August 20, 2014: Art Forgers and eBay, Salman Rushdie Visits Olafur Eliasson’s “Riverbed,” and High Line Art’s Exciting New Commission

Notable News

The Hammer Museum announced its 2014 Mohn Award winners for the museum’s biennial, “Made in LA.” Conceptual sculptor and multimedia artist Alice Konitz won the largest award of $100,000. (via Artforum) 

A non-profit group called Artery, in collaboration with Mister Artsee (a truck-traveling mobile arts organization), has announced plans to give out free art supplies to pre-K classrooms in New York City. (via The Art Newspaper)

A man accused of defacing two Banksy pieces in Utah has been charged with felony mischief, which poses an interesting conundrum, seeing as the works themselves were technically also defacement. The charge faces a fine of up to $10,000 and 15 years. (via The Wall Street Journal) 

The next commission for the High Line Art’s billboard will be a photograph by Louise Lawler of a Sotheby’s auction, and will feature work by Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Frank Stella. (via The New York Times)

Good Reads

“Why eBay is an Art Forger’s Paradise” (via The Daily Beast)

While most art critical of the art world usually takes form in exhibitions or museum shows, Brecht Vandenbroucke’s institutional critique occurs in the comics he writes, the latest of which is called White Cube and satirizes the art world from the inside out. (via Hyperallergic)

Ed Winkleman, who runs both NYC’s Winkleman Gallery and the Moving Image art fair, discusses the explosion of art fairs and how they impact the collectors and artists. (via Art Market Monitor)

Best of Instagram

“We are delighted that Salman Rushdie paid us a visit yesterday. After giving an interview to #louisianachannel he went for a walk in Olafur Eliasson's Riverbed.” (via @louisianamuseum)

http://instagram.com/p/r7HtmEttLa/?modal=true

Artist of the Day

Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen was born on this day in 1910. Saarinen revolutionized neo-futurist architecture and his style undoubtedly had a strong influence on the aesthetics of Modernism and Postmodernism, extending to other mediums like cinema and science fiction. Among his numerous achievements are the TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport, St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, Yale University’s Ingalls Rink, and MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, as well as a number of monumental residential projects. All of this is remarkable considering he died at just age 51.

Want to catch up with the rest of this week’s news? Review past Daily Digests here.