The 21st Century’s Biggest Art Trend is Not a Style. But Once You See It, You’ll Notice It Everywhere.

The article traces the evolution of "systems art," a term coined by critic Jack Burnham in 1968 to describe art that uses rules, seriality, and repetition to mirror and reveal the growing protocols of the Cold War era. It highlights early practitioners like Kenneth Noland, Robert Morris, Dan Flavin, and notably Hans Haacke and Adrian Piper, who shifted from atmospheric systems (e.g., Haacke's *Condensation Cube*) to social systems (e.g., Haacke's *Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings*). The piece argues that systems thinking has become unavoidable in contemporary life—from algorithms to systemic racism—and that art remains a crucial tool for making these invisible systems legible.

‘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highlights his new book "Life Still," published by Aperture, which collects over 130 photographs—most previously unpublished—showcasing his signature wit and his eye for the American social landscape, including chain link fences, roadside signs, and still lifes.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.

No Attitude, Nowhere: Conviction, Zero Meaning

Keine Haltung, nirgends Gesinnung, null Bedeutung

The article critiques the current state of the art world and broader culture, arguing that right-wing calls for depoliticized art are intensifying while the progressive art establishment silently tolerates a culture war that restricts free expression. It uses the 2025 Met Gala as a prime example, describing the event as a heartless display of wealth and power aligned with Trump-era capitalism, where celebrities and artists perform progressive values while participating in a spectacle sponsored by anti-union figures like Jeff Bezos. The author draws on Hannah Arendt's ethics lectures to suggest that moral norms have collapsed overnight, and that the commercial art world now legitimizes anti-democratic tendencies through its silence.

10 Artists to Follow if You Like Iris van Herpen

Artsy Editorial profiles 10 contemporary artists whose work aligns with the visionary, technology-driven approach of fashion designer Iris van Herpen. The article highlights van Herpen's career milestones, including her 2011 invitation to join the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, and her ongoing fusion of traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology to create wearable art. It then presents a curated list of artists who similarly explore themes of organic form, digital fabrication, and the intersection of art and fashion.

Louis Vuitton revives Keith Haring collaboration at lavish New York show

Louis Vuitton staged a lavish fashion show at the Frick Collection in New York, reviving a collaboration with the estate of artist Keith Haring. The collection, designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, featured Haring's signature motifs on classic LV handbags and was presented in the museum's marble galleries. The event also marked a three-year sponsorship deal, with Louis Vuitton funding exhibitions, public access, and a curatorial position at the Frick, including rebranded free entry evenings as Louis Vuitton Free Fridays.

Rocked on their heels: how exhibitions can change the course of artists’ lives

Alyce Mahon's new book, *Dorothea Tanning: A Surrealist World*, explores how the 1936 MoMA exhibition *Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism* profoundly transformed the young artist Dorothea Tanning, who described being "rocked on my run-over heels" by the experience. The article also recounts similar life-changing exhibition encounters for contemporary artists Lorna Simpson and Hurvin Anderson, as discussed on *The Week in Art* and *A brush with…* podcasts, highlighting how specific shows shaped their artistic trajectories.

The Contemporary Art Destinations Gallerists and Artists Have on Their Radar

WWD asked top international gallerists, collectors, and artists to name the cities they find most exciting for contemporary art. Karen and Christian Boros recommend Naples and the Amalfi Coast, highlighting galleries like Galleria Giangiacomo Rossetti, Thomas Dane Gallery, and Lia Rumma, as well as Fondazione Morra Greco and Le Sirenuse hotel. Daniel Arsham points to Sugar Beach in St. Lucia for its large contemporary sculpture collection. Jean-Michel Othoniel champions South Korea, citing Seoul's Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Kukje Gallery, and the Kiaf Seoul fair, plus the city of Busan. Emma Lavigne of the Pinault Collection names Venice, especially during the Biennale Arte di Venezia, as an essential destination.

