Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is closing its Los Angeles location after seven years, with the final exhibition being a solo show for Ben Hyunjin that ends on August 29. The gallery, which opened on Highland Avenue in 2018, decided not to renew its lease, citing a natural pause to assess its accomplishments in the city. The closure follows recent shutdowns of other LA galleries, including Blum and Clearing.
Nos 5 expos coups de cœur à voir en galeries ce printemps à Paris
Paris is experiencing a vibrant gallery season this spring, marked by the arrival of major international players and the rediscovery of overlooked artists. Highlights include the opening of Singapore’s Cuturi Gallery at the Palais-Royal with a cross-disciplinary show on decadence, and the London-based Waddington Custot establishing a new space in Saint-Germain-des-Prés with an exhibition bridging Nabis masters and contemporary painters. Other notable shows include a first-ever public look at the surrealist collages of Roland Sig and a dialogue between neo-impressionism and contemporary art at Galerie Pavec.
Edgar Calel, a Maya Kaqchikel artist from Chi Xot, Guatemala, has been awarded the 2026 Sam Gilliam Award, as announced by the Dia Art Foundation and the Sam Gilliam Foundation. The prize includes $75,000 and a public programme at a Dia Foundation location this autumn. Calel’s multidisciplinary practice—spanning drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance—centers on ancestral knowledge, Indigenous experience, and the legacies of colonialism. He was selected by a jury of curators and foundation leaders, including Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation.
LACMA, Lucas Museum, Dataland… Los Angeles engagée dans une folle course à la culture
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new David Geffen Galleries building, a massive, controversial structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. The $835 million project, funded in part by philanthropist David Geffen, spans Wilshire Boulevard and replaces four older modernist pavilions, sparking a decade-long debate over its design, cost, and the loss of the previous buildings.
Artist Sarah Rosalena has completed a monumental 27-foot tapestry titled "Threading the Boundless: Omnidirectional Terrain" (2025), commissioned for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s (LACMA) new David Geffen Galleries. The work utilizes an industrial-scale jacquard-rapier loom to weave complex patterns that distort NASA satellite imagery of Earth and Mars. By blending her Wixárika maternal weaving traditions with computational craft, Rosalena transforms scientific data into a tactile, atmospheric landscape that challenges traditional methods of planetary mapping.
Philip Mould & Company in London is hosting a new exhibition titled "Elizabeth I: Queen and Court," featuring four rare portraits of the Tudor monarch alongside depictions of her closest advisors and political rivals. The show traces Elizabeth's visual evolution from a pious young princess to a formidable, iconographic ruler, highlighting how she utilized fashion and symbolism to solidify her authority and manage public perception during a period of immense political and religious transition.
Artnet News reports on the rediscovery of Colombian artist Luis Fernando Zapata (1951–1994), whose solo booth at Art Basel Miami Beach features works from 1988 to 1994 that resemble ancient artifacts. The booth, titled “The Immemorial: The Transcendence of Luis Fernando Zapata,” is presented by Bogotá’s Galería Elvira Moreno in the fair’s Survey sector, which highlights historically significant art made before 2000. Zapata’s pieces—including totemic shields, a mud-brown sarcophagus with cuneiform-like glyphs, barques, steles, and his “excavaciones”—are mostly hand-sculpted papier-mâché, evoking ritual and imagined cosmologies. Diagnosed HIV+ in the mid-1980s, Zapata died in 1994, leaving a body of work that has remained largely absent from the queer canon and art-world consciousness until now.
On a warm spring Saturday, the Dia Art Foundation hosted its annual Spring Benefit at Dia Beacon, drawing a cross-disciplinary crowd of artists, curators, museum leaders, and fashion figures. The event celebrated the opening of seven major exhibitions across the Beacon campus, featuring works by John Chamberlain, Lee Ufan, Kishio Suga, and Jack Whitten, and marked the rollout of a new partnership with Chanel. Guests explored over 20 galleries, enjoyed a seasonal lunch amid Chamberlain's sculptures, and participated in a special children's program, all set within the former Nabisco box-printing factory along the Hudson River.
Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula is staging "The Galeazze Project," a performance commissioned by the Venice-based nonprofit Scuola Piccola Zattere (SPZ) in the 16th-century Galeazze shipyard complex, which has been inaccessible since World War II and never open to the public. The performance, a collateral event of the 2026 Venice Biennale, brings up to 500 people into the 32,291-square-foot open-air ruin for two nights, featuring local students, musicians from the Venetian label Cosmogram, and trumpeter Heru Shabaka-Ra, with a soundtrack composed collaboratively.
Cultured's spring gallery guide for New York highlights a curated selection of exhibitions across the city, with standout shows including Carol Bove's sculptural installation at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Joan Semmel's retrospective at the Jewish Museum, Jessi Reaves's furniture-based works at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the group show "Afterlives: Contemporary Art in the Byzantine Crypt" at the Metropolitan Museum. The guide also notes exhibitions by Paul Chan, Nicola Tyson, Doron Langberg, and Yuval Pudik that are closing soon, and extends coverage to shows in Philadelphia and Warsaw.
