— Gagosian Goes Fishing: Ever keen on expanding, Larry Gagosian has partnered with sushi chef Masa Takayama to open restaurant Kappo Masa in the basement of his Madison Avenue location. It’s not the first time the gallerist has invested in refreshments: Moomba, a club he co-owned with the likes of Laurence Fishburne and Oliver Stone, had its heyday in the ’90s (according to Gagosian, it was Leonardo DiCaprio’s answer to Studio 54), but folded soon thereafter. This time, however, might be different. “Masa’s an artist,” Gagosian assured the Wall Street Journal. So expect some decidedly blue-chip yellowfin. [WSJ]
— Bloomberg Funds Museum Tech: Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is expanding his philanthropic organization’s grant program, Bloomberg Connects, to include an additional $17 million for digital advancements at cultural institutions across the globe. “Each of the institutions we’re supporting is using technology in different ways to engage, educate, and immerse their visitors — and to make their world-class resources available to a greater number of people, more of the time,” Bloomberg said. So far, grant recipients include the Brooklyn Museum and the American Museum of Natural History, as well as arts institutions such as MoMA, SFMoMA, the New York Botanical Garden, the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose app launched last week. [WSJ]
— Hofman Moves on to Rabbits: Not so long ago we reported that Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, who is best known for creating an enormous floating duck, had debuted a giant hippopotamus in the UK. Looks like the animal sculpture commissions keep on rolling in, because Hofman has just unveiled a gigantic white rabbit in Taiwan — and it’s already a hit. “The number has beaten our expectations, we expected up to 200,000 visits a day,” said an anonymous government official. [AFP]
— Man Ray Sale Hits Paris: The largest Man Ray sale in 20 years will feature 300 lots at Sotheby’s Paris this November. [Art Market Monitor]
— Today in Restoration News: Here’s a look at Stonehenge’s nearly finished $44 million revamp. Oh, and the Smithsonian’s George Washington portrait is also getting restored. [NYT, Reuters]
— On the Cultural Destruction in Syria: “The nation’s heritage has been used as a weapon to finance bloodshed, to settle sectarian scores and to erase entire chapters of the country’s past in the expectation of radically reshaping its future.” [WSJ]
— You probably know that Okwui Enwezor is curating next year’s Venice Biennale, but did you know that the international curator wears bespoke suits? [WSJ]
— New app Vango promises to transform the San Francisco art scene by demystifying the auction process. [DailyCal]
— The art market boom in India proves profitable for Dehli’s elite. [Newsweek]
ALSO ON ARTINFO
23 Questions for History-Inspired Artist Sam Durant
Opening Ceremony's One-Eyebrow-Raising One-Act Play at NYFW
Patrick Flores Picked to Curate the Philippines’ Venice Biennale Presentation
VIDEO: Public Art Takes Over Washington D.C. With 5x5 Project
Check our blog IN THE AIR for breaking news throughout the day.
