A$AP Rocky Opens Art Basel Miami Show, Met President Named Fed Chair, and More

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by BLOUIN ARTINFO

Published: December 4, 2012

— A$AP Rocky Hosts Exhibition During Art Basel Miami Beach: On Thursday New York rap star A$AP Rocky will join the art world migration to Art Basel Miami Beach when he hosts the appropriately titled group exhibition "Fortune" — presented by Los Angeles's HVW8 Gallery and Adidas— at the Garret. The exhibition will feature a smattering of east and west coast artists, including A$AP collaborator Justin West, L.A.-based graphic designer Hassan Rahim, and New York street photographer 13th Witness. [Broward Palm Beach New Times]

— Met President Named Chair of Fed Board: The president of the Metropolitan Museum, Emily Rafferty, has been appointed to be the chair of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2013, replacing two-term chair and Columbia University president Lee Bollinger. Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director of the Freelancers Union, was also appointed to the Fed's New York panel. "It's very important that we realize people are working very much on gigs and projects and not only on traditional 40-hour workweek jobs," Horowitz said. [Dow Jones Newswire]

— Students Protesting Tuition Seize Cooper Union Building: Twelve students protesting the Cooper Union's plans to begin charging tuition fees for the first time in the art, architecture, and engineering university's 110-year history have barricaded themselves in the school's Cooper Union Foundation Building in New York's East Village. This spring, school president Jamshed Bharucha announced plans to begin charging graduate students tuition, and the protesting students want to ensure that fees are not extended to undergraduate courses in the future. The protesters have draped a large banner reading "FREE EDUCATION TO ALL" on the building's exterior. [NYT]

— Italian Police Retrieve Prized Copy of Lost Leonardo: Italy's carabinieri police, which specializes in art theft, has recovered a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's famous (and famously lost) "Battle of Anghiari" that went missing in 1939 and has since been stolen, sold, and re-stolen through a succession of owners in Switzerland, New York, and Japan — and now it's on view at Rome's Quirinal Palace, the residence of the Italian president. "The idea that an ancient copy of a lost artwork can be as important as the original is familiar to scholars," said art historian Salvatore Settis. "Most important original Greek bronze statues were lost when they were melted down and are known today only through marble copies done by admiring Romans centuries later." [BBC]

— Lost Renaissance Masterpiece Emerges in Uzbekistan: The Uzbek State Arts Museum has put on display what it says is a version of Paolo Veronese's "Lamentation of Christ" that the government of Uzbekistan bought in the 19th century, but was previously displayed as a work by an unnamed artist. Though Uzbek officials say that new tests have revealed the work to be that of Veronese, the Italian embassy in Tashkent is more cautious. "I think it is necessary in the future to have international expertise to verify the authenticity of the work," said Italian ambassador to Uzbekistan Riccardo Manara. [AFP]

— Creative Scotland Leader Leaves Amid Dispute: Andrew Dixon abdicated his position as the chief executive of Creative Scotland, the largest arts funding organization for the country. The resignation follows six turbulent months of criticism of his direction and leadership from the Scottish arts community, and was announced just before the board was to meet and report on the future of the organization. "I have been disappointed," Dixon said, "given my track record, not to gain the respect and support of some of the more established voices in Scottish culture and I hope that my resignation will clear the way for a new phase of collaboration between artists and Creative Scotland." [Guardian]

— David Cameron's Sheep Sketch Headed to Auction: A sketch by British prime minister David Cameron that features the text "Thinking of Ewe" under a drawing of a sheep will be sold in an online auction from December 6-16 to benefit the Cornwall eco-tourism destination, the Eden Project, alongside a work by the artist Kurt Jackson, lyrics from the musical "Evita" signed by composer Tim Rice, and other eclectic objects. Cameron's punny sketch seems a fitting offering for a utopian project that began as a drawing on a napkin. [Independent]

— Dallas Museum Returns Turkish Mosaic: In a ceremony on Monday, the Dallas Museum of Art returned a mosaic from 194 C.E. to Turkish officials. Known as the "Orpheus Mosaic," the artifact was purchased in 1999 at a public auction, but the museum found evidence earlier in the year that it was likely stolen from an archaeological site. [AP]

— Milwaukee Museum Hires Photo Curator: With the Milwaukee Art Museum planning a major expansion to its photography program, it has hired Lisa J. Sutcliffe to be its curator of photography — she currently works at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Sutcliffe replaces Lisa Hostetler, who departed for the Smithsonian American Art Museum in July. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

— Leading U.K. Arts Foundation to Shutter: Philanthropist Sir Peter Moores, the heir of the Littlewoods fortune and leader of the Peter Moores Foundation, has opted to close down the British arts funding organization in April 2014 — after giving tens of millions of pounds to groups over 50 years — for fear that money will not be allocated in a manner to his liking after his death. "You can't trust anyone to do what you would have wanted because if they're any good," Moores said, "and you wouldn't use someone who wasn't any good ... they'll have their own ideas." [Telegraph]

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Watch a video portrait of A$AP resident artist Justin West: