thaddeus mosley new york wood sculptures

Thaddeus Mosley, a 98-year-old sculptor based in Pittsburgh, creates monumental wood sculptures that weigh hundreds of pounds and rise high into the air. Working alone in a cavernous studio, he carves cherry and walnut using gouges, comparing his process to judo. Despite his long career spanning seven decades, Mosley remained largely unknown outside Pittsburgh until recently. He has now gained wider recognition following his inclusion in the 2018 Carnegie International, and his work is currently featured in a major exhibition at New York's City Hall Park, where he shows giant bronze versions of his wood creations.

North America’s Longest-Running Exhibition of International Art Has Landed at the Carnegie Museum

The 59th Carnegie International, titled "If the word we," has opened at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, marking North America's longest-running exhibition of international art. Featuring 61 artists and collectives from countries including Brazil, Benin, China, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, Taiwan, and South Africa, the exhibition explores the theme of "we" as an evolving proposition. It includes nearly 40 newly commissioned projects—the largest number in the International's history—spanning painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video, and theater. Notable works include Jonathan González's performance "The Strikebreakers" and Georges Adéagbo's installation "Le Socialism Africain," which uses discarded objects to examine Western power and colonial legacies in Africa.

François-Xavier Gbré Uses His Photography to Fill in History’s Gaps

Artist François-Xavier Gbré's photographic series "Radio Ballast" made its US debut in a duo exhibition at the International Center of Photography in late January. The work documents the century-old railroad system in Côte d'Ivoire, built by French colonizers, exploring the country's colonial history, independence, and modernization through landscapes, train stations, and the communities shaped by the railway.

In Lugano, there are 5 exhibitions dedicated to the Orient to discover around the city

A Lugano ci sono 5 mostre dedicate all’Oriente da scoprire in giro per la città

Five exhibitions dedicated to East Asian art are currently on view across Lugano, Switzerland. Four are housed in the city's two major museums, MASI and MUSEC, while the fifth is presented by Primo Marella Gallery. The shows feature a range of works, from historical Japanese kakemono scrolls and screens to contemporary art by Chinese artists Zhang Hong Mei and He Wei, and a survey of video art from South Korea.

The Art Diary April 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens

The April 2026 Art Diary highlights a global trend of exhibitions exploring the intersection of spirituality, art, and the environment. Key highlights include a new scholarly essay by Hassan Vawda reinterpreting the Kettle’s Yard collection through the religious beliefs of its founders, Jim and Helen Ede, and a major group exhibition at ICA LA titled 'Speaking in Tongues.' The latter features indigenous and diasporic artists from the Global South who utilize art as a conduit for the sacred, ritual, and ecstatic expression.

Forever is Now has transformed Cairo's Giza Plateau into an open-air gallery

The fifth edition of 'Forever is Now' has transformed the Giza Plateau in Cairo into an open-air gallery, featuring 10 large-scale contemporary art installations by international artists. Running until December 6, the exhibition is organized by the cultural platform Art D’Egypte and invites artists to explore the theme of immortality, sparking a dialogue between ancient Egyptian heritage and contemporary art. Notable participants include 92-year-old Nobel Peace Prize nominee Michelangelo Pistoletto, Portuguese artist Vhils (Alexandre Farto), US-based Alex Proba, the Russian Recycle Group, Lebanese artist Nadim Karam, Franco-Beninese ceramicist King Houdekpinkou, and Turkish sculptor Mert Ege Köse, among others.

Matt Dillon’s New Paintings Trace a Journey Across West Africa

Actor Matt Dillon presents his first solo exhibition at The Journal Gallery in New York, titled "Porto Novo to Abomey," opening April 24. The series of paintings was inspired by Dillon's travels through Senegal and Benin after filming Claire Denis's movie *The Fence* (2025). Dillon, who began painting about a decade ago with little formal training, creates spontaneous, textured works featuring bold figures, symbols, and words. The show's title traces a 100-mile journey from Benin's capital to the historic Kingdom of Dahomey, reflecting the artist's impressions of local textiles, architecture, and landscapes.

First contemporary Indian art exhibition at State Hermitage Museum in Russia to begin June 4

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, will host its first-ever exhibition dedicated to contemporary Indian art, titled "Sediments of Becoming: Fossilised Present, Summoned Pasts," opening June 4 and running through October 4. The show features 11 Indian artists—including Manjunath Kamath, Afrah Shafiq, Gargi Raina, Lakshmi Madhavan, V Ramesh, Anindita Bhattacharya, Debashish Mukherjee, Maya Krishna Rao, Pushpamala N, Ravinder Reddy, and Sumakshi Singh—and is presented in collaboration with Threshold Art Gallery, curated by Marina Schulz and Tunty Chauhan. The artists created new works during a 2025 residency at the Hermitage, supported by collectors Ekaterina and Andrey Terebenin, and the pieces are displayed in dialogue with historical objects from the museum's collections and other Russian institutions.

