Rediscovered David Wojnarowicz mural could disappear from view again

A large mural by David Wojnarowicz (1954-92), rediscovered in a Louisville, Kentucky building in 2022, is at risk of being concealed again behind drywall as the building is redeveloped into high-end residences. The site-specific work was created in 1985 for the group exhibition *The Missing Children Show: Six Artists from the East Village on Main Street*, organized by dealer Potter Coe to benefit the Kentucky Child Victims’ Trust Fund. The building's current developers plan to turn the mural's floor into a waiting room for a boxing gym, covering it with sheetrock, though they have guaranteed no damage. The artist's foundation and gallery, PPOW, have proposed covering it with transparent plexiglass instead, but the mural's removal is unlikely due to its size and brick surface.

'Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm' to Open at Frist Art Museum, Nashville

The Frist Art Museum in Nashville will host 'Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm,' an exhibition featuring nearly 300 recently discovered photographs taken by Paul McCartney during the height of Beatlemania. Organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, the show runs from November 7, 2025, to January 26, 2026, and includes personal images of The Beatles—John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—captured between December 1963 and February 1964, along with ephemera and an audio tour narrated by McCartney.

Thom Yorke Embraces ‘Terrifying’ Work as a Visual Artist in First Museum Exhibit

Thom Yorke, frontman of Radiohead, is presenting his first-ever museum exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, UK. Titled 'This is What You Get', the show runs until January 2026 and features the complete catalog of album covers, unseen sketchbook pages, and recent paintings created in collaboration with artist Stanley Donwood. Yorke, who trained as a visual artist before turning to music, describes returning to physical painting as 'absolutely terrifying' and sees the exhibition as a reclamation of his original artistic identity.

Buffalo AKG Art Museum's new 'Northern Lights' exhibit brings Arctic landscapes to Buffalo

The Buffalo AKG Art Museum has opened a new exhibition titled 'Northern Lights,' featuring over 70 paintings of Nordic and Canadian landscapes created between 1880 and 1930. The show includes works by Edvard Munch, best known for 'The Scream,' and was curated by Helga Christoffersen. The exhibition opened on a First Friday with pay-as-you-wish admission and will run through January 2026. Consuls general of Canada and Finland joined museum staff at a press conference to highlight the cross-border significance of the collection.

‘Slowing the process down’: how a bohemian Somerset art gallery is forging its own path

Close gallery, founded in 2009 by curator and art advisor Freeny Yianni in the grounds of her 17th-century home near Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset, is expanding its operations. Yianni, who previously worked at Lisson Gallery and helped Grenville Davey win the Turner Prize, recently hired sales director Richard Scarry, formerly of Coates and Scarry in Bristol. The gallery's current exhibition features previously unseen works by British abstract artist Jane Harris (1956–2022), shown both in Somerset and at a new London project space in Marylebone. Upcoming plans include presenting a monumental sculpture by Simon Hitchens at Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park.

Renewed Bern Kunsthalle works to reframe Switzerland's history

The Kunsthalle Bern has reopened after a year-long transformation led by director iLiana Fokianaki, marked by a new entrance designed by ALIAS architects and a trio of exhibitions by Black artists. The reopening follows a symbolic intervention by Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, who wrapped the building in jute sacks referencing the colonial history of Swiss cocoa extraction in Ghana, echoing Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 1968 wrapping of the same building. The inaugural shows feature solo exhibitions by Melvin Edwards, Tuli Mekondjo, and Tschabalala Self, with Edwards's retrospective traveling from the Fridericianum in Kassel to the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

The Met to Present Focused Exhibition of George Morrison Works from the Artist’s Early Years in New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present "The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York," a focused exhibition of works by George Morrison (1919–2000), a Native American artist from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Running from July 17, 2025, to May 31, 2026, at The Met Fifth Avenue, the show highlights Morrison’s early years in New York City, where he became a key figure in the American Abstract Expressionist movement. It features paintings, drawings, and archival materials from his time at the Art Students League and his interactions with peers like Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, tracing his evolution from figurative work to abstract automatism infused with Ojibwe aesthetics.

