David Chipperfield wins the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize, OCAT Shanghai announces closure | Art Moment Mar 13, 2023
In this week’s “Art Moment,” the following keywords are highlighted: David Chipperfield, Carli Meine Williams, Scott Rothkopf, Whitney Museum of American Art, Berlin Museum of Prints and Drawings, Jean Smith, Fosun Art Center, Prada Mansion, OCAT Shanghai, Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Notre-Dame de Paris, Tate Liverpool, TEFAF Maastricht, DnA SHENZHEN Design and Art Fair, climate action, archaeological discoveries. High-frequency words this week: art awards, museums.
David Chipperfield wins the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Sir David Alan Chipperfield. Image source: Tom Welsh/The Pritzker Architecture Prize,Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH, a civic architect, urban planner, and activist, has won the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the highest honor in the international architecture community. Chipperfield was born in London, UK in 1953 and studied at Kingston School of Art and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He has been involved in over 100 architectural projects across Asia, Europe, and North America. According to a statement from the Pritzker Architecture Prize, “He is a prolific architect whose subtle and powerful design style is understated and elegant. His designs balance restraint and boldness, express reverence for history and culture, and demonstrate respect for existing buildings and the natural environment. In new construction, renovation, or restoration, he reimagines the functionality and practicality of architecture with concise and timeless modern design, responding to the climate crisis, promoting improved social relations, and revitalizing urban development.”
Carli Meine Williams wins Hasselblad Foundation International Photography Award 2023
Carrie Mae Weems, “Kitchen Table Series (Woman Standing Alone),” 1990. Image source: ©Carrie Mae Weems /Jack Shainman Gallery/Galerie Barbara Thumm
On March 8th, the Hasselblad Foundation announced that Carrie Mae Weems is the winner of the 2023 Hasselblad Foundation International Photography Award, making her the first Black female artist to receive the award. The Hasselblad International Photography Award is one of the highest honors awarded to living photographers. It was named after Swedish inventor and photographer Victor Hasselblad and awards a prize of 2 million Swedish kronor (approximately 1.29 million RMB) each year for “significant achievements” in the field of photography. Weems was born in 1953 in Portland, Oregon. Her photography combines a feminist perspective with discussions of race, expressing her concern for individuals and the experiences of African Americans. The Hasselblad Foundation stated in the award announcement that Weems “foresees and narrates the prominent issues of our time – the struggle for racial equality and human rights – with bold visual expression and moral power” and that “her artistic practice is essentially affirmative, poignant, and lyrical. She creates memorable and powerful images, confronting painful histories, institutional power, and social discrimination.” The award ceremony will be held on October 13th in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Hasselblad Center will hold an exhibition of Weems’ work.
After suffering a devastating fire in 2019, the reconstruction plan for Notre-Dame de Paris is being led by General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who has announced that the nave of the cathedral will reopen to visitors in December 2024, with religious services also resuming. French President Emmanuel Macron had promised to rebuild the Gothic monument within five years of the fire on April 15, 2019, but this statement was met with criticism due to the extent of the damage. In 2020, Georgelin had declared that Notre-Dame would reopen in April 2024, coinciding with the arrival of the Summer Olympics, but the reopening has been delayed due to various factors, including the impact of the pandemic. Although the cathedral remains closed, an exhibition called “Notre Dame de Paris: At the Heart of the Construction Site” opened to the public on March 7, located beneath the construction site in the center of the cathedral square. The exhibition reveals the history and current state of the restoration process, including a “visualization” of the destructive impact of the fire, displaying burnt roof timbers and melted decorations.
In other news, the Tate Liverpool art museum will be closed for a year for renovations.
Tate Liverpool and Ugo Rondinone’s Liverpool Mountain. Image source: Tate © Rob Battersby
Tate Liverpool will undergo a major renovation project costing £29.7 million, with £10 million of funding from the UK government’s Landmark Leveling Up Fund. The renovation project will begin on October 16th, although the exact duration of the closure has not been announced, it is expected to last until 2025. Tate Liverpool has stated that outdoor activities and projects will also be held during this period. Recently, the institution launched a “mobile museum” space – a truck filled with artworks that travels around with the aim of “giving everyone the right to enjoy art”. Before the closure, Tate Liverpool presented “JMW Turner with Lamin Fofana: Dark Waters”, which has been extended until September 24th this year. In addition, Tate Liverpool will also serve as a venue for the 12th Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art from June 10th to September 17th.
