What We're Reading: 6/21/23
A Piece of Puerto Rico in Chicago
Edra Soto’s sculptures are lovely places to be inside: dappled light shines through walls made of ornate blocks or windows covered in decorative screens, casting shapely shadows that mingle with the free-flowing breeze. There might be a bench to sit on, a table to play dominoes at, or an architectural essay to read. If you’re really lucky, a slice of pineapple upside-down cake or some spam-velveeta-pimiento sandwiches will be on offer.
The mid-century Puerto Rican vibe of all that food and space is no accident. Soto, who has lived in Chicago since the late ’90s, was born in 1971 in San Juan and has for the past two decades been creating installations and events that draw on the culture of the place where she grew up and where her family still lives.
By Lori Waxman via Hyperallergic
Indiana AG files for dismissal of lawsuit against Valpo U over artwork sale
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is backing up Valparaiso University’s contention that a lawsuit to stop the sale of three of the Brauer Museum’s most valuable pieces of artwork to fund dorm renovations for first-year students should be dismissed because the plaintiffs who filed the suit don’t have standing to do so.
In a Tuesday filing, Rokita reiterates the university’s claim that Richard Brauer, the museum’s founding director and for whom the museum is named, and Philipp Brockington, a retired law professor from the university and one of the museum’s benefactors, cannot file the suit because they are not directly connected to the charitable trust, the Percy Sloan Fund, that provided the museum the artwork with the stipulation that proceeds from any sale of the works be reinvested in the museum and its collection.
Via Chicago Tribune
It’s said crime doesn’t pay, but Anna Delvey is giving it a really good go. She’s sold her story to Netflix, flogged her jail drawings, minted NFTs that offer holders exclusive access, and has now launched a podcast: The Anna Delvey Show with episodes recorded inside her East Village apartment where she remains under house arrest.
The show’s premise is shameless and bold, which is to be expected from someone who swindled socialites, glitzy hotels, and banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. “Now, you get to meet the real me,” she proclaims at the start of each episode. “I dive into the concept of rules and the people who make and break them,” she continues to an accompanying jingle seemingly appropriated from a low-rent infomercial.
Via Artnet