21/04/2022 Art Industry News: NFTs Barely Bring a Trickle of Profit to Galleries, a Report Finds + Other Stories

Plus, Hans Ulrich Obrist hosts an early morning club in Venice and Tracey Emin gets personal on Instagram.

Images of CryptoPunks displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square on May 12, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)Images of CryptoPunks displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square on May 12, 2021 in New York City. Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images.

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to know on this Thursday, April 21.

Paintings Stranded in Korea as Sanctions Stall Flights –Artworks on loan from Russia to institutions in Seoul are stuck in South Korea as a result of Western sanctions that are limiting flights out of the country. The exhibition “Kandinsky, Malevich, and the Russian Avant-Garde: Revolutionary Art” at the Sejong Museum of Art featured around 75 works, all on loan from at least four Russian institutions, including the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum and the Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts. Earlier this week, Russia’s ambassador to France announced that travel disruption could “complicate the return” of art. (The Art Newspaper)

Tracey Emin Shares Highly Personal Pic on Instagram –YBA artist Tracey Emin is getting candid about her changed body since undergoing aggressive treatment for stomach cancer. In an Instagram post, the artist shared an image of her stoma—an opening in the abdomen that connects to the urinary system, and is diverted out of the body through a urostomy bag. “This is my stoma. Most people have never seen one. It’s something I’m supposed to hide forever,” she wrote. “My body will never be the same.” (Independent)

There Are Fewer Galleries Selling NFTs Than We Thought –The NFT market may havesurpassed $40 billionin 2021, but only 11 percent of art galleries sold NFTS in the past year, according to the 2022 Artsy Gallery Insights Report. Some 67 percent of the 870 gallerists surveyed said their clients had not asked about them. Just about half of those that did sell NFTs said the total sales value was $5,000 or less, while another 20 percent said it accounted for $5,000 to $14,999. Just five percent managed to rake in more than $250,000 in NFTs last year. (Financial Times)

Artwork Deemed ‘Impossible’ to Show at Venice Biennale –A print by the late Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayon,La consagración(1991), which was selected to appear in the biennale’s main exhibition, “The Milk of Dreams,” did not make it to Venice after all. The work is housed at the Ludwig Museum at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, but because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has become “impossible to show the work.” An image of it, however, is now on display at where the original would have been installed. (TAN)

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Hans Ulrich Obrist’s ‘Brutally’ Early Morning Club Opens in Venice –Nearly 40 people took up the challenge to rise early on the third preview day of Venice Biennale to attend the Serpentine Gallery director’s “brutally early” at 7 a.m. salon. The club was initially founded in 2006 to bring writers and artists together for conversations before they start their day. This was the first time that the group, held an event in Venice. The focus of the discussion were the themes of “Dixit Algorizmi, the Garden of Knowledge,” the inaugural Uzbekistan pavilion. (Press release)

Christie’s New York Will Donate Proceeds to amfAR –Proceeds from the sale of 14 works featured in the auction house’s upcoming post-war and contemporary art day sale on May 13 will go to amfAR’s research initiative to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The works, including LeeLee Kimmel’sNo. 8($60,000-$80,000) and Alex Eagleton’sCandle as a portrait : ciao($18,000-$25,000), have been donated by the artists. (Press release)

Hong Kong’s Edouard Malingue Gallery Changes Name –The Hong Kong gallery founded by dealer Edouard Malingue has been renamed Kiang Malingue in honor of Malingue’s partner, Lorraine Kiang, and to celebrate their more than decade-long relationship. The announcement came ahead of the gallery’s participation in Art Basel Hong Kong in May. (Instagram)

FOR ARTS SAKE

A Wales Town’s Banksy Mural Was Replaced by One of… Michael Sheen? –Months after Wales lost its first and only Banksy mural,Season’s Greetings, which wasremoved and shippedto England, a mural of Welsh actor Michael Sheen has appeared in the town of Port Talbot, where the Banksy work used to be. It is said to be the first of several murals by graffiti artist HazardOne. (BBC,Twitter)

Arts

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/victoria-gitman-interview-2101531

Interesting NFTs
David vs the Virus
"An ode to the year everything changed" - Frank Wilder The story of the underdog is a reoccurring theme throughout history, and perhaps the most famous example is that of David vs Goliath. A tale about perseverance, in which David takes on and defeats the giant warrior using only his smarts and a stone. Famously depicted by Michelangelo's David statue. Fast forward to the present day in 2020 and we as humanity are faced with our own Goliath. An uncontrollable pandemic spread around the globe. Now with the entire planet being affected by this we understand the gravity of the situation at hand, whether it be a virus we’re fighting or other forces at play, there is indeed an energy out to shift the balance of the Universe… Regardless of our differences, in this moment must unite as one. With diligence, trust and belief we as a whole can come together to triumph against "the enemy". Stay vigilant my friends. Original score created by the one and only Phoenix Wilder.
taNNa
conceptual art. drawing and digitally processed.
CryptoKitties
Hey cutie! I'm Kitty #169179. I'm often referred to as the Lisa Simpson of the group. Sometimes I daydream of a life full of grooming, ice cream, and watching reality tv. Let's pawty!
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The Harvest
An anthropomorphic figure stands, wide eyed, staring at the viewer; its body masculine, muscular, and humanoid. Its “mind” dissociates into a conglomerate of structures resembling feathers, grain, teeth–as well as a radial flower “node”, casting linear rays throughout the composition. To his left, a vat of bodies gesture and writhe in a kind of amniotic soup, attended by a video game robot. The bot's red display reads “uWu”. Behind the robot and filling the left side of the composition is an archaic figure composed of a variety of vintage objects and symbols. Among them are a hardbound book with ancient cuneiform scripts, indicating barley, beer, bread, ox, house, and sky, behind which is a grimacing, salivating jagged toothed maw; and an old Commodore floppy drive. The figure’s head tilts toward an illuminated crescent moon, suggesting the Egyptian Sacred Bull. The archaic figure is composed of a variety of mutating cells, which shift in color, and pattern; eventually breaking free into an ephemeral broadcast of bubbles which move across the background. The work came into being against a psychological introspection, which included associations to pop culture such as alien abduction and pod people, as well as quite a bit of reflection on grains as a symbol of civilization, agriculture, sustenance, life, and imbibing (mainly whiskies).