OCAT Shanghai Announces Closure
OCAT Shanghai announced its temporary closure on March 12th. As the first branch of OCAT outside of Shenzhen, OCAT Shanghai was officially established in 2012 in the former Bank of China warehouse. In 2019, it moved to the sunken courtyard on Qufu Road in Jing’an District. OCAT Shanghai is China’s first professional non-profit art institution dedicated to media art and architectural design. Since its establishment, it has been led by artist Zhang Peili as executive director. Through a series of professional work such as exhibitions, academic research, international exchanges, public education, publishing, and collection, OCAT Shanghai has always been committed to becoming a forward-looking and socially sensitive, active, interactive, and open art institution. The exhibition “Wang Yuyang: Liquid Sunshine, Cars Growing on Walls, and Everything in Between” closed on the same day as the announcement of the closure
Director of Whitney Museum of American Art
Left: Adam D. Weinberg, Right: Scott Rothkopf, 2021. Image source: Matthew Carasella
Adam D. Weinberg, the current director of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, will step down from his position and become the museum’s honorary director when his contract ends on October 31st this year. Scott Rothkopf, the senior deputy director and chief curator of the museum, will take over as director. Weinberg has been in charge of the Whitney Museum since 2003. Under his leadership, the museum’s staff has more than doubled, visitor numbers have tripled, and the donation fund has grown tenfold from $40 million to $400 million. Rothkopf, who will soon take over as director, joined the Whitney Museum in 2009 as a curator. In 2015, he was promoted to chief curator. During his tenure, he expanded the museum’s curatorial team and hired important exhibition workers such as Rujeko Hockley, the curator of the 2019 Whitney Biennial, and Marcela Guerrero, who specializes in Latinx art.
Presenting a Special Exhibition of Women Artists
On International Women’s Day (March 8th), the exhibition “Muse or Maestra? Women in the Italian Art World, 1400-1800” opened at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin. The exhibition features around 90 works by female artists from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, including creations by outstanding artists such as Rosalba Carriera and Artemisia Gentileschi. In addition to female artists, the exhibition also highlights women who supported their husbands and served as models in their paintings, female patrons who commissioned and supported female artists, and cultural heritage protectors and collectors who participated in the preservation and inheritance of artworks. The exhibition not only showcases the artistic works of these outstanding female artists, but also provides details and information about their lives, and explains how these women persisted in their own beliefs and had an impact on society in their time and today.
Jane Smith will serve as the curator for the exhibition, which will also be launched at the National Gallery of Art in the United States.
“Demonstration: The Art of Making Decisions”
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, an American Native artist and curator, will present an exhibition titled “The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans” at the National Gallery of Art in the United States from September 24, 2023, to January 15, 2024. As the first artist to curate an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Smith will showcase the works of approximately 50 living Native American artists, including sculptor and textile artist Marie Watt, painter and collage artist G. Peter Jemison, and painter Emmi Whitehorse, whose works are part of the National Gallery of Art’s permanent collection. After a brief closure, the exhibition will be on display at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut from April 18 to September 15, 2024.
“Demonstration: The Art of Making Decisions”
New Exhibitions at Shanghai Fosun Art Center
From March 30th to May 14th, Shanghai Fosun Art Center will present a group exhibition curated by Xu Zhen, titled “Demo: The Art of Making Decisions.” The exhibition features the creative practices of 15 artists, including Shi Zheng, Li Hanwei, Wang Ziquan, Pei Enen, Fang Yang, Fei Yining, Bian Yunxiang, Feng Zhixuan, Shan Liang, Tian Yi, Li Xindi, Andrea Muniáin, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Paul Chan, and Tala Madani. Through more than 20 works of video, installation, and mixed media, the exhibition showcases how the new generation of Chinese and international young artists combine their interests and research fields to reflect on technology in new contexts and challenges such as algorithms, artificial intelligence, and virtual worlds, and to create, invent, and test their own reactions and life experiences.
New Exhibition and Scientific Symposium at Prada Rong Zhai
From March 31st to May 21st, Prada Rong Zhai will present an exhibition and scientific symposium titled “Human Brain: Protecting the Brain – Neurodegenerative Disease Forum.” The “Protecting the Brain” forum was first held in Milan in the fall of 2022 and will now tour to Shanghai. The exhibition and symposium focus on common and incurable neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. Through video demonstrations, scientific texts, and visual materials, the exhibition explores the specific research processes of these diseases. In conjunction with the exhibition, a scientific conference will also be held at Prada Rong Zhai on April 20th, hosted by Giancarlo Comi and Professor Shi Fudong, Vice President of the General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University and Director of the Neuroimmunology Center at Beijing Tiantan Hospital.
