French Project Uses AI to Visualise How Climate Change Will Affect Heritage Sites
French conservation scientists have built an AI model that forecasts how climate change will affect heritage sites over the next century. The project, led by Ann Bourgès and involving PhD researchers, combines sensor readings, satellite data, and multimodal image analysis to predict material degradation at sites such as Strasbourg Cathedral’s sandstone base and the Bibracte archaeological complex. The methodology will be released as open‑source software on the Ministry of Culture’s Espadon platform, allowing users to visualize future damage and inform preservation strategies. Officials see the tool as both a technical resource and a political communication aid.
Los Angeles’s New Hospital of Emotions Pop-Up Gives Artists Keys to the Asylum
Los Angeles’ defunct St Vincent Medical Center has been temporarily turned into the “Hospital of Emotions,” an immersive pop‑up where roughly 70 artists were each given $4,000–$10,000 to create installations across 80 former examination and operating rooms. Curated by Yaara Sachs...
Untitled Art Will Launch Four New Prizes at Houston Fair's Second Edition
Untitled Art Houston is expanding its prize program for the fair’s second edition in October, boosting total prize value to roughly $113,200. New sponsors include MD Anderson Cancer Center ($20,000 acquisition prize), the University of Houston System ($25,000 acquisition prize),...
Boats and Trains, Not Planes: Reflections on a Greener—But Sometimes Greenwashed—Venice Biennale
The 61st Venice Biennale placed climate and ecology at its core, from the curator Koyo Kouoh’s "In Minor Keys" to installations that visualized mineral extraction and water scarcity. Artists such as Otobong Nkanga, Theo Eshetu, and Alfredo Jaar used flora,...
59th Carnegie International Tests the Limits of Connection and Inclusion
The 59th Carnegie International, titled *If the word we*, foregrounds community, listening, and collaboration through immersive, tactile installations. Curators Ryan Inouye, Danielle A. Jackson and Liz Park enlist thought partners like Egyptian writer Haytham el‑Wardany to shape a exhibition that invites...
At Birmingham's Ikon Gallery, Angela De La Cruz's Audacious, Visceral Art Takes No Prisoners
Angela de la Cruz’s "Upright" opens at Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery, marking her first UK institutional show since a 2010 Turner‑Prize‑nominated survey. The exhibition blends painting and sculpture through works like Still Life with Table, Limp, and Bloated 111, emphasizing anthropomorphic forms...
Finnish Museum Creates a New and Radical Support Model for Artists
Finland’s Espoo Museum of Modern Art (Emma) has unveiled a multi‑year support model for four mid‑career artists, providing acquisition of their work, external production grants, a year‑long stipend and health insurance. The €10,000 (~$10,800) stipend replaces the typical symbolic fee...
New Film About Forgers Is ‘Miami Vice’ for the Art-World Crowd
"Forge" is writer‑director Jing Ai Ng’s debut crime thriller set against Miami’s high‑stakes art market. The story follows Chinese‑American siblings Coco and Raymond Zhang as they forge early‑20th‑century landscapes and sell them to a wealthy heir, while FBI agent Emily (Kelly Marie...
Independent Art Fair Makes the Most of More Spacious Digs
Independent art fair Independent has moved from Spring Studios to Pier 36, doubling its footprint while trimming its exhibitor roster to 76 galleries. The single‑level layout creates broader sightlines and smoother circulation, drawing more collectors early in the show. Highlights include...
Latin American Galleries Dominate at Frieze New York
Latin American representation surged at Frieze New York, with 14 galleries from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and beyond. Non‑profit Latitude, backed by ApexBrasil and ABACT, subsidized all eight Brazilian participants, offsetting higher shipping costs. Despite lingering visa hurdles—illustrated by Dr Lakra’s denied entry—new‑generation...
Dinosaurs Roam New York’s Bowery
Amanita’s Bowery gallery in New York has mounted three rare Maiasaura dinosaur skeletons alongside John Chamberlain’s 1982 sculpture *Gondola Marianne Moore*. The fossils, composed of 62‑85% real bone, represent the first full‑size Maiasaura display in a downtown commercial gallery. Their...
Esther Fair Goes Out on Top
Esther, the boutique art fair hosted in New York’s historic Estonian House, concluded its third and final edition with two galleries selling out on opening day. The fair’s unconventional museum‑like layout showcased 22 galleries and three special projects across five...
