Mimosa Echard wins France\’s top art award: Know what else is happening in the art world

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!

World Jewish Congress Vice President condemns Documenta

Maram Stern, the vice president of the World Jewish Congress, an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations, condemned this year’s edition of the Kassel art exhibition documenta, which ended in September after a drawn-out controversy over allegations of anti-Semitism. In an opinion piece published in the German outletRheinische Postand first reported by Monopol, Stern described the recently closed quinquennial exhibition as “one of the most serious cases of anti-Semitism in German post-war history.” The 15th edition of documenta became embroiled in controversy over accusations that the enterprise’s organizers had sanctioned anti-Semitic bias and imagery early this year. The allegations first circulated in January when the exhibition’s participating curators, ruangrupa, a Jakarta-based art collective was accused of being anti-Semitic for its ties to the pro-Palestine BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. Read more about the accusation on Art news.

Superblue closes its London space after a single show

Superblue, the experiential and immersive commercial art venture founded by Pace president Marc Glimcher, has ceased to operate in its London location as of earlier this year. It quietly closed after just one show by AA Murakami at its 6 Burlington Gardens space, which opened in October last year and ran until May. The space, which is owned by the adjoining Royal Academy of Arts (RA), is now being temporarily used as studios for Masters students at the RA Schools while the institution undergoes a renewal project, an RA spokesperson confirms. The 6 Burlington Gardens space was formerly used by Pace gallery as its sole London location until last year. Pace and Superblue, although both helmed by Glimcher, are run as separate organisations. Read more on Art newspaper.

Mimosa Echard wins France\’s top Art Prize

This year’s Marcel Duchamp Prize, France’s top art award, has gone to Mimosa Echard, whose multidisciplinary practice bridges the surreal, mechanical, and terrestrial in pursuit of plant and human symbiosis. The annual award carries a prize of €35,000 ($41,000) and is administered in partnership with the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Echard has a research-led practice that spans assemblage, painting, ceramics, and video games. Her projects often plunge the viewer into richly imaginative worlds where ecological concerns are indivisible from the effects of desire, hunger, and humor. Read more on Art news.