New Exhibitions at Shanghai Galleries and Art Spaces
The solo exhibition “March 32nd” by Wu Chen, presented by Qiao Space and Mojinshi Space, will be on display from March 10th to July 16th. Curated by independent curator Yang Zi, the exhibition features 27 paintings created by the artist from 2014 to 2022. From March 10th to April 23rd, Fool Society will host the exhibition “Each in Their Place,” which invites nine artists, including Gao Lei, Gao Weigang, Li Muhua, Lin Qing, Ni Youyu, Shao Fan, Serkan Ozkaya, Xie Fan, and Zhou Yilun, to create works on the theme of “chairs” from different perspectives. From March 11th to April 17th, Antenna Space will present Wang Shuang’s solo exhibition “6E2F,” showcasing the artist’s constructed fictional world. From March 11th to April 30th, ShanghART Gallery will host Zhao Renhui’s solo exhibition “Mysterious Forest,” featuring the artist’s photography, video, and installation works created over the past few years. Artist Wen Jue’s debut solo exhibition “Super Body: Abundant Angle” will be on display at BANK Project Space from March 11th to May 6th, deconstructing and reconstructing classical mythology, personal fiction, and collective fantasy. From March 11th to May 14th, Dong Gallery will present “Gods of Microcosm,” curated by Sun Wenjie, featuring new works by six artists: Ma Linli, Qin Xiaoshi, Tian Qi, Xiang Kaiyang, Xiao Xu, and Zhao Qian.
Photo source: TEFAF Maastricht
The 36th European Fine Art and Antiques Fair (TEFAF Maastricht) will be held from March 11th to March 19th (with VIP preview dates on March 9th and March 10th) at the Maastricht Exhibition & Conference Centre. As one of the world’s top art, antiques, and design exhibitions, TEFAF Maastricht has 270 renowned dealers from about 20 countries or regions. This year’s exhibition will present visitors with a wide range of discussions, activities, and exhibition tours, including “TEFAF Talks” to establish and challenge concepts of art history, collecting, and the art market, “TEFAF Meet the Experts” for interactive conversations with internationally renowned exhibitors about the highlights of their exhibits, and “TEFAF Tours” to assist visitors in exploring specific themes.
DnA SHENZHEN Design and Art Fair
To be held in September this year
Photo source: DnA SHENZHEN Design and Art Fair
The second DnA SHENZHEN Design and Art Fair will be held from September 14th to 17th, 2023 at the Shenzhen Contemporary Art and Urban Planning Museum. Created by the team behind the ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair and the Beijing Contemporary Art Expo, the DnA SHENZHEN Design and Art Fair aims to showcase emerging design and art trends and explore cultural diversity and creativity. Shenzhen, the city of design nurtured by art, always provides people with modern spatial experiences. DnA SHENZHEN will join hands with galleries, art institutions, and design brands from around the world to explore the infinite possibilities of art.
On March 2nd, local time, Scottish environmental activist group “This is Rigged” smashed a glass case containing William Wallace’s sword at The National Wallace Monument in protest. Wallace was a Scottish knight and the main leader during the First War of Scottish Independence, and his legendary story inspired the 1995 movie “Brave Heart”. Alexander Cloudley and Katrielle Chan, the activists who smashed the glass case with a hammer, chisel, and two rocks, sprayed the words “This is Rigged” on the broken glass. The reason for this “protest action” is reportedly related to the issue of oil and gas extraction in Scotland. Members of the activist group hope that the government will stop issuing licenses for oil and gas production, retrain workers in related industries, and invest in renewable energy.
Archaeologists from Ain Shams University, led by former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Al-Damati, have discovered the remains of a temple and a small statue of a lion-headed figure on the east side of the Dendera Temple in the southern Egyptian city of Qena. The team suggests that the statue may depict the fourth emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius. The temple was made of limestone and consisted of two platforms. A stone slab with hieroglyphics and demotic script from the Roman era was found beneath the statue. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities released a statement on March 6th confirming the discovery. The article is copyrighted by THE ART NEWSPAPER, with credit to Mazzybox and Jilin Chen.
