This year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, opening June 8th, is being designed by Sou Fujimoto, a multi-award-winning Japanese architect, considered to be one of the most important architects coming to prominence worldwide.

The Serpentine’s annual Pavilion commission, now in its 13th year, offers one of the most significant international sites for architectural experimentation. For a duration of four months, Sou Fujimoto’s temporary structure will be gracing the Gallery’s lawn, following in the footsteps of Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei (2012), Frank Gehry (2008), the late Oscar Niemeyer (2003) and Zaha Hadid (2000).

Sou Fujimoto’s work focuses on re-inventing our relationship with the constructed environment. Taking his inspiration from organic structures, such as the forest, the nest and the cave, Fujimoto seeks to design buildings which inhabit a space between nature and artificiality.

Sou Fujimoto © David Vintiner

Describing his design concept, Sou Fujimoto said “For the 2013 Pavilion I propose an architectural landscape: a transparent terrain that encourages people to interact with and explore the site in diverse ways. Within the pastoral context of Kensington Gardens, I envisage the vivid greenery of the surrounding plant life woven together with a constructed geometry. A new form of environment will be created, where the natural and the man-made merge; not solely architectural nor solely natural, but a unique meeting of the two.”

Sou Fujimoto’s delicate, latticed structure of 20mm steel poles will have a lightweight and semi-transparent appearance that will allow it to blend, cloud-like, into the landscape and against the classical backdrop of the Gallery’s colonnaded East wing. The Design, occupying 350 square-metres and housing a café, is set to be a multi-purpose social space allowing visitors to interact with the Pavilion in different ways.

Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Serpentine Gallery, said: “We are thrilled to be working with one of the most fascinating architects in the world today. A visionary, who has conceived an extraordinary response to our invitation to design the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, Sou Fujimoto has designed a structure that will enthrall everyone that encounters it throughout the summer.”

Attracting up to 300,000 visitors annually, The Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion is one of the top ten most visited architectural and design exhibitions in the world.

Gerhard Richter work sells for $37m, setting new record for living artist (The Guardian)
“An enormous Gerhard Richter painting of Milan’s Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) that was commissioned to cheer up the offices of the electronics conglomerate Siemens sold for $37m (£24m) on Tuesday, setting a new auction record for a living artist. At almost 3 metres by 3 metres, Domplatz, Mailand from 1968 is one of the German artist’s biggest works and, with its look of a fuzzy black-and-white photograph, is instantly recognisable as Richter. It was bought by a Napa Valley vineyard owner, Donald Bryant, who punched his fist in the air after successfully buying the Richter at Sotheby’s big contemporary art sale in New York. The work “just knocks me over”, he said, although when told it was the most ever paid for a Richter he laughed: “I’m not sure I should be breaking those kinds of records.”"

Tino Sehgal: Invisible art worth £100k (The Telegraph)
“An artist whose work leaves no tangible, material traces to be traded in like a painting, sculpture or even a document is being billed as one of the stars of this week’s Frieze Art Fair in New York. Often described as a performance artist, British-born Tino Sehgal, who has also been nominated for this year’s Turner Prize, refutes the description, saying that he makes or choreographs “constructed situations”. At Tate’s Turbine Hall last year, he employed 70 well-briefed participants, or “interpreters”, to mingle with visitors, asking unsettling questions and engaging in brief, improvised conversation, before moving swiftly on. In contrast to performance, in which the audience are normally passive spectators, Sehgal’s work engages them to become active participants. But when it’s over, all that is left is the memory.”

40 Nations, 1,000 Artists and One Island (NY Times)
“Some people hate art fairs all of the time, and most people hate them some of the time. It’s fashionable to be snarky and condescending about them, but that’s too easy. Art fairs are here for the foreseeable future and represent the collective efforts — if not the hopes and dreams — of thousands of people who want art to be at the center of their lives. Frieze New York tends to short-circuit art fair hating. It has unusually spacious quarters — a big white tent on Randalls Island, where it put down stakes last year — with more natural light than any New York museum. Viewing is enhanced by springy plywood floors that are relatively easy on the feet and is sustained, if necessary, by excellent food from outposts set up by hot restaurants (among them Mission Chinese Food, Roberta’s and the Fat Radish).”