‘The Content, Material and Form Support Each Other’: Sandy Rodriguez on Her Hispanic Society Museum Show
Sandy Rodriguez’s new show, Tierra Insurgente, opens at the Hispanic Society Museum, pairing her hand‑drawn, amate‑paper maps with historic codices such as the 1584 Map of Tequaltiche. The maps overlay contemporary scenes of state violence—riot police, surveillance helicopters shaped like...
Pioneering British Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron Honoured with a Blue Plaque in London
English Heritage unveiled a blue plaque at 10 Chesham Place in Belgravia, marking the London home of pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Cameron, who only picked up a camera at age 48, produced iconic portraits of figures such as Alfred Tennyson, Charles Darwin and...
A Joan Mitchell Diptych and a Rare Stack by Donald Judd: Our Pick of the May Auctions
May’s New York auction calendar showcased four marquee works, with Joan Mitchell’s 1989 diptych "Plain" slated for $5‑7 million, Donald Judd’s rare 1969 "Untitled (Stack)" targeting $10‑15 million, Jean‑Michel Basquiat’s 1983 "Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown)" listed above $45 million, and Mark Rothko’s 1957 "Brown...
‘This Is the Place of Dreams’: Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo’s Venetian Island Venue Opens to Public
Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo inaugurated San Giacomo, a reclaimed Venetian lagoon island, as a new venue for contemporary art during the 2024 Venice Biennale. The island hosts Matt Copson’s solo exhibition in a former munitions storehouse alongside selections from the...
Counterpublic Comes to New York Ahead of Its Next Triennial, Coyote Time
Counterpublic, the St. Louis nonprofit known for large‑scale public art, is gearing up for its third triennial, Coyote Time, running September 12 through December 12, 2026. Ahead of the exhibition, the organization will launch a New York Art Week party in partnership with Frieze...
Melding Chinese Lacquer with European Abstraction
Chinese‑German artist Su Xiaobai, who abandoned oil for lacquer after Gerhard Richter’s 2003 advice, presents his mature medium in the Venice show Alchemical Universe. Curated by LACMA’s Stephen Little and designed by architect Kulapat Yantrasast, the exhibition fills the 15th‑century Palazzo...
Comment | Flourishing Markets Beyond the Big Three Will Benefit the Art Ecosystem—And the Planet
The latest Art Basel & UBS report shows the share of art‑market activity outside the traditional hubs of New York, London and Hong Kong climbing from 17 % in 2015 to 24 % in 2025. Protectionist policies, Brexit‑related tariffs and inflation have slowed cross‑border sales,...
Artist Bouke De Vries Creates Sculptural Porcelain Bottles for Dries Van Noten Perfume
Belgian artist Bouke de Vries has crafted five sculptural porcelain bottles for Dries Van Noten’s unisex fragrance Soie Malaquais. The limited‑edition containers, priced at £6,000 (about $7,600) each, are sold in the brand’s London and New York boutiques and online. De Vries, known for...
Fashion Figure Jordan Roth Wows in Collage at the Venice Biennale
Jordan Roth, the American multi‑disciplinary artist who debuted a “living sculpture” at the Met Gala, staged a striking performance at the Venice Biennale on May 7. The work, presented at Palazzo dei Fiori in collaboration with Performance Space New York’s Visionaries...
Venice Biennale Special 2026—Podcast
The 2026 Venice Biennale opens with more than 100 artists spread across the Giardini, the historic Arsenale, and national pavilions. The central exhibition, *In Minor Keys*, is presented posthumously under the guidance of late curator Koyo Kouoh and five collaborators. A...
At the Venice Biennale, Ukraine’s Pinchuk Art Centre Finds Fragile Moments of Joy Amid Loss
The Pinchuk Art Centre’s Venice Biennale pavilion, now titled "Still Joy — From Ukraine into the World," marks its third post‑invasion edition, shifting from pre‑2020 celebrity‑filled celebrations to a poignant artistic response to Russia’s 2022 invasion. The show blends Ukrainian...
Thinking Small and Dreaming Big in Isabel Nolan’s Imaginary World
Irish artist Isabel Nolan’s Ireland pavilion, Dreamshook, explores the hazy space between waking and dreaming, using a fictional Aldus Manutius narrative to examine how portable ideas shape culture. She employs intimate media such as textiles to grapple with grand concepts...