We are in danger of losing our sense of community

"Wir drohen das Gespür für die Gemeinschaft zu verlieren"

Christophe Cherix, the new director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, discusses his first months in the role, emphasizing museums as "safe social places" in an era of anxiety and screen-induced isolation. He advocates for collective vision-building with staff and defends the MoMA's independence against political pressure in Trump-era America. Separately, critic Paco Barragán argues in The Observer that biennials are in a structural crisis of repetition, tracing their history from instruments of national soft power to a "Global Neo-Liberal Biennial" system that co-opts diversity without changing its core logic. He introduces the concept of the "vibe-ennial," where discourse is replaced by atmosphere and critique by affect. Meanwhile, longtime Bonn museum director Stephan Berg critiques the boom in immersive art experiences like "Van Gogh – The Immersive Experience," calling them a "surrogate reality" tailored to the Instagram age that destroys the integrity of original works. Artforum reconstructs late-1960s debates on art criticism, focusing on Barbara Rose's challenge to formalists like Clement Greenberg and Rosalind Krauss, arguing that art must engage with societal conflicts such as Black Power and war resistance.

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.

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.

New Richard Avedon documentary chronicles how he shaped the evolution of photography

Imagine Documentaries, the nonfiction arm of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment, premiered a new documentary about photographer Richard Avedon at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17. The film, co-produced by the Richard Avedon Foundation, draws heavily from archival interviews conducted by Helen Whitney for the PBS series *American Masters*, supplemented by new interviews with Avedon's son John, muse Lauren Hutton, Isabella Rossellini, Twyla Tharp, and former *New Yorker* colleagues Tina Brown and John Lahr. The documentary explores Avedon's career, his technique of building rapport with subjects, and his iconic images such as *Dovima with Elephants*, which dealer Larry Gagosian notes sold for $2 million.

Keith Haring and Louis Vuitton collaboration launches at the Frick Collection.

Louis Vuitton debuted its Cruise 2027 collection at the Frick Collection in New York, drawing heavy inspiration from artist Keith Haring. The collection was sparked by a leather Louis Vuitton suitcase that Haring embellished in 1984, which the house acquired in 2020. Haring’s signature motifs appeared throughout the runway show, which also referenced the gritty energy of New York City’s 1980s downtown art scene.

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.

Dansaekhwa has taken over the modern art world. But the story of how that happened is up for debate.

The article examines the global rise of Dansaekhwa, a Korean monochrome painting style that has achieved record auction prices and widespread collector interest over the past decade. It traces key milestones, including two pivotal 2014 exhibitions at Kukje Gallery in Seoul and Blum & Poe in Los Angeles, and the surge in auction prices for artists like Kim Whan-ki, Park Seo-bo, and Chung Sang-hwa, culminating in a $13 million sale in 2019.

The Divine Powers of “Chicken Linda”

Performance artist Linda Mary Montano, now in her 80s, invited writer Taliesin Thomas into her home in Saugerties, New York, which functions as a living shrine filled with altars, experimental sculptures, and religious iconography. Montano, who calls herself “Chicken Linda” to connect with the Holy Spirit, discussed her six-decade career as an endurance performance artist, her Catholic faith, her studies with guru Shri Bhramananda Saraswati, and her influential early years in San Francisco during the First Wave feminist art movement. She also recounted personal tragedies, including the murder of her former husband Mitchell Payne, which led to her video work “Mitchell’s Death,” now in the collections of MoMA and the Museum of Conceptual Art, Los Angeles.

Opinion: In galleries across Canada, too much art is being hidden away

Don LePan, a novelist, book publisher, and painter, argues that public art galleries across Canada are failing to display their permanent collections, using the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina as a prime example. During a visit in early March, LePan found that none of the gallery's extensive permanent collection—which includes works by Group of Seven artists, European masters like Picasso and Gauguin, and modernists such as Agnes Martin—was on view. Instead, the entire exhibition space was devoted to three special shows: a photographic and conceptual art exhibition by Plains Cree artist Joi T. Arcand, a selection of works by 2025 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts recipients, and an Indigenous art exhibition. LePan praises these exhibits but criticizes the gallery's decision to completely exclude its permanent collection.

