Alexander Calder, Brilliant Sculptor of Air and Color Celebrated at the Fondation Vuitton

Alexander Calder, génial sculpteur de l’air et de la couleur célébré à la fondation Vuitton

The Fondation Louis Vuitton is hosting a major celebration of Alexander Calder, the American sculptor who revolutionized 20th-century art by introducing movement and play into the medium. The article traces Calder's formative years in Paris starting in 1926, where the young engineer-turned-artist gained avant-garde fame with his 'Cirque Calder'—a miniature circus of wire and fabric figurines. This period marked his transition from traditional painting to his signature 'drawings in space,' featuring wire sculptures of figures like Josephine Baker that projected dancing shadows and captured the kinetic energy of the era.

Rirkrit Tiravanija to Assemble “A Gathering of Remarkable People” for Qatar Pavilion at Venice Biennale

Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will headline the Qatar Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale with a collaborative project titled “Untitled (a gathering of remarkable people).” Curated by Tom Eccles and Ruba Katrib, the exhibition will be housed in a temporary tent in the Giardini on the site of Qatar’s future permanent pavilion. The presentation features a multidisciplinary roster including filmmaker Sophia Al-Maria, sound artist Tarek Atoui, sculptor Alia Farid, and chef Fadi Kattan, blending live performance, cinema, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions.

Ten Essential Shows During Frieze New York

Frieze magazine has published a curated list of ten essential exhibitions to see in New York City during the Frieze New York art fair. The recommendations highlight major institutional shows, including a Carol Bove exhibition at the Guggenheim, a Marcel Duchamp presentation at MoMA, and a Raphael-focused exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A Contemporary Art Haven Just a PATH Ride Away

Luis Emilio Romero, a Jersey City native, moved from Bushwick to the Monira Foundation's residency at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, where he now paints intricate, textile-influenced patterns in a calm basement studio. Mana Contemporary, a 2 million-square-foot former tobacco warehouse converted in 2011 by Moishe Mana, Eugene Lemay, and Yigal Ozeri, hosted its Spring Open Studios on May 17, with over one-third of its 300 artists participating—the largest turnout in years. The event featured installations by TLaloC, sculptures by John Chamberlain, and an exhibition of artist books, "Open Book(s): Observations," presented by Pierogi Gallery, Mana, and the Monira Foundation. Pierogi co-owners Joe Amrhein and Susan Swenson also brought their Flat Files containing nearly 4,000 works to Mana for six months to a year.

The Making of a Maintenance Artist

A new documentary titled "Maintenance Artist" (2025) traces the decades-long practice of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, a pioneering artist who focused on marginal, unpaid, and feminine labor. The film covers her career from her 1969 "CARE" manifesto, through her role as artist-in-residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation, to her first retrospective at the Queens Museum in 2017. It highlights her critique of art-world gender biases and her efforts to recognize discounted labor in all fields.

Art Movements: Meet The Met's New Photography Curator

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed Oluremi C. Onabanjo as its new curator of photographs, bringing her expertise in African and Black diasporic histories from MoMA. This announcement leads a series of industry shifts, including Melissa Chiu’s move from the Hirshhorn to direct the Guggenheim, and the relocation of the influential gallery 47 Canal to Chelsea. Additionally, the New York Foundation for the Arts distributed nearly $500,000 in grants to 129 artists and organizations in Queens.

Sex Dreams, Piss Takes, and Fake Trends: A Week in the NY Art World With Domenick Ammirati

Domenick Ammirati returns to New York after a year-long writing residency in Siena and Provincetown to cover the spring art fairs, including Frieze New York 2026. He observes a notably calm art week, attributing the subdued atmosphere to the fair's proximity to the Venice Biennale, which left key players exhausted. Highlights include a Rei Kawakubo installation at Independent, Gucci's Cruise show in Times Square, and MoMA PS1's 50th anniversary gala, where he mingles with curator Jody Graf and spots Klaus Biesenbach.

Here’s What You Missed at MoMA PS1’s 50th Birthday Bash

MoMA PS1 held its annual gala on Tuesday night, celebrating the institution's 50th anniversary and honoring founding director Alanna Heiss and former MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry. More than 500 guests attended the Surrealist-themed event, which featured artistic direction by the fashion and art collective Women’s History Museum, with stilt walkers, custom posters, performances, and DJ sets. Notable attendees included artists Wolfgang Tillmans and Camille Henrot, dealers Jeffrey Deitch, and musicians Swizz Beatz, along with museum leadership and collectors.

art milan design week shows

Cultured magazine has compiled a guide to art exhibitions worth visiting during Milan Design Week 2026, beyond the main Salone del Mobile fair. Featured shows include Rirkrit Tiravanija's first retrospective at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Cao Fei's exploration of smart agriculture at Fondazione Prada, Anselm Kiefer's dual exhibitions at Palazzo Reale and Lia Rumma Gallery, Gabrielle Goliath's painting show at Galleria Raffaella Cortese, and Dozie Kanu's mirroring of Marc Camille Chaimowicz at Fondazione ICA Milano.

