Smiljan Radic Wins the Pritzker Prize, ‘Men Retire But Women Get Fired From Museum Leadership’ Says Anne Pasternak: Morning Links for March 13, 2026

Smiljan Radic Wins the Pritzker Prize, ‘Men Retire But Women Get Fired From Museum Leadership’ Says Anne Pasternak: Morning Links for March 13, 2026

Chilean architect Smiljan Radic has won the 2026 Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honor. The award, which had been delayed due to the Pritzker family's past associations with Jeffrey Epstein, recognizes Radic's lyrical and experimental designs that embrace fragility and dialogue with natural environments, creating what the jury described as "optimistic and quietly joyful shelter."

Artist and Filmmaker Steve McQueen Wins $172,000 Erasmus Prize

British artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen has been awarded the 2024 Erasmus Prize by the Dutch Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. The prize includes a cash award of 150,000 euros (approximately $172,000) and a specially designed booklet featuring the script of the 16th-century scholar Desiderius Erasmus.

Andrea Karnes, Museum Curator

Andrea Karnes, a longtime curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, provides an inside look at the evolving role of a contemporary art curator. Having spent her entire career at the institution, Karnes describes the transition from being a traditional 'caretaker of objects' to an intellectual architect who constructs arguments through exhibitions. She details the multi-year process of organizing shows, which involves extensive studio visits, international travel to biennials, and complex negotiations with collectors to secure loans for major retrospectives.

LIKE A DUET. In Conversation with Anne Imhof by Tyler Mitchell

Artists Anne Imhof and Tyler Mitchell engage in a cross-disciplinary dialogue reflecting on their recent solo exhibitions, "Wish You Were Gay" at Kunsthaus Bregenz and "Wish This Was Real" at C/O Berlin. The conversation explores the intersection of performance, photography, and the choreography of space, with both artists discussing how they manipulate the viewer's physical and emotional presence within an installation.

Jenny Holzer and Arthur Jafa among nominees for Art Basel Awards 2026.

Art Basel has announced the 33 nominees for the second edition of the Art Basel Awards, held in partnership with the fashion brand BOSS. The diverse shortlist features high-profile contemporary artists such as Jenny Holzer, Arthur Jafa, and Barbara Kruger, alongside multidisciplinary figures including architect Kulapat Yantrasast and critic Hilton Als.

Who is Prune Delon, the 24-year-old fashion designer selected for a residency at the Villa Medici?

Qui est Prune Delon, cette créatrice de mode de 24 ans sélectionnée pour une résidence à la Villa Médicis ?

Prune Delon, a 24-year-old fashion designer and Institut français de la mode graduate, has been awarded a prestigious one-month research residency at the Villa Medici in Rome. Moving away from traditional ready-to-wear collections, Delon is using the residency to develop a multidisciplinary project that blends textile art with sculptural installation. Her work at the historic site draws inspiration from the villa's mineral architecture and classical sculptures, as well as her formative experiences studying traditional embroidery and natural dyeing techniques in India.

2026 Art Basel Award Winners Announced

Art Basel has unveiled the 33 medalists for its 2026 global honors program, recognizing a diverse group of artists, curators, and institutions. The selection highlights a strong Southeast Asian presence, including architect Kulapat Yantrasast and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, alongside international figures like Laurie Anderson and Julie Mehretu. These awards celebrate practitioners across categories such as Emerging Artist, Established Artist, and Cross-Disciplinary Creator, with winners to be celebrated at the upcoming Basel fair in June.

James Taylor-Foster to Lead Hong Kong’s Para Site

Para Site, a prominent Hong Kong art organization, has appointed James Taylor-Foster as its new executive director. The British Swedish curator and writer succeeds Billy Tang, concluding a leadership transition period managed by deputy director Junni Chen. Taylor-Foster will relocate from Stockholm, where he worked at ArkDes and Moderna Museet, to assume the role this summer.

