ART:

Elusive street artist, auction house prankster, you can add professor to Banksy’s list of accolades. Well, sort of. The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in England announced its plans to name the iconic British artist an honorary professor. 

The title is merely symbolic, so you shouldn’t rush to apply to sit in a seminar — he won’t be there. Matter of fact, Banksy “has not given a response to being given this honorary professorship, other than to confirm his acceptance,” said a spokespersonof the university.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to the school or the general public that an artist who has built his career through a veil of secrecy would disregard the honor. Nonetheless, UCA wanted to inspire its current and future students through a creative figure who “uses his talents to disrupt the status quo, while challenging us all to confront some of the key issues of our time: war and peace, inequality, and art’s role as a vehicle of social expression,” said UCA’s president and vice-chancellor Bashir Makhoul.

With Banksy’s absence almost a certainty, the award will be presented to an empty chair on July 6 during the school’s graduation ceremony.

Over the years, Dan Life has steadily made a name for himself by reinterpreting pop culture tropes into brilliant diamond pendants. In the past, the Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based artist went from flipping wine on eBay to working with Hebru Brantleyand J Balvin on lustrous one-off creations. 

Dan’s latest endeavor sees a partnership with legendary graffiti artist, Kenny Scharf. Well-known as a pioneer of the New York street art movement of the 1980s, alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Scharf’s signature Tondo faces are recreated into four stunning crystal pendants. Each is made using 14k yellow or black gold plating on a .925 sterling silver chain, while all of the crystals are individually hand-set in clay. 

Titled Crystal Rainbow Sparkle Guy, Crystal We’re Here, Crystal Fun’s Inside Too, and Crystal
Monostro, each pendant is limited to an edition of 200 and is priced at $2,100 USD. The pieces drop on July 8 at 12pm ET on Dan Life’s website.

Arghavan Khosravi returns to the world of editions in a new partnership with Case Studyo. Having recently collaborated with the Belgian art collective back in October, the Iranian artist has released her first fully three dimensional sculpture. 

Inspired by an Enclosure painting she made for her solo show at The Currier Museumin New Hampshire, Khosravi presents a large translucent hand perched on a brass base. Hidden within the sculpture are several recurring motifs, such as the glass-phantom hand which is actually being constructed in the depicted material, along with a small bird — usually a symbol of freedom — that lies hidden toward the brass wrist.

Symbolically speaking, it’s usually the hand that frees the bird, but instead, Khosravi contradicts this notion by trapping the bird in the glass hand — perhaps reflecting on the persistent restrictions and censorship she experienced as a woman growing up in Iran. 

The Enclosure is an edition of 25, plus four artist proofs, that is made of crystal clear resin and bronze. The sculpture stands about one feet tall and comes signed and numbered with a certificate of authenticity. To inquire on how you can purchase, please visit Case Studyo.