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Goodnight, Sweet Prince: Last Week in Art

R.I.P. David Bowie. Also, Ai Weiwei strikes a blow for free speech and an artist draws pubes on a statue of Queen Vic.

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:

+ The biggest news of the week was the unexpected death of David Bowie, who, on top of being a rock legend and aesthetic icon, was also a painter and art collector. [The New York Times]

+ Annie Leibovitz unveiled the latest portraits in her Women series at a new exhibition [CNN]

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+ Ai Weiwei wins his fight against censorship: Lego will no longer screen bulk orders. [The Art Newspaper]

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+ Two men were arrested in Turkey for allegedly smuggling a $4 million painting by Flemish master Anthony van Dyck. [The Sydney Morning Herald]

+ A performance artist who makes videos in which she defecates on the Israeli flag is being indicted by the Israeli police. [ArtForum]

+ Indulge your childhood dino obsession by viewing the world’s largest dinosaur at the American Museum of Natural History. [The Verge]

+ Mr. Brainwash painted The Kardashians in the style of Renoir. [ArtNet]

+ The town of Whitesboro, New York, has decided to go ahead and keep this as their town seal. [The Root]

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+ The Edward Snowden bust mounted by activist artists in a New York park has found a new (legal) home at the Brooklyn Museum. [Forbes]

+ A retired schoolteacher bequeathed nearly $2 million dollars to the struggling Detroit Institute of Art, where she had been a volunteer. [The New York Times]

+ A feminist street artist drew pubes on a statue of Queen Victoria. [ArtNet]

A photo posted by Richard Horne (@grapevineconsulting) on Jan 8, 2016 at 2:46am PST

+ Student members of an Indian art collective say they were assaulted by police. [The Hindu]

+ Milan will get a public park dedicated to displaying contemporary art. [ArtForum]

+ Artists protested Facebook’s censorship by flooding it with nudity on Facebook Nudity Day. [The Huffington Post]

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+ And a high-heel shaped church was built in Taiwan in an attempt to get women to go to church. [The Creators Project]

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