The news of Butler’s appointment was first reported by the New York Times.

Butler is among the country’s most respected curators, having held top positions at several important institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, where she was chief curator of drawings from 2006 to 2014.

“Connie Butler is widely known and admired as a trailblazing curator and scholar, as well as a dedicated mentor to rising museum professionals,” MoMA director Glenn Lowry said in a statement. “With her close working relationships with artists, both established and emerging, and her long-standing connections to MoMA and New York, we know she will advance MoMA PS1 in all aspects of its ambitious program. I look forward to working with her again.”

During her tenure at the Hammer Museum, which began in 2013, she was key in significantly raising that institution’s profile, establishing it as one of the city’s most important museums and a place known internationally for mounting cutting-edge exhibitions.

Among her first exhibitions at the Hammer was the 2014 edition of the Made in L.A. biennial, which included a range of artists who are now well-established, including Wu Tsang, Samara Golden, Tala Madani, Clarissa Tossin, and A.L. Steiner. A major survey for Mark Bradford, his first institutional solo show in his hometown, followed. Other curatorial credits at the museum include solo outings for Marisa Merz, Lari Pittman, and Andrea Fraser, as well as a landmark retrospective for Adrian Piper, which was co-organized MoMA.

At MoMA, her two most important exhibitions were the first major US surveys for Lygia Clark (2014) and Marlene Dumas (2009–09), as well as “On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century” (2010). She served on the curatorial team of the 2010 edition of Greater New York at PS1.

Prior to joining MoMA, Butler was a longtime curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Her most well-known exhibition during her tenure there was 2007’s groundbreaking “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution,” which traveled to PS1 in 2008. That exhibition is widely credited with rewriting art history through a feminist lens, examining how activism helped shape the art-making of numerous women artists between 1965 and 1980. The exhibition’s catalogue, which includes short biographies for each of the 140 artists included, is now considered an essential text.

“MoMA PS1 has a remarkable and important history, a rich and exciting present-day community of staff, artists, and audiences, and a potential that seems unlimited,” Butler said in a statement. “I am honored to have been chosen to lead this institution, and I look forward to working with the Board and staff as we continue its mission serving the New York and Queens communities, as well as the broader international network of artists who represent MoMA PS1’s incredible past and future.”

In a statement, MoMA PS1 board chair Sarah Arison said, “Thanks to our in-depth search process, we welcome a new Director who deeply understands MoMA PS1 and our artist-centric DNA, and will ensure that we remain at the forefront of innovative programming that serves our communities locally and internationally.”

Butler fills a gap at PS1 that has been left open for nearly a year. Fowle, who recently joined Hauser & With as senior curatorial director, had been at the helm for fewer than three years when she left the museum. The details of her departure were not disclosed at the time.

According to court documents filed in the Southern District of New York, KAWS sent Leong and the companies a cease-and-desist letter in 2020. A lawsuit from KAWS followed in 2021.

The artist claimed that Leong and the companies had created hundreds of works that infringed on the his copyright, many of them featuring KAWS’s famous skull-faced Companion. These works, the artist said, had a collective retail value of more than $63 million.

Court documents revealed that one of the companies went as far as to boast about its ability to create “custom hand-reworked reproductions” of KAWS’s works and their price point, which is significantly lower than authentic figurines and sculptures designed by the artist. That public admission was enough for the court to find that Leong and his associates “knowingly intended to sell counterfeit KAWS goods.”

Kaws’s legal team, which includes the attorney Aaron Richard Golub, submitted 154 counterfeit works as evidence of copyright infringement to the court and noted that such works not only damage his reputation but also “chill the market for his original work because purchasers fear inadvertently acquiring a counterfeit”—a constant problem for the artist, who reportedly spends up to $40,000 a year on counterfeit identification.

According to Artnet News, which first reported the news, Golub and the KAWS legal team will follow up this ruling and seek a judgment against another defendant in the case, Jonathan Anand. Golub declined to comment on the judgment.

The Pillsbury Owl, a 12th- or 13th-century BCE bronze owl-shaped wine vessel, was at the entrance of the museum’s exhibition “Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes” when the damage occurred on April 9. Shang-dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE) aristocrats would have used the vessel in rituals offerings to honor their ancestors.

A museum spokesperson confirmed that the vessel has since been removed from the show for further assessment and conservation. The extent of the damage, as well as how long conservation efforts on the artwork will take, however, remains unclear.

No visitors or staff were harmed during the incident. The museum will “continue to monitor and enhance measures to prevent accidents”, according to spokesperson.

