Robert Leckie announced as new director of Spike Island Current curator and head of programmes at Gasworks, London, will take up his new position at Bristol based organisation later this year. He replaces Helen Legg who has become the new director of Tate Liverpool.
Leckie commented: “I am hugely excited about expanding upon Spike Island’s potential as an integrated centre for the production and presentation of art. I look forward to working strategically with colleagues and partners in Bristol and beyond to further Spike Island’s impact on a local, national and international scale.”
Andrew Cooper, chair of Spike Island, added: “We look forward to seeing his passion, commitment and inclusive approach towards developing and supporting artists, translated to Spike Island’s unique and thriving ecology.”
In his role at Gasworks, Leckie has curated the first UK solo exhibitions by a range of international artists including Monira Al Qadiri, Candice Lin, Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa and Kemang Wa Lehulere. He is also a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art.
Turkish artist and journalist Zehra Doğan smuggles thank you note to Banksy from prison Following her arrest at a café in July 2016, Doğan was sentenced to almost three years in prison for painting the destruction of a predominantly Kurdish town with Turkish flags flying above it. Banksy offered his support by painting a mural protesting the imprisonment on the corner of Houston Street and the Bowery in New York.
In the letter she explains the difficult conditions she is having to deal with. Doğan commented: “I am writing this illegal letter to you from a dungeon which has a history of bloody tortures. This letter is illegal because I have a ‘communications ban’ that forbids me from sending letters [and] making phone calls, so I’m writing and delivering this letter in clandestine ways.
“In a moment of pessimism, your support made me and my friends [enormously happy]. Far away from me and our people, it was the best reply to the crooked regime that can’t even tolerate a painting.”
Prince Charles’ art collection goes on display at Buckingham Palace Exhibition is part of its annual summer opening, with Prince Charles selecting 25 of his favourite art works, many of which are normally kept in his own homes. Another 75 pieces were chosen by the arts charities he supports.
It includes various portraits of the Royal Family, including paintings of the Queen, the Queen Mother, and a drawing of the Duke of Edinburgh. There are also two paintings of Prince Harry and Prince William that normally hang inside Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home.
Exhibition curator Vanessa Remington from the Royal Collection told Sky News that the exhibition highlights the prince’s support for emerging artists. She said: “I think when works by old masters, works by famous names of the past are put on display alongside very talented young artists working today who have been supported by these arts charities, it shows the importance of developing young artists who are the old masters of the future.”
Prince Charles’ three art charities are the Royal Drawing School, the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and the Kabul-based Turquoise Mountain, which trains traditional builders and artisans in Afghanistan.
The Box, Plymouth, announces Nigel Hurst as new head of contemporary arts Gallery director and CEO at Saatchi Gallery takes up role at new exhibition space in Plymouth, which is slated to open in 2020. The space will include seven large-scale permanent galleries, a public archive, media lab, and public gathering spaces.
Commenting on his appointment, Hurst said: “This role presents a wonderful opportunity to help build on Plymouth’s achievements to date in raising the profile of the city through this wonderful initiative, engaging new audiences, and developing the reputation of Plymouth as a cultural focal point, not only within the UK, but also as an important cultural place-maker with a growing international presence. I can’t wait to get started.”
Hurst, whose past credits include working on the infamous ‘Sensation’ exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in 1997, will start his new role in September.
House of Representatives reject proposal to slash funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities First proposed by Republican Glenn Grothman, a representative from Wisconsin’s sixth congressional district, it would have seen a reduction in funding by 15% in 2019 – the equivalent of $23m.
As Artforum reports, Paul E. Almeida, president of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, told Variety that the arts are “vital to our economy. As we have repeatedly told members of Congress, the economic pain of reduced federal arts funding will be felt most acutely in small towns and rural communities, far from the soundstages of Hollywood and bright lights of Broadway.”
President Trump has previously said he plans to eliminate both agencies, adding that reducing their budgets, which were increased to $153 million each by congress in March, is “the least we can do.”
Images:
1. Robert Leckie, new director of Spike Island
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