Edward Church, Peter Hujar, Looted Art

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Who is the antiquities dealer behind looted artifacts in dozens of museums across the United States?

I just returned from a dreamy residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Northern California. The place is special not only because of the breathtaking views of the Marin Headlands, but also because of the friendly people who run it. I am grateful to Louisa Gloger, Holly Blake, MJ Brown and others on the Headlands team. Shoutout also to the amazing Bay Area artists, writers, activists, and other hyperallergic readers I’ve met over the past few weeks.

In the meantime, our excellent editorial team has held down the fort and released many must-reads. Check out Erin L. Thompson’s deep dive into the convicted antiquities dealer behind priceless artifacts held in dozens of museums across the United States, Ben Moser’s review of a new biography of Frederic Edwin Church, Aaron Short’s report on Aldrich’s first decennial exhibition, Coco Fusco’s piece on the unknown fate of imprisoned Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and much more.

It’s good to be back in New York, despite the haze, the ticks and the fear of eating a bad lettuce leaf. And it’s also good to be with all of you again.

—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief

News

• The activism group Everyone Hates Elon mocked Kylie Jenner’s Meta glasses campaign with bus ads after a wave of public backlash over unresolved concerns about privacy, consent and personal safety as surveillance technology rapidly evolves.
• Days after police arrested a man who climbed a prominent Melbourne bridge and tagged it with a cartoon bird called ‘Pam the Bird’, thousands have called on the city to preserve the graffiti artwork.
• Artists commemorate Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old man fatally shot by ICE on July 7, through portraits, illustrations, cartoons and signs.
• The Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center in Cambridge, Maryland, reported a burglary last weekend that resulted in damage to a mural. The party involved, who is still at large, demolished the building within a month after it reopened to the public following extensive renovations.
• The former Chief Operating Officer of the High Museum of Art, Brady Lum, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $600,000 from the nonprofit art institution.
• The Manhattan district attorney said three antiquities are being repatriated to Mexico. One of them was previously owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• The Trump administration has done that has significantly reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah that hold sacred and rich lands archaeological sites.
• A prominent international gallery in Cape Town is facing allegations of withholding artwork and delaying payments to artists.
• Manhattan’s High Line Art is seeking public feedback on 62 proposals for the public artworks that will grace the park’s plinth in 2029 and 2030.
• The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene this week discovered Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, in the cooling tower of the Guggenheim Museum.
• After months of near radio silence, two suspects in pre-trial detention have revealed more information about their role in facilitating the Louvre jewelry heist that shocked the world last October.

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