In the owl’s place now sits a set of bronze winged dragons from the 4th- or 5th-century BCE, which were already on view and moved from the second gallery of the exhibition.

Recently there has been an uptick in artists and crafters buying embroidery machines. With a plethora of options, and prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, picking the right machine for you can be overwhelming. When making your decision there are a few things you should keep in mind: what the largest sewing field or hoop size is for the machine, how fast it can sew, and how many needles it has. Let’s break it down and look at some of the best options out there for custom tees, hats, bags, and more.

How we pick each product:
Our mission is to recommend the most appropriate artists’ tool or supply for your needs. Whether you are looking for top-of-the line equipment or beginners’ basics, we’ll make sure that you get good value for your money by doing the research for you. We scour the Internet for information on how art supplies are used and read customer reviews by real users; we ask experts for their advice; and of course, we rely on our own accumulated expertise as artists, teachers, and craftspeople.

Best for Beginners
The Brother SE600 is a good fit for the beginner sewist who is brand new to embroidery.  The 4”x4” embroidery hoop is small, but it is enough room for small projects. You will have no problem with onesies, logos on shirts and other small scale projects. This machine is a sewing and embroidery combination machine, making it great for those who also want to sew, but don’t have space for two machines. It has 80 built in embroidery designs, 103 sewing stitches, and 10 buttonhole styles. The SE600 can sew 400 stitches per minute when embroidering. This makes it a great starter embroidery machine, and you can have a lot of fun sewing with it too.

Buy: Brother SE600 Sewing and Embroidery Machine, 80 Designs, 103 Built-In Stitches, Computerized, 4″ x 4″ Hoop Area, 3.2″ LCD Touchscreen Display, 7 Included Feet $381.15

Best Overall
The Brother PE800 is one of the most recommended embroidery machines out there. It has a 5”x7” embroidery hoop that gives you a bit more space to work with. It has 138 preloaded designs making it very easy to jump right into embroidery. The PE800 can sew 650 stitches per minute, and has a USB port that allows for you to easily upload your unique designs. Like the SE600, the PE 800 only has one needle. This means if you stitch an embroidery with multiple colors, you have to be there to change the thread color. Unlike the SE600, this machine only does embroidery.

Buy: Brother Embroidery Machine PE800, 138 Built-in Designs, 5″ x 7″ Hoop Area, Large 3.2″ LCD Touchscreen, USB Port, 11 Font Styles $748.50

Best for Quilters
For quilters the Bernette B79 is the way to go. Like the Brother SE600, it can sew and embroider. It has a large 10.25”x5.11” embroidery hoop, more features, and an overall better sewing experience. This single needle machine has an automatic thread cutter, dual feed for a smoother experience, and an automatic back kick function that ties off your thread by kicking your heel back on the pedal. It can stitch 850 stitches per minute. The Bernette collection is the more affordable line of machines made by Bernina, giving you access to the Bernina support team. The Bernette machines can be bought online, but if you’re the type of person who learns better in person you can find a local dealer who offers classes and a personal support experience.

Best for Multi-Color Designs
A multi-needle machine allows you to thread more than one needle at a time and your machine will automatically switch colors while you do other things and stay productive. If you are looking to embroider designs with more than one color, and don’t have the time to change the thread for each color the Janome MB-4SE ($5,500) is a great fit for you. It has 4 needles and its largest hoop size is 9.46”x7.88”. It also has 50 built in designs, 10 different fonts, USB port, auto thread cutter, and can sew 800 stitches per minute.

Best Non-Commercial Machine
If you are looking for more needles and not quite ready for a commercial machine try the Janome MB-7 with 7 needles. It has all all the same great features as the MB-4SE, but with 3 more needles.

Best Commercial-Grade Machine
Schools, small businesses and artists looking to really ramp up production will need a commercial machine. The Melco Bravo has 16 needles, a 12.6”x10.25” sewing field, 1000 stitches per minute, patented auto-tensioning and laser alignment. The Bravo easily sews through leather, vinyl and denim. It can run all day long and is built to last. This machine has all the bells and whistles you could dream of, making your embroidery go faster, smoother, and more efficiently. (Pro Tip: Melco regularly offers deals and special financing. If you are looking to buy one of these machines, wait until they run a good deal.)

According to AFP, three men were caught carrying out construction work on Mykonos despite a suspension on development. On the island of Rhodes, a tour operator was arrested for illegally occupying part of a beach with metal and wooden structures. The arrests were made amid a government crackdown on illicit tourism development on Greek islands home to imperiled fragile archaeological sites.

“The law will be enforced in Mykonos,” Kostas Skrekas, Greece’s environment minister, said in a statement. “No illegal plan will be legalized… there will be no loophole.”