‘This Is an Opportunity that Will Never Happen Again’: Syrian Artist Sara Shamma on Rebuilding Her Country
Syria’s national pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale will feature a single artist, Sara Shamma, marking the country’s first post‑war cultural showcase. Shamma’s immersive installation, The Tower Tomb of Palmyra, reconstructs the ancient funerary towers destroyed by ISIS in 2015 using...
Parasol Unit Returns with a Showcase of Women From Central Asia and Beyond
London’s nonprofit gallery Parasol Unit, closed since 2020, reopens in Venice as a collateral event of the Biennale. Curated by founder Ziba Ardalan, the new show “Turandot: To the Daughters of the East” presents 11 women artists from Central Asia and...
Lotus Kang Channels Desire Into Bvlgari's Venice Biennale Pavilion
Lotus Kang has created a site‑specific installation for Bvlgari’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale, titled “The Face of Desire is Loss.” Bvlgari, which will sponsor the next three Biennale editions, chose Kang for her material‑focused, liminal practice. The work cloaks...
Van Cleef & Arpels Cashes in on Lucrative Secondary Market for Vintage Jewellery
Van Cleef & Arpels has turned the booming vintage jewellery market into a direct revenue stream with its Heritage Collection, a curated portfolio of about 150 authenticated 20th‑century pieces. In 2024, the brand’s secondary‑market sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Artcurial topped €120 million (≈ $130 million)....
S&M-Inspired Greek Pavilion in Venice Confronts Its Fascist Chains
The Greek pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled Grecia, presents an S&M‑inspired, neon‑lit installation that doubles as an escape‑room. Curated by Andreas Angelidakis and Ioli Kavakou, the work mixes drag performance, queer memorabilia, and fractured marble columns to question...
Beware the Technology Rat Trap: Cooper Jacoby’s Standout Contribution to New York’s Whitney Biennial
Cooper Jacoby’s installations at the 2026 Whitney Biennial turn AI‑driven data extraction into a visceral experience. His "Estate" series uses custom models to let a deceased creator’s social‑media archive speak through an intercom that reacts to visitors and objects. In...
Lubaina Himid on Capturing the 'Uneasiness' Of Britain for Her Venice Biennale Pavilion
British artist Lubaina Himid, a Turner‑Prize winner and Black Arts Movement pioneer, is representing the United Kingdom at the Venice Biennale. Her pavilion, titled *Predicting History: Testing Translation*, deliberately creates a sense of national unease, juxtaposing everyday British calm with...
New Zealand's Venice Biennale Pavilion Explores the Secret Life of Birds
New Zealand returned to the Venice Biennale in 2025 with photographer Fiona Pardington’s solo pavilion, *Taharaki Skyside*. The exhibition features 17 towering taxidermied birds, including the extinct whēkau and the critically endangered kākāpō, which number only about 235 individuals. Pardington frames the...
Pedro Reyes’s New Lacma Commission Sparks Criticism in Mexico
Mexican artist Pedro Reyes unveiled *Tlali*, a four‑metre Olmec‑inspired stone sculpture, on LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries. The work has sparked a backlash from nearly 80 Mexican cultural figures who argue it repeats the missteps of a 2021 Mexico City...
The Egyptian Modernist Inji Efflatoun Gains International Exposure with New Biographical Collection
Inji Efflatoun, a leading Egyptian modernist painter and activist, is the subject of a new bilingual biography, *The Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun*, released in August 2025. The volume combines her translated diaries—covering childhood to imprisonment—with scholarly essays that situate...
May Book Bag: From a Guide on Entering the Art World to a Publication About Artists Influenced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses
May’s Book Bag highlights four new titles that bridge scholarship and practice in the visual arts. Francesca Cappelletti and Frits Scholten edit *Metamorphoses: Ovid and the Arts* ($50), pairing Ovid’s mythic narratives with works by Cellini, Rodin, Bourgeois and others....
‘A Remarkably Tenacious Motif’: The Many Faces of Marilyn Monroe Revealed in New Book and Show
The National Portrait Gallery in London will launch "Marilyn Monroe: a Portrait" on June 4, 2026, curated by Rosie Broadley and accompanied by a new 256‑page book. The show assembles works by Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, Pauline Boty, Rosalyn...
How the Adoption of Canvas in Venice Changed the Way Artists Painted
In the 16th century Venice, artists shifted from wall frescoes and wooden panels to canvas, a medium better suited to the city’s humid climate and easier to ship. Historian Cleo Nisse’s new book reveals how painters such as Titian, Veronese...