Rain doesn’t dampen early sales (The Art Newspaper)
“More than five dozen collectors braved a deluge to line up at the entrance of Frieze New York on Thursday morning. When the clock struck 11am, early arrivals—including the collectors Anita Zabludowicz of London, Bob Gersh of Los Angeles and locals Susan and Michael Hort—filed in for a first look at the British fair’s second stateside edition. What followed was a steady trickle, if not a flood, of sales. “I saw many of the usual New York collectors, but it’s not really a fair for heavy-hitters,” the art adviser Wendy Cromwell said. “It’s more for a certain kind of collector who is interested in both emerging art and mid-career work.””

Venice Biennale to show art commissioned by Vatican for first time (The Guardian)
“The Venice Biennale is not known for its religious reverence. In 1990, a work entitled the Pope and the Penis criticised the Catholic church’s refusal to endorse condoms; in 2001, a model of John Paul II was shown lying prostrate on the floor, crushed by a meteorite. But this year, for the first time in the contemporary art festival’s history, one of its pavilions will showcase art commissioned by the Vatican. The Holy See said on Tuesday that the works inside its debut pavilion were not overtly religious but had been inspired by the book of Genesis.”

Hermès’ Festival des Métiers, a seven-day exhibiton showcasing 10 of their distinctive crafts, will be coming to London this month. Festival des Métiers will be held at Saatchi Gallery and will run from Tuesday 21st – Monday 27th of May 2013, following its recent success in Beijing and Shenyang, China.

Festival des Métiers © Hermès

Just as they would in the Hermès workshops in France, the craftspeople will be working throughout the entire week, producing a fantastic selection of Hermès’ unique objects by hand.

Expo Cuir © Hermès

Festival des Métiers will provide the public with an exclusive look into the creative process, rooted in tradition, which contributes to each individual object Hermès produces. Guests will be welcome to meet and converse with the Hermès artisans to gain a comprehensive insight into how much care and detail goes into their meticulous work.

Festival des Métiers © Hermès

Presented in a contemporary setting designed by Paola Navone, the exhibition is designed to highlight the values that Hermès apply to their craft. The talented craftspeople will be displaying their skills by creating a variety of illustrious items. Guests will be able to witness the famous Hermès silk scarf being printed before their eyes, to the rhythmic sounds of the artisans’ tools, as well as handbags, watches, ties, fine-jewellery and other iconic objects from Hermès being brought to life during the course of the exhibition.

Festival des Métiers © Hermès

Following the Saatchi exhibition, Festival des Métiers will travel to Dusselfdorf, Germany.

Festival des Métiers © Hermès

Address: Saatchi Gallery, Duke Of York’s HQ, King’s Road, London, SW3 4RY
Website: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/

Traditionally a less common culinary go-to than the City’s established West End, East London has proclaimed itself to be a thriving gastro-heartland busily reviving the imagination and skill behind unforgettable food. Here are our top five restaurants from a wave of new openings across the East.

Ceviche
Peruvian food took London by storm last year and ex-director of Disney music (you heard right) Martin Morales paved the way with his Peruvian supper club and later a restaurant in Soho. Morales’ decision to open a larger Ceviche restaurant and Pisco bar in Shoreditch this autumn is proof that Peruvian is more than a passing trend.  The venue promises to feature a large barbecue and to host live music and DJs. And after the success of Ceviche Soho, which the Wall Street Journal named “a gastronomic dream”, this is definitely one to follow.

Opens Autumn 2013
Website: cevicheuk.com
Address: Shoreditch

The Clove Club

© The Clove Club

Opened in March amidst appropriate excitement in the food world, the Clove Club occupies two rooms within the once-upon-a-time grandeur of Shoreditch Town Hall. Danny Willis, Johnny Smith and chef Isaac McHale, key players behind Upstairs at the Ten Bells, a popular pop-up-turned-permanent in Spitalfields, reunite to present their latest offering of innovative dishes. A five-course set menu (£46) offers quirky and high quality British-inspired food, such as Mackerel, Pickled Rhubarb & Tokyo Turnip, all industriously prepared before your eyes in the open kitchen. Sharing plates (£4.50-£17 each) can also be selected à-la-carte in the Clove Club’s bar area.

Website: thecloveclub.com
Address: Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, London EC2A 3BE

Bird of Smithfield

© Bird of Smithfield. Smokin Bird Burger

If you need further motivation to “go East” then the decision by the Ivy’s former executive chef Alan Bird to open a flagship five-floor venue in Farringdon must surely clinch it. Opposite the famous Smithfield market, Bird of Smithfield just opened its doors to the public. On the menu in the circa 50-seat restaurant will be British dishes which pay flavoursome homage to the colonial influences that have seasoned the country’s plates over centuries. The Georgian townhouse venue also boasts a bar, lounge and roof terrace.

Website: birdofsmithfield.com
Address: 26 Smithfield St, London EC1A 9LB

Casa Negra
Casa Negra which opens this spring, is the latest offering from Australian-born restaurateur Will Rikker of Rikker Restaurants, whose past successes have included the pan-Asian e&o in Notting Hill as well as Mexican eatery La Bodega Negra, on Soho’s Old Compton Street. Casa Negra is housed on the former site of one of Rikker’s first restaurants, the acclaimed Great Eastern Dining Room, and will be a sister venue to La Bodega Negra. Diners can expect to see Rikker building upon La Bodega Negra’s ability to take Mexican cuisine beyond guacamole and burritos to offer imaginative renditions of classic dishes, such as their Wild Sea Bass Red and Green Adobe.

Opens Spring 2013
Website: casanegrarestaurant.tumblr.com
Address: 54-56 Great Eastern St  London, EC2A 3QR, United Kingdom

Nanban

© Nanban. Photo credit: Paul Winch-Furness

MasterChef fans will remember the daring and by all accounts eccentric dishes of 2011 winner Tim Anderson, which included “cola-braised pork belly”. This spring will see the opening of his first restaurant on Shoreditch High Street offering Southern Japanese cuisine.  Visitors can expect to see the same playfulness Anderson displayed on screen but also a devotion to recreating authentically the dishes of South Japan, where he lived for two years, gaining a love of the culinary traditions.

Opens Spring/Summer 2013
Website: facebook.com/NanbanLondon
Address: Shoreditch High Street, London E1

The first annual Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards were held last night, Tuesday 14th May, at the world-famous department store in London’s Picadilly area. The awards have been created to celebrate the presence of food and drink within the media, mainly focusing on writing, publishing and broadcasting.

The award ceremony was hosted by television presenter Claudia Winkleman, and was attended by revered members of the UK media, as well as a wealth of emerging talent.

There were 10 categories to compete for, with an initial shortlist announced back in April. The winners of the 2013 Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards are as follows:

Food Book: Sud de France, Caroline Conran (Prospect Books)

Drink Book: Wine Grapes, Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz (Allen Lane)

Food Writer: Christopher Hirst: The Independent, Intelligent Life Magazine

Drink Book Newcomer of the Year: Drink Me!, Matt Walls (Quadrille)

Online Food Writer: Daniel Young, youngandfoodish.com

Online Drink Writer: Helen McGinn, knackeredmotherswineclub.blogspot.co.uk

Cookery Writer: Diana Henry, Stella Magazine

TV: Ottolenghi’s Mediterranean Feast, Presented by Yotam Ottolenghi (Keo Films)

Radio: Britain’s Food Safety Net, Presented by Sheila Dillon and Dan Saladino (BBCRadio 4, The Food Programme)

Visual: Angela Dukes, Food and Travel

The 10 categories were judged by an expert panel which included Angela Hartnett, Tom Parker Bowles, Xanthe Clay, Hamish Anderson, Fiona Beckett and Peter Richards MW.  The Chairman of the panel was the CEO of Fortnum & Mason, Ewan Venters.

Additionally, there was the Judge’s Choice award, an open award presented at the judge’s discretion to a person or piece of work which has inspired people to enjoy, explore and experiment with food and drink. This award was given to the outstanding food blogger Jack Monroe, a 24 year old single mother, who has been touted as ‘one to watch’ by the esteemed panel. Her blog posts range from tasty nutritious recipes to how to feed your family on virtually no budget, and have accumulated over 16,000 regular readers.

Finally, the Food and Drink TV Personality award was won by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood of The Great British Bake Off. Over 7,000 votes were cast online and in the Fortnum & Mason store for this award, which is dedicated to inspiring creativity and originality in the kitchen.

Website: http://www.fortnumandmason.com/

The inaugural Photo Art Fair featured the work of 50 established and up-and-coming photographers from around the world. Among the exceptional collectible photographic art, spanning decades, territories and disciplines, here is a list of our favourite works.

Edward Hopley, Blind Man Porto
In his photographs Hopley calls upon the viewer’s imagination, generating mixed emotions, with unsettling beauty often set against an intense, cloud-filled backdrop. Katharine Arnolds, from Christie’s, explains “Contrasting an oneiric tranquility against the uneasy, incongruous elements within a landscape, it is his remarkable ability to distill a memory, real or imagined in every shot, which lends them such power.” In this particular work however, Hopley strays from his characteristic style, photographing a blind man in front of strikingly beautiful azulejos.