In March, 58-year-old archaeologist Manolis Psarrosan, an employee at the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, was assaulted in a suburb of Athens. According to the Washington Post, Psarrosan has been involved in several cases with alleged violations, including ones revolving around “illegal constructions” and “arbitrary building activities in areas of archaeological interest” on Mykonos. He has been called as a witness in related trials. 

Due to the abundance of archaeological sites in Greece, local organizations have the power to veto development plans. 

Later that month, state-employed archeologists staged a five-hour protest outside the Culture Ministry in Athens to protest Psarrosan’s attack of a colleague in a suburb of the Greek capital, an incident they say is linked to the “mafia-style” violence targeting those tasked with persevering the country’s ancient heritage.

“We are not working with Tom’s studio at this time and have no release dates planned,” a Nike representative told Complex. The comment signals that, at least for now, the brand is no longer working with Sachs, though it might not be the definitive end to their relationship.

The apparent decision by Nike followed a report by Curbed in March that alleged Sachs’s studio had a toxic work environment. Soon after the report was released, Nike representatives said the company was “deeply concerned” by reports of Sachs’s behavior, which allegedly included calling employees “autistic,” and “retarded,” throwing things at them, and other hazing behavior.

Nike and Sachs have long collaborated on sneaker design, in particular a project called Mars Yard, named after a rocky stretch of terrain in Pasadena, California, where engineers test out rovers that will explore the red planet. The Mars Yard 1.0 debuted in 2012, with features such as vectran fabric from the Mars Excursion Rover airbags, billed as a shoe for the modern rocket scientist. Mars Yard 2.0 came out in 2017 during an exhibition at Governor’s Island that, presciently enough, also showed a film that Sachs made with artist Van Neistat titled “The Hero’s Journey”. The film follows a Tom Sachs apprentice through an indoctrination process in his iconic SoHo studio.

At the time he told ARTnews of the film, “There is always humiliation and failure in the beginning, and we wanted The Hero’s Journey to accentuate that. No one who has had success hasn’t also had a humiliating beginning with lots of failure.”

Six years have passed since Mars Yard 2.0 was released and 3.0 was expected to debut sometime soon, with rumors swirling recently about a new release date. Sachs’s more accessible Nike collaboration, titled General Purpose, was due to come out in more colorways in April, yet this too has yet to happen.

VOLTA New York launched in March 2008 as a satellite fair of the long-running Armory Show. This year, VOLTA will once again be in alignment with Frieze art fair, presenting galleries from over 18 countries. VOLTA’s focus on cutting-edge contemporary art encompasses several themes—among them, science and nature—from galleries with a wide-ranging international perspective.

Barcelona-based Out of Africa (OOA) Gallery champions work by contemporary African artists. Their presentation will highlight work by Oluwole Omofemi, Matthew Eguavoen, Médéric Turay, and Moses Zibor. These artists, part of a young, dynamic generation of global African diasporans, showcase African pride, tradition, and culture in their practice.

At SEIZAN Gallery (New York/Tokyo), Japanese artist Motohide Takami revisits cultural legacy and collective trauma. The Great Earthquake of 2011 occurred during the artist’s time as a graduate student at Tohoku University of Art in Yamagata. The disaster and its aftermath became a signature trope in his oil paintings. A recurring image of flames by the riverside refers to the Japanese expression “fire on the other side of the river,” meaning something is someone else’s business. This motif underscores human disinterest in tragic events that do not directly impact you, ever pertinent in today’s world.

Venezuelan artist Starsky Brines, presented by the Frankfurt-based Galerie Heike Strelow, explores identity through personal biographical iconography. His anthropomorphic characters are influenced by his

domestic life with his mother, who crafted colorful puppets for Caribbean carnivals. He pairs this visual language with an art historical knowledge of Latin American figurative art, German Neo-Expressionism, the Italian Transavantgarde, and the CoBrA group to create paintings that oscillate between abstract and figurative.

Korean artist Vlad Ogay is inspired by his time spent studying theater in Russia. His “readymade” practice involves collaging together objects and artifacts from everyday life. His works will be presented at VOLTA by the Latvian gallery CUT ART.  A multi-disciplinary artist, Ogay has received prestigious awards in Venice and Cannes for his film projects and is preparing for his first solo show, to be curated by Gianluca Marziani (a consulting curator of the 2011 Venice Biennale and Banksy’s biographer).

Meanwhile, LAMINAProject present a series of collage-based works by New York artist Jody Rasch that explore radio astronomy, a sub-genre of astronomy specializing in celestial objects at radio frequencies.

