Let’s dress like a Mark Rothko! How gen Z fell for the king of colour field paintings

Mark Rothko, the abstract expressionist known for his color field paintings, is experiencing a cultural resurgence among Generation Z on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Videos inspired by his work amass hundreds of thousands of views, with creators styling outfits based on his canvases, assigning his paintings to personality archetypes, and comparing his palettes to dream pop bands like the Cocteau Twins. The Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, has also seen a wave of curious young visitors drawn to the meditative, confrontational experience of his art.

Global Art Biennials: Renovation, Revelation—or Repetition?

The article examines the current state of global art biennials, arguing that recent controversies—such as the 2022 documenta antisemitism crisis and geopolitical tensions at the 61st Venice Biennale—reveal these exhibitions as deeply politicized platforms rather than neutral cultural events. It highlights how juries and curators have introduced geopolitical criteria, and cites ongoing debates in Artforum (April 2026) featuring voices like Daniel Birnbaum, Michelle Grabner, and Adam Szymczyk, who diagnose visible tensions but overlook deeper structural conditions.

Art Lovers Movie Club: Elisabeth Brun, ‘Big Tech Blues’, 2025

ArtReview's Art Lovers Movie Club presents Elisabeth Brun's film 'Big Tech Blues' (2025), an auto-documentary that follows a small village in northern Norway as it resists the installation of a SpaceX Starlink 'Gateway' transmission site. The film blends personal essay, documentary footage, and interviews with residents who protest the hub over concerns about noise pollution, radiation, and environmental impact on the rural coastline. Brun contrasts slick Starlink promotional material with slow, intimate scenes of the landscape and community organizing on Facebook, highlighting the irony of using digital tools to fight digital infrastructure.

A Water Lily is a Water Lily is a Water Lily

Eine Seerose ist eine Seerose ist eine Seerose

Anonymous internet artist SHL0MS posted an image of a Monet water lily painting on X, falsely claiming it was AI-generated. Thousands of users criticized the image's aesthetics, after which SHL0MS revealed it was actually a real Monet. He then minted the image as an NFT, sold it for around $40,000, and framed the entire episode as a conceptual artwork titled "Inferior Image," claiming it critiques online disinformation and debate culture.

On the MUBI platform arrives the story of the great New York photographer Peter Hujar

Sulla piattaforma Mubi arriva la storia del grande fotografo newyorchese Peter Hujar

MUBI has announced the exclusive streaming release of "Peter Hujar's Day," a film directed by Ira Sachs, set to premiere on May 22. The film is based on a 1974 conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and author Linda Rosenkrantz, and stars Ben Whishaw as Hujar and Rebecca Hall. It reconstructs a single day in Hujar's life, capturing the creative energy and precariousness of 1970s New York, with appearances from figures like Allen Ginsberg and Susan Sontag.

Art bartering: artists start viral social media trend to fight cost of living crisis

Artists worldwide are using social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to barter their artwork for goods and services instead of money, in a viral trend responding to the cost of living crisis. Participants trade paintings for items such as handmade clothes, jewelry, tattoos, accommodation, meals, and professional services like video editing or framing, with some simply inviting offers. Artists like Lin Snow, Oli Fowler, and Andrea Mongenie cite economic pressures and anti-capitalist motivations, viewing bartering as a way to build community and bypass financial systems that leave creatives struggling.

Meet Leslie Anne

Leslie Anne, a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in Atlanta, shares her journey from pencil portraits to digital mixed media and acrylic painting. She began making art 15 years ago, transitioned to digital tools like Procreate during the pandemic, and now creates bold, colorful works centered on Black women, queer identities, and overlooked historical figures. She sells her work through her website and Etsy, participates in local exhibitions, and takes commissions for custom portraits and music cover art.

Interview with French cartoonist Hugo Didier who draws the Cannes Film Festival 79

Intervista al fumettista francese Hugo Didier che disegna il Festival di Cannes 79

French cartoonist and illustrator Hugo Didier (Paris, 1993) has been commissioned to reinterpret and narrate the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 12–23) through his drawings, which have appeared on the festival's official Instagram account. In an interview, Didier discusses how cinema influences his visual imagination, his preference for traditional drawing techniques (nib pens, Rotring technical pen, ink washes, watercolor) over digital, and his creative process that often begins with spontaneous sketches. He also reflects on the role of comics in contemporary French culture, noting their ability to explore diverse themes and reach wide audiences through a playful yet accessible medium.