Yuan Fang’s Visceral Paintings at Skarstedt Confront the Body’s Fragility and Its Strength

Yuan Fang presents a new series of visceral abstract paintings at Skarstedt Chelsea, created after she was diagnosed with cancer. The works mark a shift from her earlier gestural abstraction, confronting the fragility and resilience of the body through intuitive, layered processes that evoke cycles of generation, decay, and rebirth. Fang, who gained international attention during the pandemic, joined Skarstedt last year and continues to attract collectors in Hong Kong and beyond.

The Slow Death of the Contemporary Art Gallery

The article reports on the decline of the traditional contemporary art gallery model, driven by rising rents, changing collector behavior, and the rise of new artist categories. Tim Blum closed his Blum & Poe galleries in Los Angeles and Tokyo, citing systemic issues rather than market conditions. Art Basel and UBS data show the art market shrank overall but the number of sales increased, indicating a shift toward mid-priced works. Collectors are moving away from "blue-chip" artists toward "red-chip" artists who gain value through viral hype and cultural relevance, exemplified by Olaolu Slawn's accessible solo show at Saatchi Yates. Celebrities like actor Adrien Brody are also entering the market, though his work has been criticized as derivative. Meanwhile, smaller galleries like Tiwa Gallery, Landdd, and Marta are thriving by focusing on genuine connection, and retail spaces like Gentle Monster and Dover Street Market are blending art with commerce.

Explore 200 Years of American Art at the PEM

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is hosting "Making History: 200 Years of American Art," an exhibition organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and on view through September 21, 2025. The show features 85 original works by American artists, including Charles Willson Peale's *The Artist in His Museum*, Patience Wright's wax sculpture of George Washington, and portraits of Ruth St. Denis and Mrs. Chase. PEM's curators have reimagined the exhibition with local relevance and immersive design, and the final gallery invites visitors to contribute personal reflections on history.

'Tony Cragg: Skulptura' at the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Croatia

The Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik in Croatia will host 'Tony Cragg: Skulptura' from 22 July to 5 October 2025, marking the first-ever presentation of British sculptor Tony Cragg's work to a Croatian audience. Curated by Jelena Tamindžija Donnart and supported by German curator Detmar Westhoff, the exhibition features around 30 sculptures, drawings, and preparatory sketches spanning Cragg's decades-long career, including iconic early works from 1985 and highlights from his 'Early Forms' series. The show occupies the Banac Palace's first two floors, terraces, and garden, offering an indoor-outdoor experience.

Inside the Former ‘Underworld’ Where Ai Weiwei Makes Art (Published 2025)

The New York Times profiles Ai Weiwei’s current studio, located in a former underground nightclub or 'underworld' space. The article offers a rare look at the artist’s working environment, his creative process, and the large-scale installations and political works he continues to produce there in 2025.

Recent NYC Exhibition Highlights: Beverly Fishman, NANNYCAM, Dena Novak, and more

The article reviews two recent New York City art exhibitions. The first, "Creators, Educators Art Show" at BASIS Independent on the Upper West Side (June 6-8, 2025), curated by Carmen Lucia Recio, featured works by 17 New York City art teachers and educators, including Noelle Salaun, Nicholas Leeper, Avani Patel, Lynne Marie Rosenberg, Chris Floyd, and Emily Linares. The second, "Samantha Thomas: Love in a Mist" at Anat Egbi Gallery in Tribeca (April 18-June 14, 2025), marks the artist's first New York solo show in over a decade, showcasing her abstract works blending Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, and Pattern & Decoration.

In ‘I’m Listening,’ Barry McGee Celebrates Positivity Amid Distress and Overwhelm

Barry McGee, a key figure of the Mission School, presents his solo exhibition 'I'm Listening' at Perrotin in Paris, running through May 24. The show features sculptures, paintings, prints, and assemblages that draw from West Coast subcultures like skating and graffiti, incorporating grimacing cartoon faces, optical patterns on surfboards, and repurposed everyday objects. McGee describes the work as addressing global distress while celebrating human resilience and positivity.

