Introduction

Several prominent museums in the United States, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Rubin Museum of Art, and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, faced disruptions this week following a cyber-attack on Gallery Systems, a third-party tech company providing assistance with internal and customer-facing management systems for museums. Gallery Systems reported a security breach on December 28, resulting in the encryption of crucial computers. As a precaution, several systems were taken offline, rendering collections inaccessible remotely. Curators, returning from holidays, discovered a lack of access to sensitive information such as donor names, loan agreements, and artwork locations due to the unavailability of TMS, one of Gallery Systems’ management tools. Notably, major clients like the Met and the Whitney, hosting their own databases, remained unaffected. The cyber-breach’s responsible party remains unidentified.

AI Company Midjourney Leaks List of 16,000 Artists

A list containing around 16,000 artists has surfaced, revealing that their works were allegedly fed into online image form for generative AI company Midjourney. Specialising in creating artworks based on user-supplied prompts, Midjourney joins the ranks of AI tools like Stable Diffusion and Open AI’s DALL-E. The leaked data includes works from artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Damien Hirst, and Anish Kapoor. Last year, several artists attempted to bring a case against Midjourney and Stability AI, but a California court dismissed it. The recently leaked list is part of an amendment filed by the plaintiffs in November.

Suffolk Museums Face Closure as County Council Withdraws Funding

Museums and galleries in Suffolk are at risk of closure and significant job losses after the County Council announced plans to withdraw all arts funding from 2025. Despite a yearly cut of £500,000, the council is extending £528,000 in Covid-19 recovery money this year to aid the financial transition for affected organisations. Local museums, including Gainsborough’s House, the Long Shop Museum, and the Food Museum, rely partially on grant funding from the council. The Association for Suffolk Museums, representing 60 museums in the county, also receives council funding. The decision, driven by a need to save £65 million over the next two years, raises concerns about the future of cultural institutions in the region.

Poland Withdraws Venice Biennale Submission Amid Controversy

Poland’s culture ministry has withdrawn the country’s first-choice submission for the Venice Biennale after accusations of nationalist sentiments in artist Ignacy Czwartos’s planned exhibition. Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, appointed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, intervened, leading to the removal of Czwartos’s works. The Ukrainian collective Open Group will now represent Poland with its multimedia exhibition, ‘Repeat After Me.’ Czwartos’s proposed works, including a painting titled Nord Stream 2, depicting Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin connected by a swastika, were part of an exhibition named ‘Polish Practice in Tragedy: Between Germany and Russia.’

Frick Director Ian Wardropper to Retire After 14 Years

Ian Wardropper, director of the Frick Collection for 14 years, will retire next year. Wardropper oversaw the museum’s transformation, including the overhaul of its 5th Avenue mansion and successful fundraising efforts. Notable for digital outreach initiatives during the pandemic, Wardropper led the museum through a period of growth, attracting nearly 300,000 visitors annually before the pandemic. The board will search for Wardropper’s successor, with Wardropper expressing a desire for a candidate from the museum’s current staff, highlighting deputy director and chief curator Xavier Salomon as a potential candidate.

Performance Artist Pope.L Passes Away, Leaving a Legacy of Provocative Art

Performance artist Pope.L, known for his painting, photography, teaching, and theatre directing, passed away on December 23. Recently attending the opening of his exhibition ‘Hospital’ at the South London Gallery in November, Pope.L was renowned for provocative performances that commented on capitalism, consumerism, and the condition of Black people in the United States. His famous acts included eating pages of the Wall Street Journal and crawling down busy New York streets. Pope.L’s passing marks the end of an era for a multifaceted artist who left an indelible mark on the art world.

Feature Image: Suffolk County Historical Society Museum| Courtesy: ILoveNY.com

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