Tony Salamé, the founder of the Aishti high-end clothing chain, has commissioned the US artist Richard Prince to create a series of site-specific works for his stores across Beirut. “Prince will make around 20 site-specific works; he plans to hang a specific piece in every store in a unique way,” says Salamé, who presented plans for his new Aishti Foundation museum on 1 July at the Grand Palais in Paris.
The Lebanese retail magnate is investing $100m into a new 40,000 sq. ft contemporary art gallery in Jal El Dib, a coastal resort close to the Lebanese capital. The exhibition space, which is due to open in October, will house works from Salamé’s 2,000-strong collection. The museum, part of the Aishti Seaside retail complex, has been designed by the British architects Adjaye Associates.
Massimiliano Gioni, the associate director of the New Museum in New York, will organise the opening show, which focuses on abstraction, featuring artists such as Wade Guyton and Carol Bove. Gioni has also been commissioned to curate the next exhibition, which, says Salamé, “looks at America”. Gioni’s wife, Cecilia Alemani, the director of High Line Art in New York, has chosen works for an adjoining sculpture terrace on the seafront, with Giuseppe Penone among the participating artists.
At Art Basel 2015, Salamé bought Sam Falls’s Untitled (Books for Jamie) (2014), a series of 24 dyed canvases, and works by John Armleder, Tauba Auerbach and Albert Oehlen.