Artist Eric Smith won 3 Archibalds, then vanished. A new show reveals his unseen works

A new exhibition at Macquarie University Art Gallery reveals unseen works by Eric Smith (1919-2017), a celebrated Australian artist who won three Archibald Prizes and six Blake Prizes before unexpectedly vanishing from public life. Despite his early fame—including a role in launching Australian abstract expressionism with the group show Direction 1—Smith's career stalled after the death of his gallerist Rudy Komon in 1982, leaving him without a connection to the art world. He continued painting prolifically for four more decades, working daily in his studio, but destroyed more than half his output and had no major gallery shows after 1989.

New Frida Kahlo museum to open in Mexico City

Frida Kahlo's family has announced the opening of Museo Casa Kahlo, also known as Casa Roja, on September 27 in Coyoacán, Mexico City, near the iconic Casa Azul. The museum, run by Kahlo's descendants for the first time, will display personal objects, documents, and photographs from the artist's childhood, including dolls, clothing, letters, cross-stitch work from age five, her first oil painting, and a recently discovered mural. The property belonged to Kahlo's parents and later her sister Cristina, and has been preserved by the family for decades. The museum will be led by Adán García Fajardo and overseen by the newly founded Fundación Kahlo, a New York-based non-profit.

I have seen the light and it’s Tracey Emin’s Jesus – RA Summer Exhibition review | Royal Academy of Arts

The Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in London features over 1,600 works, with Tracey Emin's painting "The Crucifixion" as the standout piece. The critic describes Emin's work as a sincere, shocking depiction of the crucifixion that reinvigorates religious art, alongside works by Georg Baselitz, Cornelia Parker, Tamara Kostianovsky, George Shaw, Frank Bowling, and Cindy Sherman.

Leader of Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum to depart after a decade at the helm

Josh Basseches, director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), announced on June 5 that he will step down at the end of 2025 after a decade in the role. Under his leadership, the museum underwent three renovations and one expansion, including the reopening of the Weston Entrance, the creation of the Willner Madge Gallery Dawn of Life, and the launch of the C$130m OpenROM renovation project. Notable exhibitions during his tenure included Christian Dior, Kent Monkman: Being Legendary, and Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.

"East-Northeast: Charting Moments in Maine" Presents Four Different Exhibitions of Maine-Focused Artists in Summer 2025

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) presents "East-Northeast: Charting Moments in Maine," a series of four exhibitions running in summer 2025 that highlight artists inspired by Maine. The shows include Gordon Parks’s previously unseen 1944 photographs of rural life, John McKee’s coastal series "As Maine Goes" (first public viewing since 1966), Ann Craven’s lunar paintings from 2020 and 2024, and films by Swiss-American artist Rudy Burckhardt. The exhibitions span from June 28 to November 9, 2025, with a keynote lecture by Philip Brookman on June 28.

Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World

The Art Institute of Chicago announces "Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World," a major exhibition running from June 29 to October 5, 2025. Featuring over 120 works—including paintings, drawings, photographs, and documents—the show offers a fresh perspective on the Impressionist artist, highlighting his intimate focus on family, friends, sportsmen, and neighborhood life, in contrast to his peers. Key loans include the Musée d'Orsay's recent acquisition "Boating Party" and the Louvre Abu Dhabi's "The Bezique Game," alongside the Art Institute's own "Paris Street; Rainy Day." The exhibition is organized collaboratively by the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée d'Orsay, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Key member of Die Brücke art movement gets museum in hometown

A new museum dedicated to Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, a founding member of the German Expressionist group Die Brücke, has opened in his hometown of Rottluff, a village on the western edge of Chemnitz. The Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus, acquired by the city in 2023 and opened in April, displays works spanning the artist's entire career, including early pieces never before shown publicly. The museum also features works by fellow Brücke artists and a secretly painted 1944 self-portrait created in the same house during the Nazi era, when Schmidt-Rottluff was branded a degenerate artist and banned from painting.

Review: “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The article reviews "Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the artist's first nationally touring retrospective in 20 years. Organized by the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, the exhibition features some 100 artworks from the 1950s until her death in 2011, including large-scale ceramics, weavings, and paintings. It traces Takaezu's journey from her childhood on a Maui watercress plantation to her transformative studies at Cranbrook Academy of Art and a pivotal trip to Japan, where she studied Zen Buddhism and worked under various ceramicists.

