Art Industry News: The Rothko Chapel Closes as It Prepares for a $30 Million Rebirth + Other Stories

Plus, Christo revisits the Miami islands he wrapped in fabric 35 years later and an anti-money laundering law targeting art dealers is back on the table.

artnet News, December 12, 2018 The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas. Courtesy of the Rothko Chapel. The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas. Courtesy of the Rothko Chapel.

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to for Wednesday, December 12. NEED-TO-READ

Critic Christopher Knight on 2018 in Art – The Los Angeles Times art critic selected his top 10 museum exhibitions of the year in the LA area, including Jasper Johns at the Broad, Tony DeLap at the Laguna Art Museum, “Made in L.A.” at the Hammer Museum, and the “Renaissance Nude” at the Getty. Of the latter, he writes, “This is the dazzling kind of art historical exhibition that only the Getty seems to do.” (LA Times) ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads

Visiting Miami’s Islands With Christo, Three Decades Later – Talk about a trip down memory lane. During the bustle of Art Basel Miami Beach, artist Christo took a boat to visit the spot where he installed his famous work “Surrounded Islands” with his late collaborator and wife, Jeanne-Claude. He noted just how much Miami has transformed in 35 years. Back when he encircled the Floridian land masses with pink fabric, they were filled with nothing but trees and garbage. (He had to remove 40 tons of waste from one island for the project.) A documentary exhibition about the work, “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Surrounded Islands 1980–1983,” is currently on view at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. (Vulture)

Rothko Chapel to Close for Upgrade – The first phase of a $30 million revamp of the Rothko Chapel’s two-acre campus in Houston, Texas, has begun (to the surprise of some of its neighbors). Beginning March 4, the chapel—just down the street from the Menil Foundation, build by the same spirituality-seeking patrons—will be closed for most of 2019 while a new skylight and entryway are fitted. Over the next couple of years, three new buildings will be added to the plot. (Houston Chronicle)