Edward Hopley, Blind Man Porto, 24"x16" Hahnemuehle paper - Archival Pigment Print, © Edward Hopley

Gina Soden, Blue Orphanage
Gina Soden’s photography focuses on abandoned structures and locations. Through her travels she explores the boundaries of beauty, decay, nostalgia and neglect, and invites the viewer to wonder why, how and when. This particular structure was built in the late 1800s and was a former family home, boarding school, orphanage, conference centre. “I love to tell the stories around the work. It took a 40-minute walk through the woods, avoiding the local farmer with a shotgun, a dodgy climb through a window, avoiding falling through rotten floorboards to get this shot, and it was worth every second. My personal favourite!”

Gina Soden, Blue Orphanage, 2012, 27.56"x27.56" C-type prints, © Gina Soden

David-Emmanuel Cohen, Moondance
After acquiring his first camera at the age of seven – at which point he believed it to be spy technology – he became captivated by photography, later directing his attention to urban landscapes and architecture. During his travels, Cohen started to build his own world and formed a new relationship to urban spaces, distant from realism. When describing this work, he says “I like the ‘mystery’ around it. Like where it had been taken? or what time of the day was it? I like when people can actually bring their own story to the image”.

David-Emmanuel Cohen, Moondance, 31.5"x47" C-Type, © David-Emmanuel Cohen

Gerald Jenkins, Knowledge Without Love Is Lifeless
Gerald Jenkins seeks to grasp elements of universal language in nature, mythology and symbolism. White Peacocks can have many meanings, from death, resurrection and eternal life in some beliefs, to glory and incorruptibility in others. “It took me two years to build the courage to attempt the photographs, it all being very complex to organise and the degree of failure to succeed very high. I had to find myself in order to know this outcome was possible. Acting on intuition and blending into the scene allowed everything to evolve. I reached an epiphany.”

Gerald Jenkins, Knowledge Without Love Is Lifeless, 50"x60" Giclee, © Gerald Jenkins

Emma Summerton, TdH 2005 #1
Emma Summerton’s in-depth technical knowledge coupled with her eye for detail and love for fashion have given her images a very distinctive style. Her Polaroid work began as a personal experiment, using herself in the images to play with ideas without having to involve anyone else. They also for a time became visual love letters to a long-distance boyfriend. This experiment grew into a commission for Terry de Havilland, which led to shooting the Polaroid Self Portraits for Dazed and Confused and Self Service magazines.

Emma Summerton, TdH 2005 #1, 40x50inches, © Emma Summerton.

Marlene Marino, Sisters (Untitled 1)
Marlene Marino endeavours to catch on film narratives around women, intimately documenting their lives through moments that radiate an atmosphere difficult to articulate, evoking a spirit of tenderness and trust. These images are an artefact of our times to analyse individuality, feminism and freedom. “I hope to capture women, and communities, in a sensitive, non-alienated way, to celebrate them”. Her shots aren’t prearranged, they take place naturally with women whom she generally just met, who are not fashion models posing to look beautiful.

Marlene Marino, Sisters (Untitled 1), 2009, 20"x16" Silver Gelatin, © Marlene Marino

Artists’ websites:
Emma Summerton: emmasummerton.com
Gina Soden: ginasoden.co.uk
Edward Hopley: edwardhopley.photodeck.com
Gerald Jenkins: geraldjenkins.co.uk
David-Emmanuel Cohen: davidsystem.prosite.com
Marlene Marino: marlenemarino.com

London’s Shoreditch area will be the epicentre of the celebration, as Jamie Oliver will be hosting a street party outside his acclaimed restaurant Fifteen. This will include cooking classes, food stalls, demonstrations by a number of chefs including Jamie himself, and other celebrity guest appearances.

The global event has attracted attention and generated outstanding support from a huge number of ambassadors, ranging from celebrities, chefs, bloggers, journalists, teachers, local authorities and even willing parents. Throughout 75 countries, there will be street markets, school cooking classes, workshops, foodie tours and special dinners all with a focus on healthy eating and fresh food to communicate Jamie’s message.

There are also a significant number of charities, schools, communities, and a number of Jamie Oliver’s friends and partners involved in organising activities for this monumental occasion.