art collector javier martin austria ulloa florida

Miami-based collectors Javier Martin and Austria Ulloa discuss their 404 Art Collection, which spans works from mid-20th century Ivorian artist Frédéric Bruly Bouabré to contemporary pieces by Ryan Schneider, Augusta Lecaros, and others. The couple, who met through their respective art-world careers, acquire works through studio visits, gallery discoveries, and friend recommendations, and they are donating a Bouabré drawing to the Boca Raton Museum of Art for an upcoming exhibition. Their collection also includes pieces by Sadaharu Horio, Ami Yoshida, Lucas Pereira Elias, Katarina Weslien, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Elsa Mora, and Waichi Tsutaka.

art sculpture shows new york

A year after lamenting the dominance of safe, decorative painting in New York galleries, art critic Andrew Russel observes a decisive shift toward sculpture and installation in 2026. The Whitney Biennial epitomizes this trend, alongside major shows like Carol Bove’s survey at the Guggenheim Museum and Michael Heizer’s largest indoor "Negative Sculpture" at Gagosian 21st Street. Two exhibitions spotlight neglected aspects of Isa Genzken’s work: Galerie Buchholz focuses on her "Projects for Outside," while Zwirner Tribeca presents her "world receivers" concrete sculptures. Russel also highlights Paul Chan’s "breathers" at Greene Naftali and three standout shows—Robert Gober at Matthew Marks, Felix Beaudry at Situations, and a pairing of Hans Haacke and Louise Lawler at Maxwell Graham—as essential viewing alongside the Biennial.

art wolfgang tillmans exhibition los angeles

Wolfgang Tillmans presents "Keep Movin'," an exhibition of new photographs, sculptures, and video works at Regen Projects in Los Angeles. The show, installed in January 2026, features large prints, unframed photocopier works, ready-made sculptures, and his ongoing "Truth Study Center" displays of ephemera. Tillmans explores themes of social and political cycles, image construction, and the ambiguity of beauty, using materials ranging from nautical ropes to close-ups of offal.

art international artists to watch 2026 biennials

Cultured magazine has published a preview of artists to watch in 2026, focusing on the upcoming biennial season. The article features insights from a dozen industry insiders, including Diya Vij of Powerhouse Arts, who highlights Guadalupe Maravilla's healing-focused practice; Allan Schwartzman, who champions Yoko Ono's underrecognized legacy; Hans Ulrich Obrist, who anticipates Koo Jeong A's multisensory exhibitions; and Victoria M. Rogers, who spotlights Akinsanya Kambon's politically charged ceramics. Major events in 2026 include the 61st Venice Biennale (opening after the death of commissioner Koyo Kouoh), new Art Basel and Frieze fairs in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and expansions at LACMA and the New Museum.

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.

art paris photo fair elle perez diary parties

The article is a first-person diary by artist Elle Pérez, chronicling their experience at Paris Photo 2024. Pérez describes the fair as the art world's best-kept secret, noting its uniquely fun and intergenerational atmosphere where artists and curators genuinely enjoy gathering. The diary covers a week of events including book meetings with Aperture, dinners with photographers, and the main fair at the Grand Palais, highlighting the camaraderie and joy of being together despite the anxieties facing photographers today.

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.

art ai digital guide brian droitcour

Brian Droitcour curates a guide to navigating the current media landscape through the work of tech-savvy artists and writers, focusing on exhibitions in Brooklyn and Queens. The guide highlights Porpentine's show "Xrafstar World" at Haul Gallery in Gowanus, which features poster-prints of drawings depicting characters from their stories and games, made with different digital brushes. Droitcour contrasts this DIY, performance-driven work with major institutions' engagement with AI, such as Sasha Stiles' "A Living Poem" at MoMA, which he criticizes for echoing technology's promises of polish rather than probing its complications.

art vaginal davis moma ps1

A major survey of the work of Vaginal Davis, spanning five decades of her contributions to drag, queercore, experimental film, and fine art, is opening at MoMA PS1 in New York on October 9. Titled "Vaginal Davis: Magnificent Product," the exhibition debuted at Moderna Museet before traveling to New York. In an interview, Davis discusses her lifelong performance practice, the blurring of her public persona and private self, and the unlikely survival of her archive, much of which was preserved by a high school student in the 1980s.

art amitha raman weed moma collector

Collector Amitha Raman shares her journey into art collecting, which began with late-night classes at MoMA under art historian Agnes Berecz, where she explored empty galleries after hours. Her first acquisition was Mary Beth Edelson's "Hounds of Hell" (1973), and she now serves as co-chair of MoMA's Young Patrons Council and a member of its Black Arts Council. Raman's collection includes works by Rashid Johnson, Wolfgang Tillmans, Tracey Emin, Jenny Holzer, and Jeffrey Gibson, and she actively loans pieces to major museums worldwide.

rodrigo padilla whitney museum collector

Rodrigo Padilla, a hairstylist who built his career at Sally Hershberger and now serves on the Whitney Museum’s Drawing and Print Acquisitions Committee, discusses his art collection with his husband Elliott Trice. The couple’s Midtown flat features works by Latin American and diaspora artists including Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Amy Bravo, Verónica Vázquez, Angel Otero, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Dagoberto Rodríguez, and others. Padilla credits Whitney trustee Brooke Garber Neidich with inspiring his collecting journey by advising him to “see everything.”

mary ann unger berry campbell eve biddle interview

Berry Campbell gallery in New York is presenting "Across the Bering Strait," a comprehensive exhibition of the late sculptor Mary Ann Unger, featuring the full 34-part installation of the same name for the first time in the city. The show, on view through May 17, 2025, revives Unger's meditation on human migration and includes an interview with her daughter, artist Eve Biddle, who discusses growing up in a family of artists and her mother's legacy.

