Ai Weiwei in The Sand Storm, directed by Jason Wishnow.
Ai Weiwei stars in a science fiction film, El Anatsui creates new work for the Royal Academy, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Mary Reid Kelley receive Guggenheim fellowships, and more in this week’s roundup.
- Ai Weiwei: According to What?—the first North American survey of Ai Weiwei’s work—opens at the Brooklyn Museum on April 18. This is the first large-scale museum exhibition of Ai’s work in New York and the final presentation on the exhibition’s national tour. The Brooklyn Museum installation will include several major works not seen in previous venues. On April 19, the museum will screen a series of films about Ai, including Art21’s segment on the artist for Art in the Twenty-First Century, and our new release, Phil Tinari on Ai Weiwei. The exhibition closes August 10.
- Ai Weiwei’s latest project, a science fiction film called The Sand Storm, made waves last week in the form of a Kickstarter campaign. It has already exceeded its funding goal two fold. Billed as a “dystopian science fiction film set in the not-too-distant future,” Ai will play the role of a water smuggler living in a world that is quickly drying up.
- Robert Mangold has new works up at Pace Gallery (New York, NY). In a recent interview with Alex Bacon of the Brooklyn Rail, Mangold discussed his work and career. “At different points in my work I have played with the idea that a part is not only a part,” said Mangold, “but a complete thing, even if there is an implied continuation.” Read the interview here.
- El Anatsui is the first artist from Africa to be appointed an Honorary Royal Academician by the Royal Academy (London, UK). For the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition, opening in June, the artist will adorn the façade of Burlington House with one of the largest wall-hanging sculptures he has ever created. (Anatsui’s traveling survey exhibition, Gravity and Grace, is currently on view at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach, Florida.)
- Tim Hawkinson’s sculpture Scout (2006-2007) is included in Initial Public Offering, a permanent collection exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art (San Jose, CA). The works on view “exemplify the SJMA’s surprising and playful take on the art of our time.” Closes August 24.
- LaToya Ruby Frazier and Mary Reid Kelley are among the recipients of 2014 Guggenheim fellowships. Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the artists were chosen from a group of almost 3,000 applicants.
- Julie Mehretu will speak at the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA) on April 21 as part of the series “Conversations with Contemporary Artists.” Mehretu will discuss her work and career, including Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts): Part II (2012), which the High Museum recently acquired.
- Alfredo Jaar will lecture at the San Francisco Art Institute (San Francisco, CA) on April 25. RSVP online.
