culture editors gift guide christmas holidays

Cultured magazine's editors have published a holiday gift guide featuring a curated selection of items ranging from books and film memberships to robes, facials, and art-related products. Recommendations include Elaine Kraf's novel "The Princess of 72nd Street," an AAA24 membership from production company A24, a Hanro shawl collar cotton robe, a facial from Cali Strauhs, and a set of architecture-themed notebooks and books from the New Museum and Special Special. The guide also highlights a bronze sculpture by artist Ryan Schneider, tying the list to contemporary visual art.

The Must-See Exhibitions in Milan During Art Week 2026

Le mostre da non perdere a Milano durante i giorni dell’Art Week 2026

Milan Art Week 2026 features a series of major solo exhibitions across the city's premier contemporary art institutions. Fondazione Prada is hosting site-specific installations by Mona Hatoum exploring global instability alongside Cao Fei’s multimedia investigation into the technological revolution of agriculture. Meanwhile, Pirelli HangarBicocca presents Benni Bosetto’s architectural exploration of the female body and Rirkrit Tiravanija’s interactive examination of authorship and communal space.

On Paranoid Time

Film Notes has published Qingyuan Deng's essay exploring the intersection of Lacan's concept of retroactive meaning and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's distinction between paranoid and reparative reading, as applied to recent artists' films and moving-image installations. The essay examines how works like Alison Nguyen's installation "Perforation, Ellipse" at New York's Storefront for Art and Architecture use cinematic techniques—such as perforations, splices, and missing scenes—to hold the temporal gap between an event and its belated political comprehension, focusing on the censorship of Vietnamese bolero songs after the American War.

Beverly Buchanan’s Architecture of Care

Beverly Buchanan’s Architecture of Care

A major retrospective and a focused exhibition of artist Beverly Buchanan's work are now on view in Athens, Georgia, where she lived for many years. "Shacks, Stories, and Spirit: Beverly Buchanan’s Art of Home" at the Georgia Museum of Art features her canonical "Medicine Woman" sculpture, while "Beverly’s Athens" at the University of Georgia’s Athenaeum presents a rich archive of her ephemera, sketches, and community-focused works, marking the city's first institutional solo exhibitions of her art posthumously.

elda cerrato artist of the extraterrestrial has her long awaited new york debut 2740177

The Galerie Lelong in New York is presenting the first U.S. solo exhibition of Argentine-Italian artist Elda Cerrato, who died in 2023. The show features two distinct series: abstract "cosmovision" paintings from the 1960s exploring invisible energies, and more overtly political map-based works from the 1970s created in response to authoritarian regimes in Latin America.

5 Must-See Exhibitions During Milan Art Week 2026

Milan Art Week 2026 features a robust program of institutional exhibitions alongside the miart and Paris Internationale Milano fairs. Key highlights include Cao Fei’s multimedia exploration of smart agriculture at Fondazione Prada, Anselm Kiefer’s monumental tribute to forgotten female alchemists at Palazzo Reale, and a major retrospective of Rirkrit Tiravanija’s architectural research at Pirelli HangarBicocca.

art expo chicago gallery show guide

Cultured magazine has published a gallery show guide for Expo Chicago, highlighting seven must-see exhibitions across the city during the fair. The guide features Oren Pinhassi's towering sculptures at The Arts Club of Chicago, Gaylen Gerber's object-identity works at Hans Goodrich's new space, Liliana Porter's found-object pieces at Secrist Beach, Nate Millstein's industrial ceramic sculptures at Weatherproof, and Leah Ke Yi Zheng's 64-painting series inspired by the I Ching at the Renaissance Society. The article also notes the concurrent group show "Unreal" at Secrist Beach and the artist-run nature of Weatherproof, led by Young Dealers Milo Christie and Sam Dybeck.

art cayetano ferrer sculpture los angeles

Cayetano Ferrer, a 44-year-old artist born in Honolulu and raised in Las Vegas, is featured in a studio visit ahead of his solo exhibition "Object Prosthetics" at Commonwealth and Council in Los Angeles, running from January 31 to March 14. Ferrer's work often begins in archives, exploring how time is annotated and reinterpreted; his early piece made from casino carpeting was shown at the first "Made in L.A." biennial in 2012. He has salvaged fragments from the original William Pereira-designed LACMA buildings for recent projects, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Historic Preservation at Columbia University. The interview covers his creative process, influences like Caetano Veloso's concept of antropofagia, and his use of a hot iron seaming machine called the Kool Glide Pro.

