The shortlisted artists for the Prix Marcel Duchamp, an annual award supporting artists based in France, has been revealed. They are: Eric Baudelaire; Katinka Bock; Marguerite Humeau; and Ida Tursic & Wilfried Mille. The award comes with a €35,000 cash prize and is considered one of the most prestigious prize in the country. The winner of the 2019 edition will be announced on 14 October, and an exhibition featuring works by the four shortlisted artists will run from 9 October to 6 January 2020 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
MCH Group, owner of the Art Basel franchise, has reassured India Art Fair that it will not withdraw its support until a buyer is found for its majority shareholding. In addition to announcing in November that it planned to sell its 60.3% stake in the modern and contemporary art fair, which opens on 31 January in New Delhi, MCH has also sold its stake in Art Düsseldorf and has withdrawn from its partnership with Art SG, the first edition of which is scheduled to open on 31 October in Singapore.
On Wednesday, art dealers Albert Baronian and Renos Xippas announced they were teaming up to open a new gallery in Brussels. Located in the former space of Albert Baronian, Baronian Xippas will present work by artists from their respective rosters, including Darren Almond, André Butzer, Wang Du, Gilbert and George, Robert Irwin, Vik Muniz and Janaina Tschäpe. Launching in April, the gallery will be inaugurated with shows by Takis and Robert Devriend.
An exhibition at the Casa França-Brasil in Rio de Janeiro has been closed early by city authorities. Literatura exposta was supposed to finish its run with a performance event on Sunday, however a closure notice issued by the city’s secretary of culture Ruan Lira claimed the organisers were in breach of contract as they had not run the contents of the event, including a performance by collective És Uma Maluca which features two naked women reading a script that criticises the use of torture during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964–1985), past the municipality. In an Instagram post the exhibition’s curator, Alvaro Figueiredo, claimed the intervention came on the request of Wilson Witzel, the recently inaugurated governor of Rio, a close ally of the president. In the run up to the elections Witzel was photographed destroying a memorial plaque to slain councilwoman Marielle Franco.
Viennacontemporary has announced that Johanna Chromik will be taking up the role of artistic director for the fair. Prior to this new position, Chromik was the director at Berlin’s König Galerie and KOW. In a statement she has said: “I am excited to join viennacontemporary’s team. Following the development of the fair with its unique profile and strong position in the city of Vienna for years, I very much look forward to working together with the Viennese galleries and institutions to further strengthen the international position of the fair and to contribute to the thriving Viennese/Austrian art scene.” Viennacontemporary’s 2019 edition will take place from 26–29 September 2019 at Marx Halle in Vienna.
This year’s edition of Art Stage Singapore has been cancelled. The fair, which was due to take place at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, sent emails to participating galleries asking them to ‘cease all preparations for Art Stage Singapore 2019’, and informing them that the reasons for the cancellation would follow shortly. There have been no further comments from the organisers of the fair.
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