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The Headlines
MURDER-FOR-HIRE CHARGE IN SIKKEMA CASE. Daniel Sikkema has been charged with hiring someone to kill his husband, New York dealer Brent Sikkema, reports Alex Greenberger for ARTnews. Brent Sikkema was found stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro apartment in January 2024. Alejandro Triana Prevez from Cuba eventually confessed to the killing, though his lawyer claims he was manipulated into committing the crime. Daniel had reportedly been seeking visitation rights for his and Brent’s son, amid an increasingly “contentious” divorce proceeding. Yesterday, Daniel Sikkema was officially charged in New York for murder-for-hire, passport fraud, and conspiracy to murder a person in a foreign country. “As alleged, Daniel Sikkema and his co-conspirator planned and carried out a cold-blooded plot to murder Sikkema’s husband, a United States citizen, in Brazil. This Office will doggedly pursue justice against those who murder United States citizens, whether at home or abroad,” said US Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon in a statement.
TRUMP’S AMERICAN ARTS COERCION. As the story of Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. develops, along with news of his firing national archivists, observers are warning that the current administration’s stronghold on influential arts and cultural platforms could have disastrous effects. Where to start? The Art Newspaper joins other media reporting on Trump’s “purge” of 18 board members at the Kennedy Center, who were appointed by former President Joseph R. Biden, along with chairman David M. Rubenstein. Richard Grenell, a former Trump ambassador to Germany, is now “interim executive director.” On Friday, Trump also fired the head of the National Archives, Colleen Shogan. The first woman to serve as national archivist, she confirmed the news, saying “no cause or reason was cited.” The dismissal without communicating a reason for doing so to Congress, is in fact against the law, according to a letter sent to the White House, by the American Historical Association, which a National Archives official shared with Rolling Stone Magazine. The article also states Trump has a list of National Archives staff he plans to fire in “revenge” for their involvement with attempting to recover classified material the president stashed away at Mar-a-Lago after his first term. Meanwhile, The Washington Post’s Philip Kennicott warns: “The federal government has potentially enormous powers of coercion when it comes to the cultural and nonprofit sector, from the tax code to visas for artists to novel interpretations of anti-discrimination laws. And it looks as if this administration may use them.” He later asks: “What if this isn’t about DEI but is rather a wholesale attack on the nonprofit world, with the aim of crippling or silencing groups that have traditionally been independent of government coercion?”
The Digest
The latent impact of Trump’s stronghold on the arts can also be seen in news of the American Quilter’s Society refusing to show two artworks from an exhibition titled “Color in Context: Red,” organized by the Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA). One of the textile works by Laura Shaw Feit deemed too “controversial” references abortion access, and the other by Yvonne Iten-Scott can be interpreted to depict female anatomy. The traveling exhibition was slated to head to several US states, but due to the disagreement over the two artworks, those events have been canceled. [Hyperallergic]
Berlin gallery owner Johann König and his wife Lena want to ban a novel that they believe contains characters whose lives are based on theirs. According to the couple, the September-published novel by Christoph Peters titled Innerstädtischer Tod violates their personal rights, and they are attempting to stop the book’s distribution. A Hamburg regional court will decide on the case, but in the meantime, the debacle seems to have brought greater attention to the book, and to the fact that Johann has been accused of alleged sexual harassment by several women, which he denies. [Monopol Magazine]
The Loewe Foundation has revealed its 30 Craft Prize finalists. Their creations made from ancient craft techniques and unexpected materials such as bandages, soil, sawdust and fallen leaves will go on display May 30 to June 29, at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid, when the winner of the €50,000 prize will also be announced. [WWD]
Ilona Staller, known as La Cicciolina, Jeff Koons’ former muse, porn star, and member of Italian parliament (not necessarily in that order), has written a book called Memorie. Rather, she is re-releasing the book originally published in 2002, which tells her side of a tumultuous life story, and one she hopes will appeal to President Trump. She wants him to revoke an international warrant for her arrest, which prevents her visiting the US. [Cultured Magazine]
The Kicker
WOMEN SURREALIST RISE. Dismissed and ignored for decades, women surrealists are suddenly very much the rage. Eliza Goodpasture writes for The Guardian about the fascinating art history around their practice and lives, as well as how we got to where we are today in belatedly recognizing their creative genius. At a time when Trump’s government attempts to dismiss minority voices of all kinds, Goodpasture reminds us that at least this group of fascinating artists have gained wider fame thanks to “an explosion of interest.” That was far from the case until recently. “Of course the women were important,” said artist Roland Penrose in 1982, “but it was because they were our muses.” He was speaking to art historian Whitney Chadwick, who was interviewing him for her book, Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement, which “fundamentally changed our understanding of both surrealism and female artists,” writes Goodpasture. This article, too, does much to help our understanding of their contributions, and why they resonate so much now.