UD Scholars Explore Depths of Wyeth’s Art

In September 2024, nearly two dozen students and faculty from the University of Delaware's Department of Art History gathered at the Brandywine Museum of Art for a study day at the Andrew & Betsy Wyeth Study Center. William L. Coleman, the center's new director and a Wyeth Foundation Curator, led the group through the facility, showing drawings, paintings, and Wyeth's personal library, and curated the exhibition “Every Leaf & Twig: Andrew Wyeth’s Botanical Imagination,” featuring previously unseen watercolors and drawings.

Early Basquiat to Lead Sotheby’s Contemporary Auctions -

Sotheby’s will offer a rare untitled 1981 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat at its Contemporary Evening Auction in New York, estimated at $10–15 million. The work, unseen for 36 years, has been held in a private collection since 1989 and captures the raw energy of Basquiat’s breakout period. Other highlights include Lucio Fontana’s *Concetto spaziale, La Fine di Dio* (1963), Robert Rauschenberg’s *Combine Rigger* (1961), Frank Stella’s *Adelante* (1964), and Ed Ruscha’s *That Was Then This Is Now* (1989). The auction is built around three major private collections: the estate of gallerist Barbara Gladstone, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, and the “Im Spazio” group assembled by Daniella Luxembourg.

Museum Spotlight: Kim Chong Hak Exhibition

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is hosting the first American museum exhibition dedicated to Kim Chong Hak, a South Korean master painter born in 1937 and known as "the painter of Seoraksan." Featuring over 70 works, including new acquisitions from the museum's own collection, the show spans the artist's mature career and highlights an aspect of late 20th-century Korean art rarely seen outside South Korea. The exhibition runs through November 2, 2025.

Iran Withdraws From 2026 Venice Biennale

Iran has withdrawn from the 2026 Venice Biennale, the world's most important art event, organizers announced on May 4. No official reason was given, but the withdrawal comes amid an uncertain ceasefire in Iran's war with the United States and Israel. The Biennale confirmed the decision in a statement, noting that 100 countries will still participate, including newcomers Tanzania and Seychelles. This follows South Africa's withdrawal over a legal dispute concerning a Gaza-focused artwork, and the closure of the Russian Pavilion to the public after the EU withdrew €2 million in funding over Russia's involvement.

Same is More: Parisian Architecture à l’identique by Octave Perrault

Paris is undergoing a wave of architectural preservation and renovation that prioritizes the "à l’identique" (identical) approach, most notably seen in the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral following its 2019 fire. This trend extends to other major cultural landmarks, including the renovation of the Bourse de Commerce by Tadao Ando and the upcoming multi-year closure of the Centre Pompidou for technical upgrades. The author uses the critical lens of 19th-century writer Joris-Karl Huysmans to question whether this obsession with restoring buildings to a previous state stifles contemporary architectural evolution.

Syracuse University Art Museum Celebrates Professor Emeritus Sarah McCoubrey's Decades-Spanning Artistic Evolution

Syracuse University Art Museum is celebrating Professor Emeritus Sarah McCoubrey's 34-year artistic legacy with a closing reception and artist talk on Sept. 10 at Manhattan's Bernard and Louise Palitz Gallery. The event highlights the exhibition “Currents: Sarah McCoubrey,” which surveys McCoubrey's multimedia environmental narratives, including her well-known landscape paintings alongside recent and never-before-seen works. McCoubrey recently attained professor emeritus status after 34 years as a painting professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, and her career includes representation by Locks Gallery in Philadelphia and solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Everson Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

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.

Contemporary art returns to center stage in Ascoli Piceno for the fifth edition of the Premio Sparti

L’arte contemporanea torna protagonista ad Ascoli Piceno per la quinta edizione del Premio Sparti

The fifth edition of the Premio Sparti, titled "Dove finisce la città" (Where the City Ends), will open on May 23 at the Forte Malatesta in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, running through June 28. Curated by Alex Urso, the exhibition features over twenty international artists exploring artistic practice outside major urban centers, with works also installed at the Frida Museum. The show is divided into three sections—"Essere oltre," "Essere qui," and "Essere altro"—highlighting artists who have chosen peripheral, rural, or marginalized locations as bases for their research, including Francesco Arena, Davide Maria Coltro, Andrea Mastrovito, and emerging talents under 35.