Vittoria Matarrese new director of the Magasin in Grenoble

Vittoria Matarrese nouvelle directrice du Magasin de Grenoble

Vittoria Matarrese has been appointed as the new director of the Magasin, the National Center for Contemporary Art in Grenoble. The Italian architect and curator, who previously held positions at the Villa Medici in Rome, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and the Bally Foundation in Lugano, and most recently led the first Art Week Riyadh, succeeds Céline Kopp. Her appointment comes as the institution seeks a new direction after a prolonged period of crisis.

Pi Li appointed founding director of Shenzhen’s Róng Museum, set to open 2027

Pi Li, former head of art at Hong Kong's Tai Kwun, has been appointed the founding director of the new Róng Museum in Shenzhen. The museum, focusing on 20th and 21st-century global creative practices across visual art, design, performance, architecture, and digital media, is scheduled to open in the second half of 2027 as part of the M80 lifestyle complex.

Abbottabad painter keeps portrait art alive

The article profiles acclaimed portraitist Nasir Shehzad, who has spent over four decades preserving and advancing the art of portraiture and cinematic painting in Abbottabad, Pakistan. His artistic journey began in childhood and gained early recognition through scouting competitions in the 1980s, leading him to professional cinematic painting by 1989. Shehzad has since become a central figure in the local art community through mentorship, founding his own creative platform, and participating in numerous exhibitions and residencies across the country, including recent shows at major institutions like the Lahore Museum and Pakistan National Council of the Arts.

Inside Dorian Grinspan’s Upstate Home, Where Japanese Handicraft Meets ‘British Whimsy’

Film producer Dorian Grinspan collaborated with a group of artists and friends to design his upstate New York home, creating a space that blends Japanese handicraft aesthetics with what he describes as 'British whimsy.' The project was a collective, evolving effort rather than a single architect's vision.

Hood Museum of Art's longest-serving director to retire

John Stomberg, the director of Dartmouth College's Hood Museum of Art, has announced his retirement after leading the institution for over a decade. His tenure, which began in 2013, marks the longest directorship in the museum's history.

ROBERTO BEHAR ROSARIO MARQUARDT WIN THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT THE ELLIES OOLITE ARTS AWARDS

The Argentine artistic duo Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt have received the $75,000 Lifetime Achievement Award at The Ellies Oolite Arts Awards. The pair, founders of R&R STUDIOS, are recognized for their decades-long collaborative practice that merges art, architecture, and public space to create social sculptures.

Emmanuel Étienne Takes the Helm of the Compiègne-Blérancourt Museums

Emmanuel Étienne prend les rênes des musées de Compiègne-Blérancourt

Emmanuel Étienne has been appointed as the director of the national museums and estates of Compiègne and Blérancourt. The 48-year-old architect and urban planner, a heritage architect trained at the École de Chaillot, succeeds Rodolphe Rapetti, who has retired. He will oversee the complex, which includes the Château and national estate of Compiègne with its three museums, as well as the estate and the Franco-American Museum of Blérancourt.

Kengo Kuma: "The first time architecture moved me, it was a church"

Kengo Kuma : « La première fois qu’une architecture m’a ému, c’était celle d’une église »

Renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma discusses his design philosophy and his recent intervention at the Angers Cathedral in France. He emphasizes a "dialogue with the place" over architectural ego, focusing on topography, local materials, and the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in the aging of materials over time. Kuma reflects on how his first emotional encounter with architecture occurred in a Christian chapel as a child, an experience that continues to inform his use of light and verticality.

Artist in Focus: Louis Pohl Koseda. Constructing the City as Memory.

British artist Louis Pohl Koseda is gaining attention for his intricate works that blend drawing, painting, and architectural theory to explore the city as a psychological structure. His practice, which he terms 'metafictionism,' utilizes fine-line drawing to create layered compositions where figures navigate unstable, theatrical urban environments. Influenced by his upbringing in an East London Hare Krishna community, Koseda’s work focuses on how belief systems and social fabrics are mapped onto the physical and imagined spaces of the city.

Royal Ontario Museum picks Nicholas R. Bell as next leader

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has appointed Nicholas R. Bell as its next director and chief executive, effective July 6. Bell, a Vancouver native, succeeds Joshua Basseches, who led the Toronto institution for a decade. Bell joins the ROM from the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where he was recognized for overseeing a major $200 million renovation and implementing a free admission policy.