Russian Museum to host an exhibition with eleven Indian artists

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg will host its first contemporary Indian art exhibition, 'Sediments of Becoming: Fossilised Present, Summoned Pasts', opening June 4. Curated by Marina Schulz and Tunty Chauhan in collaboration with Delhi's Threshold Art Gallery, the four-month show features eleven Indian artists—including Afrah Shafiq, Ravinder Reddy, and Pushpamala N.—who have created new works responding to the museum's collections and architectural context.

Solidarity and shared optimism take centre stage at 1-54 fair in London

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, held at Somerset House until 19 October, showcases a wide range of African and diaspora artists. Galleries from Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, and beyond present works that highlight both historical and contemporary practices, with notable sales and institutional interest already reported. The fair coincides with Tate Modern's Nigerian Modernism exhibition and the opening of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City, creating a moment of heightened global attention on African art.

Contemporary Indian Art at the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is hosting "Sediments of Becoming: Fossilised Present, Summoned Pasts," an exhibition curated by Marina Schulz and Tunty Chauhan that features works by eleven contemporary Indian artists, including Afrah Shafiq, Anindita Bhattacharya, Debashish Mukherjee, and others. The show positions contemporary Indian artistic practice within a broader international and civilisational discourse, set against the Hermitage's historic backdrop of over three million objects spanning centuries.

Pio Abad Explores Home and Diaspora for the 2026 Venice Biennale

Filipino artist Pio Abad is presenting a series of intricate, hand-drawn works at the 2026 Venice Biennale as part of the exhibition "In Minor Keys," conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. The works, created over four years with a 0.3-millimeter pen, include pieces such as "I’m Singing a Song That Can Only Be Born After Losing a Country" (first shown at the Ashmolean Museum in 2024), "Banua" (his first drawing on fabric), and "1897.76.36.18.6," which reflects on the looting of the Benin Bronzes. Abad, born in the Philippines and based in London, explores themes of migration, memory, exile, and the itinerant nature of objects and language.

mine atairu ai benin nigeria repatriation

Minne Atairu's augmented reality work "Deshrined Ancestors" (2024) was featured in the group exhibition "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" at REDCAT in Los Angeles. The piece is a speculative 3D rendering of a Benin bronze, created using AI trained on archives and oral histories, designed to fill the gap left by looted artifacts. Atairu, born in Benin, Nigeria, uses tools like Midjourney and Blender to generate artworks that address colonial violence and erasure, including her 2023 installation "To the Hand" at The Shed. The exhibition explores humanity's evolving relationship with AI, and Atairu's work includes an empty podium representing a Benin bronze returned to Nigeria from RISD.

First solo U.S. exhibition for Columbia-based artist to open at Gallery Blue Door

Temi Wynston Edun, a Columbia-based artist originally from Ibadan, Nigeria, will open his first solo U.S. exhibition, “Within Reach of Silence,” at Gallery Blue Door in Baltimore on January 17, 2026. The show features 18 oil-stick-on-canvas works that explore themes of stillness, restraint, and layered meaning through figurative painting, with the exhibition running through April 18, 2026.

New videos of African cultural sites add contemporary context to Rockefeller Wing’s historical artefacts at the Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newly reopened Michael C. Rockefeller Wing features a series of short documentaries by Ethiopian American filmmaker Sosena Solomon, commissioned to add contemporary context to the wing’s historical artifacts from Africa, Oceania, and the ancient Americas. Solomon spent two years traveling to 12 sites across sub-Saharan Africa, creating videos that highlight royal burial grounds in Uganda, ancient rock paintings in Botswana, bronze casters in Benin City, and the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and Tigray in Ethiopia. Three of the videos are displayed on screens in the wing, while others are accessible via QR codes and online.

Lagos art fair defies macroeconomic headwinds to reach double figures

Art X Lagos, West Africa's leading international art fair, celebrates its 10th edition in November 2025 under the theme 'Imagining Otherwise, No Matter the Tide.' Founder Tokini Peterside-Schwebig reflects on the fair's resilience despite Nigeria's currency crisis, economic volatility, the Covid-19 pandemic, and a softening global art market. This year's streamlined edition features 15 exhibitors from Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, and the UK, hosted at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos. The fair coincides with the upcoming opening of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City.