Art News. Vasari Codex

article culture schedule May 26, 2026 visibility 8 link 4 artists, 2 galleries

‘A gift that keeps on giving’: the witty world of Lee Friedlander – in pictures

The Guardian published a photo essay celebrating American photographer Lee Friedlander, featuring images from his career spanning the 1950s to the 2010s. The article highlights his new book "Life Still," published by Aperture, which collects over 130 photographs—most previously unpublished—showcasing his signature wit and his eye for the American social landscape, including chain link fences, roadside signs, and still lifes. The piece includes commentary from curator Peter Galassi and notes Friedlander's influences from Walker Evans and Robert Frank.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule May 26, 2026 visibility 5 link 7 artists

A modern Tower of Babel? Pope Leo XIV warns against artificial intelligence

Pope Leo XIV has issued his first encyclical, titled *Magnifica Humanitas*, warning that artificial intelligence poses a major threat to humanity and could lead to a modern Tower of Babel. In the 43,000-word letter, he calls for disarming AI, establishing robust legal frameworks, and regulating tech giants like Meta. He also references Picasso's *Guernica* (1937) as a prophetic work denouncing dehumanization, alongside Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the novel *Schindler's List*. Separately, the Vatican is expanding its contemporary art program, with a new space called Conciliazone 5 currently showing works by British artist George Rouy, and future exhibitions planned for Yan Pei-Ming and Vivian Suter.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule May 27, 2026 visibility 1 link 2 artists

How Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury cartoons captured America: ‘One of our nation’s greatest journalists’

A new biography titled "Trudeau & Doonesbury: The Cartoonist Who Turned the News into Art" by Joshua Kendall explores the life and career of Garry Trudeau, creator of the long-running comic strip Doonesbury. Published on Tuesday, the book is the first major biography of Trudeau, who won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning and whose characters age and evolve over 56 years, unlike those in other iconic strips. Kendall, a Yale alumnus, conducted original interviews and examined thousands of archival documents, though Trudeau—known for his reclusive nature—only agreed to limited email exchanges and some interviews, making the book unauthorized.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule May 27, 2026 link 8 artists

Jackson Pollock Transformed American Art—and Was Destroyed by His Own Success

The article traces Jackson Pollock's transformative yet destructive rise to fame, focusing on his move to East Hampton with Lee Krasner, his development of drip painting in a small unheated barn, and the influence of predecessors like Janet Sobel and Max Ernst. It details his 1948 debut at the Betty Parsons Gallery, the mocking 1949 Life Magazine feature that ironically catapulted him to celebrity, and photographer Hans Namuth's documentation of his process, which revealed the deliberate nature of his technique.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule May 26, 2026 visibility 5 link 18 artists

Stripteases, ecstatic embraces and a dog in a dress: the full-on photos celebrating queer dancefloors worldwide

A new photo book titled *Sex, Clubs, Dissent: Visualising Queer Nightlife*, edited by writer Amelia Abraham, collects photographs from the 1960s to today that document queer nightlife around the world. The anthology features works by artists such as Wolfgang Tillmans, Sunil Gupta, Kia LaBeija, Phyllis Christopher, Roxy Lee, Ajamu X, and Del LaGrace Volcano, alongside images from trans community archives in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. The book is organized into sections on sex, clubs, and dissent, and includes a range of media from film stills to a Grindr screenshot, aiming to capture the messy, sexy, and politically charged atmosphere of queer social spaces.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule May 27, 2026 link 1 artist

The mural project honouring the Black cultural heritage of Rio de Janeiro – photo essay

Two Black men, Pedro Rajão and Fernando Sawaya, created the NegroMuro (BlackWall) mural project in Rio de Janeiro in 2018 to address the severe underrepresentation of Black figures in the city's public monuments. Of Rio's roughly 360 statues and busts, fewer than 10% depict Black people. The project now comprises 80 murals across the city, portraying about 120 Black individuals—including writer Machado de Assis, activist Lélia Gonzalez, and musician Luiz Melodia—on walls of schools, museums, train stations, and private homes. The murals are concentrated in the less touristy north zone, deliberately focusing on underserved neighborhoods. The project was recently recognized by law as part of Rio's intangible cultural heritage.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original

article culture schedule May 26, 2026 visibility 4

5 Artists Inspired by Moroccan Rugs and North African Weaving

Artsy Editorial profiles five contemporary artists from the Maghreb region who draw inspiration from Moroccan rugs and North African weaving traditions. The article highlights how these artists transform the loom-based craft—historically dismissed as "womanly craft" by academia and the avant-garde—into a contemporary art form that honors and updates longstanding weaving practices. Each artist uses the grammar of signs, stitches, rhythm, color, and designs inherent to North African textiles to articulate narratives and philosophies.

newspaper Artsy Editorial open_in_new Read original