top moments in photography 2025

Artnet News highlights the top photography moments of 2025, including Sara Cwynar's exhibition of search-engine images at ICA Boston, Inuuteq Storch's debut at MoMA PS1 showcasing his Greenlandic hometown, and Dietemar Busse's Polaroid portraits celebrated at Amant, New York. The year also saw Wolfgang Tillmans' blockbuster farewell exhibition at the Centre Pompidou before its five-year renovation, and Marian Goodman Gallery's inaugural show of Ana Mendieta's work, "Back to the Source," featuring her iconic photographs and performances. Mendieta's work was also spotlighted at Art Basel Miami Beach, with her piece "Sandwoman" (1983) drawing emotional responses from visitors.

Jumper Maybach Turns Abstraction Into Emotional Space

American artist Jumper Maybach, known for his abstract expressionist paintings, debuted a new suite of works titled "Radiant Spaces" at the inaugural Salt Lake Art Show in 2026. The series explores themes of emotional energy, human resilience, and healing, using layered textures and color fields to create immersive experiences. Maybach has also created site-specific installations in architecturally significant buildings, including the 1900K building in Washington, D.C., and continues to blur the lines between fine art, installation, and luxury design.

‘This is the place of dreams’: Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo’s Venetian island venue opens to public

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo opened San Giacomo, a Venetian lagoon island she and her husband bought in 2018, to the public on May 7 during the Venice Biennale. The former military site now houses exhibition spaces in converted munitions storehouses, featuring a solo show by Matt Copson curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, selections from the Sandretto collection with works by Michael Armitage, Sarah Lucas, Victor Man, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, and outdoor installations by Pamela Rosenkranz, Claire Fontaine, Hugh Hayden, and Goshka Macuga. The island also includes a chapel-like structure by Hayden and a rocket sculpture by Macuga.

nyc holiday art shows

Artnet News has compiled a guide to holiday art shows in New York City for December 2025. The featured exhibitions include the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual "Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche" (November 25–January 6), the American Museum of Natural History's "Origami Holiday Tree" (November 24–January 20) inspired by its dinosaur extinction exhibition, the Morgan Library and Museum's display of Charles Dickens's original manuscript of "A Christmas Carol" (November 25–January 11), and the New York Public Library's "Best Friends Forever: Holiday Greeting Cards" (December 3–January 4). Each venue offers a unique artistic take on the holiday season, from 18th-century Neapolitan figurines and thousands of origami animals to literary history and vintage greeting cards.

Hmm, what shall we see at Paris Photo 2025?

Paris Photo 2025, the 28th edition of the international photography fair, returns to the Grand Palais from 13-16 November, hosting 179 galleries from 33 countries. Artistic director Anna Planas emphasizes a program spanning photography's full history, from 19th-century works to contemporary digital and blockchain-based pieces. Highlights include a solo installation by Hasselblad Award winner Sophie Ristelhueber, a darkroom demonstration by photographer Renato D'Agostin, and the 'Emergence' sector featuring Prix Maison Ruinart winner Marine Lanier. The fair also offers conversations, performances, and book signings with artists like Todd Hido and Wolfgang Tillmans, plus an exhibition of Latin American photography from the Estrellita B Brodsky collection.

wes anderson london design museum highlights

The Design Museum in London will host the first institutional exhibition dedicated to filmmaker Wes Anderson, opening this fall. Titled "Wes Anderson: The Archives," the show features over 600 items from Anderson's personal archives, including costumes, props, paintings, sketches, and models from films such as *The Grand Budapest Hotel* (2014), *Moonrise Kingdom* (2012), *Fantastic Mr Fox* (2009), and *Isle of Dogs* (2018). Highlights include the original model of the Grand Budapest Hotel, the painting *Boy with Apple* by Michael Taylor, and costumes worn by actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and Tilda Swinton. The exhibition will also screen Anderson's first short film *Bottle Rocket* (1993) and trace his career chronologically.

Humans, Machines, and Possible Futures: The Last 100 Years at New Museum

HUMANS MACHINES AND POSSIBLE FUTURES THE LAST 100 YEARS AT NEW MUSEUM

The New Museum has launched "New Humans: Memories of the Future," a massive exhibition spanning its entire building and featuring over 200 international contributors. The show traces a century of artistic, scientific, and social evolution, pairing 20th-century masters like Constantin Brâncuși and Salvador Dalí with contemporary commissions from artists such as Hito Steyerl and Wangechi Mutu. By exploring themes of automated labor, artificial intelligence, and mechanized warfare, the exhibition frames the relationship between humanity and technology as a series of cyclical leaps and reversals rather than linear progress.

gaza biennial new york review

The Gaza Biennial, a major exhibition featuring 25 artists from Gaza, concluded its full run at the Brooklyn nonprofit space Recess, with an abbreviated version remaining on view until December 20. The show presents painting, video, drawing, and testimony created under siege, offering a powerful artistic response to the ongoing conflict and displacement.