Artist Natalie Collette Wood has a different take on the organic in her elusive assemblages and layered paintings of fantastical forms. The artist’s work will be presented by Vellum Projects. Among works by five artists exploring topics of mythology, popular culture, environmental activism, and conservation, Wood’s pieces are a particular highlight.

The origin of the name of VOLTA denotes a turn of thought or an inflection point. The fair distinguishes itself in the marketplace with its commitment to creating an environment of discovery for art collectors, with this intention precisely guiding its curation. VOLTA serves as the platform for ambitious international galleries to enter the global art markets of New York and Basel. In turn, the fair offers both burgeoning and established collectors a place to discover the art of now, to grow their collection, and ultimately to connect with and support new talent.

Beyond stand-out group presentations, 14 galleries will feature solo exhibitions at the fair. Among these highlights are: the South Korean Gallery Bhak presenting work by artist Yissho, (AV17) Gallery presenting sculptures by Lithuanian artist Mindaugas Junčys, Catalysta Gallery presenting artworks by Dominican artist Manuel Mera, and Stone Step Gallery presenting Irish artist Paul Hughes.

United by the healing power of creativity, VOLTA New York will collaborate with non-profit partner Fashion Fights Cancer to host an art auction and fashion fundraising event on Thursday, May 18, from 6 to 9 PM, co-hosted by New York Fashion Week’s Fern Mallis and Gary Wassner, CEO of Hilldun Corporation.

The full exhibitor list is available at this link. VOLTA New York is on view May 17-21 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.

VOLTA New York is followed by VOLTA Basel (June 12-18) at Klybeck 610, Basel, Switzerland.

Follow @voltaartfairs for updates.

The Headlines

TROUBLE IN PARIS. On Sunday, a Miriam Cahn painting that has been the subject of right-wing vitriol was vandalized in her current show at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Alex Greenberger reports in ARTnews. The alleged vandal sprayed purple paint onto the piece, which depicts a person with their hands tied performing a sex act on a taller person. Cahn, an acclaimed Swiss artist, has said she created the work after reading about human-rights abuses in Ukraine. Some conservative politicians and children’s-rights groups have claimed that the piece promotes pedophilia. The alleged culprit was apprehended by guards and turned over to police, the AFP reports. Per the artist’s wishes, the defaced work will remain in the show until it ends its run on Sunday.

ARTISTS CLOSE UP. In the Los Angeles Times, Carolina A. Miranda reports on infighting among members of the storied Chicano artist collective Asco over the authorship of some of their trailblazing pieces. The “disputes could now affect how Asco’s work is displayed and how its story is ultimately told,” she writes. ● Also in the L.A. Times, artist Max Hooper Schneider, who makes dense, frenetic, action-packed installations and sculptures, got the profile treatment from Leah Ollman. “I think of the studio as a gut, and I’m like a digestive enzyme, circulating through it,” said Hooper Schneider, who has a new show up at the François Ghebaly gallery in L.A.. ● And in the Financial Times, photographer Martin Parr discussed the work of six peers whom he admires, including Mohamed Bourouissa, Markéta Luskačová, and Rinko Kawauchi.

The Digest

Last year, material from Ann and Gordon Getty’s home in the S.F. neighborhood of Pacific Heights made more than $150 million at Christie’s. In June, art and design from their residence in nearby Berkeley, known as the Temple of Wings, will be offered by the auctioneer, with proceeds again going to charity. [Datebook]

Police in Greece arrested four on allegations of pursuing illegal construction projects on the islands of Mykonos and Rhodes. In March, a government archaeologist was beaten in an Athens suburb, an attack that authorities believe was related to his work evaluating projects near archaeological sites in those tourism hotspots. [AFP/Barron’s]

Artist Steve McQueen said that he has invited dozens of U.K. politicians to visit the Serpentine Gallery in London to view his new film about the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72, but that most have not replied. “Their silence says a lot about what is happening in this country,” he said. [The Guardian]

The illustrator Bruce McCall, whose richly detailed satirical visions of American life graced more than 80 covers of the New Yorker, died on Friday at the age of 87. Graphic designer Michael Bierutonce termed McCall “our country’s greatest unacknowledged design visionary,” William Grimes writes in his obituary. [The New York Times]

Theatrical producer Jenna Segal has been building a collection of work by all 31 artists featured in an all-women show at Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century gallery in 1943. She is still looking for a Gypsy Rose Lee piece, and is presenting her holdings at her Midtown Manhattan offices later the month. [The New York Times]

