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The days of traditional fine art collecting may be behind us. Technology and the push for diversity are changing how individuals and museums acquire art and their approach to building collections. While the Covid-19 pandemic has escalated this shift, it was likely only a matter of time before this cultural reckoning would have occurred.

For many museums, art acquisitions are often limited to their local communities. The artworks of the high-profile donors living in their vicinity can often dictate the outlook of their collections. This select group of people is often on museums’ boards, acquiring committees, and making up the bulk of their generous donations or loans. Although usually not explicit, cultural institutions may feel accountable to donors’ tastes and preferences, which inevitably reflect the works hanging in museum galleries.

New models such as Museum Exchange, a for-profit service that identifies collection gaps at cultural institutions and connects collectors and museums nationally, could enable institutions to diversify artworks and broaden their perspective. In a conversation with Art News, former Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and Co-Founder of Museum Exchange, Michael Darling, explained how the organization could help institutions change their narratives.

“As we’re talking to collectors, we’ll focus on getting work by artists of color into the offering. It might be seeking out collectors that we already know are collecting in an inclusive way” or informing collectors about artists and works they may want to pay attention to. “I feel like we could spur that, especially bringing to them the perspective of museums that want to tell a different story.”

While museums face internal and external inquiries into the types of art they collect and whom they exhibit, individual art collecting is also evolving. Traditional auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s have taken significant hits due to the Covid pandemic. Despite their efforts to transition to a digital platform where buyers could click to bid, the Wall Street Journal reports that Christie’s sales dropped 22%, while Sotheby’s suffered a 12% drop in sales. Perhaps this is less a symptom of any economic hardship befalling the buyers these auction houses attract, but more foreshadowing that individuals are hungry for a different kind of interaction—for art that is reacting to the difficult times we face.

With art dealers and art fairs needing to go virtual, collectors have become more empowered. Individuals looking for contemporary art no longer need to walk into the white cube gallery or rely on the dealers for information on artists and their works. Customers can now peruse updated gallery websites or social media, conduct their research, and weigh their options across the digital marketplace. Buyers can also build direct relationships with artists, who, in turn, are becoming more assertive and independent with their branding. Whether it’s direct messaging an artist on Instagram or planning a virtual studio visit, the interactions between artists, dealers, and buyers are blurring.

Many museum committees and individual collectors now have in common the willingness to ask critical questions about what they are acquiring and from whom. Cultural institutions want to stay relevant and respond to their communities. The last thing they want is to appear insensitive and apathetic to the sociopolitical circumstances surrounding us.

New and established collectors want to buy artwork that resonates with them. It is worth supporting artists whose work reflects our struggles or memories rather than buying an artwork as an investment. No doubt the art world has suffered during the COVID-19 crisis, but we can be grateful for some positive outcomes, such as a more democratic and diverse approach to building collections.

In the throes of its third national lockdown, people across the UK are looking for ways to persevere through the pandemic. To get people creating while they remain at home, artist Antony Gormley has kicked off The Great Big Art Exhibition, an initiative launched by Firstsite, which is encouraging people everywhere and of all artistic backgrounds to take part.

The Great Big Art Exhibition kicked off last week with its first theme: animals. Gormley, the well-known sculptor of the Angel of the North, chose the theme and offered up some sculpting inspiration and tips for making your own artworks at home. The project has received support from other major artists, including Sonia Boyce – who will represent the UK in the next Venice Biennale and has selected portraits to be the exhibition’s second theme – and Anish Kapoor, as well as museums across the UK that are getting involved offering up inspiration from their own collections while their doors are closed.

“At a time when all the theatres and galleries are shut it is wonderful to somehow tap into the extraordinary reservoirs of creativity in the country and celebrate the diversity of range and thought and feelings that exist,” said Gormley. “We want to let the inner animal out. People will find their inner animal… it could be a whale or a dinosaur.”

The project, which hopes to create a “magical patchwork of creativity” and “unleash our national flair,” follows another initiative that swept through the UK throughout 2020 that saw rainbows pop up in front windows everywhere. The rainbows were created in solidarity with the NHS and saw the likes of Damien Hirst take part and the V&A began collecting homemade creations to document life during the pandemic. The Great Big Art Exhibition follows in a similar vein making your home your own creative and exhibition space.

Getting involved with the Great Big Art Exhibition is quite simple and the invitation is extended to everyone. A downloadable packet gets you started and includes a wealth of inspiration.