What You (Maybe) Didn't Know About Édouard Manet

Ce que vous ne saviez (peut-être) pas sur Édouard Manet

Édouard Manet (1832–1883), a pivotal figure bridging realism and impressionism, is the subject of a feature article in Beaux Arts Magazine. The piece explores lesser-known aspects of his life and career, including his near-miss as a naval officer, his rivalry with Gustave Courbet, his refusal to join the impressionist exhibitions despite close ties to the movement, and his deep fascination with Spanish culture. It highlights his scandalous works like *Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe* (1863) and *Olympia*, the latter entering the Louvre after a subscription launched by Claude Monet in 1889.

A Culture Lover’s Guide to Northwest Arkansas, a Land of Contradictions

This travel guide explores the cultural landscape of Northwest Arkansas, focusing on the upcoming 114,000-square-foot expansion of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, set to open June 6, 2026. The author recounts a road trip from Little Rock to the Ozarks, visiting the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (with its new Studio Gang-designed building), dining at Coursey's Smoked Meats, and encountering a white supremacist billboard in Harrison, while also highlighting Thorncrown Chapel by E. Fay Jones as a transcendent architectural stop.

‘Writing is exactly like love – you need to do it in the dark’: novelist Leila Slimani on why literature is erotic

French-Moroccan novelist Leïla Slimani discusses her residency at Madrid's Museo del Prado, where she draws inspiration from Francisco Goya's Black Paintings for her writing. She reflects on her career, including winning the Prix Goncourt for her novel *Lullaby*, her appointment by French President Emmanuel Macron as a representative for Francophone culture, and the personal trauma of her father's imprisonment that fueled her early writing. The article explores her views on literature, painting, and the erotic nature of writing.

A pop-up hotel format is born that focuses on culture: starting in an architecture in Arles, France (with photos by Carla Sozzani)

Nasce un format di hotel pop up che punta sulla cultura: si inizia in un’architettura di Arles in Francia (con le foto di Carla Sozzani)

Luca Pronzato, founder of the pop-up restaurant platform We Are Ona, is launching a new itinerant hospitality concept called Casa Ideale. The first edition will take place from July 1–10, 2026, at Villa Bank, a 1970s villa near Arles, France, designed by Emile Sala and protected as a Remarkable Contemporary Architecture by the French Ministry of Culture. Guests will stay in the villa and dine at a restaurant run by chef Gil Nogueira, while the space also hosts a photography exhibition titled "Prologo" curated by Maddalena Scarzella for Fondazione Sozzani, featuring over 60 works from Carla Sozzani's archive by artists such as Urs Lüthi and Helmut Newton, alongside design pieces from the gallery Downtown+ by Luna Laffanour.

The Burlington Magazine - n°1478 vol CLXVIII - May 2026

The May 2026 issue of The Burlington Magazine (n°1478, vol. CLXVIII) presents a rich array of scholarly articles, exhibition reviews, and book reviews covering European art from the medieval period to the 20th century. Highlights include Laure Boyer's study of two photographs of Victorine Meurent linked to Manet's 'Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe' and 'Olympia', Axel Moulinier's analysis of Watteau's copies after old masters, and Richard Thomson's essay on a century of Monet in print. Exhibition reviews cover shows on Monet's Étretat coast, Orazio Gentileschi, Cornelius Jonson van Ceulen, Gainsborough, Seurat, Italian Symbolism, and Iliazd. Book reviews range from medieval art and Pietro Bellotti to Helene Schjerfbeck, Roberto Matta, and contemporary jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Why Did the Met Opera Decide to Exhume Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s Marital Strife?

The Metropolitan Opera has staged Gabriela Lena Frank's first opera, *El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego*, which imagines a supernatural reunion between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera on Día de los Muertos. The production, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and starring Isabel Leonard and Carlos Álvarez, uses magical realism to explore the couple's turbulent relationship, though it largely sidelines their Communist activism and Kahlo's queer affairs in favor of a simplified reconciliation narrative.

