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NYC Art Activists Tackle Guns & the Guggenheim: Last Week in Art

A pop-up installation turned a subway tunnel into an anti-gun protest and light projections condemned the Guggenheim's treatment of workers on its Abu Dhabi building.

A lot went down this week in the weird and wild world of Art. Some things were more scandalous than others, some were just plain wacky—but all of them are worth knowing about. Without further ado:

+ It was a turbulent and exciting week for art activism in New York this week. On Wednesday, the artist-activist groups Global Ultra Luxury Faction and the Illuminator teamed up to protest the Guggenheim's decision to break ties with the migrant worker rights group supporting workers at the Guggenheim's new building in Abu Dhabi, the Gulf Labor Coalition, through large-scale light projections on the museum's walls. [Hyperallergic]

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+ An installation protesting gun violence, The Perilous Fight, from artist-activist Phil America, popped up in an abandoned subway tunnel in Brooklyn. [Gothamist]

+ Jerry Saltz and Rachel Corbett of Vulture have constructed an intelligible, incredible timeline of contemporary art from 1984 to today. [Vulture]

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+ Profiles of two of the artists behind Beyoncé's new visual album Lemonade: Nigerian artist Laolu Senbanjo, who did all body art in the video, and Warsan Shire, the elusive Somali-British poet who wrote Lemonade's powerful spoken word interludes. [okayafrica., Vogue]

+ Fans are calling for Prince's sweeping estate in the suburbs of Minneapolis to become a museum to the artist and his career, but complications with the late musician's will (or lack thereof) may stand in the way. [Business Insider, USA Today]

+ It seems like a new da Vinci scandal/breakthrough/fun fact graces my Twitter feed at least three times a month. Only last week, it was researchers discovering the master's last living relatives in Tuscany. Now, an art detective claims the Mona Lisa is actually a portrait of da Vinci's male apprentice and alleged gay lover. [Discovery News, The Telegraph]

+ The Broad Museum got its own category on jeopardy and no one wanted to pick it (What is Warhol?). [The Los Angeles Times]

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+ The "tacky, terrible art" of Moscow's contemporary public scene. [The New Yorker]

+ Edward Snowden made a really bad music video for his newly released track, "Exit." [Gizmodo]

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+ The unstoppable collector duo behind the Long Museum, Wang Wei and Liu Yiqian, are opening their third exhibition space in four years. [The Art Newspaper]

+ SFMoMA celebrated its highly anticipated reopening, scheduled for May 14, with an artist- and collector-studded "Art Bash." [SF Gate]

+ Rutgers University displayed and then removed an anonymous work depicting Jesus crucified on a dartboard after many complaints. [New York Daily News]

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+ A look at the indefatigable sexism driving art exhibition politics. [The Art Newspaper]

+ The compelling tale of Larry Gagosian's art empire. [The Wall Street Journal Magazine]

+ Steve McCurry's employee plead guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of photographs, including his famous Afghan Girl photograph. [artnet News]

+ David Geffen has donated $100 million to MoMA's expansion efforts. [artnet News]

+ Painter JMW Turner will be on the next round of British £20 notes. [The Guardian]

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Did we miss any pressing art world stories? Let us know in the comments below!

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