Morocco Debuts at the Biennale with an Exploration of Its Age-Old Craft Traditions
Morocco presented its inaugural national pavilion at the Venice Biennale, titled “Asetta,” a 300‑square‑metre installation by artist‑architect Amina Agueznay. The work was created with over 130 Moroccan artisans, predominantly women, after field research across Casablanca, Marrakech, Souss‑Massa and the Atlas...
Art Trade Adjusting After US Supreme Court Struck Down Trump's Extreme Tariffs
The U.S. Supreme Court declared President Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs unconstitutional, reaffirming that only Congress can set import duties. Hours later Trump re‑imposed 10‑15% tariffs under a different emergency statute, prompting lawsuits from 22 states and industry groups. A federal...
Paul McCarthy: ‘The World Is Now an Extreme Absurdity. The Work Is a Reaction to That’
American artist Paul McCarthy’s latest show, SS EE Saint Santa Eva Elf, opens at Hauser & Wirth in Paris, reviving his long‑standing Santa Claus character through a six‑channel video installation and a series of large, floor‑based drawings. The works were generated in real time with German actress...
US Exhibition Unearths the Etruscans and Their Enduring Cultural Influence
An exhibition titled "The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy" opens at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, showcasing nearly 200 artifacts that trace the civilization’s 800‑year legacy. Highlights include the third‑century BC Liber Linteus, the longest surviving Etruscan text, and...
Cosmic, Concrete, Earthy: Nancy Holt’s Land Art on Show in UK
Nancy Holt’s first major UK retrospective opens at Goodwood Art Foundation, showcasing both indoor and outdoor works for the first time in Britain. The show features a posthumous installation of "Hydra’s Head," re‑created in a chalk quarry, and the kinetic...
Zurbarán in London, the Carnegie International, Walter Sickert’s Ennui—Podcast
The National Gallery in London launches the most extensive career survey of 17th‑century Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán since the 1980s, showcasing over 200 works and traveling to Paris and Chicago through 2027. Simultaneously, the 59th Carnegie International opens in Pittsburgh...
Gallery Weekend Berlin Opens Ranks as City Faces Identity Crisis
Gallery Weekend Berlin (GWB) expands from 50 to 57 galleries by launching "Perspectives," a rotating showcase for emerging dealers. Participants in Perspectives pay half the usual €9,000 fee (≈$9,720), with the $4,860 discount funded by the Berlin Senate. The move...
Botticelli Under UK Export Ban Purchased by Klesch Collection
A 1470s Botticelli masterpiece, *The Virgin and Child Enthroned*, was saved from export after the UK government placed an export bar on the work valued at £10.2 million (≈ $13 million). The painting was purchased by the Klesch Collection, which will loan it...
Museo De Arte Moderno De Bogotá's Director Departs Amid Accusations She Harassed Staff
The Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (Mambo) announced the resignation of director Martha Ortiz after harassment accusations, leaving the museum without a leader. The departure follows the February dismissal of long‑time artistic director Eugenio Viola, which prompted an open...
Oldest Astronomical Observatory in the Americas Discovered in Peru
Peru’s cultural ministry announced the discovery of a two‑level stone observatory at the ancient Caran settlement of Áspero on the Supe coast. The structure, dating to the Caral civilization (3000‑1800 BC), was used to track sun, moon and stars, linking celestial...
Under New Ownership, Art Monte Carlo Voices 'Global Ambitions'
Art Monte Carlo, now owned by Informa Prestige, staged its 10th edition in Monaco with 26 exhibitors ranging from Old Masters to contemporary icons like Picasso and Warhol. The fair featured a €1.3 m (~$1.4 m) Poussin work and modest sales, the...
Recent Discoveries Reveal How Natural Disasters Shaped Past Civilisations: Can It Help Us Plan for the Future?
Archaeologists have identified catastrophic natural events as the primary drivers behind the abandonment of several ancient megacities, including Peru’s Pikillaqta, Mexico’s Teotihuacan, China’s Shijiahe culture, and Polynesian settlements. In Pikillaqta, two AD 900 earthquakes triggered a massive landslide that buried structures...
A Brush With... Andrew Cranston—Podcast
Andrew Cranston, a 1969‑born Scottish painter, creates layered works that fuse personal memory with art‑historical and cinematic references. He often paints on bleached hardback book covers, allowing the material itself to convey the passage of time. His recent pieces draw...