Allegations are flying in a battle over the wealth and art collection of billionaire Hubert Neumann and his family. His second daughter, Belinda Neumann-Donnelly, has filed suit against him, saying that he has taken funds from trusts and engaged in other improper behavior. His lawyer rebutted the claims. [New York Post]

The Kicker

THE KEY TO LONGEVITY. In a recent op-ed for the Washington Post, the philosopher and poet Paul Woodruff talked about undertaking meaningful projects as the end of his life nears. “As I think of dying, I make each day a time for living, for having something to live for,” he wrote. A reader responded with a letter to editor, noting that that worldview matched that of the great artist Harry Liebermann, who died at 106. According to the letter’s author, Liebermann said, when he was already past 100, “The reason I am living so long is before I go to bed, I imagine what I will be painting the next day.” [The Washington Post]

The painting, titled fuck abstraction !, appears in a Cahn show set to finish its controversial run on May 14. Cahn and the museum had made clear that the work was a response to human rights abuses in Ukraine, but conservative politicians and children’s rights groups had claimed it promoted pedophilia.

In the work, Cahn represents a smaller figure whose hands are bound performing a sex act on a taller one. She said she had painted it after seeing reports of mass graves in Bucha and rapes by Russian soldiers in 2022. Certain politicians and organizations attempted to sue for its removal, though the French Council of State found that the painting could be exhibited on the basis that it did not represent pedophilia and that it qualified as freedom of expression.

According to the Agence France-Presse, on Sunday afternoon, a visitor that the Palais de Tokyo described as an “elderly person” sprayed purple paint on fuck abstraction ! The man was “unhappy with the sexual staging of a child and an adult represented, according to him,” the museum told AFP.

Following the vandalism, two rooms of the exhibition were closed off to the public.

Rima Abdul Malak, France’s culture minister, told Franceinfo, “It’s a direct attack on freedom of expression, which is quite serious.”

Franceinfo, which first reported the news, published a picture of what appeared to be fuck abstraction ! in its vandalized state. The painting seems to have been splashed with purple that now runs down portions of it. According to the publication, the man who vandalized the work had hidden the paint in a medicine bottle.

Guillaume Désanges, president of the Palais de Tokyo, told AFP that fuck abstraction ! would remain on view through the end of the show’s run in agreement with the artist. So far, 80,000 people have seen the exhibition.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron even weighed in on the situation, tweeting, “To attack a work is to attack our values. In France, art is always free and respect for cultural creation is guaranteed.”

Update, 5/8/23, 9:45 a.m.: A statement from Emmanuel Macron has been added to this article.

The homepage illustration featured the lifelong New Yorker, who died in 2021, holding his Nikon camera, surrounded by various scenes of Asian Americans that he aimed his lens, often with a feeling of special care to a community that has historically been marginalized.

For some six decades, Lee’s photography became a record of the diversity and nuances of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities as they evolved and grew in New York City and other cities in the United States. Born in Queens, Lee was self-taught as a photographer, but his documentation of protests, rallies, demonstrations, celebrations like Lunar New Year festivals, and other daily events were published in countless publications like Time magazine, the New York Times, the Village Voice, the New York Post, and the Associated Press.

One of Lee’s most notable photographs was when he capture young Chinese American Peter Yew being dragged away by police. In 1975, Yew had witnessed a 15-year-old being beaten by police officers for an alleged traffic violation; when he tried to intervene, he was subsequently severely beaten. Yew was also charged with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. A week after the beating, thousands of Chinatown residents, spurred by Lee’s photograph, protested the growing police violence in their neighborhoods.

Lee’s community involvement also included his work through the Basement Workshop organization, the first Asian American political and arts organization in New York City that was active from 1970 to 1986.

In honor of Lee’s work as a photographer and activist, New York City Mayor David Dinkins declared May 7, 1993 as “Corky Lee Day.” Lee’s work has been the subject of two documentaries: Not on the Menu: Corky Lee’s Life and Work (2013) and Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story (2022).

Lee’s belief in the importance of capturing Asian Americans also included a re-creation of a famous photograph marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit in Utah in 1869. Lee noticed how Chinese laborers, who had built the railroad, had not been included in the image. In 2002, Lee gathered and organized Asian Americans and relatives of Chinese railroad workers from the 1860s, posing them in the same way as the 1869 photograph. He made another photograph in 2014, on the 145th anniversary of the original, and called it “photographic justice.”

Lee was also an active member of the New York chapter of the Asian American Journalists’ Association (AAJA), and actively mentored younger photographers and journalists. He also frequently donated framed prints of his work to AAJA’s annual fundraising auction during its national convention. Last year, AAJA’s New York chapter also set up a $5,000 photojournalism fellowship named in Lee’s honor.