This Week’s 10 Most Important Art News Stories

01

This week, an initial list of the 71 artists who will be exhibiting at next year’s Sydney Biennale was revealed by the fair’s artistic director, Stephanie Rosenthal. The 20th edition of the Biennale, “The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed,” will feature work by Camille Henrot, Lee Bul, and Korakrit Arunanondchai, among others, at seven venues around the city, which the curators will imagine as embassies. (via Artforum)

02

Continuing their destruction of the landmark ruins in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, Islamic State militants have executed three people by tying them to pillars before destroying the structures with explosives. The identities of the three victims are still unknown. (via the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

03

Cadmium-based pigments (including bright reds and vibrant yellows) will remain available in the E.U. after European politicians announced on Wednesday that they would not enforce a ban of the material. Consideration of a ban was prompted by concern that cadmium pigment, once washed from brushes, could pollute waterways and agricultural land. According to an E.U. advisory board, however, the cadmium compounds used by artists are not hazardous. (via The Art Newspaper)

04

The list of galleries exhibiting at Art Basel in Hong Kong next year has been announced. The fourth edition of the fair will feature 239 galleries from 35 countries—28 of which will be showing for the first time. (via artnet News)

05

Heritage Auctions grossed $3.85 million at its New York contemporary evening sale on Wednesday. The auction saw 21 of 30 lots sold, Robert Motherwell’s Untitled (Ochre with Black Line) (1972-73/1974) taking the top slot with a sale price of $965,000. (via Art Market Monitor)

06

Douglas M. Woodham has been appointed president of the collections management and storage company UOVO. Woodham is moving from Christie’s Americas, where he served as president, setting record sales and profits during his tenure. (via ARTnews)

07

The British Museum has received a government grant of £3 million (roughly $4.5 million) to create a program to train Iraqi curators, archaeologists, and conservation technicians in the restoration of ancient sites. While it is impossible to undo the Islamic State’s destruction of sites in Palmyra and elsewhere, the program will aid future conservation and restoration efforts. (via The Guardian)

08

Online auction house Paddle8 announced this week that has raised $34 million for its Series C funding round. David Zwirner will be joining the startup’s board. (via the New York Times)

09

Russian dealer Marat Guelman was evicted from his gallery space at Winzavod art center in Moscow after hosting a charity auction for 12 political prisoners. The property’s landlords claim that Guelman both failed to pay a month of rent and that he planned on opening an emigration center in the space, allegations which Guelman denies. (via The Moscow Times)

10

Russian-American philanthropist and collector Dasha Zhukova, also the founder of Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, has donated $1 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT). The gift will go towards establishing a Distinguished Visiting Artist position at the university’s Center for Art, Science and Technology. (via The Art Newspaper)

Make your weekend plans with our preview of exhibitions on view in cities across the globe.