art jonathas de andrade brazilian artist studio

Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade discusses his collaborative, research-driven practice in a studio visit feature for CULTURED magazine. He describes working with actors, cart drivers, carrier pigeon racers, and zoo employees to create installations, photographs, and films that examine the architecture, labor, and history of northeast Brazil. This month, a Vatican-commissioned video installation about Brazilian activist nuns opens at MACRO in Rome, while a series of flags developed with canoeists on the São Francisco River is on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. De Andrade shares his daily rituals, inspirations, and the expansive definition of his studio—a sanctuary in Recife filled with collected magazines, images, and objects.

art bunker artspace queer exhibition

The Bunker Artspace in Palm Beach, Florida, has opened "Beyond the Rainbow," a major exhibition of LGBTQ+ art curated by Laura Dvorkin and Maynard Monrow, along with 19 other artists, curators, gallerists, architects, and writers. The show draws from the collection of patron Beth Rudin DeWoody and features works by Catherine Opie, Andy Warhol, Nicole Eisenman, Lyle Ashton Harris, and others, running from December 7 through May 1, 2026. The exhibition was inspired by a visit to the Centre Pompidou's "Over the Rainbow" show in Paris.

architecture peterson rich met moma

The architectural studio Peterson Rich Office (PRO), founded by husband-and-wife team Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich in 2014, is designing cultural spaces that blend art, commerce, and community. Their recent projects include converting a Romanesque church into the Shepherd in Detroit—a space for exhibitions, a community library, and performances—and redesigning the MoMA Design Store in SoHo to draw more visitors and link it to contemporary artists like Nina Chanel Abney. PRO's most ambitious commission is for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, involving a special exhibition gallery, dining and retail spaces, and a new entrance at 83rd Street.

design guide openings events exhibtions

This article from Cultured magazine highlights several notable art and architecture openings and exhibitions around the world. Key events include the reopening of Donald Judd's Architecture Office in Marfa, Texas, after a seven-year closure and a devastating 2021 fire; the opening of the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture in Almaty, Kazakhstan, designed by British architect Asif Khan; and the debut of "Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries" at Japan Society in New York, marking the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the city. Other featured shows include "Dream Rooms: Environments by Women Artists 1950s-Now" at M+ Museum in Hong Kong, "Vacant Futures" at VI PER Gallery in Prague, and "Four Five Six" by OFFICE KGDVS at A83 in SoHo, New York.

art sophie calle interview juergen teller

Cultured magazine publishes an interview with French conceptual artist Sophie Calle, conducted by a journalist who navigates Calle's characteristic conditions for the conversation. The article recounts the process of securing the interview—including a preliminary phone call from Calle to set rules—and describes Calle's home in the South of France, her tan arms, black sleeveless top, and signature glasses. The journalist references Calle's early photobooks published by Siglio, her "Unfinished" series displayed at the Musée Picasso in Paris (2023–24), and her project "The Address Book," which involved interviewing acquaintances of a stranger whose address book she found on the streets of Paris. The interview also touches on a companion catalog of moldy works after a flood in Calle's storage space, and a large photograph of dried flowers from architect Frank Gehry.

architecture hamptons barns

The article explores the architectural and cultural significance of barns in the Hamptons, tracing their evolution from medieval agricultural structures to modern design icons. It highlights how the barn typology has been adapted in local buildings, including the Parrish Art Museum designed by Herzog & de Meuron, and features four case studies of historic barns, such as the Sayre Barn in Southampton, which was converted into an antique store and later donated to a museum.

salman toor keith mcnally art market

This article from Cultured magazine covers multiple art-related stories, including a profile of restaurateur Keith McNally's memoir, a list of must-see museum exhibitions in New York for spring, a review of Mary Abbott's overlooked Abstract Expressionist work now on view at Schoelkopf Gallery, a feature on Salman Toor's major new exhibition "Wish Maker" at Luhring Augustine, and a discussion on designing more empathetic museums. It also includes a beauty and fashion trends piece with creative nominations.