Whether you work with paints, prefer to sketch, or enjoy dabbling in video works, all mediums are fair game in the exhibition. Collaborative works made alongside your household or with friends are allowed, too, although Firstsite stresses the need to adhere to government COVID-19 guidelines on social distancing.

Every two weeks, a new theme will be suggested through Firstsite to keep the exhibition rotating.

If you’d like to be a part of the Great Big Art Exhibition, showcase your art at home or in your garden. Then, post a photo of your art on the social media platform of your choosing using #thegreatbigartexhibiton2021 hashtag and by tagging Firstsite. If you opt for an online viewing, Firstsite has asked artists to include their first name, the city or town that you live in, and a short description of your work.

Based in Colchester, Firstsite is an arts organization founded in 1994 that focuses on education. The Great Big Art Exhibition coincides the 10^th anniversary of Firstsite’s new building where the charity continues its outreach and presents a rotation of exhibitions.

The city of Montreal is no stranger to public sculptures. Home to an eclectic collection of statues that are dotted across the map of the entire city, it’s hard to pick a walking path through the downtown area or Old Montreal that doesn’t pass by at least one eye-catching sculpture. Recently, some new sculptures have been popping up along the city’s snowy streets, and their creator refers to them as “glorified littering.” These eerie and interesting new forms are the creations of an artist under the pseudonym Junko, and as their creator’s name implies, they are composed of junk.

Junko began to publicly share his pieces at the end of December 2020 via his Instagram account. His first published post was on December 27th and showed off what was apparently his first endeavour into repurposing garbage as sculpting materials. “Working on this sculpture gave me a sense of purpose,” Junko states on the post. “As well as opened my eyes to the potential of creating sculptures from junk.”

Much of Junko’s work appear to take animal-like forms as well as feeling distinctly mechanical; the artificial skeletons of some long forgotten creatures. Car parts, bike frames, toy pieces, and all sorts of detritus make for materials in the artist’s sculptures- and sometimes even real animal bones. And while some appear to be small enough to easily pick up, others stand easily over ten feet tall and loom ominously and beautifully in the environments they have been placed in.

With the mixture of natural forms and unnatural ingredients, Junko’s creations meld interestingly into all sorts of city spots. They seem as at home in a desolate stretch of snow and trees as they do beneath the concrete of an overpass. The reception to his sculptures has generally been positive, if a bit quizzical, but it is certainly not too out of place to find such creative public pieces in areas such as the Mile End in Montreal, where several of his creations reside.

While apparently not authorized public pieces, Junko’s works are all still standing currently. The artist states that his work can’t necessarily be classified as vandalism as they are essentially “an organized pile of trash.” The works clearly take a lot of work and gumption to install, but with the city of Montreal still in a lockdown due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, there is perhaps no better an opportunity to undertake such an endeavour.

Junko’s work has a decidedly Montreal feel to it. It’s experimental but understandable, strange but familiar, natural and urban. The creatures he has crafted seem at home in the city they lumber in. And with spring somewhere on the horizon, here’s hoping that more of these litter critters will be waking from hibernation soon.

Two extremely rare works by abstract expressionist pioneers, Arshile Gorky and Wassily Kandinsky, both from the collection of the same private European owner, will make their auction debut at Sotheby’s modern and contemporary art evening sale in London on March 25. The works are expected to bring in a collective £3.7 million, and they have not been publicly seen since the 1970’s when they were acquired by the current collector.

The Gorky work depicting a female figure was made between 1940 and 1941 as part of his “Garden in Sochi” series from the early 40’s. The series relates to the theme of Gorky’s childhood memories in his native country Armenia where the artist was inspired by memories of his father’s garden and farm. Two works from the series are in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection.

Gorky’s foray in the 1920’s into abstraction was largely influenced by modernists like Picasso and Kandinsky. By the 1940’s however, he was drawing inspiration from European Surrealists, like Joan Miró, André Masson, and Matta. According to Sotheby’s, high-quality works by Gorky rarely make it to auction. Good Afternoon, Mrs. Lincoln from the collection of Barney Ebsworth set the artist’s record at Christie’s New York in 2018, selling for $14 million. The Arshile Gorky Foundation is in the process of completing a major catalogue raisonné of the artist’s complete works.

Kandinsky on the other hand completed his work, Quatre (Square) in 1927, roughly around the same time the artist developed his theory of abstraction, and following his invitation to join the Bauhaus school in 1921. The work features a checkerboard-like form that is warped to appear as though it recedes into space.

