Croissant, pigeon… At Nothing Serious gallery, artist Paa Joe transforms Parisian clichés into pop coffins

Croissant, pigeon… À la galerie Nothing Serious, l’artiste Paa Joe transforme les clichés parisiens en cercueils pop

Ghanaian artist Paa Joe has transformed iconic Parisian symbols into vibrant "fantasy coffins" for his solo exhibition, "From Paa Joe to Paaris," at Galerie Nothing Serious. The show features 25 large-scale sculptures, including a Café de Flore cup, a croissant, a Renault 4L, and a bottle of Pouilly-Fumé, all handcrafted in the tradition of Ga burial customs. Created alongside his son Jacob Tetteh-Ashong, these works reinterpret French clichés through a playful yet surreal lens, marking the gallery's return after a four-year hiatus.

On Arte, 'The Stolen Painting' dives into auction houses through the rediscovery of an Egon Schiele looted by the Nazis

Sur Arte, « Le Tableau volé » plonge dans les salles de ventes aux enchères à travers la redécouverte d’un Egon Schiele spolié par les nazis

Director Pascal Bonitzer’s film 'Le Tableau volé' (The Stolen Painting) dramatizes the real-life 2005 discovery of a lost Egon Schiele masterpiece, 'Autumn Sun,' in the modest home of a factory worker in Mulhouse. The narrative follows a cynical auctioneer, played by Alex Lutz, as he navigates the authentication and eventual sale of the work, which was looted by the Nazis from Jewish collector Karl Grünwald during World War II.

Saint Louis’s Counterpublic Triennial Reveals Artist List for Third Edition

The Counterpublic Triennial has unveiled the artist list for its third edition, titled "Coyote Time," scheduled to run from September 12 to December 12 in Saint Louis. Curated by a five-member international team, the exhibition features forty-seven artists and collectives, including prominent figures like Glenn Ligon and Rebecca Belmore alongside local Saint Louis practitioners. The triennial will feature nearly fifty commissions, with a significant focus on site-responsive works installed along the Mississippi riverfront and the Gateway Arch.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude artwork to be presented for the first time ever at Gagosian.

An unrealized work by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, recently discovered in Christo's atelier, will be presented for the first time at Gagosian in London. Titled *Air Package on a Ceiling*, the installation features a 52-foot-long, 33-foot-wide inflated form wrapped in rope, softly illuminated from within to resemble half a cloud protruding from the ceiling. The piece is realized from the original 1968 model and preparatory drawings and collages.

How Fatinha Ramos Channels ‘Visual Activism’ in Her Richly Layered Illustrations

Fatinha Ramos, a Portuguese artist and illustrator based in Antwerp, describes her work as 'visual activism,' creating richly layered illustrations that give voice to minorities and address social issues. She collaborates with major clients including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Tate, Scientific American, the Anne Frank Museum, and MoMA, which commissioned her to illustrate an essay about being compared to Frida Kahlo. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), Ramos spent much of her childhood in hospitals, where drawing became an escape. After 12 years as an art director in advertising and publishing, she now focuses on her own practice, which challenges stereotypes around disability, climate crisis, sexism, and racism. She is currently working on a graphic novel and a series of anatomical glass sculptures based on brittle bone disease.

Rio’s Museum of Image and Sound finally opens after 16 years in development

The Museum of Image and Sound (MIS-RJ) on Rio de Janeiro's waterfront opens to the public on May 8 after 16 years of development. The 10,000-sq.-m building, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, features eight floors with panoramic views of Copacabana Beach and a façade honoring Roberto Burle Marx. The project faced multiple delays, funding suspensions, and controversy over urban redevelopment, including backlash when a nightclub on the site was demolished in 2010. Work resumed in 2021, and the $62.5 million museum was completed with public and private funds from donors like Itaú, Vale, and Rede Globo.

Muscle memory: Natasha Tontey’s wild Venice installation explodes perceptions of Indonesian history

Natasha Tontey's new installation "The Phantom Combatants" at the Ateneo Veneto in Venice reimagines the story of Len Karamoy, a woman who was part of the CIA-funded Permesta resistance movement in North Sulawesi, Indonesia (1957-1961). The 22-minute film, commissioned by the LAS foundation and Amos Rex, features absurdly muscular mutant warriors and draws on Indigenous belief systems, video games, Indonesian soap operas, and B-movie aesthetics to explore themes of autonomy, resistance, and historical perspective.

