Too Much Sex in the Museum

August 5, 2022 • View in browser

Good morning. 🌦️ Today, the strange case of a Polish military museum that asked visitors to stop having sex on its premises ("Nothing is more exciting than the sight of a cannon," someone commented online), Met Director Max Hollein will also become the museum's CEO after Daniel Weiss's planned departure next year, a look back at 40 years of Suzanne Lacy's art and activism, outstanding works by Peter Hujar go on auction, and more.

Also, our editor-in-chief Hrag Vartanian is back from his sabbatical, and he has a great edition of Required Reading for you. You'll hear more from Hrag next week.

— Hakim Bishara, interim editor-in-chief

Suzanne Lacy Continues the Conversation

Lacy's work is more about making connections than providing content and it is still realized in the act of bringing people together, physically. | Nancy Princenthal

SPONSORED

National Museum of Asian Art Hosts the First US Museum Retrospective on Bahman Jalali and Rana Javadi

Opening in Washington, DC, on August 6, Living in Two Times features works by two of the most influential figures in the development of late 20th-century photography in Iran. Learn more.

LATEST NEWS

A screenshot of Fort Gerhard’s Facebook post pleading with visitors to refrain from sexual acts on its grounds (via Facebook)

A Polish museum is asking attendees to cease all sexual activities on its premises.

The Met’s current director Max Hollein will be taking over Daniel H. Weiss’s role as CEO next summer.

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GETTING THEIR DUE

The Quietly Gripping Art of Peter Hujar

Four captivating examples of the artist’s photographs, taken between 1973 and 1984, will be auctioned in August as part of Swann’s fourth annual LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture, and History sale. | Jasmine Liu

Norman Bluhm's Second Act

It is time that the art world recognize what Bluhm went on to do during the last three decades of his life, when he was deep into his own territory. | John Yau

MORE FROM HYPERALLERGIC

The Flawed Allegory of Nope

Is watching Jordan Peele’s latest film nothing more than an exercise in decoding his message? | Jasmine Liu

Required Reading

This week, the Webb space telescope wows, übernovels, crappy pigeon nests, the problem with "experts," and much more. | Hrag Vartanian

TRANSITIONS

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art appointed Erin O'Toole as curator and head of photography and Katy Siegel as research director of Special Programs Initiative.

Daisy Nam now serves as executive director of Ballroom Marfa, in addition to her role as curator.

Kate Spratt was named chief financial officer of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Maya Lin was commissioned to create a sculpture for the Water Garden at the Obama Presidential Center.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Josely Carvalho, Laddie John Dill, Rita McBride, and Cheryl Ann received the Lee Krasner Award for lifetime artistic achievement. Beili Liu is the winner of the $50,000 Pollock Prize for Creativity.

Mahé Elipe, Lexi Parra, Ana Elisa Sotelo, Ivan McClellan, Barbara Peacock, Brandon Watson, Rehab Eldalil, and Melissa Perez Winder received Editorial Inclusion Grants from Getty Images.

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