Artists Fear Possible TikTok Ban, Pro-Palestine Message Revealed at Whitney Biennial, a German Initiative on Nazi-Loot, and More: Morning Links for March 15, 2024

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THE HEADLINES

TIKTOK ART BAN. The latest US bill to ban TikTok is worrying some artists who rely on the platform for income. The animator “Rigatoni” Garrido told Hyperallergic her TikTok posts redirect viewers to her merchandise shop, helping build a fanbase more effectively than Instagram. The app has also been “pivotal in the growth and success” of Amanda Kelly’s miniature art career, said the creator who goes by PandaMiniatures, and is part of TikTok’s Creator Program. “What I love the most about sharing my art on TikTok is hearing from followers who resonate with my work,” she said. Still, artists also say that with or without the app, they won’t stop creating. 

HIDDEN MESSAGE. Not everyone saw it, including the Whitney Biennial curators. But Demian DinéYazhi’s neon sign sculpture at the New York exhibition which opened to previews yesterday, did refer directly to the war in Gaza, in what may be a telling example of how artists are creatively addressing the subject in today’s divisive climate, and within an exhibition described by some critics as veering away from overt political messaging on the whole. Patient observers of the DinéYazhi piece caught some of the neon lights slowly flicker to spell out “Free Palestine.” Later confirmed by the institution, curators told the New York Times they hadn’t been aware of the phrase, and had initially offered a broader reading of the work.

THE DIGEST

Germany has approved the replacement of its advisory panel on Nazi-looted art with binding arbitration, meaning decisions can be legally enforced and both parties no longer need to agree before submitting a claim. The reform has already made waves in Bavaria, where the ministry of art announced on Wednesday that it will request an external assessment of a long-contested Picasso painting it has refused to consider as Nazi loot, despite restitution claims by the heirs of Jewish art collector. [ARTnews and Monopol Magazine]

Tina Rivers Ryan is named Editor-in-Chief of Artforum. [ARTnews]

Is Van Gogh’s famous 1887 self-portrait the first selfie? The Musée d’Orsay has lent the masterpiece to the National Museum Cardiff, for an exhibition called “Drych ar yr Hunlun/Art of the Selfie,” where it will be the centerpiece of the show opening March 16, and very likely, become the subject of countless selfies. [The Guardian]

Following a December pro-Palestine protest at Art Basel Miami, the city has passed a resolution to prohibit protesters from obstructing pedestrian and vehicular traffic, plus any activity that would “block passage by another person” or “require another person to take evasive action to avoid physical contact.” [Hyperallergic]

The British Museum has tapped Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke to examine the institution’s colonial past in an exhibition he is co-curating, to open in October. In the newly commissioned work, Locke will respond directly to objects in the museum’s collection that are tied to colonialism. [Artnet News]

THE KICKER

Mellon Foundation president Elizabeth Alexander tells The Los Angeles Times all about her lifelong love for monuments, and more pressingly, her ambitious efforts to study, preserve, and give new context to commemorative sculptures, so that the public space “more accurately tells our collective histories.” That can include removing them when communities feel a historic work is offensive. The Mellon Foundation announced in November it is committing $250 million to its Monuments Project, launched in 2020. Their work is changing what is considered a monument and also how shared spaces are presented, writes Carolina A. Miranda.