The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art and museum stories.

Is there no end to Kanye West’s talents? The rapper-cum-Renaissance man, who has previously compared himself to Picasso, has now announced that his fashion label Yeezy is to launch an architecture venture. In a tweet on Sunday, West revealed that the company is looking for architects and industrial designers for the project, which goes under the provisional name ‘Yeezy home’. Its aim? ‘To make the world better,’ apparently.

we’re starting a Yeezy architecture arm called Yeezy home. We’re looking for architects and industrial designers who want to make the world better

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 6, 2018

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The Palais de Tokyo in Paris staged an event for nudists last weekend, welcoming 161 individuals dressed as nature intended. Among the lucky ticket holders was the journalist Thomas Rogers, who subsequently wrote up the experience for the New York Times. ‘The most uncomfortable thing about being naked in a museum, it turns out, is the temperature,’ he explained. ‘Museums […] are not temperature-controlled for people wearing only sneakers.’

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Last week, Rakewell reported on plans to open a ‘museum of pizza’ in New York later this year. But it seems that the bright sparks behind the idea have been beaten to the punch: a museum dedicated exclusively to Pizza Hut has just opened at Wichita State University.

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For some years, Marcel Breuer’s Pirelli building in New Haven has stood empty, sparking fears that it may be demolished. But an unlikely saviour may be about to enter the picture, in the form of flat-pack giant IKEA. The Swedish furniture company, which currently owns the building, is reportedly in discussions about converting the structure into a hotel. Meatball room service, anyone?

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