Our daily round-up of news from the art world
Man shot after attacking police officer outside Notre-Dame cathedral | Parisian police have shot and injured a man who attacked an officer with a hammer outside Notre-Dame cathedral this afternoon. The officer sustained minor injuries, while the suspect was wounded in the chest. Notre-Dame is one of the capital’s most popular sites and hundreds of people were said to be in the vicinity at the time. The area around the building has been sealed off and an investigation launched into the attack, which is being treated as a terrorist incident.
London and Washington DC named world’s joint museums capitals | A report listing the world’s 20 most visited museums in 2016 has named Washington D.C. and London as the joint ‘museums capitals’ of the world. According to the report, issued by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and multinational engineering company AECOM, both cities are home to four of the 20 most visited exhibition venues last year. In London, these were the British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern and the Natural History Museum. First place on the index, however, went to the National Museum of China in Beijing, which was visited by over 7.5 million people in 2016.
Banksy recalls election print offer | Banksy has withdrawn his offer to send free prints to those voting against the Conservative party in the Bristol region at Thursday’s general election. The recall was made last night on the anonymous street artist’s website, announcing that the ‘ill-conceived and legally dubious promotion’ had been cancelled in light of a warning by the Electoral Commission that the offer would ‘invalidate the election result’.
Debates over Scaffold sculpture’s future continue | Following last week’s reported agreement to dismantle and burn Scaffold, Sam Durant’s controversial sculpture on display at the Walker Art Center’s Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, this Monday the Walker’s executive director Olga Viso clarified that debates over the sculpture’s future were ongoing. According to Viso, the Dakota community – who denounced Durant’s work for its insensitivity in alluding to an act of genocide against its members – continues to discuss whether the sculpture’s dismantled fragments should indeed be burned.
Los Angeles’ ACME gallery to close | Los Angeles-based ACME gallery is to close after 22 years, it was confirmed today. The contemporary art gallery, founded in 1994 in Santa Monica by Robert Gunderman and Randy Sommer and currently located in LA’s Elysian Valley neighbourhood, will officially close on 10 June.