Fiona Pardington’s portraits of the lost birds of Aotearoa New Zealand – in pictures

Fiona Pardington has created a new series of human-scale photographic portraits of native New Zealand birds, many of which are extinct or endangered, using taxidermy specimens from regional museums. The series, titled "Taharaki Skyside," will be exhibited at the Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Pardington, who has Māori and Scottish ancestry, incorporates the birds' eyes with superimposed historical landscapes to evoke their lost habitats and spiritual significance as intermediaries between human and divine worlds in Māori culture.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 to Lenny Henry: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

The Guardian's weekly entertainment guide highlights two major art exhibitions opening in May 2025: 'Aleksandra Kasuba' at Tate St Ives (2 May to 4 October) and 'Zurbarán' at the National Gallery, London (2 May to 23 August). The Kasuba show is the first UK presentation of the Lithuanian American artist's proto-immersive 'spatial environments,' featuring early paintings, mosaics, and installations focused on utopian social harmony. The Zurbarán exhibition presents a blockbuster survey of the 17th-century Spanish Baroque master, known for his intense religious subjects and dramatic chiaroscuro.

Natasha Tontey to Unveil Major New Immersive Installation Exploring Indigenous Resistance During Venice Biennale

Artist Natasha Tontey will unveil a major immersive installation titled "The Phantom Combatants and the Metabolism of Disobedient Organs" during the Venice Biennale at the Ateneo Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Jointly commissioned by Berlin’s LAS Art Foundation and Helsinki’s Amos Rex, the work combines video, sound, light, and sculpture to reimagine the story of Len Karamoy, a combatant in the CIA-supported Permesta movement that fought the Indonesian government from 1957 to 1961 in North Sulawesi. Tontey, a Minahasan Indigenous artist, uses LiDAR, quantum ghost imaging, and other technologies to explore Indigenous identity, ecology, and the blurring of history and myth.

Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, a New Sort of Street Artist, Rises from Art History’s Margins

Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, a late Japanese American collagist who lived and worked as a street artist in New York City, is the subject of a new solo exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art in Kansas City, on view through June. Co-curators Maki Kaneko and Kris Imants Ercums organized the show thematically rather than chronologically, reflecting Mirikitani's fragmented life—from surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and incarceration at Tule Lake to arriving in New York in the 1950s. The exhibition draws on years of research, including visits to the parks where he lived and to Hiroshima, and builds on Linda Hattendorf's 2006 documentary *The Cats of Mirikitani*.

Historic Tiffany Window, Once Hidden in Texas Church, Reemerges at Crystal Bridges

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has unveiled a monumental Tiffany Studios window, "Mountain Landscape (Root Memorial Window)," which was previously housed in a San Antonio church. The 1917 stained-glass masterpiece, designed by Agnes Northrup, had been roped off for a decade due to insurance liabilities before the church sought a public institution to ensure its preservation and display. Following a meticulous conservation process, the nine-foot-tall window is now a centerpiece of the museum’s Visions of America Galleries.

How a Hopi Potter Named Nampeyo Became a 19th-Century Art Star

The Hopi-Tewa artist Nampeyo (1859–1942) is being celebrated as a foundational figure in modern ceramics for her role in the Sikyátki Revival. By studying ancestral pottery shards from archaeological excavations, Nampeyo revitalized centuries-old techniques and motifs, transforming Pueblo pottery into a globally recognized art form. Her career spanned from selling works at regional trading posts to becoming a celebrated figure who demonstrated her craft at the Grand Canyon and exhibited at major fairs in Chicago.

bampfa quilts routed west

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) has launched "Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California," the first major thematic exploration of the 3,000-piece Eli Leon bequest. Curated by Elaine Yau, the exhibition features over 100 quilts by approximately 80 artists, tracing the migration of improvisational textile traditions from the American South to the Bay Area. The show highlights how these portable objects served as both functional necessities and vital forms of self-expression for Black women during the mid-20th century Great Migration.