Cultured magazine asked several seasoned art collectors—Will Bennett, Laurent Asscher, Geoff Snack, Amélie du Chalard, Allison Sarofim, and Pamela Joyner with Fred Giuffrida—to share their most important advice for novice collectors. Their responses range from building relationships with dealers and scouring unexpected sources like eBay and street-side book boxes (Snack) to focusing on an artist's conceptual approach, technical mastery, and aesthetic result (du Chalard). Others emphasize training the eye through constant exposure, buying what you love rather than what is trendy, and developing a focused area of interest to guide acquisitions.
Michael Govan, director of LACMA, discusses the opening of the new $720 million David Geffen Galleries on April 19, designed by architect Peter Zumthor. The 110,000-square-foot space features concrete walls, natural light, and spans Wilshire Boulevard, replacing traditional white-cube galleries with a fluid, non-chronological layout organized around bodies of water. Govan, who has led the museum for two decades, describes the project as a once-in-a-century opportunity to rethink the encyclopedic museum model.
Pat Oleszko, a 78-year-old artist known for her inflatables, costumes, and performances blending burlesque, commedia dell'arte, and protest, is the subject of her first New York solo show in 35 years at SculptureCenter, on view through April. The article features an interview where Oleszko discusses her creative process, the challenges of aging, and her desire to make work about fascism and climate change, while also noting her inclusion in the Whitney Biennial and a presentation at Art Basel Miami Beach.
The article is a gallery show guide for San Francisco timed to the FOG Design + Art Fair, highlighting five must-see exhibitions. Featured shows include Tara Donovan's "Stratagems" at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (now at the Transamerica Pyramid Annex Gallery), Samia Halaby's "Kinetic Paintings" at SFMOMA, Rose B. Simpson's "Lexicon" at the De Young, Heather Day's "Blue Distance" at Berggruen, and Christian Marclay's eponymous show at Fraenkel Gallery. Each entry provides dates, location, and a brief description of the artist's work.
Cultured's art critic reflects on the best and worst of 2025, highlighting standout moments including Salman Toor's 2007 portrait of Zohran Mamdani (now mayor-elect of New York), the posthumous Jack Whitten survey "The Messenger" at MoMA, and Anne Imhof's epic production "DOOM: House of Hope" at the Park Avenue Armory. The article also notes Mamdani's arts-friendly transition committee and the broader resilience of artists amid political turmoil.
Johanna Fateman and Blakey Bessire share their picks for the best art books of the year. Fateman highlights a new edition of Claude Cahun's anti-memoir "Cancelled Confessions or Disavowals" from Siglio Press, featuring photomontages by Cahun and Marcel Moore, and the first monograph on Greer Lankton, "Could It Be Love," edited by Francis Schichtel, Jordan Weitzman, and Nan Goldin with an essay by Hilton Als. Bessire selects "Voice of Space: UFOs and Paranormal Phenomena," a catalog from the Drawing Center exhibition exploring UFOs and altered states, and "Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal," a Hammer Museum catalog edited by Erin Christovale that examines Coltrane's sonic and spiritual work.
Howardena Pindell, the 82-year-old artist known for her dot-based abstractions and incisive video works, was honored with a Cultural Leadership Award at the American Federation of Arts’s 2025 Gala. In an interview with Cultured, she discusses her current White Cube show “Off the Grid” in London, which spans her decades-long career from early figurative work to new abstract pieces. The exhibition runs through January 18, and Pindell also reveals upcoming projects: a 50-foot-tall stained-glass mural for the University of Texas at Austin, a Dia Beacon acquisition of her works for long-term display in 2026, and her inclusion as the only living artist in the AFA’s touring exhibition Abstract Expressionists: The Women.
Finnish artist Iiu Susiraja, known for her deadpan self-portraits that blend vulnerability and absurdity, is opening her first New York solo exhibition since her 2023 MoMA PS1 show, titled “A style called a dead fish,” at the gallery Gratin on December 11. The article, an interview by a critic, explores Susiraja’s practice of embracing her “inner clown” through photographs that feature nudity, balloons, and domestic props, often staged in her own home or her parents’ home in Turku. New works include images like “Lift up, Breasts” (2025), where helium balloons are taped to her nipples, and a sculpture involving photocopying machines that will distribute keepsakes during the show.
Gallerists Christine Berry and Martha Campbell, founders of Berry Campbell gallery, have spent 13 years rediscovering and championing overlooked 20th-century female artists such as Ethel Schwabacher, Judith Godwin, Bernice Bing, and Lynne Drexler. They will present works by these artists at Art Basel Miami Beach for the second consecutive year, following a record-breaking $2 million sale of Drexler's painting at Christie's in 2025. The duo, who previously worked under Ira Spanierman, launched their gallery in 2013 and have since built a market for artists whose careers were marginalized by gender bias.
