The Guggenheim’s Naomi Beckwith with Director of the High Museum of Art Rand Suffolk. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Several events are billed as the “Met Gala of the South,” among them the High Museum of Art’s David C. Driskell Prize Gala, which on April 26 brought more than 250 artists, curators, musicians, designers and art aficionados to the institution for a black tie evening of red carpet mingling, dinner, dancing and celebration.
The annual event honors the winner of the Driskell Prize in African American Art and Art History—the first award in the country to recognize the contributions to contemporary art by Black artists and scholars. This year’s prize went to Naomi Beckwith, who became the Guggenheim’s first Black deputy director and chief curator in 2021. Since then, she has made significant contributions to the field of African American art with her scholarship on Black identity in contemporary art and her work amplifying the work of African American artists. J. Tomilson Hill, chairman of the Guggenheim’s board, has called her a “catalytic thinker.”
As always, the gala attracted Atlanta’s see-and-be-seen set who rubbed elbows with art world insiders like curator Valerie Cassel Oliver, Nickol Hackett of the Joyce Foundation, HGTV’s Mike Jackson, futurist and designer El Lewis, stylist Jerrimiah James, artist Charly Palmer, Tanya Sam of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, HGTV’s Egypt Sherrod and artist Tyler Mitchell (who will have a solo exhibition at the High Museum this June). Sergio Hudson, winner of Bravo TV’s “Styled to Rock” and best known for dressing Vice President Kamala Harris and former First Lady Michelle Obama, dressed several of the gala’s attendees.
DJ Princess Cut and Mike “Killer Mike” Render getting the gala afterparty started. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
This was the first Driskell Gala with an official afterparty, helmed by DJ Princess Cut and the Grammy-winning DJ Drama. Before the evening’s end, rapper and activist Killer Mike jumped up to take the tables for a spin.
Cristal Steverson and Sergio Hudson
Cristal Steverson, Sergio Hudson. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Scott Uzzell and Sunda Uzzell
Scott Uzzell, Sunda Uzzell. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Tyler Mitchell
Tyler Mitchell. Photo by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Karen Comer-Lowe and Leslie Parks Bailey
Karen Comer-Lowe, Leslie Parks Bailey. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
El Lewis and Leslie Parks Bailey
El Lewis, Leslie Parks Bailey. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Eva Marcille and Jason Halliburton
Eva Marcille, Jason Halliburton. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Monique Meloche and Ebony Patterson
Monique Meloche, Ebony Patterson. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Tanya Sam
Tanya Sam. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Charlene Crusoe-Ingram and Earnest Ingram
Charlene Crusoe-Ingram, Earnest Ingram. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Nikki Crump, Sunda Uzzell, Naomi Beckwith, Charlene Crusoe-Ingram, Robyn Wallace, Louise Sams
Nikki Crump, Sunda Uzzell, Naomi Beckwith, Charlene Crusoe-Ingram, Robyn Wallace, Louise Sams. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Kent Kelley and Tamara Kelley
Kent Kelley, Tamara Kelley. All photos by Rafterman / Courtesy of The High Museum of Art
Shu Lea Cheang, an early pioneer in the field of digital art, is the second recipient of the LG Guggenheim Award, as announced today (March 5). Selected by an international jury of art, culture and technology experts, she will receive an unrestricted honorarium of $100,000.
The prize is given by the LG Guggenheim Art and Technology Initiative, a five-year partnership established in 2022 between New York’s Guggenheim Museum and the South Korean company LG that promotes artists working at the intersection of art and technology. “Shu Lea Cheang was one of the first to recognize the liberatory potential of the digital realm,” said Naomi Beckwith, the Guggenheim’s chief curator and deputy director, in a statement. “We celebrate her bold explorations of bodies, and their desires, in our digital and analog worlds, and are thrilled, alongside LG, to recognize her necessary work.”
Cheang, 69, is a Taiwanese, American and French multi-hyphenate artist whose work has engaged myriad new technologies since the 1990s. She has produced and directed four feature-length films—1994’s Fresh Kill, 2000’s I.K.U., 2017’s Fluidø and 2023’s UKI—and her art is in the collections of institutions like the Whitney, Walker Art Center, Museum of Modern Art and Centre Pompidou.
Shu Lea Cheang, UKI, 2023. Digital color video, with sound, 80 min. Courtesy Guggenheim
Shu Lea Cheang: trailblazer in internet and digital art
Cheang has long been at the forefront of exploring the impact of technological change on society. Her 1998 piece Brandon, for example, made history as the first-ever web art commissioned by the Guggenheim. The work, which explored the legacy of Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was murdered in 1993, was restored in 2017 by a team of computer-based conservationists at the Guggenheim.
Decades later, Cheang’s contributions to digital culture remain relevant. In 2019, she represented Taiwan at the Venice Biennale with 3x3x6, a mixed-media installation whose title alludes to industrial imprisonment (the title refers to a 3×3 square-meter cell monitored by six cameras). Focused on surveillance in the digital age, it referenced ten different cases of imprisonment incited by gender, sexual and racial nonconformity.
Shu Lea Cheang, Baby Love (from Locker Baby Project), 2005. Networked media installation, dimensions variable. Installation view: Baby Love, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, December 8, 2005– January 8, 2006. Photo : Florian Kleinefenn
The artist’s oeuvre also includes experimentations with technological themes ranging from alternative currencies to movement sensors. More recent works like 2017’s Mycelium Network Society examined the nature of biotechnologies, while her 2023 installation Utter focused on the societal implications of machine learning.
In their jury statement, panelists for the LG Guggenheim Award praised Cheang’s “fascinating overview of advanced technologies.” Jury members included Eungie Joo, head of contemporary art the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Koyo Kouoh, executive director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art; Noam Segal, LG Electronics Associate Curator at the Guggenheim; Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, director of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Art Contemporanea; and Stephanie Dinkins, the recipient of the inaugural LG Guggenheim Award.
Cheang is set to discuss her practice and future works in a May 2 public program at the Guggenheim’s theater. “The LG Guggenheim Award revives an honorable tradition of the electronic industry’s support for art and technology,” she said in a statement. “To be recognized by an assembly of diverse jury members grants me tremendous confidence in continuing and expanding my art practice.”
From Gary Waterston’s appointment at Pace Gallery to the resignation of Phillips CEO Stephen Brooks, here are some of the most notable role changes recently announced across the arts and culture spheres.
The Andy Warhol Foundation appoints Max Hollein to its board
Max Hollein in May 2022. Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Max Hollein, the director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has been elected to the board of directors at the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
He will join the group of artists, curators, museum directors and scholars on a board that includes members like Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak and Guggenheim deputy director Naomi Beckwith. “The Warhol Foundation has made a tremendous difference in the art world by prioritizing artistic vision, empathy and impact,” said Hollein in a statement.
In addition to researching and preserving Warhol’s body of work, the foundation focuses on financially supporting artists and artist-centered projects. Earlier this month, it announced plans to give out $4 million worth of grants to fifty art organizations across the U.S.
Appointed director of the Met in 2018, Hollein also became the Met’s CEO in July of last year. Throughout his tenure at the museum, he has overseen more than 100 exhibitions and the launch of numerous capital projects, in addition to re-envisioning its educational and digital initiatives.
Before joining the Met, he was director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Hollein also previously simultaneously led the Schirn Kunsthalle, the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt, Germany.
Gary Waterston joins Pace in a newly created role
Gary Waterston will officially join the gallery next month. Michael Halsband/Courtesy Pace
An art gallery veteran will soon join Pace to take on the new role of vice president of global sales and operations. Gary Waterston, who has spent more than twenty years working in gallery management, will assume his position on Feb. 1 and will be based in London.
“Having stepped away from galleries, artists and exhibition making these past three years, I am beyond excited and thrilled to be joining Pace Gallery in such a transformative role,” said Waterston in a statement. He most recently worked with Atlantic Contemporary LLC, an art-focused financial services startup.
Waterston previously spent nearly two decades at Gagosian, where he oversaw the gallery’s various expansion projects while serving as a director in London. He became the gallery’s managing director in Europe in 2011, collaborating with Gagosian directors across Paris, Rome, Geneva, Athens and Basel.
He has organized exhibitions for the likes of Jeff Koons, Julian Schnabel and James Turrell, three of Pace’s most well-known artists. And in addition to working as a private advisor for several artists and foundations, Waterston has also collaborated on two major Picasso exhibitions organized by Sir John Richardson.
In his new role, Waterston will work directly with Pace’s CEO Marc Glimcher and president Samanthe Rubell as he manages numerous gallery departments. “With his guidance, we will continue to strengthen and grow our business–and our relationships with artists and collectors around the world,” said Rubell in a statement.
Marie-Anne McQuay to curate the 2025 Liverpool Biennial
Marie-Anne McQuay will curate the biennial’s next edition. Zak Grant/Courtesy Liverpool Biennial
The 13th edition of the Liverpool Biennial, the largest contemporary art festival in the U.K., will be curated by Marie-Anne McQuay. It is scheduled to take place between June 7 and Sept. 14 of next year.
“I feel honored to be curating the 13th edition of Liverpool Biennial with and for the city where I live,” said McQuay in a statement. “I am so looking forward to reflecting on civic life, researching international exchanges and collaborating with the wider team on Liverpool Biennial 2025.”
McQuay is currently the director of projects at Arts & Heritage, an English organization that works on collaborations between contemporary artists and heritage organizations and will return to her role following the festival’s completion. She previously was head of programs at Bluecoat, an arts center in Liverpool, and in 2019 was a guest curator of the Welsh Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale.
Formed in 1998, the Liverpool Biennial has presented work from more than 560 artists over the past few decades. McQuay will succeed Khanyisile Mbongwa, the Cape Town-based artist and sociologist who curated the 12th edition in 2023 with an emphasis on ancestral and indigenous knowledge.
Stephen Brooks resigns as CEO of Phillips
Stephen Brooks joined the auction house in 2021. Courtesy Phillips
After leading Phillips for two and a half years, Stephen Brooks is stepping down as CEO.
Brooks, who first took on the role in 2021, came to Phillips after spending more than a decade at Christie’s, most recently as deputy chief executive. Throughout his tenure at Phillips, he oversaw the auction house through its highest annual sale totals in company history. Brooks’ leadership additionally saw an expansion into younger audiences. Around 50 percent of buyers in 2023 consisted of first-time buyers, one-third of whom represented Millennial and Gen Z collectors.
Brooks decided to step down “for personal reasons,” according to a statement from Phillips executive chairman Edward Dolman. “Stephen has led the company through a remarkable period of growth during his tenure and his contributions have helped to build the infrastructure for Phillips’ continued success,” he said.
In light of Brooks’ resignation, Phillips is restructuring its executive leadership team and creating a CEO’s office. Dolman, who previously served as CEO of Phillips between 2014 and 2021, will take on a new role combining the titles of both CEO and executive chairman.
Meanwhile, Amanda Lo Iacono will be appointed to the newly created position of deputy CEO. Joining Phillips in 2016, she has since 2022 been managing director for the 20th Century and contemporary art department and spearheaded the launch of Phillip’s Dropshop program. The auctioneer’s new leadership team will also see Cheyenne Westphal continue in her role as global chairwoman. “2024 presents Phillips with many opportunities to continue our expansion and, with the new leadership structure in place, we are well-placed to forge ahead,” said Dolman.