‘This is an opportunity that will never happen again’: Syrian artist Sara Shamma on rebuilding her country

Syrian artist Sara Shamma has been selected to represent Syria at the 2026 Venice Biennale, marking the country's return to the event with a single-artist national pavilion for the first time. Her immersive installation, 'The Tower Tomb of Palmyra,' curated by Yuko Hasegawa and commissioned by Syria's ministry of culture, combines painting, architecture, light, sound, and scent. It draws on the ancient funerary towers of Palmyra destroyed by Islamic State in 2015, addressing cultural loss and the possibility of reconstruction. Shamma, who returned to Syria in September 2024 after eight years abroad, describes living through the fall of the Assad regime and the country's rebirth as a transformative personal and national moment.

In Minor Keys: how Venice's international exhibition was brought to life after the death of artistic director Koyo Kouoh

The 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," was realized after the sudden death of its artistic director, Koyo Kouoh, in May 2025. A team of five of Kouoh's collaborators, known as "la squadra di Koyo Kouoh," worked with her before her death and finalized the exhibition's themes, artist list, and scenography. The exhibition features 111 invited artists, duos, collectives, and artist-led organizations, with the team emphasizing that this remains Kouoh's vision rather than a replacement.

Artist Mel Kendrick Is Mining New Possibilities From Wood and Color

American artist Mel Kendrick, who began his career in the early 1970s integrating Minimalism and architecture, presents his ninth solo exhibition at David Nolan Gallery in New York. Titled “Mel Kendrick: Tilt,” the show runs through June 6, 2026, and features new and recent wood sculptures alongside older works, including pieces like *Walnut Shelf* (2026), *Gemstone* (2026), and *Yellow Drum* (2025). Kendrick works without pre-planning, allowing the material to guide his process, and treats color as a material with its own weight, inspired by Gothic and medieval architecture.

José Dávila Makes Space the Subject in His New York Show

José Dávila's solo exhibition "The Simple Act of Positioning" opens at Sean Kelly gallery in New York, featuring sculptures that explore the relational placement of objects in space. The show includes totemic pillars of steel, concrete, volcanic rock, and automotive paint, framed by large black structures, inviting viewers to move through the gallery to fully experience the visual conversations between works. Dávila, originally from Guadalajara and trained in architecture, draws on Modernist precedents from artists like Marcel Duchamp and architects like Luis Barragán.

Independent 2026 Exhibitor List Announced

independent 2026 exhibitor list 1234776856

Independent has unveiled the exhibitor list for its 17th edition, scheduled for May 14–17, 2026. The fair is relocating to a new venue at Pier 36 in New York’s Lower East Side and will feature 76 exhibitors showcasing over 100 artists. Notably, more than 70 percent of the booths will be dedicated to solo presentations, including a special solo project by Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons and sculptural installations by Gretchen Bender and Francis Upritchard.

jackie saccoccio van doren waxter 2753080

Van Doren Waxter in New York is hosting "Portraits," a solo exhibition dedicated to the late American abstract painter Jackie Saccoccio. The show features five paintings and seven works on paper that showcase Saccoccio’s mature style, characterized by a physically demanding process of dragging, pressing, and dripping paint. These works bridge the gap between gestural abstraction and the psychological depth of traditional portraiture, drawing inspiration from both Abstract Expressionism and Roman Baroque aesthetics.

warren isensees pulsating abstractions put the act of looking to the test 2739914

Warren Isensee's new paintings at Miles McEnery Gallery in Chelsea, New York, explore optical structure with loosened rules, where warm and cool tones trade dominance across repeating frameworks. On view through February 14, 2026, the exhibition is the artist's third solo outing with the gallery and includes a fully illustrated publication with an essay by Stephen Westfall. The works interrupt their own logic, introducing irregular breaks that reroute the eye, creating a test of looking rather than a display of visual effects.

mr wash community center compton book fundraiser 1234761270

Artist Fulton Leroy Washington, known as Mr. Wash, is establishing the Art By Wash Studio & Community Center, a 13,000-square-foot campus in Compton, California, to serve recently incarcerated individuals and local youth. Released in 2016 after President Barack Obama commuted his life sentence for nonviolent drug offenses, Mr. Wash taught art in prison for 18 years and later gained recognition in the art world, including a breakout appearance at the 2020 Made in L.A. biennial. The center, designed pro bono by Morphosis Architects and The NOW Institute, will offer art-making instruction, studio space, materials, and exhibition opportunities, with the goal of connecting emerging artists to curators and galleries. The project is currently fundraising $100,000 for its first phase, with completion targeted for 2028.