Alex Heilbron at as-is

Artist Alex Heilbron presents a solo exhibition at the Los Angeles gallery as-is. The show is featured as a lead review in the February 2026 issue of Contemporary Art Review LA, highlighting Heilbron's continued exploration of painting and visual language within the Southern California art scene.

these galleries dropped out of art basel miami beach heres what happened next

Several galleries withdrew from Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 amid rising costs and a contracting art market, leaving some like San Francisco's Altman Siegel facing cancellation fees despite closing. Claudia Altman-Siegel, who shut her gallery, owed $22,000 after missing the free-cancellation deadline. Other dealers, including Miguel Abreu, Tilton Gallery, and Sperone Westwater, navigated the fair's strict payment terms for different reasons—some pulling out early to avoid penalties, others proceeding despite business challenges. The fair proceeded with 283 exhibitors and reported strong sales, including an $18.5 million Joan Mitchell painting, signaling a potential market upturn.

ayoung kim interview moma ps1 performa

Ayoung Kim's video "Delivery Dancer's Sphere" (2022) captures the experience of delivery workers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Seoul, following two female riders navigating the city via app-based systems. Kim shadowed real delivery workers to create the work, which blends documentary footage, anime-style animation, and AI-generated imagery. The video is part of a series that will be featured in Kim's first US solo exhibition at MoMA PS1 in New York, opening this week, and she will also debut a new motion-capture piece at the Performa festival later this month. Kim recently won a $100,000 award from the Guggenheim Museum and LG.

a pay to play art show in marfa sparks controversy and more juicy art world gossip

The Marfa Invitational, a small art fair in West Texas, has sparked controversy after pivoting to a new format called the "Marfa Invitational Open." The fair issued an open call to Texas-based artists, charging a $75 application fee and later requiring an additional $150 "installation fee" not disclosed in the original terms. Over 500 artists applied, but many dropped out after the hidden fee was revealed, leading to a boycott campaign. Approximately 160 artists ultimately exhibited at the Saint George Hotel last weekend. The fair had previously faced scandal in 2023 when its tax-exempt status was revoked due to cofounder Michael Phelan's failure to file required paperwork.

overlooked no more jack whitten ascends with a stellar retrospective at moma

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has opened "Jack Whitten: The Messenger," a major posthumous retrospective featuring nearly 200 objects, mostly paintings, by the late artist Jack Whitten. Curated by MoMA's curator at large Michelle Kuo, the exhibition occupies MoMA's top-floor gallery and is arranged largely chronologically, highlighting Whitten's experimental techniques such as using dried acrylic tesserae and extruding paint through screens. The show includes early works from the 1960s and later mosaic compositions, offering a comprehensive view of his career.

Usher, Spike Lee, and Tyler Mitchell Helped Raise $3.7 Million for the Studio Museum in Harlem at a Party for the Ages

The Studio Museum in Harlem hosted a star-studded gala at the Glasshouse in Manhattan, raising $3.7 million to support its upcoming reopening. The event marked a significant milestone for the institution, which has been undergoing extensive renovations for seven years and is scheduled to open its new doors on West 125th Street on November 15. Director and Chief Curator Thelma Golden described the evening as a 'threshold' moment, celebrating the museum's legacy of shaping cultural history since its founding in 1968.

Marcel Duchamp & Sturtevant | Dialogues are mostly fried snowballs

Thaddaeus Ropac Milan is hosting a landmark exhibition titled "Dialogues are mostly fried snowballs," marking the first-ever joint presentation of Marcel Duchamp and Sturtevant. The show stages a cerebral confrontation between Duchamp’s original readymades, such as "Porte-bouteilles" and "Trébuchet," and Sturtevant’s radical repetitions of his work. By showcasing these pieces alongside archival materials and films, the exhibition traces how Sturtevant used Duchamp’s style as a medium to investigate the canonization and "understructure" of conceptual art.

Amy Sherald Comes Home: “American Sublime” Opens at the High Museum

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta opens "Amy Sherald: American Sublime" on May 15, a mid-career retrospective featuring over 35 paintings from 2007 to 2024. The exhibition was originally scheduled to conclude at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., but Sherald canceled that stop after a Trump administration executive order directed Smithsonian institutions to remove so-called "un-American content." The High Museum secured the final slot after the Baltimore Museum of Art, following months of coordination with SFMOMA, Sherald's studio, and Hauser & Wirth. The show includes Sherald's portrait of Breonna Taylor and her iconic Michelle Obama portrait, organized into five thematic sections.