Our daily round-up of news from the art world
José Olympio Pereira appointed new president of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo | José Olympio Pereira will be the new president of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, an organisation responsible for the city’s own biennial as well as its appearance at the biennials in Venice. Pereira is the Brazilian president of Credit Suisse and a prominent art collector, owning at least 2,000 modern and contemporary works. He is a trustee of London’s Tate Modern and MoMA in New York, as well as a member of the boards of the Museum of Modern art in both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. His two-year term begins on 2 January.
Mario Merz Prize 2019 finalists announced | Now in its third year, the Fondazione Merz today announced the finalists of the 2019 Mario Merz Prize, which awards international artists and musicians. The finalists in the Art category are Bertille Bak from France, Mircea Cantor from Romania, David Maljkovic from Croatia, Maria Papadimitriou from Greece and Unknown Friend from the U.S.. An exhibition of their work will take place in June and the public are welcome to cast votes for the candidates online. The winner will be announced in October 2019 and a solo exhibition of their work will take place at the Fondazione Merz in November 2020.
Joan Mitchell Foundation announces 2018 grants | The Joan Mitchell Foundation has announced the 25 recipients of its 2018 Painters & Sculptors grants. Each artist will receive a prize of $25,000. The foundation is proud of the diversity of this year’s grantees, with 70 per cent identifying as female and 80 per cent as people of colour. A full list of the recipients can be found on ARTnews.