Roundup: SFMOMA's big donor agreement, housing and density in NorCal and SoCal, Peter Doig's strange trial

Aug. 23, 2016 10 AM PT

Teasing apart an agreement between a San Francisco museum and a major donor. Why the naked Trump statue is a pile of clichés. And the surreal case of a painter getting sued over a painting he states (quite firmly) he didn’t paint. Plus: The issue of housing heats up in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, and a retrograde Los Angeles development coalition gets all kinds of celebrity power. Here’s the Roundup:

— “It means that something like 60 percent of SFMOMA’s indoor galleries (not counting free-admission areas that serve as combination lobby and exhibition spaces) must always adhere — or, at least, respond — to a narrative of art history constructed by just two astute but obdurately private collectors.” Critic Charles Desmarais parses the deal SFMOMA cut for the Fisher Collection. Great read. San Francisco Chronicle

— That naked Trump statue that popped up in cities around the U.S.? Not as incisive as you might think. “Nearly every element of the statue rests on harmful stereotypes,” writes Rick Smith. “All stereotypes are clichés, and clichés make bad art.” Co-sign. The Stranger

— A corrections officer took painter Peter Doig to court, alleging that he painted a painting Doig is quite firm in stating he didn’t paint (and of which there is quite a bit of evidence was painted by someone else). Dushko Petrovich sat in on the trial’s surreal last day. Artnet

— Related: A mysterious Instagrammer also has been covering the trial. Artnet

— A number of filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s Polaroids are going to auction. The Guardian

— A 1970s art project by Hal Fischer humorously played with the idea of gay male “types” — and it’s now on view at Cherry and Martin in Culver City. Los Angeles Times

— Photographer Ed Templeton’s makeup girls. It’s Nice That

— Dana Goodyear pens an engrossing profile of the cantankerous Michael Heizer and his massive, obsessive desert earthwork, “City” — a.k.a. “The Area 51 of the art world.” So. Much. Testosterone. The New Yorker

An undated photo in Michael Heizer's "City" is seen near Garden City, Nev.

— Reconstructing the architecture of a notorious Syrian prison through the memories of its inmates. The Guardian

— A new memorial in Alabama will honor victims of lynchings. New York Times

— A reredo discovered with a cellphone flashlight in an English church may have been designed by “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” novelist Thomas Hardy. The Guardian

— The story of Washington, D.C.’s, new National Museum of African American History & Culture is told by Vinson Cunningham. A good overview. The New Yorker

— Since I’m on the subject of our nation’s capital: Kriston Capps tracks the rise of Instagram spectacle art in the city’s museums. Washington City Paper

— In Sunnyvale: Homeowners rezoned a district filled with Modern homes by builder Joseph Eichler as a way of limiting density. Ironic given that Eichler intended his homes to appeal to buyers on lower middle-class budgets. The Mercury News

— Speaking of which: A report from San Francisco shows that rent increases slow when there is more construction. The folks at L.A.’s Neighborhood Integrity Initiative should read this story (that’d be the coalition that would like to keep development in L.A. to 1960s levels). SFGate

— And because I can’t leave well enough alone: The Neighborhood Integrity Initiative has raised all kinds of money and now boasts the support of celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kirsten Dunst. I guess the celeb set doesn’t want the working class to have any place to live in L.A. Nice going, celebrities. Curbed

Leonardo DiCaprio appears at a screening of "The Revenant" in Tokyo in March.

— Related: In a very public resignation, a Palo Alto planning commissioner talks about the big problem plaguing the city. Namely, that there is no political will to build housing — resulting in a social and economic monoculture. Citylab

— The dangerous myth of authenticity. Lithub

— Who killed Gawker? A very compelling essay by former editor-in-chief Max Read. New York Magazine

— And last but not least, “Stranger Things” as told through artworks. The Getty Tumblr

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