damascus university bans nude models

Damascus University in Syria has begun strictly enforcing a 1974 ban on nude models in its fine arts departments—sculpture, painting, engraving, and printmaking—threatening students with a failing grade if they use nude figures. Fine arts dean Fouad Dahdouh issued the directive, citing ethical and societal values, despite being a practicing artist who himself has created artworks depicting nude figures. Students have pushed back, calling the policy a violation of academic freedom and organizing a peaceful protest.

donald trump kennedy center les miserables

President Donald Trump was booed while attending a fundraiser for the musical *Les Misérables* at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He arrived with Melania Trump to support the center, but faced a mixed reception of boos and chants of 'U-S-A.' The event followed Trump's controversial takeover of the Kennedy Center, where he fired the board of trustees appointed by Joe Biden and George W. Bush, installed himself as chair, and replaced longtime president Deborah Rutter. Several artists, including Ben Folds, Renée Fleming, Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, and Rhiannon Giddens, resigned in protest, and the center has seen program cancellations such as *Hamilton* and Pride events.

Where to see artworks in Marin

This article is a comprehensive listing of art exhibitions and events across Marin County, California, from May through August 2025. It includes details on dozens of shows at venues such as the Belvedere Tiburon Library, Anthony Meier, Blunk Space, Bolinas Museum, Gallery Route One, and many others, featuring works by artists like Carol Thomas, Saif Azzuz, Ian Collings, and Drew Frazier. The listings cover photography, painting, sculpture, and mixed-media exhibits, with opening receptions, artist talks, and benefit events noted.

“Joseph Barrett: Views from his Lahaska Studio” to open at Silverman Gallery

The Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art in Holicong, Pennsylvania, will open a new exhibition titled “Joseph Barrett: Views from his Lahaska Studio” on May 16-17, 2025, with opening receptions featuring live jazz and refreshments. The show runs through June 20 and includes previously unseen works such as “View from My Window,” “Neshaminy,” and “County Theater in Snow,” alongside Barrett’s painting “Estate of Joseph Stanley,” recently returned from a two-year display at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, as part of the State Department’s Art in Embassies program.

'The Chinese Avant-Garde in Paris' at Alisan Fine Arts, Central, Hong Kong on 22 May–15 Aug 2026

Alisan Fine Arts in Central, Hong Kong, presents 'The Chinese Avant-Garde in Paris' from 22 May to 15 Aug 2026 as part of its 45th anniversary 'Then and Now' programme. The exhibition features works by Zao Wou-ki, Chu Teh-chun, T’ang Haywen, and Walasse Ting—francophone Chinese diaspora masters who blended Chinese cultural roots with post-war Parisian modernism. Highlights include previously unseen ink works by Chu Teh-chun from the 1980s and 1990s, a rare black-and-white canvas by Walasse Ting from 1959, and a major 1970s canvas by Zao Wou-ki. The show anchors the 'Then' component of the programme, with a parallel 'Now' exhibition at Alisan Atelier, both part of the French May Arts Festival Associated Projects.

Pio Abad Explores Home and Diaspora for the 2026 Venice Biennale

Filipino artist Pio Abad is presenting a series of intricate, hand-drawn works at the 2026 Venice Biennale as part of the exhibition "In Minor Keys," conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. The works, created over four years with a 0.3-millimeter pen, include pieces such as "I’m Singing a Song That Can Only Be Born After Losing a Country" (first shown at the Ashmolean Museum in 2024), "Banua" (his first drawing on fabric), and "1897.76.36.18.6," which reflects on the looting of the Benin Bronzes. Abad, born in the Philippines and based in London, explores themes of migration, memory, exile, and the itinerant nature of objects and language.

GaHee Park: The Exhaustion of Distance

GaHee Park's solo exhibition "Half-Looking, Half-Seen" is on view at Perrotin New York from April 24 to May 30, 2026. The show presents paintings that destabilize perception, using light and shadow to fragment figures and objects, with works like "Seafood Heaven," "Wetland at Dusk," and "Creeping Shadow" exploring themes of visibility, identity, and temporal collapse. The exhibition marks a trajectory toward Park's institutional debut at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.