A global competition with Prizeo will take place, where the winner and a friend will be flown from wherever they are in the world to cook with Jamie in London on Food Revolution Day.

Furthermore, Jamie will be hosting a live Google + session from his location in London to connect with the global community, culminating in a Food Revolution Day Thunderclap to solidify this important message.

Regarding the event, Oliver said, “For me, Food Revolution Day is all about building better relationships with great food and whether that’s through hosting a big event like a farmers’ market or a small dinner with freshly prepared food, it’s all about giving people knowledge and confidence to cook from fresh ingredients and to make better choices about what they feed themselves and their families.”

Jamie Oliver has been a champion of healthy eating for over 10 years now, earning himself an MBE, on top of deserved popularity and impressive recognition within the media. His charity work, foundations and projects, more his passion than his profession, have helped millions of people by pushing the boundaries of food education and awareness.

Address: Fifteen, 15 Westland Pl, London N1 7LP
Website: www.jamieoliver.com/foodrevolutionday

This summer, one of the finest restaurants ever to grace the Earth, elBulli, and the man who took it to such dazzling heights, will be honoured by an insightful exhibition at Somerset House. ‘elBulli: Ferran Adrià and The Art of Food’ begins on Friday 5th of July and will run until Sunday 29th September.

The retrospective will showcase the art of cuisine and cuisine as art, by offering an exclusive look at the legendary laboratory and kitchen of the internationally acclaimed restaurant, which delighted diners in Cala Montjoi, a small picturesque bay on the Catalan coast near Roses, for over 50 years.

Ferran Adrià, El Bulli chef, at Somerset House by Sam Mellish

The revolutionary restaurateur changed the way chefs interpret food and design their menus, influencing through his invention and creativity some of the best chefs working today, such as the Roca brothers of El Celler de Can Roca and Rene Redzepi of Noma. Therefore, it is fitting that the first ever exhibition showcasing a restaurant and its head chef will be dedicated to such an iconic figure in the industry.

Adrià worked at elBulli from 1983 until the restaurant closed in 2011. During this time, he was awarded the presitigious accolade of ‘World’s Best Restaurant’ by Restaurant magazine an unprecedented five times.

Regarding this summer’s exhibition, Adrià said, “Even though the restaurant of elBulli is now closed, the spirit of elBulli is still very much alive and this exhibition is one of the ways of keeping it so. For some, I hope it will revive good memories, and for others it will give a flavour of a fine dining experience like no other.”

The evolution of elBulli will be explored in great depth, through a multimedia display of each of the essential ingredients that make up the culinary creative mastermind of Ferran Adrià and his team: research (handwritten notes and sketches); preparation (plasticine models, which were made for all the dishes served as a means for quality control of colour, portion size and position on the plate, and the specially-designed utensils used); presentation and plaudits. Combined with archive footage of the chefs and clientele, the exhibition promises to be a comprehensive tribute to the undeniable ambition and talent of Ferran Adrià and his success with elBulli.

Address: Embankment Galleries, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
Website: http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/

The spring edition of the Bloomsbury Auctions’ Photographs and Photobooks auction will be held on Friday 17th May. There will be a vast selection of photographs on offer, ranging from the mid-nineteenth century up to the present day, as well as a variety of intriguing photobooks.

The sale will open with a number of nineteenth century British photographers, namely Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, Robert Macpherson and Peter Henry Emerson, among others. Notable twentieth century photographers are also well represented, with works by Mario Giacomelli, Albert Renger-Patzsch and Robert Doisneau, to name a few.

Lot 154, Irving Penn, Women with Roses (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn in Lafaurie Dress), Paris, 1950. © Bloomsbury Auctions.

One of the most coveted pieces in the entire sale is the ‘Woman with Roses’, 1950 (Lot 154: £40,000 – £60,000), a photograph of model Lisa Fonsagrivess taken by her husband-to-be Irving Penn. Lisa Fonsagrivess is also the focus of Horst P Horst’s platinum print titled ‘V.O.G.U.E N.Y’ (Lot 153: £4,000 – £6,000), which was the cover of American Vogue in June 1940. More recent fashion photography is present in the sale with numerous photos of supermodel Kate Moss appearing in a number of different works.

Irving Penn in fact has more than one item in the sale. His image ‘Cuzco Children’, 1948 (Lot 180: £10,000 – £15,000) is perhaps one of his most acclaimed works.

