Winners announced for 2017 Absolut Art Award

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Anne Imhof wins Absolut Art Award | German artist Anne Imhof has won the 2017 Absolut award for art work and the prize for art writing has been by won Huey Copeland of Northwestern University. Imhof receives €20,000 as well as a budget of €100,000 to follow up on her winning proposal, which will involve a new performance work set in Death Valley, California. Copeland will receive a €25,000 stipend to write a collection of essays on American art and discourse of the past 50 years. The award ceremony will take place in Stockholm in September.

Ancient Egyptian tomb discovered in Dahshur | Archaeologists excavating a site in the necropolis of Dahshur have discovered what they believe to be the tomb of an ancient Egyptian princess, reports the Art Newspaper. The structure is reportedly in poor condition, but significant architectural materials have been unearthed, including a block bearing religious texts and an inscription of the name of King Ameny Qemau, whose own tomb is located nearby.

Los Angeles planning department approves Lucas Museum development | The Los Angeles Planning Commission has approved the development proposal for a Museum of Narrative Art proposed by film director George Lucas. The structure, to be built in LA’s Exposition Park, will consist of five storeys, totalling around 30,000 sq ft.

Recommended reading | The first reviews of the 57th Venice Biennale are in, and so far, reactions have been mixed. Art News’s Andrew Russeth takes in the atmosphere and sums it up as ‘an extremely chill affair’. In the London Evening Standard, Matthew Collings finds much to enjoy but thinks it is all too often ‘dutiful and anaemic’. The Times’s (£), Rachel Campbell-Johnston agrees, describing its well intentioned focus on the refugee crisis as an uncomfortably superficial gesture. In the Guardian, Charlotte Higgins looks at Phyllida Barlow’s long road to recognition, and Bob and Roberta Smith makes the case that Brexit will be bad news for the arts in the U.K.