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The Headlines
A STATUE FIGHT IN HONG KONG. The University of Hong Kong has called for the removal of Pillar of Shame, a soaring sculpture by the artist Jens Galschiøt that memorializes those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, the Hong Kong Free Press reports. Citing “the latest risk assessment and legal advice,” the school made the demand to the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China , which installed the work in 1997. The group disbanded last month, amid a crackdown on free speech in Hong Kong; one former member called the university’s ultimatum “unreasonable.” Galschiøt told the HKFP that he had loaned the piece for permanent display, that it could take months to move, and that he will sue if it is destroyed. The school has set a deadline of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, at which point the work “will be deemed abandoned.” [HKFP]
A STRONG DAY FOR ARTICLES ABOUT ARTISTS. Painter Amoako Boafo spoke with T: The New York Times Magazine about a work he has in his current solo outing at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles. Ceramicist and writer Edmund de Waal—who has a new show at the Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris—shared some of his cultural highlights with the Guardian , which include the music of Max Richter and the art of Theaster Gates. And painter Ariana Papademetropoulos, who has an exhibition up at Jeffrey Deitch in L.A., participated in a mini-profile with the New York Times; she “plans to construct a modern-day nymphaeum in Florence, Italy,” Alex Hawgood reports.
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The Digest
Cuban artist and activist Tania Bruguera said that she has agreed to leave the country, taking a position as senior lecturer at Harvard University in exchange for the release of some political prisoners. “This may be one of the first times in the history of Cuba that an activist negotiates the release of another activist,” Bruguera told Radio Martí. [Hyperallergic]
A faded painting of Frédéric Chopin that was bought at a flea market in Lublin, Poland, in the 1990s has been dated back to the mid-19th century, when the composer was alive. (It is not known if it was painted from life.) The family that owns the work has restored it and is deciding what to do next. For now, it sits in a bank vault. [Associated Press]
Journalists working on the ongoing Pandora Papers investigations say that the Brussels-based Vedovi gallery has conducted some business through a company it registered in Hong Kong, making certain deals tax-free. The gallery has not been accused of wrongdoing. [The Brussels Times]
ARTnews Top 200 Collector Alice Walton, the creator of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, got the profile treatment from Laia Garcia-Furtado. “I think if we’ve done anything right, we’ve shown that, yes, all people love great art, and yes, everybody deserves access,” Walton said. [W Magazine]
The sneaker sales keep coming. Sotheby’s is offering a pair of Nike Air Ships (a predecessor of its vaunted Air Force Ones) that are believed to be the earliest known Nikes worn in a game by Michael Jordan. They carry an estimate of $1 million to $1.5 million, a record-high estimate for sneakers on the block. [Robb Report]
Kanye West paid a visit to Grace Farms, the 80-acre interdisciplinary art and nature center in New Canaan, Connecticut, that sports a building by SANAA. [Page Six]
The Kicker
POTENT POTABLES! If you in are London this week for Frieze and eager to imbibe some art-themed alcohol, LPM Restaurant & Bar is offering a menu of 12 cocktails inspired by the multi-hyphenate artist Jean Cocteau, the Drinks Business reports. One of the most elaborate of these elaborate-sounding drinks is the Trinity, “inspired by the Trinity ring that the jeweler Louis Cartier made for him, which was influenced by one of Jean’s dreams about space and the galaxy,” LPM’s bar manager, Tibor Krascsenics, said. “The ring has three interwoven shades of gold, which are reflected in the colors of the liquids used in the drink—Bacardi Ocho Rum, cacao, strawberry, Islay honey water, and bitters.” Sounds intense. If you would prefer art-themed food, a new cookbook takes Claude Monet as a jumping-off point, the South China Morning Post reports.