James McNeill Whistler was more than just a combative ‘coxcomb’

Carol Jacobi, curator of a new exhibition at Tate Britain in London, aims to reframe the legacy of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), an artist often reduced in public memory to his 1877 libel lawsuit against critic John Ruskin. The show, the UK's first full Whistler survey since 1994, highlights his prolific output, evolving style, and belief that art should seek "a more fundamental beauty" beyond mere impression. It brings together many of his celebrated nocturnes and, for the first time, his sketchbooks, though the infamous Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1875) could not be loaned.

One Fine Show: “Wes Anderson, The Archives” at the Design Museum in London

The Design Museum in London has opened "Wes Anderson: The Archives," the first major museum exhibition dedicated to the filmmaker. Featuring over 700 pieces of ephemera—including costumes, props, stop-motion puppets, miniature models, paintings, and Anderson's notebooks and storyboards—the show draws from a personal archive he has built since 1998. The exhibition, a collaboration with la Cinémathèque française in Paris where it premiered last year, has been expanded by some 300 additional objects for its London run. It runs through July 26, 2026.

National Gallery Singapore celebrates 10 years

National Gallery Singapore (NGS) celebrates its 10th anniversary with a weekend event on November 15-16, 2025, featuring extended hours, free exhibitions, a rave, a pop-up market, and food trucks. The gallery, housed in the restored Supreme Court and City Hall buildings, opened on November 24, 2015, after a delayed launch, and has since welcomed over 14 million visitors. Highlights include the blockbuster show "Into The Modern: Impressionism From The Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston," with works by Monet, Cézanne, and Degas never before shown in Singapore, plus exclusive merchandise from local brands.

Amy Sherald's canceled Smithsonian art show comes to Baltimore

Artist Amy Sherald has canceled her scheduled exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., due to censorship concerns over her painting "Trans Forming Liberty," which depicts the Statue of Liberty as a Black trans woman. The exhibition, titled "Amy Sherald: American Sublime," will instead travel to the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), where it will run from November 2, 2025, to April 5, 2026. Sherald will also receive one of the museum's "Artist Who Inspires" awards at its 2025 BMA Ball on November 22. The show is a mid-career survey of Sherald's work, previously shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition Transforms the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery

On April 26, 2025, the School of the Arts held its annual MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, featuring twenty-nine emerging and established artists. Curated by Amal Issa, the show spans a wide range of mediums including installations, videos, paintings, drawings, and sculptures, with many works exploring themes of memory, ancestry, and identity. Notable pieces include Maya Dixon's immersive installation using gourds and found objects, Daniel Castro's surreal cityscapes, and Ridwana Rahman's interactive carpet piece that invites reflection on direction and prayer.

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock opens annual youth exhibition

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock opened its 65th annual Young Arkansas Artists exhibition on Saturday, showcasing over 50 student artworks selected by a panel of museum and art professionals. The exhibition, on view through July 26 at the Robyn and John Horn Gallery, features four works per grade from kindergarten through 12th grade, using media ranging from charcoal and watercolor to linoleum print and glazed ceramics. Awards included $25 gift certificates to BLICK Art Materials for each featured student, a $200 award for submitting educators, and special recognitions such as the Mid-Southern Watercolorists' Suzann Waggoner Memorial Award and the AMFA Docents' Recognition Award. Best in Class winners, like kindergartner Levi Splawn and fifth grader Blair Allen, received free summer camp sessions at the museum.

A pink rocket ship and other sci-fi elements fuel Seattle artist’s latest exhibit

Seattle artist Tariqa Waters presents her first solo exhibition with sci-fi elements, titled "Venus is Missing," at the Seattle Art Museum from May 7, 2025 through January 5, 2026. The show features a retro-futuristic pink rocket ship and oversized glass sculptures of ball barrettes—elastic hair ties from the 1970s and '80s—arranged as constellations. Waters won the Betty Bowen Award in 2023, which led to this exhibition, and she used the extra preparation time to create an immersive narrative about vulnerability, nostalgia, and escape. The exhibition also connects to her upcoming book "WHO RAISED YOU? A Martyr Sauce Guide To Etiquette," published by Minor Matters Books.

The Pressure to Mean Something: Inside the VCUarts’ MFA Exhibition

The article covers the MFA exhibition at VCUarts, showcasing the work of graduate students in the visual arts program. It highlights the pressure on emerging artists to imbue their work with meaning and the diverse approaches taken by the exhibitors.

Hood River art exhibit highlights local Black artists in immersive setting - Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon, is hosting "Black Infinity House," an immersive exhibition curated by August Oaks that showcases the work of over 30 Black Oregonian artists. Moving away from traditional white-cube gallery aesthetics, the installation is divided into three domestic-themed environments—a studio, a living room, and a porch—where visitors are encouraged to interact with the space by sitting on furniture, listening to records, and reading poetry.

Science Museum Partners With Serendipity Arts For Free Events In London This June

The Science Museum in London has partnered with Serendipity Arts, a not-for-profit foundation supporting artistic practice across South Asia, to present free events this June. The collaboration launches on June 5 with Innovation Lates, an adults-only evening of music, making, and ideas inspired by Indian innovation, as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival. The festival marks 175 years since the Great Exhibition of 1851 and includes workshops, talks, performances, and a puppet parade directed by Dadi Pudumjee.