— Artists Threaten to Boycott Biennale of Sydney: Thursday, just weeks before the Biennale of Sydney opens its doors, 35 artists (of the 90 taking part in the Biennale) dispatched a letter to the board conveying their moral abhorrence of the Sydney-based company Transfield, which is one of the event’s major sponsors. The company makes money off of the Australian government’s disputed policy of forcing asylum seekers into mandatory detention. Artists, including Turner Prize-winning Martin Boyce, threatened to boycott the event, or embed statements of protest in their work, if the Biennale didn’t drop the sponsor. [TAN]
— Cleaner Accidentally Throws Out a $13K Art Work: Mistaking a Paul Branca installation made of newspaper, cardboard, and cookie crumbs for trash, a cleaner at a gallery in southern Italy tossed out part of the work, which was valued at more than $13,000. Lorenzo Roca, spokesperson for the Chiarissima, said the woman “was just doing her job” when she disposed of the piece, thinking it was left behind by those setting up for the show, which opened Wednesday. [Jezebel]
— Low-Stakes Fine Art Auction Houses Offer Something for the Masses: Proving that Sotheby’s and Christie’s aren’t the only auction houses where bidding can be fervent, Hutter Auction Galleries in Midtown Manhattan and Capo Auction in Long Island City are two auction houses that offer works for a bargain. Most works sell for a couple hundred dollars or a few thousand, but rarely more than $50,000. “Here anyone can walk in,” said Capo co-owner Larry Berman. “What we have here is for the masses. Most people feel uncomfortable going to Christie’s or Sotheby’s. We are trying to lure them into coming into Queens.” [NYT]
— Battle Over Pissarro Work at Oklahoma University: French woman Leone Meyer filed a lawsuit against the University of Oklahoma seeking the return of a 128-year-old French Impressionist painting, Camille Pissarro’s “Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep,” which she claims was looted by Nazis during WWII and belongs to her family. Now, Republican representative for Oklahoma City Paul Wesselhoft is stepping in and sponsoring a resolution demanding the return of the painting. “It is the right and moral thing to do for OU to return this painting to the Jewish family from which the Nazis plundered it,” said Wesselhoft. “Keeping this painting is an embarrassment. I'm ashamed that it’s in the museum.” [Reuters]
— Met Roof to Get a Dan Graham-Designed Steel-and-Glass Pavilion: Beginning April 29, visitors to the Met can see a site-specific work designed by American conceptual artist Dan Graham, known mostly for his glass pavilion creations and architectural environments. The work, done in collaboration with Swiss landscape architect Günther Vogt, will incorporate hedgerows in dialogue with the Met roof’s Central Park views. [NYT]
— In light of news of the Corcoran Gallery ceding control of its art collection and college to the National Gallery of Art and George Washington University, here is a timeline of the Corcoran’s troubled history. [Washington Post]
— James Franco weighs in on Shia LeBeouf’s “erratic Behavior” in an LA Art Gallery. [NYT]
— In response to Freight + Volume’s new show “Loren Munk: You Are Here,” here’s a look at some nifty flow-chart art. [ARTnews]
— Oscar Murillo’s first solo show in LA, per one reviewer, apparently “wraps Warhol’s unsentimental vision of art’s place in life in the kind of naivete that would make him cringe.” [LA Times]
— Remember those cars that got damaged when they fell into a sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum? The museum plans to exhibit them. [Wate.com]
ALSO ON ARTINFO
FIAC to Stage Los Angeles Edition in 2015
Hands-On: Molly Lowe’s All-Too-Human Creations
VIDEO: ARCOmadrid 2014 — Increasingly International
Michael Robinson's "The Dark, Krystal" in Chicago
Check our blog IN THE AIR for breaking news throughout the day.