hamptons shopping dining summer

A roundup of summer shopping, dining, and cultural offerings in the Hamptons highlights new collaborations and pop-ups. Artist Joel Mesler partners with French swimwear brand Vilebrequin on a capsule collection featuring his signature beach balls and balloons, ahead of his "Miles of Smiles" exhibition at Guild Hall in August. Chanel opens a salon at the Hedges Inn, while Mary Lou's brings its refined coastal dining from Palm Beach to Montauk. Other notable openings include Shooster Arts & Literature, a living gallery in Sag Harbor with works by Picasso, Ginsberg, Holzer, and Albers; Giorgio Armani Mare's pop-up on Shelter Island supporting the One Ocean Foundation; Sézane's Amour Tour at the Maidstone; Zimmermann's restored bank boutique in Southampton; Swifty's restaurant pop-up at the Hedges Inn; and The Hills, a luxury lifestyle development by Mike Meldman's Discovery Land Company.

Building Worlds

Welten bauen

Lina Lapelytė has transformed the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin into a mutable landscape of wooden blocks for her second Chanel Commission. The installation, titled "Welten bauen" (Building Worlds), invites visitors to actively shape the space, incorporating elements of poetry, song, and community. The work draws inspiration from Paul Hindemith's 1930s children's singspiel "Wir bauen eine Stadt," which was banned by the Nazis and led to Hindemith's emigration.

Mimmo Paladino torna a Milano con una grande mostra dopo anni. Sotterranea e immersiva

Mimmo Paladino returns to Milan with a major exhibition after 15 years, opening on May 16 at Palazzo Citterio's underground Sala Stirling. The show features his iconic series "Dormienti" (Sleepers), 32 anthropomorphic terracotta sculptures in fetal positions, arranged in a theatrical, immersive installation. The exhibition also includes a soundscape by Brian Eno and a selection of 15 drawings on paper from 1973, curated by Lorenzo Madaro and organized by Grande Brera and the Archivio Paladino. It runs until July 26, 2026.

Raoul de Keyser at Trautwein Herleth

Trautwein Herleth in Berlin is hosting a solo exhibition of works by the late Belgian painter Raoul de Keyser. The presentation features a selection of the artist’s signature abstract compositions, characterized by their tactile surfaces, muted palettes, and the subtle tension between formalist geometry and organic forms.

Thiago de Paula Souza Appointed Curator of Eighth Athens Biennale

Thiago de Paula Souza, a Brazilian-born curator and educator, has been appointed curator of the Eighth Athens Biennale, scheduled for spring 2026. De Paula Souza, based in São Paulo and a member of the artistic committee of NESR Art Foundation in Angola, is recognized for focusing on artistic practices involving transmutation through eroticism, gender nonconformity, and intimacy. He previously cocurated the 2025 Bienal de São Paulo, the 2024 Panorama da Arte Brasileira at MAM São Paulo, and the survey “Some May Work as Symbols: Art Made in Brazil, 1950s–70s” at Raven Row, London, and served on the curatorial team of the 2018 Berlin Biennale.

“So Fun! An Exploration of Maximalism” opens at Vision Gallery

“So Fun! An Exploration of Maximalism” opens at Vision Gallery in Chandler, Arizona, from August 23 to November 2, 2025. The group exhibition features five artists—including Lex Gjurasic, Sarah Hurwitz, and Sofie Ramos—who use plush emoji bean bags, flowers, Perler beads, and other media to create sculptures, drawings, paintings, and site-specific installations that celebrate the aesthetic of excess. Curated by Hanley Ange, the show counters Minimalist traditions and embraces color, pattern, and repetition to foster storytelling, self-expression, and empowerment.

What We Throw Away Does Not Disappear

Was wir wegwerfen, verschwindet nicht

The Museum Ostwall at the Dortmunder U in Dortmund has opened a new exhibition titled "Müll – die globalen Wege des Abfalls" ("Waste – The Global Paths of Garbage"), curated by Christina Danick and Michael Griff. Featuring around 50 international artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, including two newly commissioned pieces, the show uses art to explore waste as material, motif, and aesthetic strategy. Key works include Kader Attia's "Los de Arriba y Los de Abajo," which addresses power imbalances through the lens of garbage in Hebron, and historical pieces by César Baldaccini, Arman, and HA Schult. The exhibition also highlights contemporary issues such as e-waste, global waste trafficking, and the environmental impact of industrial nations on the Global South.

