New contemporary art space to open in Madrid

Our daily round-up of news from the art world 

New contemporary art space to open in Madrid | The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) and the Spanish ministry of education, culture and sport today announced the signing of an agreement to create a new exhibition space for contemporary art in Madrid. The Contemporary Art Collection of the Americas, as the space will be known, is to be located in the city’s publicly owned Tabacalera building, which is currently undergoing renovations to become a national centre for contemporary arts. As part of today’s agreement, the CIFO will donate a number of works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros collection of Latin American art to the Spanish state.

Petition calls for reinstatement of Beatrix Ruf at Stedelijk | A petition calling for the reinstatement of Beatrix Ruf as director of the Stedelijk Museum, following Ruf’s resignation over conflict-of-interest accusations in October, has been published as an advertisement in Dutch newspaper Het Parool. According to local reports, some of the individuals whose names appear on the petition, including head of Christie’s Netherlands Arno Verkade, say they did not sign it. Among the confirmed signatories, Artnews reports, are artists Philippe Parreno, Ugo Rondinone, and Sam Falls; collector Bob Rennie; and dealers Barbara Gladstone and Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn.

Ghent returns controversial artworks to the Dieleghem Foundation | Members of the commission appointed to assess the authenticity of the artworks in the Museum voor Schone Kunsten’s (MSK) exhibition ‘Russian Modernism 1910–30’ disbanded hours after convening on Monday. The commission, comprised of five eminent art-world figures, was created at the request of culture minister Sven Gatz in late January, after an open letter questioning the authenticity of the works was published. The group decided to disband due to complications raised by MSK lawyers, while Annelies Storms, the local politician responsible for Culture, Tourism and Events in Ghent, yesterday announced the cancellation of the loan and return of the works to the Dieleghem Foundation.

Campaigners urge Tate to ‘sever ties’ with Anthony d’Offay | Campaign group We Are Not Surprised has issued a call to the Tate asking what actions the institution is taking to remove art dealer and collector Anthony d’Offay from its programme, following allegations of sexual harassment made against d’Offay last month. Writing on Instagram, the campaigners praise the initial decision to suspend contact with d’Offay before calling for the museum to ‘sever ties’ with him completely. In a comment on the social media post, Tate has stated that it is ‘unable to discuss this matter at the present time’.

Liverpool Waters scheme due for review | A report on the planned regeneration of the Liverpool waterfront will go before Liverpool city council’s cabinet on Friday. The controversial Liverpool Waters development scheme, a £5 billion regeneration plan, was approved by the council in 2012. The report was commissioned by the city council in response to Unesco’s calls for a reconsideration of the redevelopment due to concerns over risks posed to the city’s World Heritage status.

Lead image: used under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0; original image cropped)