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The Headlines
MISSING ARTIST FOUND DEAD. Lisson Gallery confirmed the passing of Sarah Cunningham on Tuesday, reports Alex Greenberger for ARTnews. The 31-year-old abstract painter was reported missing early on Saturday morning after she disappeared on Friday night. On November 4 police confirmed a body of a woman who was wearing clothes matching Cunningham’s description had been retrieved from railracks at Chalk Farm station. On Monday, police told reporters, “No further comment was available pending formal identification,” adding that the death was not thought to be suspicious. Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles had recently hosted a solo show of the artist’s paintings, titled Flight Paths. In a statement the gallery said, “Sarah was an incredibly talented, intelligent, and original artist who we have all called a friend. Her paintings are authentic, intuitive, and pure with the raw power to immediately foster connections with others – qualities reflected in Sarah’s own indomitable character.” In an interview with the gallery ahead of her show, Cunningham talked about her practice. “I imagine myself in flight when I am painting, scanning over the surface, searching for places to deep dive, touch down or lift off. The paintings are journeys between the space of my body and the space of the outside.”
HATE CRIME CHARGES FOR BROOKLYN MUSEUM EXEC’S VANDALIZED HOMES. Three people have been charged with hate crimes for vandalizing the homes of Brooklyn Museum executives, reports The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. The Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzales announced that Taylor Pelton, 28, Samuel Seligson, 32, and Gabriel Schubiner, 36, have been charged in connection with throwing red paint and leaving threats on the homes of members of the Brooklyn Museum’s board of directors, including a banner calling the Brooklyn Museum’s executive director Anne Pasternak a “White-Supremacist Zionist.” “Acts of vandalism that target individuals in their own homes are a deeply disturbing violation meant to intimidate, terrorize, and instill fear,” said Gonzales. The defendants used “threats and anti-Semitic graffiti based on their perceived heritage. These actions are not protests; they are hate crimes.”
The Digest
Sotheby’s head of digital art and NFTs, Michael Bouhanna, is being accused of insider trading, following his launch of $BAN (Comedian), a meme coin named after Maurizio Cattelan’s duct-taped banana Comedian, estimated to sell at auction for between $1 million and $1.5 million. The cryptocurrency quickly became a market sensation as news broke one trader made nearly $1 million from it in no time. However, the crypto-community alleges Bouhanna is the high-profiting trader, who unfairly benefited from his network at Sotheby’s to stoke attention and add value to the coin. He denies the allegations. [Artnet News]
In more crypto-related news, a Florida jury found co-creators of UndeadApes NFTs guilty of using a “rug pull” investment fraud and money laundering scheme. Berman Jerry Nowlin Jr, 21, known for the aliases “Repulse” and “Zayous,” faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, while Devin Alan Rhoden, 25, who went by “Denny” and “Deviinz” online, pleaded guilty to the same charges, and will have his hearing later this month. [The Art Newspaper]
Today the Liverpool Biennial has announced the theme and names of 30 artists and collectives participating in its 13th edition to take place June 7 to September 14, 2025, including Antonio Jose Guzman & Iva Jankovic, Dawit L. Petros, Elizabeth Price, and Kara Chin. Curated by Marie-Anne McQuay, its theme of “BEDROCK” is inspired by the people, places and values of Liverpool “that ground us.” [Liverpool Biennial]
The Art Institute of Chicago has opened its first Korean gallery featuring about 300 works across 2,000 years. Curator Yeonsoo Chee said she hopes people will understand that “there is such a beautiful long history of Korean art and culture that they can discover.” [Chicago Sun Times]
Artist Nora Mona Back has received the Saxony-Anhalt State Art Prize and will have an exhibition of her work next year at the Burg Galerie in the town of Halle. The artist born in 1988 is known for her large-format, abstract charcoal drawings. [dpa and Monopol Magazine]
The Kicker
ANXIOUS OVER THE WHITNEY’S BREUER BUILDING. Writer Justin Davidson for Curbed is worried about the Whitney’s Breuer Building renovation after news that Herzog & de Meuron is renovating it. “Cross your fingers,” his latest piece headlines, apparently because the Basel-based architects bring to mind “extreme designs,” like Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, or the “twisty brick tower of Tate Modern.” Preservationists may even feel “queasy,” about the Breuer building news, he says, noting the prospects are, “a little like getting Don DeLillo to tweak Wuthering Heights or Salvador Dali to update the Mona Lisa. You may get more than you asked for.” But ultimately, reason seems to have calmed Davidson’s nerves, and he looks to the firm’s successful “slow and surgical” renovation of the Park Avenue Armory for hope. Any major change, at least from the outside, is unlikely, and would need official approval – unlike the interior. “Here’s hoping that the next go-round is one of uncharacteristic modesty, honoring the craftsmanship of the past as well as fitting out the future with new gear,” he concludes.