"Etwas zaghaft, etwas ängstlich, etwas sicher"

The article surveys recent art-world commentary, focusing on a critical review of the Turner Prize shortlist in The Guardian, where Eddy Frankel calls the selection "timid, anxious, safe" and laments a self-perpetuating, elitist system. It also covers a Hyperallergic essay by Lisa Siraganian questioning whether artworks can possess personhood, sparked by Pierre Huyghe's Venice exhibition. Additionally, it reports on controversy at the Venice Biennale, where the jury preemptively excluded countries whose leaders are sought by the International Criminal Court—namely Russia and Israel—drawing sharp criticism from Die Welt's Marcus Woeller. A podcast interview with US sculptor Alma Allen, selected for the US Pavilion, rounds out the coverage.

Shigeo Toya, 1947–2026

Japanese sculptor Shigeo Toya died of pneumonia in Tokyo on April 15, 2026, at age 78. Known for his conceptual approach, Toya spent five decades redefining sculpture beyond Western frameworks, creating works such as *Bamboo Grove II* (1975), the *Woods* series (shown at the 1988 Venice Biennale), and the *Minimal Baroque* series. He was a professor emeritus at Musashino Art University and received Japan's Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon and the Order of the Rising Sun.

Quelques œuvres choisies au gré des 6 salles d’exposition

The article presents a thematic tour through six exhibition rooms dedicated to still life painting, focusing on works by Giorgio Morandi and Pablo Picasso. Each room explores a different conceptual angle: the grammar of objects in Morandi's metaphysical still lifes, the poetic dimension of Picasso's cubist compositions, contemporary vanitas motifs, the anti-Albertian nature of the genre, the interplay of presence and erasure, and the dislocation of form in Morandi's etchings. The exhibition draws on art historical references from Norman Bryson and Cesare Brandi to frame the evolution of still life from tradition to radical abstraction.

THREE PERUVIAN GALLERIES AT PINTA LIMA 2026 A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE LOCAL AND THE GLOBAL

Three prominent Peruvian galleries—Galería Enlace, Forum, and Livia Benavides—are presenting curated selections of artists at the Pinta Lima 2026 art fair. Their proposals blend emerging and established artists from Peru and abroad, working across painting, sculpture, installation, and new media, to foster a dialogue between local traditions and global contemporary practices.

Passages at Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg

Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg presents "Passages," a group exhibition running from March 14 to May 17, 2026. The show features works by Nat Faulkner, Solomon Garçon, Keta Gavasheli, Gaylen Gerber with Leah Ke Yi Zheng, Hervé Guibert, Nour Mobarak, Henrik Olesen, B. Ingrid Olson, Anastasia Pavlou, Matthew Peers, Cora Pongracz, Pope.L, Ariana Reines and Oscar Tuazon, Dieter Roth, and Sava Sekulić. The exhibition is documented with 51 images and a floor plan, with photos by Cedric Mussano.

Prelude for a Press at palace enterprise

An exhibition titled 'Prelude for a Press' is on view at palace enterprise in Copenhagen from March 19 to April 25, 2026, organized by Jesper List Thomsen. It features works by Marie Angeletti, Gerry Bibby, Ezio Gribaudo, Asger Jorn, Marion Milner, Anastasia Pavlou, Georgia Sagri, Jesper List Thomsen, and Jackie Wang.

Thomas Bayrle at dépendance

German artist Thomas Bayrle presents a solo exhibition at the Brussels-based gallery dépendance, running from March 14 through April 11, 2026. The presentation showcases a comprehensive selection of Bayrle’s work, documented through an extensive collection of 42 installation views and individual piece images that highlight his signature aesthetic of repetitive patterns and industrial motifs.

7 Artists Discuss the Power and Urgency of Textiles

Louisiana Channel has released a new film titled "7 Artists on Soft Sculptures," featuring artists Sheila Hicks, Nick Cave, Shoplifter, and Kaarina Kaikkonen, among others. The film explores the tactile and emotional power of textiles in contemporary art, with each artist discussing their unique approach—from Hicks's call for softness in a hard world to Cave's use of found objects in identity-masking suits, Shoplifter's vibrant synthetic hair installations, and Kaikkonen's deeply personal incorporation of her late father's clothing.

