Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara names new director

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara names Abaseh Mirvali as new director | The Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) today announced the appointment of its new executive director, chief curator and CEO, Abaseh Mirvali, effective immediately. Artnews reports that the position had been vacant for close to a year, after Mirvali’s predecessor Miki Garcia departed in December 2017 for the Arizona State University Art Museum. Mirvali has in the past served as director of the Colección/Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City, as well as Denver’s Biennial of the Americas for its 2013 edition.

Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens appoints Adam Levine as director and CEO | The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville has announced that Adam Levine will take up the role of CEO and director in January 2019. Levine currently holds the position of deputy director at the Toledo Museum of Art. 

Banksy video claims artwork was intended to shred entirely | The anonymous graffiti artist Banksy yesterday published a video to his website claiming that Girl With Balloon (2006), the work, which partially shredded itself after selling for £1.4 million at Sotheby’s in London on 5 October, failed to destruct entirely due to a technical problem. The video titled ‘Shred the Love, Director’s Cut’ shows a practice run of the stunt in which the whole work is shredded, accompanied with a text caption stating that ‘in rehearsals, it worked every time’. Despite ongoing speculation, Sotheby’s and Banksy continue to deny any collaboration.

Autry Museum of the American West receives grant from Native community | The Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles has received a donation of $414,101 from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, a Native tribe in California. The grant will go towards initiatives to improve access to the museum for Native communities as well as current efforts to achieve full compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Jacques Monory (1924–2018) | French painter and film-maker Jacques Monory has died at the age of 94, reports Le Monde (French-language article). A significant member of the movement Narrative Figuration, Monory became one of the leading figures of European Pop art in the 1960s. Despite his international acclaim, it was only this year that he had his first solo exhibition in the US.