Goodrow Out at Cologne; Haacke Work Missing; Repairs for Buren Columns; Berlin White Cube Delayed
GOODROW TO GO
Gérard A. Goodrow has been relieved of his duties as artistic director of Art Cologne. As the Süddeutsche Zeitung's Stefan Koldehoff reports, the announcement is expected to be made official by January 22, when the gallerists meet for a summit with manager Oliver P. Kuhrt to discuss the future of the beleaguered fair. In the past year, a group of gallerists has grown more critical of Goodrow, as Art Cologne has steadily lost ground to younger fairs, primarily London's Frieze and Art Basel Miami Beach.
One of Goodrow's toughest critics, Cologne gallerist Christian Nagel, confirmed the news; Goodrow himself was not available for comment. For Nagel and his colleagues, "a change in personnel in the artistic directorship certainly makes sense," although Nagel did not enumerate the gallerists' demands in his statement to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "Up to now, everything has gone very smoothly," Nagel told Koldehoff. "But we need four or five days."
The changes initiated by Goodrow included changing the fair's date from the fall to the spring and reducing the number of participating galleries to 150 in this April's edition. These steps were not enough. According to Koldehoff, the gallerists' demands—from a new exhibition space to a theme exhibition to take place in Museum Ludwig during the fair—were beyond Goodrow's reach, especially financially. Alone, the exhibition in Museum Ludwig would have cost the fair a six-figure amount.
HAACKE WORK DISAPPEARS
Hans Haacke is taking the City of Munich to court. As Der Standard reports, the artist is seeking damages for an artwork that was removed by the municipal authorities from a 1991 group exhibition in the city. The work in question—a flag installation highlighting the participation of German businesses in the Gulf War, including the manufacturer Ruhrgas AG—was removed through a temporary court injunction successfully obtained by Ruhrgas. In the years following the exhibition, Haacke's installation seems to have disappeared. When the artist sought to retrieve the work in 2006, it could no longer be found.
BUREN'S "COLUMNS" TO BE RENOVATED
When Daniel Buren talks, the French government listens. As Le Monde and Agence France-Presse report, the French minister of culture, Christine Albanel, has agreed to accelerate repairs to Buren's installation at the Palais Royal. In late December, the artist threatened to demolish the piece. After meeting with Buren, Albanel said that repairs would begin "before summer" on the stunted columns, which were set up in the court of honor inside the Palais Royal in 1986. Although Buren conceived the installation as a fountain, no water has been flowing for the last eight years.
"If things can begin in summer," Buren told the AFP, "that would be very good." Under the original plan, the repairs to the installation were to be made during an overall renovation of the Palais Royal, which is due to be completed by 2011. While Buren is happy, the neighbors using the building are not. The Comédie-Française—one of France's oldest national theaters—sees the renovations to Buren's piece as a "disastrous decision." The prestigious theater troupe has been rehearsing in the Palais Royal since 1799. Buren's columns are located just above three new rehearsal rooms currently under construction and due to be used by the troupe in July. Since other rehearsal spaces are either provisional or also under renovation, the actors will have no place to work. It looks like Albanel will soon be in discussions with another irate guest about the future of the Palais Royal.
BERLIN'S WHITE CUBE TO MISS BERLIN BIENNIAL?
Berlin's new kunsthalle—which got the green light from the Berlin senate last November—will not be completed on schedule. According to Der Standard, the APA, and the DPA, the temporary building was due to open its doors this spring. But with the new delay, the White Cube may not be completed in time for the fifth edition of the Berlin Biennial, which begins April 5.
According to Volker Hassemer, the chairman of the kunsthalle foundation Zukunft Berlin (Future Berlin), preparing for the construction and obtaining permits has turned out to be "more complicated" than planned. The problem seems to lie with the management of the site, not with the foundation or its €850,000 ($1.2 million) budget. "According to our construction plan, the project could have been standing at the beginning of the year," Hassemer told the DPA.