diya vij new york city commissioner of cultural affairs

Diya Vij has been appointed as the next commissioner of New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Vij, who most recently served as vice president of curatorial and arts programmes at Powerhouse Arts, is the first person of South Asian descent to lead the agency. She brings extensive experience from previous roles at Creative Time, the High Line, and a prior five-year tenure within the DCA itself, where she managed public artist residencies and diversity initiatives.

tefaf new york names 88 exhibitors for 2026

TEFAF New York has announced the exhibitor list for its 2026 edition, set to take place at the Park Avenue Armory from May 15 to 19. The fair will feature 88 galleries from 14 countries, including nine new participants and 78 returning dealers, with a focus on modern and contemporary art, design, jewelry, and antiquities. Major international galleries like Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner will be present.

beloved rocky statue will move to top of philadelphia art museum steps

The Philadelphia Art Commission has voted to relocate the popular bronze statue of Rocky Balboa from its current position at the bottom of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the top of those steps. The move, budgeted between $150,000 and $250,000, includes the creation of a new 14-foot-tall pedestal. The statue, a fictional boxer played by Sylvester Stallone, has long been a tourist attraction and local icon, though a second casting already exists at the top. The project will be overseen by Creative Philadelphia.

art bites michelangelo military fortifications

Michelangelo, best known for masterpieces like the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the Pietà, also served as the governor and procurator general of fortifications for Florence in 1529, tasked with designing military defenses against the Medici family. After the Medici were expelled in 1527, Michelangelo joined the "Nine of the Militia" committee, but his overly complex drawings were so impractical that almost none were built. The Medici, backed by Pope Clement VII, successfully besieged Florence in 1529–30, forcing Michelangelo into hiding in a secret chamber beneath the Medici Chapel, where he drew figurative works rediscovered in 1975. He was eventually pardoned and went on to create major commissions like the tomb of Pope Julius II and The Last Judgement, but left Florence for Rome in 1534.

samurai exhibition british museum

The British Museum has announced a major 2026 exhibition titled "Samurai" that will trace the 1,000-year history of Japan's warrior class. Spanning armor, woodblock prints, paintings, clothing, ceramics, and contemporary media, the show brings together 280 objects from the museum's own collection and international lenders. Highlights include a 17th-century suit of armor recently acquired by the museum, a portrait of envoy Mancio Itō by Domenico Tintoretto, and works by Katsushika Hokusai. The exhibition also examines the modern myth of the samurai as shaped by film, manga, and video games such as Akira Kurosawa's movies and Assassin's Creed: Shadows.

p staff david zwirner review

P. Staff's current exhibition at David Zwirner in New York transforms the gallery's Upper East Side townhouse into a haunting, body-centric experience. The show features a new video titled *Penetration* (2025), split across three floors, depicting a person with a laser beamed at their bare stomach, alongside sculptures with wood spikes under latex drapes and ambient sounds of a beating heart. The installation evokes a dread of having a body, with jaundiced yellow window films and disjointed sensory elements creating an uncomfortable, dysphoric atmosphere.

wet paint in the wild li hei di debut solo show

Artist Li Hei Di documents her first solo show with Pace Gallery, titled "Tongues of Flare," in Hong Kong through a disposable camera photo diary for Artnet News's "Wet Paint in the Wild" column. The 28-year-old London-based artist shares behind-the-scenes moments from her opening at Pace HK, including dinner with friends, visits to Tai Kwun Museum and M+, and an after party at an ice-cream shop where a custom flavor named Plum_Black_Field was created. The show is set to travel to the Pond Society during Shanghai Art Week in the fall.

nagakin capsule tower moma

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has acquired and put on display a capsule from the demolished Nagakin Capsule Tower in Tokyo. The capsule, designated A1305, is the centerpiece of a year-long exhibition titled "The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower," which also includes archival materials such as photographs, models, films, and recordings. The tower, designed by Kisho Kurokawa and completed in 1972, was a landmark of the Metabolism movement, featuring 140 prefabricated modules. After years of decline, it was demolished in 2022, but 23 capsules were salvaged, with 16 finding homes in institutions including MoMA.

diana de rosa

A rediscovered Baroque painting by 17th-century Neapolitan artist Diana de Rosa, titled *Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist*, sold for £317,500 ($436,086) at Sotheby’s Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings sale in London on July 2, more than quadrupling its high estimate. The work, previously unknown to scholars, set a new auction record for the artist and was described by Sotheby’s specialist Elisabeth Lobkowicz as a powerful image comparable to Caravaggio’s treatment of the same subject.