The current owner acquired the Gorky from Galleria Galatea in Turin, Italy, in 1971, and the Kandinsky was bought in 1975 through Galerie Maeght in Paris. Before its purchase, the Gorky work was shown widely throughout the postwar period, first at the Whitney Museum in 1951, then at MoMA in 1962, Tate Modern in 1965, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969. The Kandinsky was featured at the Guggenheim Museum in 1963, the Fondation Maeght in 1966, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in 1971 before being acquired by its current owner.

The March 25 evening sale will also include works by Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet, Wols, and Jean Fautrier.

This week’s Art World Roundup looks at a record-setting series of Pokémon cards, a City of London decision to remove statues of two men tied to the transatlantic slave trade, and a Kara Walker sculpture that plays a major role in FKA twigs video. Also, the USPS is honouring Emilio Sánchez with a stamp series, Basel art spaces call on government to ease up on lockdown restrictions, an online auction of things you just won’t believe, and Boston police arrest man related to odd break in at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Gotta catch ’em all?

Were you among the millions of kids (and a lot of adults, too) who latched onto Pokémon? If so, you might be kicking yourself for having opened every pack, used the cards until they were bent, and eventually thrown away or sold them off after a set of unopened first-edition cards sold for $408,000. In total the record-setting set includes 396 original cards which are split into 36 booster packs containing 11 cards each. Released in 1999 by game publisher Wizards of the Coast, the cards set a world record when they sold at Heritage Auctions in Dallas as part of their “Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction” that included 16 lots of Pokémon memorabilia. In total, the Pokémon collectibles brought in a total of $1.3 million. The cards were in “gem mint” condition, the highest level of classification. “Due to their low print run, these box sets have become extremely scarce, especially those still in the original sealed state,” wrote the auction house. “It is considered the pinnacle of Pokémon box collecting.” During the bidding battle, the auctioneer, Brian Wiedman, stated that the “Pokémon craze” was “alive and well,” which for Pokémon lovers around the world, won’t come as a surprise.

City of London votes to remove two statues

Hardly after the ink has dried on new UK legislation that would make it more difficult to remove or relocate statues of problematic historical figures, the City of London motioned to remove two statues of British politicians with ties to the transatlantic slave trade. A task force brought together by the City of London Corporation, which oversees London’s historic city centre, was asked to assess the history and legacies of William Beckford and Sir John Cass. Both Beckford and Cass have statues at the Guildhall building and the Corporation has now voted to remove them. Beckford served as mayor of London twice, but heavily profited off of the plantations he owned in Jamaica. Cass was a member of Parliament in the 17^th century who also profited off of the transatlantic slave trade, particularly through ties to the Royal African Company. The City of London Corporation has voted to relocate the Beckford statue and replace it with a new work while the Cass statue would be returned to the Sir John Cass Foundation. The decision, though, could be slowed or halted altogether due to new UK laws that were recently introduced following the toppling of a statue of Edward Colston in the summer.

Kara Walker sculpture features in new music video

Artist Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus first debuted in 2019 as part of Tate Modern’s coveted Turbine Hall commission. Now, the large-scale artwork is featured front and centre in the music video for FKA twigs’ new song “Don’t Judge Me” made with Fred Again.. and Headie One. Fons Americanus is a towering memorial to the British slave trade and draws off of inspiration Walker gathered from the Victoria Memorial fountain in front of Buckingham Palace. The artwork, which is a working fountain, is created with a similar “evocative and unsettling power” that runs through Walker’s silhouette and film works. It references JMS Turner’s Slave Ship and Winslow Homer’s Gulf Stream while some have made connections between Walker’s depictions of sharks to those in works by Damien Hirst. The video features well-known Black British individuals, like footballer Mahlon Romeo, writer Reni Eddo-Lodge (who was the first Black author to top the UK bestseller list), and writer Benjamin Zephaniah. On including Walker’s work in the video, FKA twigs said in a tweet: “it was an honour to shoot with kara walkers fountain exploring the interconnection of black history between africa, america and europe.” For its prominent location in the Turbine Hall, it is estimated that millions of people have seen Walkers work, which will now be further seen through the music video. Fons Americanus will be on view through February 7^th, although Tate Modern is currently shuttered due to COVID-19 restrictions across London. After the fountain is removed, its materials will be recycled.

