easy to miss everything else that Leonardo painting behind her in the background of his masterpiece. Have you ever noticed the tiny bridge with four arches that is behind her left shoulder, at our right? Scholars have in the past proposed various bridges that the Old Master may have been depicting. Now, the Guardian reports, historian Silvano Vinceti has concluded that it is the Romito di Laterina bridge in the Arezzo province, based on his study of drone images, area photos, and other materials. Naturally, the locals are pretty excited about this possibility. One arch is extant, and Laterina’s mayor told the outlet, “We need to try to protect what’s left of the bridge, which will require funding.”

The Digest

Chicago artist Thomas Kong, who took up art in his sixties, using materials that he had on hand in the convenience store that he ran, died on May 1 at 73, Claire Voon reports. With artist Dan Miller, Kong set up a community gallery in the store’s storage space in 2015 that ran until 2019. They called it the Back Room. [The Art Newspaper]

At her current show at Esther Schipper in Berlin, artist Hito Steyerl is selling sculptural works for €1,700–€2,000 (about $1,880–$2,220) to raise funds to create a healthcare center in Jinwar, a village in Syria devoted to protecting women and children. [Ocula]

The Istanbul Modern museum is reopening today in a new building in that city’s Karaköy district. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, it has over 100,000 square feet for its permanent collection, a restaurant, and more. [ArtAsiaPacific]

Another new position filled today: Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York, has tapped Melanie Crader to be its first director of visual arts. She was most recently deputy director at the Parrish Art Museum in nearby Water Mill. [Press Release/Guild Hall]

Who’s selling at the big auctions in New York this month? The ARTnewsOn Balance newsletter has answers. For one, the Cigna insurance company is parting with a major sculptural installation by Isamu Noguchi. [ARTnews]

ARTISTS IN PROFILE. Painter Y.Z. Kami is in the New York Times, as is sculptor Rachel Feinstein, sculptor Misha Japanwala is in the Guardian, textile artist Qualeasha Wood is in Cultured, multi-medium artist Julian Opie is inYonhap News, and photographer Sheida Soleimani is in the Financial Times.

The Kicker

CHANGING THE CHANNEL. The Māori artist Hāmiora Bailey has created a web-browser plugin that inserts Indigenous news stories in place of ones about the British monarchy and the coronation of King Charles III, the Guardian reports. “People are sick of it—they don’t care about how much a diamond costs and who’s wearing what dress,” Bailey said. Interest web surfers can find out on the dedicated website for the plugin, which is called Pikari Mai. [The Guardian]