Vatican Taps Maurizio Cattelan for Venice Pavilion, Tate Britain Addresses Racist Whistler Mural, Artists Shortlisted for HIV/Aids Memorial, and More: Morning Links for March 13, 2024

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THE HEADLINES

VATICAN TAPS CATTELAN. The Vatican has invited Maurizio Cattelan among other artists to exhibit in their pavilion at the upcoming Venice Biennale. Though sure to attract attention, the choice isn’t exactly a safe one, considering Cattelan’s provocative sculpture La Nona Ora (1999), (The Ninth Hour) of a life-sized Pope John Paul II lying on the ground, struck dead by a meteorite. Cattelan is set to display a large artwork for the façade of the Vatican’s exhibition space, located in a small women’s prison on the island of Giudecca. Some of the prisoners will have a role in the show titled “With My Own Eyes,” curated by Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine, featuring Corita Kent, Sonia Gomes, Claire Fontaine, Bintou Dembélé, and others. “Sometimes questions that we can at first judge as radical are ways of reconstructing the vision of the sacred,” stated Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonca.

CANCEL OR COUNTER? Tate Britain has unveiled a new video work by British artist Keith Piper, commissioned by the museum in response to growing outrage over a 1927-mural adorning its high-end restaurant. The 55-foot-long painting by Rex Whistler depicts a hunting party, and in two small sections, a white woman dragging a Black boy by a rope as his naked mother watches in terror from a tree. The same boy is also shown shackled by a collar, running behind a horse-drawn cart. Instead of removing the mural, as activists demanded, the museum opted to keep it in place while surrounding it with Piper’s video installation. The new, “Vice Voce” two-screen piece dramatizes an imaginary conversation between Whistler and an interrogative university lecturer, who pushes him to explain his depiction of Black people. “My argument is, by leaving it up, it becomes an important witness to history, and by countering it, we learn things and we hear things, that we may not have heard before,” Piper told The New York Times.

THE DIGEST

Five artists have been shortlisted to create the first permanent HIV/Aids memorial in London, near the UK’s first Aids-dedicated hospital unit opened by Princess Diana in 1987. They include Anya Gallaccio, Diana Puntar, Ryan Gander, Harold Offeh, andShahpour Pouyan. [The Art Newspaper]

Eleven people are being tried in French court for manufacturing and dealing fake African artifacts in an international scam. They are accused of selling over $1 million-worth of fabricated artifacts. [Le Parisien]

Artist Marikit Santiago has won the $80,000 La Prairie art award. Two works by the Western Sydney artist who credits her three young children as collaborators, will join the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW) collection. [The Guardian]

The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung announced the names of the curators for the 2024 Asian Art Biennial. Fang Yen-Hsiang is leading the curatorial team, including Anne Davidian, Merv Espina, Haeju Kim, and Asli Seven. [Artforum]

French Minister of CultureRachida Dati warned the country’s political far-right they are breaking the law by vocally opposing “out of pure racism,” the possible nomination of French singer Aya Nakamura to participate in the Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony. “Attacking an artist for what she is, is unacceptable. It’s a crime,” Dati told reporters. [Le Figaro]

Want to be a spy? The British intelligence agency GCHQ has posted an image-puzzle on LinkedIn for potential candidates to decode. The bright image of an almost surrealist landscape contains hidden symbols representing letters and requires as much visual sensitivity as general knowledge. [The Daily Telegraph]

Three statues are being erected to honor the late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, but the first, 19-foot monument to the NBA star killed in a helicopter crash, has three typos that need fixing. “It’s a good thing that Kobe Bryant is getting three statues built,” writes the Los Angeles Times’ Caroline Petrow-Cohen. [The Los Angeles Times]

THE KICKER

(VERY) YOUNG TALENT. The Children’s Art Gallery (TCAG) in Lagos, Nigeria, is helping support low-income children by selling their artwork around the world. The 2022-founded gallery is financed by private donations, and pays its artists, aged between four and 17-years-old, at least 80% of sales, reports The Guardian . The gallery has also expanded, opening locations in Accra, Ghana, and Harare, Zimbabwe last year. “We develop young talent, support and nurture the community and work with the artists’ parents to ensure proceeds from the artwork go towards the child’s healthcare, education, and creative development,” said co-founder Segun Oni. Any child with permission from their guardian can submit their work to the gallery for possibly representation.