Pace Will Close in Palo Alto, and Other News

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​​Pace will close its Palo Alto gallery and move its West Coast presence to Los Angeles.

“Pace has announced that it will close their Palo Alto location, which first opened in 2016 and was seen as an attempt to tap into a potential tech-funded collector base within Silicon Valley. Some exhibitions at the Bay Area site, such as an installation by the tech-heavy art collective teamLab, were presumably directed at this new audience, while other shows focused on the more conventional Pace roster exhibited elsewhere throughout the world. The gallery is citing their new Los Angeles space, which opened earlier this year, as a substantial enough West Coast presence to warrant closing the Palo Alto site.” [H/T The Art Newspaper]

An exhibition party at Manhattan gallery O’Flaherty’s flipped the bird to its landlords.

“Last week’s exhibition opening at O’Flaherty’s, the East Village gallery co-founded by artist Jamian Juliano-Villani and longtime collaborators Billy Grant and Ruby Zarsky, drew massive crowds of over 1,000 by some estimates—and like any good party, it was shut down by the cops almost immediately. Photos of the pandemonium elicit palpable New York-is-back vibes, but the opening was conceived in part as a “fuck-you” to the gallery’s landlords who have refused them a lease renewal, the founders claim. O’Flaherty’s, named after a fictional Irish pub and launched less than a year ago, has just one month left in its Avenue C space.” [H/T Hyperallergic]

The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize reveals the shortlist of its emerging practice prize.

“The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize announced that ten built projects spanning North and South America have been shortlisted for the 2022 MCHAP.emerge prize, a biannual award that recognizes built work by practices less than 10 years old. In June, the Illinois Institute of Technology-affiliated award program announced a shortlist of 38 “outstanding projects” completed between 2018 and 2021 for its main prize. The ten shortlisted projects range from 128 Architecture and Urban Design’s Grand Central Linear Park in Mexico City, to a small apartment building by ARQTIPO in Argentina, to an experimental community building by Equipo de Arquitectura in Paraguay” [H/T Architectural Record]

Samson Kambalu’s sculpture of an anticolonialist preacher heads to Trafalgar Square.

“A sculpture of a preacher who was killed in an anticolonialist uprising in what is now Malawi will be unveiled in September on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. Antelope by Samson Kambalu is the 14th artwork to be commissioned for public display in the historic central London square. The sculpture restages a 1914 photograph of John Chilembwe, a Baptist preacher and pan-Africanist, and John Chorley, a European missionary, taken at the opening of Chilembwe’s new church in Nyasaland, now Malawi. Chilembwe is wearing a hat in defiance of a colonial rule forbidding Africans from wearing hats in front of white people. The following year, he led an uprising against colonial rule. Chilembwe was killed and his church, which had taken years to build, was destroyed by the colonial police.” [H/T The Guardian]

Cyprus opens an underwater archaeological park near the ancient city of Amathus.

“Cyprus’ first underwater archaeological park opened to the public last week. Located near the ancient city of Amathus, the park showcases one of the eastern Mediterranean’s best preserved ancient harbors. Built onto the coastal cliffs at a natural harbor, the former naval base with combined commercial use was built between 312–11 BCE and 294 BCE. Since its decline, the harbor has developed into a thriving natural reef for marine life. In August 2021, the island’s antiquities department announced the completion of the underwater site and mapping of the ancient port.” [H/T ARTnews]

Es Devlin creates a portal for Saint Laurent’s menswear show in the Moroccan desert.

“A glowing metal ring designed by set designer Es Devlin framed fashion house Saint Laurent’s Spring Summer 2023 menswear show in the Moroccan desert. The show was set 30 kilometres (18 miles) outside of Marrakech in the middle of the Agafay desert. Anthony Vaccarello, the brand’s creative director, looked to pay tribute to the significance of Marrakech as a location for Saint Laurent founder Yves Saint Laurent, who used to come to the country to find respite from Parisian work and living. The show space itself, created by London-based artist and set designer Devlin, was a monolithic and glowing oasis that Saint Laurent explained referenced Paul Bowles’ 1949 novel The Sheltering Sky.” [H/T Dezeen]

The luxury resale site Rebag is expanding its offerings to include clothing and shoes.

“The luxury resale site founded in 2014 with an emphasis on bags, accessories, fine jewelry and watches is expanding its offerings beginning today to include clothing and shoes. The category is increasing in popularity with the rise of circularity trending in the fashion business. As competitors such as Fashionphile, TheRealReal, Vestiaire Collective and user-friendly consumer platforms such as Depop and Poshmark become increasingly popular, Rebag is honing in on its uniquely curated designer assortment.” [H/T Forbes]

Today’s attractive distractions:

Pineapple leaves may hold the key to replacing the plastic in face masks.

This new microchip by Implants will help an ALS patient text by thinking.

Helvetica, the world’s most popular font, inspires a new NFT collection.

A Seattle museum cancels an “Amazon vs. Microsoft” show after backlash.