Cultured's 'What's On' column presents a curated guide to fall art exhibitions in New York's Chinatown, Little Italy, and SoHo neighborhoods. Featured shows include Zoe Leonard's black-and-white photography of medieval armor at Maxwell Graham, Ohad Meromi's cigarette-themed sculptures and paintings at 56 Henry, Ambera Wellmann's hallucinatory paintings and charcoal mural at Company Gallery, and Sam McKinniss's portrait of Luigi Mangione at Deitch. The guide draws from the publication's Critics' Table coverage, offering neighborhood-by-neighborhood recommendations.
Artist Meg Webster, now 80, is receiving overdue recognition for her contributions to Land art and Minimalism. Nine of her sculptures—made from moss, beeswax, salt, and other natural materials—recently went on long-term view at Dia Beacon in Upstate New York. Webster, who worked as Michael Heizer's studio assistant in her late 30s, has spent decades creating intimate, urban-sited Land art in downtown Manhattan, challenging the movement's reputation as a macho, remote, monumental practice. She will also feature prominently in a Minimal art group exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris this October.
Cultured magazine profiles Houston collectors Leigh and Reggie Smith as the city's Untitled Art Fair opens. The couple, who have collected contemporary art for over 30 years, discuss their diverse collection spanning international and local artists, including works by Yinka Shonibare, Francis Picabia, and overlooked mid-century women artists. They highlight Houston's collaborative art ecosystem, public art funding, and the distinct character of its scattered venues.
The article is a first-person diary chronicling the author's experiences during Armory Art Week in New York City in September. It begins at the Fulton Transit Center for the launch of artist Chloë Bass's public sound work "If you hear something, free something," presented by Creative Time and MTA Arts & Design, which features recorded announcements in five languages playing across 14 subway stations. The author then visits galleries in Chinatown, including Matthew Kirk's show at Fierman and Ohad Meromi's exhibition at 56 Henry, encountering notable art-world figures like Jerry Saltz, Issy Wood, and Naomi Fry along the way.
Ambera Wellmann is preparing for two concurrent New York exhibitions opening on September 5, one at Company gallery and her debut at Hauser & Wirth's Wooster Street space. The shows mark a new joint representation model where the artist works with both a smaller, queer-focused gallery and a mega-gallery simultaneously. Wellmann's hallucinatory, collage-like paintings feature bodies, sex vignettes, and semi-mythic imagery, though she recently considered moving away from figuration due to frustrations with the "queer figuration" trend and its market co-optation.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn is preparing for his fifth solo exhibition with Gagosian, titled “ECHOES FROM COPELAND,” opening September 10. The show is inspired by Alice Walker’s 1970 novel *The Third Life of Grange Copeland*, which Quinn read twice and found deeply resonant. The works continue his signature style of fragmented, abstract-figurative portraits using oils, pastels, and charcoal, while also incorporating influences from Francis Bacon exhibitions he saw in London. Quinn’s practice draws heavily on his own traumatic upbringing—his mother died when he was 15 and he was abandoned by other family members—and his compositions evoke fragmented memories.
Cady Noland, the reclusive American sculptor known for her critical works on the American dream, will open a major exhibition of new work at Gagosian’s 24th Street gallery in Chelsea on September 10, running through October 18. The show marks her first major New York gallery presentation in over two decades and will feature new pieces alongside paintings by the late Steven Parrino. The exhibition follows a gradual return to the art world that began with a small show at Galerie Buchholz in 2021 and a survey at Glenstone in 2024. A new book, *Cady Noland: Polaroids 1986–2024*, will be published concurrently.
Cultured magazine's article "design inspiration summer interiors collecting" presents five distinct stories exploring the intersection of art, design, and collecting within private homes and studios. It profiles designer John Gachot's Shelter Island studio where his paintings coexist with his father Richard Gachot's sculptures; the Montauk home-workshop of Roman & Williams founders Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer; artist David Salle's Hamptons residence and his approach to selecting artworks; real estate investor Carl Gambino's art collection featuring emerging and established artists; and author James Frey's personal collection, which he began by purchasing a Picasso with cash.
This article from Cultured magazine is a gallery exhibition guide for New York, highlighting four major shows in the Hudson Valley, Meatpacking District, and Tribeca. It features Stan Douglas's retrospective at the Hessel Museum of Art, Cameron Rowland's "Properties" at Dia Beacon, Christine Sun Kim's mid-career survey "All Day All Night" at the Whitney Museum, and EJ Hill's endurance performance at 52 Walker. Each entry includes a brief critical description of the artist's work and themes, with details on dates and locations.
Stan Douglas's survey exhibition "Ghostlight" at the Hessel Museum of Art features his commanding 2024 photograph of the same name, depicting a ghost light illuminating the empty Los Angeles Theater. The show spans works from the 1990s to 2025, including the North American premiere of his multi-channel video "Birth of a Nation" (2025), which reexamines D.W. Griffith's racist 1915 film. Organized by Lauren Cornell, the exhibition assembles staged historical scenes and imagined scenarios that explore how past eras have been pictured through images, written history, and mass media.