Happy February: News from Tate, V&A Dundee and more

newsletter 5: February 2019

Feb 15, 2019

thanking you all kindly for opening up the latest edition of my maxwell museums newsletter - rounding up all the fun and/or fascinating bits of #museumlyfe. if you like what you read here than please do share on social or email to a friend using the buttons below. let's spread the word about how great museums are!

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catch up: all the news

great news. Tate Modern has won a High Court case brought by it's neighbours over the gallery's viewing platform. The residents wanted to stop visitors being able to see into their luxury apartments. But they were told to buy curtains. Read more at BBC News.

the amazing Tracey Emin, hot on the heels of opening her major new exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey in London, has revealed plans to turn her Margate artist studio into a museum when she dies. Read more on the Art Newspaper.

the amazing George Michael will have his 200-strong art collection auctioned at Christie's in London, two years after his death. Works by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Marc Quinn and more will be sold to raise money for good causes. Read more on the Guardian.

yay! Banksy is back at the British Museum. Officially! We've acquired our first ever work by Banksy for the BM collection. It's a fake tenner, featuring the face of Princess Diana, that was handed out at the Reading Festival. As you do. Read more at the Guardian .

some royal sparkle came to V&A Dundee, as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge officially opened Scotland's first design museum. Kate wore tartan, which I thought was a nice touch. Read more on the Mirror.

Banksy, Di-faced tenner, 2004. © Banksy Courtesy of Pest Control Office. Now in the collection of the British Museum

gen up: in depth

new research conducted by Art Fund has demonstrated how regular visits to museums and galleries can have a positive affect on a person's wellbeing. So far, so unsurprising. But do we want these institutions to lean too heavily towards calm and comfort, or do we need to ensure there is space for complex emotions and sometimes even a "short, sharp shock". Ben Luke at the Art Newspaper is skeptical of museum visits becoming too much of a "happiness industry". Read more on the Art Newspaper.

'slow looking' is becoming a thing. Tate Modern is encouraging it at their Pierre Bonnard exhibition, the Natural History Museum is holding yoga sessions for people seeing their Wildlife Photography of the Year show (to get them in the 'mood' for looking at art since you ask). The BBC World Service's Newshour investigates the new trend. Listen on BBC World Service from 18:40

weigh up: review roundup

Lady Gaga's album cover designer has his own solo exhibition in Oxford apparently. Jokes. Jeff Koons at the Ashmolean opened last week and the reception has been, well, a bit hit and miss. The Times (£) gave it 4 stars, saying "he knows how to make you take notice". The Observer were more ho-hum with three ("shining fatuity"). But the biggest take-downs were The Sunday Times ("like Popeye giving the Reith Lectures") and the Guardian, calling it a show of "haemorrhoid horrors" (!). I'm looking forward to seeing the 'horrors' for myself.

Jeff Koons is at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, from 7 February until 9 June 2019.

get up: don't miss

SO.MANY.NEW.SHOWS! It's one of those bumper times of the year when every museum and gallery is opening something (see also September). So if you want to see them all, my advice is start going this weekend!. Key new openings include:

Tracey Emin's first London exhibition in four years A Fortnight of Tears is at White Cube Bermondsey. More at Vogue
Whitechapel are fusing art and architecture in Is This Tomorrow? More at Wallpaper*
It's all architecture and monuments at the Design Museum, with superstar architect David Adjaye: Making Memory. More at the Evening Standard
The "overlooked" artform of the humble postcard is examined at the British Museum, with works by Warhol, Yoko Ono and Jasper Johns, in The World Exists To Be Put On A Postcard: Artists’ Postcards from 1960 to Now. More at Design Week
It's Louise Bourgeois' turn to be in the spotlight for the latest stop on the ARTISTS ROOMS tours, with a new exhibition at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge. More at the Guardian

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