This week Cindy Sherman was in news—from W Magazine to The New York Times—for unlocking her Instagram account, making 593 posts available for public consumption. Artnet first noticed the switch last Wednesday, as the artist changed her handle from @misterfriedas_mom (in honor of her pet macaw) to @_cindysherman_, and began posting selfies using Snapchat-like filters that look a lot like the work she installs on gallery walls.
Also this week:
- The New York Times shared a first look at Julie Mehretu’s large-scale mural commissioned for the new SFMOMA.
- Nearly 80 members of the National Academy of Art have signed a letter defending artist Dana Schutz and her new exhibition at the ICA. The controversy surrounding the inclusion of Schutz’s painting Open Casket in the Whitney Biennial followed the artist to Boston as a group of critics demanded the museum pull the show, accusing the institution of profiting off of the recent controversy. Marina Abramovic, Rackstraw Downes, Ann Hamilton, Catherine Opie, Judy Pfaff, Arlene Shechet, Cindy Sherman, Jessica Stockholder, and Kara Walker were among the artists who signed the letter in support of Schutz.
- The Bass Museum has acquired Allora & Calzadilla’s petrol pump—the first time a major work by the US-Cuban artists has entered the collection of a Miami museum.
- And finally in awards this week, Laurie Anderson was honored at the 24th annual Watermill Center Summer Benefit, and Mark Bradford was named as one of LACMA’s Art + Film Gala honorees.
Events & exhibitions
New York City
- This is the last week to see Making Space: Women Artists in Postwar Abstraction featuring work by Elizabeth Murray. The exhibition closes this Sunday at MoMA. [Read a review in The Brooklyn Rail.]
Saratoga Springs, NY
- Skidmore College’s Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery is opening a new exhibition entitled Other Side: Art, Object, Self, examining the ways in which artists “use materials, found objects or even their own bodies to explore questions of national, cultural and self-identity.” Opening this Saturday, August 12 and on view through December 30, the exhibition features work by Yinka Shonibare MBE (RA), Tim Hawkinson, Sally Mann, Shahzia Sikander, Do Ho Suh, and Fred Wilson among others.
Chicago
- This is the last week to see Jessica Stockholder’s solo exhibition at the Smart Museum. Rose’s Inclination closes this Sunday, August 13.
Stillwater, OK
- The Oklahoma State University Museum of Art is opening an exhibition on Kiki Smith tomorrow, August 8. Featuring a selection of the artist’s drawings and prints alongside a number of sculptures, Kiki Smith and Paper: The Body, the Muse, and the Spirit will be on view through December 2.
Stanford, CA
- An exhibition of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits is closing next Monday, August 14 at Stanford University’s Anderson Collection.
Buenos Aires
- This is the last week to see William Kentridge’s exhibition at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Notes Towards a Model Opera and In Mockery of Progress features a video installation by the artist alongside a series of watercolors, and closes Sunday, August 13.
It’s impossible to include all the incredible exhibitions and art events happening this week in a single post. If there’s something you feel should have been included in today’s roundup, leave a comment below!