First Cuban American featured on USPS stamp series

The United States Postal Service has announced a new postage stamp series that will feature the work of painter Emilio Sánchez, making his artworks the first by a Cuban American to be featured on a US Forever stamp. Four works, Los Toldos (1973), Ty’s Place (1976), En el Souk (1972) and Untitled (Ventanita entreabierta) (1981), will each be included in the stamp series that commemorates the centennial of the artist’s birth. Born in 1921 in the city of Camagüey, Sánchez eventually moved to New York City, which would become his base, to begin studying art at the Art Students League. Sánchez is best known, although he remains largely under recognised, for his abstract and geometric takes on architecture having obviously found inspiration in the buildings that made up his environment in NYC. His palette often paid homage to his childhood in Cuba. His interest in color and fascination with light continued to grow as he traveled throughout the 1970s and 1980s, which comes across in the artworks included in the stamp series. Today, works by Sánchez are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Antonio Alcalá was the art director heading the series of stamps that will be released in panes of 20 stamps.

Art spaces call for an easing of lockdown

Basel arts venues are calling on the Swiss government to allow museums and other cultural venues to reopen citing their important role in the “mental well-being of all.” Signed by 18 museum directors, including Elena Filipovic of the Kunsthalle Basel, Roland Wetzel of the Basel Museum Tinguely, Josef Helfenstein of the Kunstmuseum Basel, Sam Keller of the Riehen Fondation Beyeler, and Heidi Naef of the Münchenstein Schaulager, the letter states that when properly managed, arts venues do not significantly threaten the health of its visitors. “The protection and hygiene concepts, which have been implemented since May 2020 and have been adapted to fit the latest requirements, have since been bolstered by experience,” reads the letter in part, according to ARTnews. Continuing: “Individual exhibition and museum visits do not generate an accumulation of visitors. […] Especially for the local population, the encounter with cultural creation is an important means of contact in anxiety-provoking times, without causing much social movement. […] Museums and exhibitions engage with natural and cultural history, with art and its reflection on the present, which make them a critical counterpart and partner to reflect on new situations and crises. If physical access is limited or blocked, education and culture become fundamentally stunted.” The museums calling for the end of lockdown are supported by the Basel Conference of Museum Directors. Switzerland is one of many European countries that have recently imposed more stringent lockdown measures as COVID-19 numbers have risen. This month, bars, museums, and other such public spaces were required to close once again, but it is hoped by the letter signees that museums and arts spaces will be included in the first phase of reopening.

Buy a little slice of odd in this online auction

From the strange to the downright uncomfortable, an auction of items from the Niagara Falls, Canada Guinness World Records Museum has it all. The online auction headed by Ripley’s Auctions in Indianapolis will run through February 12^th after the closure of the Niagara Falls branch of the franchise in September of last year. As you might expect, there’s a little bit of everything at the museum dedicated to record-setting events, people, and things and you could even bring them home just in time for Valentine’s Day. Included in the auction is a life-sized electric chair model that will even mock-electrocute a replica death row inmate for just a few tokens as well as models of the world’s “oldest man,” the “hungriest sword swallower,” and the “record firewalker.” Other lots include a world population counter, the world’s largest word search puzzle, a seven-foot chair, and the world’s tiniest Qur’an. The museum is closing its doors after 42 years of operation. The Niagara Falls museum was opened with a ceremony attended by Sandy Allen, the world’s tallest woman, and a performance by Henry LaMothe who dived from a height of 40 feet into only 15 inches of water. During its time, a number of people performed their skills and others attempted to get their name on a Guinness World Record certificate.

Arrest made after odd break-in attempt at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

A 48-year-old man has been arrested in connection to an unusual attempted break-in at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum last weekend. Robert Viens has reportedly been arrested and charged for having smashed a glass door at the museum at around 4:30am on Saturday morning. What made the breach unusual is that Viens made no attempt to enter the museum, a spokesperson for the museum said. Instead, they smashed the window with a “hard object” then threw something into the museum before fleeing on a bicycle. Due to the nature of the break-in, the bomb squad responded to the scene but the thrown object, thought to be a potential explosive, ended up being a painting wrapped up in a blanket. The blanket-wrapped painting had been stolen from a Boston art gallery, Arden Gallery, just over a week before it was abandoned at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Viens was charged at a Roxbury District Court with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, wanton destruction of property, and possession, transportation or use of a hoax device or substance. The museum is no stranger to notorious heists and in the 1990s, the biggest art heist in US history took place there when thieves made off with around $500 million in paintings.