Lot 156, David Ross, Kate Moss, Innocent Starter, 26.10.1988. © Bloomsbury Auctions

An unusual series of 57 early colour photographs of New York shopfronts taken between 1948 and 1952 (Lot 131: £4,000 – 6,000) will be on sale. The photographer’s identity is unknown, however each print is stamped on the back with the Kodachrome copyright along with the exact week the photograph was taken. Strangely, these predate pioneers of American high street colour photography such as William Eggleston, or Stephen Shore.

Coinciding with MOMA’s retrospective of Bill Brandt, the sale includes ‘Nude’, 1957 (Lot 230: £7,000 – 9,000) an early print of the cover  illustration for his book ‘Perspective on Nudes’. Another photographer, with a current important exhibition at the Natural History Museum, is Sebastiao Salgado. The sale includes his stunning ‘Iceberg between the Paulet Islands and the Shetland Islands, Antarctica’, 2005 (Lot 253: £7,000 – 9,000). Two photographs by the shortlisted candidate for the 2013 Deutsche Börse photography prize, Chris Killip, are also part of the sale. ‘The Smiths’, 1973 (Lot 226: £3,000 – 5,000) was the cover illustration for his book on the Isle of Man.

Lot 253, Sebastião Salgado, Iceberg between the Paulet Islands and the Shetland Islands, Antarctica, 2005. © Bloomsbury Auctions.

Finally, the sale will conclude with a fascinating collection of photobooks including iconic twentieth century works, as well as a rare group of books from Japan. World-renowned artists will be represented in this section of the sale, in addition to lesser-recognised niche photography.

Lot 257, Bill Brandt (The Photobook). A Night in London, 1933. © Bloomsbury Auctions

Address: Bloomsbury Auctions, 24 Maddox Street, Mayfair, LONDON W1S 1P
Website: http://www.bloomsburyauctions.com/

A tale of two art worlds (The Art Newspaper)
“Two mammoth sculptures by the American artist Paul McCarthy straddle New York’s rivers this week. The 181,000kg bronze Sisters, 2013, hulks down by the Hudson River, while Balloon Dog, 2013, the artist’s irreverent 80ft-tall take on the Jeff Koons original, squats beside the Frieze New York tent next to the East River. Meanwhile, Koons himself, an artist of huge ambition with the production costs to match, has rival shows opening this week at David Zwirner and Gagosian galleries.”

Sixth suit filed by client against former Knoedler Gallery (The NYT)
“The once-celebrated Knoedler & Company gallery has been closed for more than a year and a half but the lawsuits keep coming. Last week, the philanthropist and former ambassador to Romania, Nicholas F. Taubman, became the sixth former client to sue the gallery in federal court in Manhattan, charging that Knoedler’s former director Ann Freedman duped him into buying a fake painting by Clyfford Still for $4.3 million in 2005.”

Retail giant moves into art business (The Art Newspaper)
“Restoration Hardware is entering the art business. The home furnishings company, which has more than 80 stores across the US, will launch a division in September devoted to commissioning, exhibiting and selling contemporary art. The firm has already made its first purchase: Rain Room, 2012, by the British collective Random International. The installation, which uses motion sensors to enable visitors to walk through a downpour without getting wet, is on loan to New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where it opens to the public on Sunday as part of the show “Expo 1: New York”.”

MoMA pulls back from plan to raze
 former folk art museum (Dezeen)
“The Museum of Modern Art in New York is to reconsider its decision to demolish the former American Folk Art Museum next door following an outcry from architects, conservationists and critics. In a board meeting yesterday, the museum’s directors heard that design studio Diller Scofidio & Renfro had been selected to oversee MoMA’s expansion and explore the option of integrating the former American Folk Art Museum into the plans.”

Bad feelings over Abu Dhabi’s unspent €25m gift to the Louvre (The Art Newspaper)
“Not all has been well between the Abu Dhabi and French authorities over the development of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. This is revealed in an article that appeared in the left-wing French newspaper Libération ten days before the 200 works of art bought so far for the Louvre Abu Dhabi went on show on Saadiyat Island last month. […]Its most embarrassing revelation is that the museum has, since 2007, been sitting on €25m, which the Gulf state paid the Louvre for spaces on one floor of its Pavillon de Flore, currently housing the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, to be opened to the public and named in honour of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (above), the founder of the United Arab Emirates. This money is over and above the €1bn that the Gulf state is paying over 30 years for the Louvre Abu Dhabi project.”