Art News. Vasari Codex

article culture schedule May 19, 2026 visibility 20 link 6 artists, 2 galleries

‘This is mine, I own it’: how Tracey Emin and Frida Kahlo inspired me to make meaning out of pain

The article is a personal essay by a writer who, after undergoing a colectomy in 2023, found inspiration in Tracey Emin's unflinching self-portraiture following her 2020 cancer diagnosis. The author describes taking her own post-surgery photographs, echoing Emin's mantra "This is mine, I own it," and reflects on Emin's current work, including the Tate Modern exhibition and paintings like "I watched Myself die and come alive" (2023) and "Barbed Wire Stitches" (2024). The essay also connects Emin's approach to that of Frida Kahlo, whose retrospective is upcoming at Tate.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

Boats and trains, not planes: reflections on a greener—but sometimes greenwashed—Venice Biennale

The article recounts the author's train journey from London to Venice for the 61st Venice Biennale, highlighting the environmental benefits and pleasant experience of traveling by rail versus flying, despite higher costs and longer duration. It then focuses on the Biennale's central exhibition "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, which foregrounds environmental themes through works that engage with earth, nature, and ecological stakes, featuring artists like Otobong Nkanga, Célia Vasquez Yui, Theo Eshetu, Linda Goode Bryant, and Annalee Davis.