Disobedience Archive (Canopy for Broken Time) In Dialogue with Raqs Media Collective at Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich

The Disobedience Archive, a mobile video archive initiated by Marco Scotini in 2005, is presented in dialogue with Raqs Media Collective at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zürich. The archive contains over one hundred documentary and art films at the intersection of art and activism, documenting forms of resistance, social struggle, and collective self-organization.

art alice bucknell young artist

Alice Bucknell, a 32-year-old artist based in Los Angeles, is featured in CULTURED's 2025 Young Artists list. Bucknell creates video games and films that explore ecological and political themes, such as a recent work examining Los Angeles from the perspective of its rivers and non-human inhabitants to critique drought politics. They have held residencies at CERN and the New Museum's NEW INC, and founded New Mystics, a digital platform blending magic and technology. Upcoming projects include the game "Earth Engine" and its film component "Ground Truthing," which uses climate data to shape an evolving game world where Earth is the main player.

Architecture as Microcosm: Interview with Architects Barclay & Crousse Coming to an Exhibition in Milan

Architettura come microcosmo. Intervista agli architetti Barclay & Crousse che arrivano in mostra a Milano

Architects Sandra Barclay and Jean Pierre Crousse, founders of Barclay & Crousse Architecture, are the subject of a feature interview and exhibition in Milan. The studio, established in Paris in 1994 and now based in Peru, is known for projects that deeply engage with the Peruvian landscape, particularly the coastal desert between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. Their notable works include the Lugar de la Memoria (Lima, 2015), the Museo de Paracas (2016), and the Franco-Peruvian School in Lima (2025), which recently won the Grand International Prize at the X Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Santa Cruz (Bolivia) in 2026. The article traces their education across Peru, France, and Italy, and their return to Peru in 2006, where they continue to run a French branch called Atelier Nord Sud.

park avenue armory 50 pianos 11000 strings 1234755137

The Park Avenue Armory in New York is hosting the North American premiere of *11,000 Strings*, an orchestral piece by composer Georg Friedrich Haas featuring 50 black pianos arranged in a ring. The performances began last night and run through October 7, with the 55,000-square-foot Drill Hall providing a dramatic setting for the microtonally tuned pianos and a 25-member ensemble from Klangforum Wien. The piece explores texture and tone over melody, evoking composers like Ligeti, Penderecki, and Stockhausen.

From men on dog leads to public breast-fondling, Valie Export’s art demanded a total feminist revolution

Valie Export, the pioneering Austrian feminist artist known for her provocative and confrontational performances from the 1960s onward, is the subject of a reflective essay by writer and academic Hettie Judah. The article revisits Export's radical works such as *Hyperbulia* (1973), where she crawled naked through electrified wires; *From the Portfolio of Doggedness* (1968), in which she led a man on a dog lead through Vienna; and *Action Pants: Genital Panic* (1969), where she walked through a cinema with exposed genitals. Judah draws on her own interviews with Export, who died in 2023, and discusses the artist's manifesto demanding that women use art to reshape consciousness and achieve liberation.

Vintage Designs Take on New Lives at Milan Design Week

Milan Design Week is showcasing a significant trend of reviving mid-century furniture classics, featuring prominent reissues such as a 1950s table by Carlo Mollino and a 1960s lamp by Carlo Nason. These historical designs are being reintroduced to contemporary audiences through the annual festival, highlighting a bridge between mid-century aesthetics and modern production.

‘My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein’ by Deborah Levy, Reviewed

Deborah Levy’s latest novel, *My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein*, follows a first-person narrator who travels to Paris to research the American writer and collector Gertrude Stein. The narrative slips between the early twentieth century and the autumn of Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection, using stream-of-consciousness prose and liquid metaphors to blur past and present. The narrator’s research into Stein’s role in shaping modernity becomes a vehicle for exploring her own sense of helplessness and lack of agency in a hyperconnected, war-weary present.

Sung Tieu on Representing Germany at the 61st Venice Biennale

Sung Tieu, who is co-representing Germany at the 61st Venice Biennale alongside Henrike Naumann, responds to a questionnaire from ArtReview about her plans for the German Pavilion. She describes her inspiration as her mother and childhood home, a site built for foreign contract workers in the GDR that later became a refuge for the diaspora. Tieu states that her work relates to the Biennale theme "In Minor Keys" through the lens of Gehrenseestrasse, a concrete record of collective memory. She also expresses skepticism about the Biennale's importance, noting that the German Pavilion's fascist architecture compels artists to work against it, and that national pavilions reveal how much work remains in undoing nationalism.