Huang Yong Ping (1954–2019)

Our daily round-up of news from the art world 

Huang Yong Ping (1954–2019) | The artist Huang Yong Ping has died at the age of 65. The Chinese-born artist rose to prominence in the 1980s as the leader of Xiamen Dada group, which made provocative parallels between Zen Buddhism and Dada; later installations and sculptures drew both from Chinese art history and from modern Western art to address themes such as the perceived Westernisation of China. He became a naturalised French citizen in 1999 and represented France at the 48th Venice Biennale that year; other major exhibitions include solo shows at the Barbican in London (2008) and the Musée’ d’art contemporain in Lyon (2013).

Ed Clark (1926–2019) | The painter Ed Clark has died at the age of 93. Clark’s contribution to post-war abstraction in New York included displaying one of the earliest shaped canvases in 1957, while he also developed a method for applying paint to canvas using a broom. Long recognised by contemporary artists such as Donald Judd and Joan Mitchell, Clark was largely overlooked by the institutional art world until late in life; he was included in the travelling exhibition ‘Soul of a Nation’, which debuted at Tate in 2017, as well as large solo shows at Mnuchin gallery (2018) and Hauser & Wirth, New York (2019).

Polly Staple appointed director of Tate’s collection for British Art | Polly Staple has been appointed as the next Director of Collection for British Art at Tate. Staple, who has been director of the Chisenhale Gallery in London since 2008, will take up the role from January next year; she succeeds Ann Gallagher, who has been the director of the collection since 2015, having previously served as co-director from 2006–15.

Oxford professor alleged to have sold papyrus fragments | Dirk Obbink, a papyrologist and professor at the University of Oxford, has been accused by the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) of selling 13 biblical fragments from the Oxyrhynchus Papyri – the largest collection of ancient papyri in the world, of which EES is custodian – to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. The museum has announced that it will return the fragments to Egypt Exploration Society; Professor Obbink has yet to respond to the allegations.

Unnamed art dealer arrested in Berlin | An art dealer has been arrested in Berlin on suspicion of fraud, according to police. The suspect has not yet been named, but the police statement reveals that a 67-year old man was arrested ‘on suspicion that he defrauded several people in connection with sale of high-value artworks and caused damages worth several million euros’.