barbara gladstone gallery chelsea townhouse sold 13 million 1234750511

The Chelsea townhouse of the late gallerist Barbara Gladstone sold for $13.1 million, over $1 million above its $11.99 million asking price, in an all-cash deal that closed on August 27. The 19th-century Greek Revival row house at 344 W. 22nd St was purchased by an unnamed buyer, with brokers Scott Hustis and Mark Jovanovic of Compass reporting the sale set a record per square foot for a Chelsea townhouse. Gladstone, who founded the Gladstone Gallery in 1980 and became one of New York's most prominent dealers, died in June 2024 at age 89. She had bought the property in 2011 for $6.3 million. Architect Annabell Selldorf designed the current iteration of the 4,395-square-foot home, and Piet Oudolf designed its garden. The home featured gallery-like Venetian plaster walls and white oak floors that showcased works from Gladstone's private collection.

barbara gladstones 12 million chelsea townhouse is for sale 2655218

The Chelsea townhouse of legendary art dealer Barbara Gladstone has been listed for sale at just under $12 million. The Greek Revival row house on West 22nd Street, which Gladstone purchased for $6.3 million in 2011, was extensively renovated by architect Annabelle Selldorf, who also designed Gladstone's two Chelsea galleries. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom property features a curving skylit staircase and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a garden. The listing is held by Compass agent Scott Hustis.

New Museum unveils new OMA-designed building ahead of March 21st reopening.

The New Museum in New York has unveiled its major 60,000-square-foot expansion, designed by the architectural firm OMA, specifically Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas. The project, which took a decade from architect selection to completion, required a two-year closure and doubles the institution's gallery space. It debuts with new commissions by artists Tschabalala Self and Klára Hosnedlová ahead of its public reopening on March 21st.

Ralph Lemon: The Physical Traces of Racism

Ralph Lemon's exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery presents 13 black-and-white photographs and three short videos focusing on sites in the Mississippi Delta connected to the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till. Rather than dramatizing the incident, Lemon records physical traces of the locations—such as Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market, the barn where Till was killed, the Tallahatchie River, and a funeral home—capturing dilapidated buildings and landscapes that suggest history slipping away. The show includes the titular video "From Out of Space" (2018–21), which offers closeups and drone footage of these sites, creating a meditative, detective-like examination of memory and erasure.

Iris Van Herpen’s Groundbreaking Work Presented in New Exhibit at Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum opens "Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses," a mid-career retrospective of the Dutch fashion designer known for pioneering 3D-printed garments. The exhibition, which originated at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2023, features over a decade of van Herpen's work, including her first 3D-printed garment from 2010, pieces worn by celebrities like Lady Gaga, Björk, and Beyoncé, and new works such as an algae dress grown from 125 million living organisms. Organized by senior curator Matthew Yokobosky, the show spans eleven themes exploring van Herpen's fusion of traditional craftsmanship with technology, science, and nature.

Hube Guide: What to Do in New York During Frieze

Frieze Art Fair returns to New York from May 13th to 17th, 2026, at The Shed for its 15th edition, featuring over 65 galleries from 26 countries. The fair emphasizes Latin American practices and includes a Focus section curated by Lumi Tan highlighting younger galleries and experimental works. Notable presentations include Reika Takebayashi’s ecological dreamscapes, Bruno Cançado’s meditations on Brazilian vernacular architecture, and Abraham González Pacheco’s graphite works. Beyond the fair, performances and installations extend to institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and Dia Art Foundation. The article also previews concurrent exhibitions: "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (May 2026–January 2027), a David Hammons and Jannis Kounellis show at White Cube (May 1–June 13, 2026), and Carol Bove’s exhibition at the Guggenheim (March 5–August 2, 2026).

Exhibition | Janet Laurence, 'Once Were Forests' at Cassandra Bird, Paris, France

Cassandra Bird Paris, supported by Zimmermann, presents 'Once Were Forests,' an immersive solo exhibition by Australian artist Janet Laurence. The show features a major installation alongside new sculptures, paintings, and photographs that explore ice, forest, and water as carriers of time, memory, and life. Soundscapes from Australian forests and birdsong deepen the sensory experience, inviting visitors into a contemplative space where ancient ecologies, present nature, and possible futures converge.