What We're Reading: 4/11/22
The description “a regional fair” can seem at best dismissive and at worst derogatory. Expo Chicago, with its wealth of international programming that sees galleries, curators, institutional directors and attendees from across the globe descend upon the Jewel of the Midwest, reimagines what it means to be regional.
Instead of exemplifying an exclusive definition of the word “regional”, this year's Expo Chicago fair is very much inclusive and expansive. This fact is made clear by the fair’s Exposure section, which was curated Humberto Moro, the recently named director of program for the Dia Art Foundation. In organising the section, Moro focused his curatorial lens on Latin American galleries and artists that could, in turn, underscore issues like labour rights, social and environmental justice, and the influence of technology on the world, all of which should be considered global concerns.
Via the Art Newspaper
Frida Kahlo’s Personal Collection of Photos Comes to Pilsen
After touring worldwide for over 10 years and reaching nearly 1 million visitors, Frida Kahlo’s personal collection of photos has made it to Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.
The personal photo collection was rediscovered in the influential Mexican-born artist’s home known as La Casa Azul. When Kahlo died in 1954 in her Mexico City home, her husband, Diego Rivera, locked some of her artworks and objects in a room. Fifty years later, that room was unlocked, and hundreds of unpublished photographs were discovered.
Via WTTW
Four and a half years ago, a mechanic pulled a trove of unidentified artworks from a Connecticut Dumpster, hoping to use them for Halloween decorations. But after some amateur sleuthing, he learned the pieces belonged to a once-prominent New York artist—and they may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The artworks, it turns out, were made by Francis Hines, a late, largely-forgotten Abstract Expressionist who made a name for himself wrapping canvases, sculptures, and even entire buildings in fabric before departing the New York art world for a quiet life in Connecticut.
Via Artnet
New York Lets ‘Fearless Girl’ Hold Her Ground, for Now
The popular “Fearless Girl” sculpture will continue to stand outside the New York Stock Exchange after city officials voted on Monday to extend the sculpture’s temporary permit for 11 months. This decision comes with the stipulation that the city, the owner of the sculpture and the artist return in six months with a process for deciding the artwork’s ultimate fate.
Via NYT
Key image: Hilary Swift for The New York Times