Don't Pee on the Art

January 6, 2023

Good morning. 🌧️ Today, the National Library of France gets an impressive facelift while London’s National Portrait Gallery puts $3.5 million into acquiring a public toilet that will be transformed into an exhibition space. Don't pee on the art, please!

This one is difficult but had to be reported: A former director of a children’s museum in Connecticut was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for distributing child pornography, often from his museum office.

You should also check out Required Reading, our daily reviews, and Guillaume Vandame's moving tribute to his late partner Brody Mace-Hopkins, who died during an artist residency in Scotland last year.

— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor

London Museum Drops $3.5M on Public Toilet

The loo in question is a former Victorian lavatory that could become one of the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition spaces. | Sarah Rose Sharp

SPONSORED

The National Museum of the American Indian Presents Fresh Focus on Native American Photography

Hear directly from Native American photographers who are defining what it means to be Indigenous today. Attend the program in NYC or online. Learn more.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Team observing post-storm re-growth on a mound and invasive species (photo by Michelle LeFebvre)

Researchers have set out to examine the level of destruction to the heritage sites of the Native Calusa people impacted by Hurricane Ian.

SPONSORED

Join SVA MA Curatorial Practice for Weekly Conversations With World-Renowned Curators and Museum Directors

Curatorial Roundtables take place online once a week through April. Don’t miss a special lecture by artist and theorist Hito Steyerl on January 18. Learn more.

LATEST ART REVIEWS

Siobhan McBride Unsettles the Familiar

What makes Siobhan McBride's work as a whole interesting is her interest in the ambiguity, suggestibility, and elusiveness of everyday life. | John Yau

SPONSORED

Stony Brook University’s Graduate Arts Programs Prioritize Experimentation and Innovation

Funding and competitive scholarships are available for the MA/PhD in Art History & Criticism as well as for the MFA in Studio Art. Learn more.

The Wondrously Defiant Art of Contemporary Ceramics

Strange Clay at the Hayward Gallery demonstrates the conceptual and technical innovation of contemporary ceramics with riotously joyful art. | Olivia McEwan

MORE ON HYPERALLERGIC

In Loving Memory of Artist Brody Mace-Hopkins

Mace-Hopkins, who died at age 24 during an artist residency in Scotland, was my partner and collaborator. | Guillaume Vandame

Required Reading

This week, the National Library of France gets an upgrade, finding the enslavers at the US Capitol, the beauty of MetroCards, headsets that kill, a fed-up librarian, and much more. | Hrag Vartanian and Lakshmi Rivera Amin

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TRANSITIONS

Lydia Melamed Johnson was appointed executive director of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers.

John Kenneth Paranada was appointed curator of Art and Climate Change at the Sainsbury Centre.

Chelsea Ryoko Wong is now represented by Jessica Silverman Gallery.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Art historian T. J. Clark and critic Tausif Noor were announced as the winners of the Robert B. Silvers Foundation’s Grace Dudley Prize for Arts Writers.

MOST POPULAR

Minnesota Professor Reportedly Fired for Showing Paintings of Prophet Muhammad

Sex Tourism With Statues

Why Archaeologists Are Fuming Over Netflix's Ancient Apocalypse Series

Stars of 1968 Romeo and Juliet Sue Over Underage Nude Scene

Opportunities in January 2023