cleveland museum of art acquires giambologna

The Cleveland Museum of Art has acquired Giambologna's marble sculpture *Fata Morgana* (ca. 1572), believed to be the last marble work by the Flanders-born Italian Mannerist in private hands. The piece, which depicts a nude woman emerging from a grotto, was originally commissioned by banker Bernardo Vecchietti and remained with his family for 200 years before being sold in 1775. It was misattributed for centuries until London dealer Patricia Wengraf correctly identified it at a 1989 Christie's auction, purchasing it for £715,000. The museum acquired the sculpture for an undisclosed price, making it only the second Giambologna marble in the U.S. and one of just three outside Italy.

amnh pedro pascal hayden planetarium show

New York's American Museum of Natural History is launching a new film at the Hayden Planetarium titled "Encounters in the Milky Way," narrated by actor Pedro Pascal. Opening June 9, the 30-minute show uses data from the European Space Agency's Gaia observatory and contributions from over 20 academic institutions to map the sun's journey through the Milky Way over billions of years. The project involved astronomers, artists, and science visualization experts, with a score by composer Robert Miller and direction by museum trustee Shawn Levy.

frieze seoul 2025 exhibitor list

Frieze Seoul 2025 will bring together 120 galleries from over 30 countries for its fourth edition, running September 4–6 at the COEX convention center with a preview day on September 3. The fair coincides with Kiaf Seoul and is split into three sections: the main Galleries section (90 exhibitors), Focus Asia (10 solo presentations of emerging artists), and Frieze Masters (20 booths covering works from the Middle Ages to the 20th century). Blue-chip participants include Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace Gallery, and David Zwirner, alongside leading Korean galleries such as Gallery Hyundai and Kukje Gallery. Five galleries have graduated from Focus Asia to the main section, and 20 first-time participants join the main section.

bennett prize after deliberation first all women jury winner announced

Amy Werntz, a Dallas-based figurative painter, has won the fifth Bennett Prize, the largest art award for women working in figurative painting. The announcement was made at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan, where an exhibition of finalists opened. Werntz, a previous finalist in 2021, received $50,000 and a solo show for her lifelike depictions of elderly people in everyday scenes. For the first time, the winner was chosen by an all-female jury, which included painter Margaret Bowland, artist Angela Fraleigh, and curator Gloria Groom. The runner-up, Nicole Santiago, won $10,000. The traveling exhibition will visit several museums across the United States through 2027.

Hito Steyerl “The Island” Osservatorio Fondazione Prada / Milan by Piermario De Angelis

Hito Steyerl's solo exhibition "The Island" at Osservatorio Fondazione Prada in Milan explores the concept of submersion as both a geological condition and a media regime. The show takes its title from a Neolithic artificial island discovered off the coast of Korčula, Croatia, which remained submerged for approximately seven thousand years. Through video interviews, installations, and critical assemblages, Steyerl connects this submerged structure to contemporary issues of digital image circulation, algorithmic power, and the dispossession of agency, drawing on science fiction, quantum physics, biochemistry, and deep time.

“Iter Subterraneum” / Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen by Adele Seip

Bergen Kunsthall has launched "Iter Subterraneum," a group exhibition inspired by Ludvig Holberg’s 1741 satirical novel about a man who falls through a cave in Bergen into a subterranean world. The show features ten international artists, including Robert Gabris, Anicka Yi, and Cecilia Fiona, whose works span video, sculpture, and performance. By pairing historical editions of Holberg’s book with contemporary installations, the exhibition explores themes of displacement, collective existence, and the blurring of lines between human and non-human life.

art film tina kukielski art21 documentary

Art21, the nonprofit documentary platform behind the PBS series *Art in the Twenty-First Century*, is celebrating its 25th anniversary and the 12th season of its Peabody Award-winning series. In an interview with *CULTURED*, Executive Director and Chief Curator Tina Kukielski discusses how the organization has evolved from its early days in 2001 to embrace digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok, producing over 575 films featuring more than 300 artists. The organization also offers educational programming through Art21 Educators and makes its archive freely available to a global audience of five million.