How Is Arts Patronage Changing?

At TEFAF New York, Artnet News editor Andrew Russeth moderated a panel titled “Who Supports Art Now? Patronage in a Shifting Cultural Landscape” featuring two prominent figures in American arts philanthropy: Sarah Arison and Michi Jigarjian. Arison, who became the youngest president of the Museum of Modern Art’s board in 2024 at age 39, also leads the Arison Arts Foundation and chairs YoungArts. Jigarjian, CEO of Work of Art Holdings and a partner at 7G Group, has led Baxter St at CCNY for 15 years and serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA PS1. The discussion took place during fair week in mid-May at the Park Avenue Armory.

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.

The Painted Book Cover Is Back

The article reports on a growing trend in book cover design: the use of painted, figurative artwork instead of stock photos or digital renderings. Publishers are increasingly licensing paintings by artists from Hilma af Klint to Shannon Cartier Lucy, seeing them as a way to signal cultural authority and intellectual rigor. The trend is discussed through examples like Victoria Redel's *I Am You* (2025) and Kyung-Ran Jo's *Blowfish* (2025), with insights from LiteraryHub Managing Editor Emily Temple and Astra House publisher Benjamin Schrank.

Malo Chapuy Reimagines Medieval Art on the Cover of our New Talent Issue

Malo Chapuy's painting *Virgin with Codex* (2025) appears on the cover of Art in America's new talent issue. In an interview from his Paris studio, Chapuy explains how he reinterprets medieval and early Renaissance Flemish painting by mixing its motifs with contemporary and sci-fi elements, such as gothic cathedral spaceships and QR codes designed to function like medieval manuscripts for future postapocalyptic monks. He describes his process as making "forgeries," using traditional techniques like oil on wood panels, homemade lead white, and self-carved frames to mimic aged Old Master works while addressing themes of ecological collapse, apocalyptic anxiety, and planetary exile.

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.

7 new art and culture books in bookstores. Maps of the present: between art, work, memory and forms of perception

7 nuovi libri d’arte e cultura in libreria. Mappe del presente: tra arte, lavoro, memoria e forme della percezione

This article from Artribune presents a curated selection of seven new art and culture books recently released in Italy. The featured titles range from a theoretical lexicon for 21st-century arts edited by Nicolas Martino, which redefines key terms like 'author,' 'AI,' and 'care,' to a poetic pop-up book by Japanese designer Katsumi Komagata titled 'Piccolo Albero,' which uses paper engineering to narrate the cycle of life. Other works explore themes of labor, memory, domestic space (Giorgio Morandi), inner labyrinths (Andrea Bocconi), and direct testimony from Gaza, all aiming to provide new frameworks for understanding a fractured present.

This is fucking Disneyland

"Das ist fucking Disneyland"

The article surveys recent German cultural commentary, highlighting three main stories: art historian Bénédicte Savoy's warning in the FAZ about the physical decay of German universities, particularly the Technical University of Berlin, as a threat to democratic culture; Berlin artist Charlie Stein's essay on anxiety as a pervasive contemporary condition and art's role in making it visible; and critic Rachel Wetzler's harsh review of the Venice Biennale in Artforum, calling it an overwhelming 'theme park' version of the art world. Additionally, Nikolaus Bernau defends expert juries in the Tagesspiegel, using the Biennale's jury crisis as a case study.

Two Major Architecture Firms Aim to Revolutionize Rome Over the Next 25 Years

Due grandi studi di architettura puntano a rivoluzionare Roma nei prossimi 25 anni

A multidisciplinary team led by Italian architecture and urban planning firm IT'S and Dutch firm OMA has won the international ideas competition "Vision for Rome," promoted by the Fondazione Roma REgeneration. Their project, "Roma Continua," was presented at the Auditorium della Tecnica di Confindustria during the second ROMA REgeneration FORUM. The proposal aims to rethink Rome over the next 25 years through a paradigm shift in urban, social, and cultural planning, envisioning the city as a living ecosystem. It is based on five guiding principles—care, beauty, knowledge, movement, reuse, and grafting—and includes five green corridors anchored to the Tiber River, "Fori dell'innovazione" (innovation forums), and a continuous mobility network. The project also seeks to reduce tourist pressure on the historic center by creating new cultural itineraries and sustainable transport links.

Art-Science Undisciplined: A Playbook for Transformative Collaboration

Artist Janani Balasubramanian and astrophysicist Natalie Gosnell have co-authored a book titled "Art-Science Undisciplined: A Playbook for Transformative Collaboration," published by the University of California Press. The book reimagines collaboration between art and science as a shared, values-based practice rooted in curiosity, experimentation, and joy, rather than treating them as separate disciplines. It draws from the authors' own partnership and the experiences of other interdisciplinary creators, offering practical strategies for building relationships based on mutual respect, trust, and imagination, while addressing real-world constraints like institutional demands and limited resources.

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.