– Kanye Holds Court in Basel: By now, Kanye West’s art-inflected first-interview-in-five-years New York Times interview is old news, but the rapper is not quite done going on art-fueled rants. Yesterday, after taking in the fare at Art Basel (apparently, he was on the hunt for Rick Owens furniture) he hosted an impromptu listening party — built "via Instagram and a few cryptic emails" — of his new album "Yeezus" at Design Miami/Basel. In the process, he also delivered a long speech (see below) about his art world inspirations as well as the current state of art. "What I want people to understand about sampling and producing is that it’s really similar to — and I know this is obvious what I’m going to say, because I’m a black guy so I’m gonna name the ‘most obvious artist in the world’ — Warhol, but it’s very similar to the way Warhol would appropriate a Campbell’s Soup can is the way I would sonically appropriate a Ray Charles sample or a Michael Jackson sample." [TDB]
– Bristol's Breakdancing Messiah: It's Banksy meets Bible studies: The UK's latest street art sensation is Bristol's golden mural depicting a scantily clad Jesus Christ upside down, mid-breakdance. The 28-foot image, painted by artist Cosmo Sarson, was inspired by a 2004 event in which Pope John Paul II seemed to enjoy a breakdancing performance held at the Vatican. "Breakdancing is all very well, but I still reckon Jesus walking on water edges it," quipped one local. [Independent]
– German Police Bust Art Forgery Ring: A Multimillion-pound international art forgery ring, that has produced 400 "previously unknown" fake paintings by Russian avant-garde artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich since 2005, has been busted by German police. Police claim that 100 officers raided businesses, homes and art galleries in Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Cologne, Israel, and Switzerland, and took two suspects into custody. [Guardian]
– Turrell Takeover: The New York Times's lengthy profile of James Turrell — set to practically take over the museum world with shows across the country — details the technical difficulties involved in installing the 70-year-old artist’s light pieces, the "dense and impenetrable vocabulary" the artist uses to describe his work, and Turrell’s "greatest work and lifelong fixation"— the Roden Crater. Well worth reading. [NYT]
– Artify.it Will Artify No More: The San Francisco-based startup Artify.it, which made a splash when it launched last June, has officially shut down, according to a company spokesperson. The start-up, which aspired to be the "Netflix of art," raised $800,000 from the likes of PayPal founder Peter Thiel. It offered art rentals to subscribers at $50 a month. "While reception to our concept has been very positive, only a portion of [potential customers] are in San Francisco area, so it becomes a challenge to find qualified leads," explained founder and CEO Lorenzo Thione. [Pando Daily]
– Pixel Art at Video Game Convention: Hidden away in Los Angeles’s annual E3 convention, a platform for launching big-budget video games, is an art exhibition called "Into the Pixel," now in its tenth year. "The thing is, these people are not computer geeks — they’re real artists," said Martin Rae, the president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "And this is some of the top-tier art on the planet." [NYT]
– Failed Thomas Hart Benton Heist in Kansas City: After breaking into the Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio early Wednesday, the thief of a $16,000 original sketch by the artist was quickly apprehended by Kansas City police when he was spotted pedaling away on a bicycle with two picture frames sticking out of his unzipped backpack. The intruder also took a framed poster of a Benton painting, $169 from the museum’s donation box and an old cat food tin used by Benton for art supplies. [Kansas City Star]
– Pink Bulldog Public Art Theft: A 200-pound statue of a pink bulldog wearing shoes and a water bottle strapped to its back, on display in West Hollywood as part of the city’s Art on the Outside public art program, has been reported missing. City officials report that the statue was last seen on June 9 in its original location. Artist William Sweetlove is offering a reward for its return. [CBS]
– Bâloise Prize Awarded at Art Basel: South African Artist Kemang Wa Lehulere and German artist Jenni Tischer have each been awarded an approximately $30,000 purse and named the winners of the Bâloise Prize at Art Basel. The annual award is given to artists showing in Art Basel’s young and emerging artists segment, called Statements. Works by the winning artists will be donated to the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna. [Press Release]
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Kanye West at Design Miami/Basel
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