Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Appoints Essence Harden as Senior Curator
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco has hired Essence Harden as senior curator, effective May 18. Harden, currently curator of the Expo Chicago art fair and organizer of Frieze Los Angeles’s Focus section, will retain those roles with YBCA’s support. Their résumé includes co‑curating the 2025 Made in L.A. biennial and leading exhibitions at major West Coast museums. In the new position, Harden will shape public programming, including the 2028 Bay Area Now triennial, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration and the “identity of the West.”
Lucas Museum Reveals First Set of Exhibitions Curated by Founder George Lucas
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, slated to open in September, unveiled its inaugural exhibitions curated entirely by founder George Lucas. About 12,000 objects from a 40,000‑item collection will fill 30 galleries within a 300,000‑sq‑ft, 11‑acre campus at Exposition Park. The displays...
Advocates Try to Save Brutalist Fountain in San Francisco, José Aparicio Painting Returns to Prado Museum: Morning Links for April...
Advocates known as Friends of the Plaza have filed an appeal to block the planned dismantling of San Francisco’s iconic Vaillancourt Fountain, a Brutalist landmark that has sparked preservation debates. In Madrid, the Prado Museum has welcomed the return of...
Anna Zemánková Estate Joins Gladstone Gallery, Sandra Vásquez De La Horra Joins Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, and More: Industry Moves for...
Gladstone Gallery has taken on the estate of Czech artist Anna Zemánková and will showcase a solo booth at TEFAF New York. Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, fresh from a Venice Biennale appearance, joins Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, bolstering its Latin...
How Will the Venice Biennale Impact Alma Allen’s Market?
Alma Allen has been appointed the United States representative for this year’s Venice Biennale, sparking controversy over a selection process that bypassed traditional museum commissioning. After the announcement, his long‑standing galleries Olney Gleason and Mendes Wood DM dropped him, while...
Portland’s Converge 45 Reveals Theme and Artists, Including Trisha Baga, Rose Salane, and Srijon Chowdhury
Portland’s Converge 45 triennial will open on August 27, presenting a citywide exhibition across sixteen venues. Curator Lumi Tan titles the edition “Here, To you, Now,” a phrase lifted from Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel *Always Coming Home*. The program features 28 artists, with more than...
Natasha Tontey to Unveil Major New Immersive Installation Exploring Indigenous Resistance During Venice Biennale
Artist Natasha Tontey will debut her immersive installation "The Phantom Combatants and the Metabolism of Disobedient Organs" at the Venice Biennale’s Ateneo Veneto. Jointly commissioned by Berlin’s LAS Art Foundation and Helsinki’s Amos Rex, the work reimagines Len Karamoy, a...
A Theatre Group of Exiled Belarusian Artists Arrive in Venice, With an Exhibition That Shows What Repression Feels Like
The Belarus Free Theatre, an underground group exiled since 2020, will present its first unofficial collateral exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale. Titled “Official. Unofficial. Belarus.”, the show uses site‑specific paintings, sound, and large‑scale sculptures to make visitors physically experience...
What Does Damien Hirst Have to Do With This Giant McDonald’s Ball Pit in Milan?
During Milan Design Week, McDonald’s celebrated its 40th anniversary in Italy with an immersive installation called “POOL. Ti sblocco un ricordo.” The centerpiece is a massive ball‑pit‑like pool filled with hundreds of thousands of colorful plastic balls, echoing the brand’s...
Aspen AIR Festival to Feature Lucy Raven, Camille Henrot, Los Thuthanaka, Morgan Bassichis, and More
After a successful inaugural run, the Aspen Art Museum’s AIR Festival returns to Aspen, Colorado, from July 27‑31 under the theme “Figures in a Landscape.” The program blends exhibitions, performances, and talks, featuring repeat participants Adrian Villar Rojas and Matthew Barney alongside new...
Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art Gets $490 M. From Powerful Real Estate Firm
The Diriyah Company has committed a $490 million grant to build the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art, a 883,000‑square‑foot facility that will dwarf the Louvre in size. Designed by Dubai‑based Godwin Austen Johnson, the museum will be anchored in Diriyah...
Art Show in London Canceled Over Allegations of Antisemitism From Pro-Israel Group
A London exhibition by Matthew Collings at Delta House Gallery was cancelled after UK Lawyers for Israel flagged the show’s drawings as antisemitic. The controversy stems from a prior Margate iteration titled “Drawings Against Genocide,” which featured graphic depictions of...
Newsmakers: Nalini Malani Lets the Walls Speak with a New Installation in Venice
Nalini Malani's new installation *Of Woman Born* will open in Venice's Magazzini del Sale during the Venice Biennale. The work projects tens of thousands of hand‑drawn images onto the crumbling 15th‑century brick walls, creating a cave‑like animation that references myth,...
Digital Art Pioneer Nancy Burson Collapses the Border Between Mysticism and Quantum Physics
Nancy Burson’s solo show "Light Matter" at Heft Gallery showcases her new "Quantum Entanglement" paintings, which reveal jittering static and hidden color when viewed through a phone camera. The works embody her lifelong quest to visualize the universe’s energy grid,...
A Long-Running Case Centering on Alleged Robert Indiana Forgeries Is Resolved with a $102 M. Settlement
A New York jury concluded an eight‑year lawsuit by the Morgan Art Foundation, finding publisher Michael McKenzie liable for creating unauthorized and altered versions of Robert Indiana’s iconic works, including the famed LOVE series. The jury awarded the foundation $102.2 million...