Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule May 27, 2025 visibility 24 link 12 artists, 1 gallery

Lease agreement secures Camden Art Centre’s future for 99 years

Camden Art Centre in north London has secured its future for the next 99 years by purchasing the lease on its building, following a £1.9m fundraising campaign. The campaign, launched quietly nine months ago, reached its target quickly thanks to contributions from artists, galleries, trusts, foundations, and individuals. The building, owned by the London Borough of Camden, was previously held on a peppercorn lease for 23 years. Artists including Antony Gormley, Chantal Joffe, Alvaro Barrington, and Kara Walker supported the acquisition fund, while director Martin Clark emphasized the urgency of the deal, which had a 2027 deadline.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 14 link 2 artists

The Newest Docent at This Historic Italian Palace Is a Robot

Palazzo Madama in Turin, Italy, has introduced a four-foot-tall robot named R1 as a docent for its Baroque collection. The robot, developed by the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) under Project Convince with €4 million in EU funding, guides visitors through the former royal apartments, narrating the history of the House of Savoy and detailing paintings, tapestries, and furniture. R1 can interact with visitors via LED eyes, answer questions, and autonomously navigate the museum's first floor, though it cannot climb stairs. It has been learning on the job since 2025, completing 30 tours in December 2025, and uses corrective software to relocalize itself if lost.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Oct 27, 2025 visibility 16 link 3 artists

pepperdine weisman museum director resigns

Andrea Gyorody has resigned as director of Pepperdine University’s Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art after the university removed or obscured artworks deemed “political” from the exhibition *Hold My Hand in Yours*, which she curated. The administration turned off Elana Mann’s video *Call to Arms 2015–2025* and covered an “Abolish ICE” patch in a collaborative sculpture by the collective Art Made Between Opposite Sides (AMBOS). Gyorody’s departure, effective October 24, was described by the university as mutual, and the exhibition was shuttered six months early after artists withdrew their work in protest.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Apr 9, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 19 link 6 artists

The artist who blocked an Ice projectile with her drawing board during protests

Artist Isabelle “Izzy” Brourman narrowly escaped serious injury while documenting protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis. While sketching the scene for her project Starring America News, a masked federal agent fired pepper balls at her at point-blank range; Brourman managed to block the projectile with her wooden drawing board, which was left with a jagged hole. The incident, captured on video by her collaborators Peter Hambrecht and Jeannette Berlin, occurred on the same day a nurse was killed by federal agents during the unrest.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Jan 9, 2026 visibility 13 link 5 artists

More artists killed in Ukraine as anniversary of full-scale Russian invasion approaches

Two Ukrainian artists—Lana Chornohorska, a 27-year-old left-wing journalist and artist known for her anarchist and LGBTQ+ activism, and Yurii Kostyshyn, a 48-year-old photographer and artist who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2015—have been killed on the frontlines while fighting for Ukraine. Additionally, Timofey Anufriev, a 21-year-old Russian-born philosophy student raised in Odesa and son of prominent contemporary artist Sergei Anufriev, was killed while serving with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. Their deaths come as the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion approaches next month.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Oct 10, 2025 visibility 14 link 7 artists

Pepperdine Administrators Shut Down Weisman Exhibition After Censoring Artwork

Pepperdine University administrators directed the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art to shut down a video installation by artist Elana Mann due to its political content, sparking a censorship controversy. After the censorship, over 20 artists in the exhibition "Hold My Hand in Yours" requested their works be removed in protest, leading the university to close the entire exhibition, which had been scheduled to run until March 29.

newspaper Pepperdine Graphic open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Oct 9, 2025 visibility 16 link 7 artists

California School Shutters Exhibition After Altering "Political" Art

Pepperdine University, a private Christian university in Malibu, abruptly closed the exhibition "Hold My Hand in Yours" at its Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art six months early, after at least a dozen artists requested to withdraw their works in protest. The school had removed or altered artworks it deemed "political," including Elana Mann's video "Call to Arms 2015-2025" (2025), which documented performances using megaphone-like sculptural instruments and included footage from a 2017 May Day March with chants supporting immigrants and racial justice. Another work by the group AMBOS, a collaborative sculpture featuring an embroidery reading "Save the Children" and "Abolish ICE," was altered by turning the fabric swatch to hide the text and removing a sign inviting visitor interaction. The school did not explain its decisions to the artists.

newspaper Hyperallergic open_in_new Read original