Turner Prize 2021 shortlist out, Kim K faces art smuggling case, and Hirst talks about Cherry Blossoms

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!

The Turner Prize 2021 shortlist is out

Tate Britain just unveiled the shortlist for the 2021 Turner Prize, one of the UK’s leading catalysts for radical art. And, for the first time in history, it is entirely comprised of artist collectives — including Array Collective, Black Obsidian Sound System, Cooking Sections, Gentle/Radical, and Project Art Works. The common thread in their work is social change and community collaborations, in an ode to the Covid-19 crisis. The exhibition will be held at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry from September 29, 2021 to January 12, 2022. Wallpaper details the fascinating creations of the nominees.

Kim Kardashian stuck in antique smuggling controversy

A Roman statue was “smuggled illegally” into the United States after the federal government filed a forfeiture claim for its return, Italian officials believe. The statue, identified as “Fragment of Myron Samian Athena — limestone — 1st-2nd century A.D”, was part of a shipment described in customs forms with 40 pieces valued at $745,882, with an importer listed as “Kim Kardashian dba [doing business as] Noel Roberts Trust”, the filing read. But a representative for Kardashian said she “never purchased this piece and this is the first that she has learned of its existence”. People has the scoop.

1561 portrait returns to London mansion

One of the most powerful women of 16th-century Europe will return to Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham, UK — albeit in portrait form. The monumental portrait of Catherine de’ Medici was acquired for the nation in lieu of tax. It is attributed to the workshop of François Clouet, an important portrait painter at the French court. How such an important painting for French history ended up in the UK is unclear. It is historically unique as the only surviving contemporaneous portrait of Catherine, Queen consort to King Henry II of France, and a renowned patron of the arts. The Guardian reveals more.

Damien Hirst on his Cherry Blossoms

Noted artist Damien Hirst’s first museum show in France, Cherry Blossoms, will run from July 6 this year to January 2, 2022, at Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain in Paris. The exhibition will feature full-colour versions of 107 pieces alongside a cherry-blossom cultural anthology and four essays by critics from around the world. The artist’s psychedelic orchards are “part beautiful storm, part emotional reckoning”, and he talks life, death and NFTs to The Financial Times.

British street artist destroys own mural to create crypto-artwork

Contemplating the giant image of two hands wearing rainbow-coloured gloves and joined in prayer, a mural he has just spray-painted, British street artist Nathan Murdoch then hurled a large dollop of white paint straight at it from an open tin. This destruction of the freshly created artwork is part of a project straddling the physical and virtual art worlds. The decision allows Murdoch to transfer the status of original work to the print and the NFT. He plans to donate the proceeds of the sales of the print and NFT to Britain’s National Health Service. Malay Mail reports the development.