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.

How Tasmania became one of the world’s most exciting art destinations

Helen Ochyra reports on how Tasmania, particularly Hobart, has emerged as a leading global art destination, driven largely by MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). The privately funded museum, founded by art collector David Walsh, recently opened a $100 million AUD wing housing a towering concrete amphitheatre by German artist Anselm Kiefer. Beyond MONA, Hobart hosts the provocative winter festival Dark Mofo, the science-and-culture Beaker Street Festival, and the inaugural Island Readers & Writers Festival, cementing its reputation for cutting-edge arts and culture.

Japan’s Art Museums and Creative Spaces Offer Travelers a Unique Cultural Journey Across Modern and Traditional Design

Travel And Tour World published an article highlighting Japan's art museums and creative spaces as a unique cultural journey for travelers, blending modern and traditional design. The piece showcases various institutions across Japan, emphasizing their architectural significance and the immersive experiences they offer, from contemporary art galleries to historic venues that reflect the country's rich aesthetic heritage.

Required Reading

This week's Required Reading roundup from Hyperallergic covers a diverse range of art-world stories. French photographer JR has unveiled "La Caverne du Pont Neuf Paris" (2026), an optical illusion installation that transforms the pathway across the Seine into a black-and-white mountain range cave, paying homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 1985 wrapping of the same bridge. Other highlights include architecture scholar Karrie Jacobs investigating a New York waterfront walking initiative for The Nation, curator Tara Contractor writing in Apollo about James McNeill Whistler's use of metallic pigments influenced by Japanese traditions, and Rob Corsini interviewing Amelia Abraham about their new book celebrating photography of queer nightlife for Dazed.

In a Year of Remarkable Filmmaker Debuts, Here’s How Aleshea Harris Set ‘Is God Is’ Apart

Aleshea Harris has adapted her award-winning 2016 play 'Is God Is' into a feature film, marking her directorial debut. The story follows twin sisters with burn scars who, summoned to their mother's deathbed, learn their father caused their disfigurement and are urged to seek revenge. The film stars Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown, and Janelle Monáe. Harris brings her playwright's precision to the screen, using avant-garde typography and captions inspired by a 1964 edition of Eugène Ionesco's 'The Bald Soprano' designed by Robert Massin, with title design by Teddy Blanks.

Are You a Queer Artist Heading to Fire Island This Summer? Pack This Book.

Cultured magazine highlights a new book, *Fire Island Art: 100 Years*, edited by John Dempsey, president of the Fire Island Pines Historical Society. The volume surveys queer artmaking on Fire Island from the 1930s to the present, featuring canonical figures like Richard Avedon, David Hockney, and Andy Warhol alongside overlooked artists, and includes contemporary voices such as TM Davy, Nicole Eisenman, and Salman Toor. It draws on archival material, newly unearthed pieces, essays, interviews, and primary texts to reframe the island as a cornerstone of queer modernism.

Elle Peréz Gets Personal with the Next-Gen Collectors Changing the Art World

Elle Peréz, a photographer and co-chair of the Young Collectors Council (YCC) at an unnamed museum, discusses the group's activities in an interview. The YCC meets twice a year to acquire artworks through a transparent process involving curator presentations and studio visits, with members voting on acquisitions. Peréz highlights the party celebrating Diane Severin Nguyen's commissioned piece, noting the seamless integration of music, art, and aesthetics, and emphasizes that the acquisition meetings are the core of the group's appeal.

This Family Made Gin on Zoom During Covid. Here’s How It Became an Art World Staple.

During the pandemic, the Mordant family—Simon, Catriona, Brielle, and Angus—began making gin from wild juniper on their Umbria property, splitting operations between Italy, London, and upstate New York. After enrolling in a master gin-making course and refining recipes via Zoom, they entered their creation into the World Gin Awards, earning a triple-gold medal with a score of 97 out of 100. Despite initially producing only 502 bottles not intended for sale, global demand prompted them to scale up commercially, leading to Quattro Gatti becoming the official gin of the Venice Biennale.