London Assembly questions Boris Johnson about Garden Bridge scheme

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Boris Johnson questioned about Garden Bridge scheme | At a hearing held yesterday by the oversight committee of the Greater London Assembly, former mayor of London Boris Johnson was asked a series of questions about the controversial Garden Bridge scheme, which was scrapped in August 2017 by present mayor Sadiq Khan. Johnson defended the project, which according to estimates will cost a total of £46.6 million (including cancellation fees) of public money, stating that his main regret was not ‘get[ting] it going faster, earlier.’ In response to a question on his decision to sign an agreement in April 2016 ‘watering down’ the funding conditions set for the scheme, Johnson said he could not recall the reason for this decision or the precise details of the agreement.

Kurimanzutto Gallery to open space in New York | Mexico City’s Kurimanzutto Gallery yesterday announced the opening of a new space in New York. The gallery, to be located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, will open in April with installations by Abraham Cruzvillegas before its official inauguration in May. Lissa McClure and Bree Zucker have been appointed as senior director and director, respectively, of the New York space.

National Gallery of Victoria discharges security firm | The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) on Wednesday announced that it will no longer employ its security contractor Wilson Security, reports the Guardian. Recently, the NGV had been under pressure from protestors to drop Wilson Security, due to allegations that were made public of sexual assault and violence inflicted by the firm’s employees against refugees and asylum seekers at offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. The museum did not provide a reason for its decision to drop the firm, which was appointed as an interim service provider in July following a wage scandal involving the NGV’s previous contractors.

Pamela Joyner named chair of Tate Americas Foundation | Art collector and patron Pamela Joyner is to replace Jeanne Donovan Fisher as chair of the Tate Americas Foundation, it was announced yesterday. Starting in April, Joyner will serve a five-year term in her role for the foundation with Tate Americas, for which she has acted as a trustee since 2015. A touring exhibition of Joyner’s collection of African-American art is currently on view at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in North Carolina.