The 24th Tehran Auction, dedicated to contemporary Iranian art, concluded with total sales of $1,472,130 on Friday. The top lot was Reza Derakhshani's painting “One Golden Winter Hunt,” which sold for $154,000. The auction featured 120 works by 117 artists, including established names like Masoud Arabshahi, Kourosh Shishegaran, and Parviz Kalantari, with only six pieces remaining unsold.
The sixth edition of the Aichi Triennale, Japan's largest recurring contemporary art exhibition, opens under the title "A Time Between Ashes and Roses," featuring around 60 artists from 22 countries across venues in Nagoya. Artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi, president of the Sharjah Art Foundation, has curated a program that addresses themes of destruction and renewal, drawing on a poem by Syrian poet Adonis written after the 1967 Six-Day War. The exhibition references both the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with participating artists including John Akomfrah, Simone Leigh, Wangechi Mutu, Michael Rakowitz, and Hiroshi Sugimoto.
RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) has opened a sprawling new gallery on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, blending high-end furniture showrooms with art, fine dining, and a garden. The space, located at 23 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, was transformed from a former cinema and Abercrombie & Fitch flagship over six years. The opening event during Paris Design Week drew nearly one thousand guests, including Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Catherine Deneuve, Zoë Saldaña, and Theo James, with catering by chef Cyril Lignac and cocktails by Colin Field.
Inkfish Gallery in Des Moines, Washington, will open an exhibition titled 'Art of the Sixties' on Friday, September 5, 2025, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. The show, curated by George C. Scott of Inkfish Foundation and Fred Andrews of Des Moines Legacy Foundation with funding from 4Culture of King County, features works from the 1960s encompassing Pop Art, Op Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Hot Rod Art, and Psychedelic Art. Artists highlighted include Andy Warhol, Peter Max, Margaret Keane, Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth, Robert Crumb, and Roy Lichtenstein.
Clifford Ward, a longtime artist-in-residence at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, has opened his first solo exhibition at the venue, titled 'I'll Make Me A World.' The show, on view in the Museum Building through January 11, 2026, features his 'Animism' series—24 large-scale figures standing six to nine feet tall, created over twelve years using plaster bandage. Ward, who began his art career around age 40 and has been at Grounds for Sculpture since 1997, draws inspiration from indigenous cultures, the African diaspora, Native American traditions, and the Māori people of New Zealand.
The article explores Madagascar's burgeoning contemporary art scene, centered on Hakanto Contemporary, a non-profit art space in Antananarivo founded by artist Joël Andrianomearisoa. It highlights the group exhibition "Lamba Forever Mandrakizay," featuring 21 Malagasy artists reflecting on the traditional lamba textile, and the innovative culinary-art fusion by chef Lalaina Ravelomanana. The piece also mentions the Musée de la Photo, founded in 2018, which preserves Malagasy photographic heritage.
A fading Banksy mural, *Migrant Child* (2019), depicting a child holding a flare and wearing a life vest, was removed from the façade of the 17th-century Palazzo San Pantalon in Venice on Wednesday night. Restorers cut out the wall section using angle grinders and hand tools from a barge, in an operation funded by the banking group Banca Ifis, the building's owner. The work—one of only two Banksy pieces officially attributed in Italy—had deteriorated significantly due to six years of exposure to the elements, with about a third of the image lost. It will undergo analysis and restoration under Federico Borgogni, who previously oversaw the removal of Banksy's *Aachoo!* in Bristol.
Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2025 opened on July 18 with an inauguration ceremony at the Macao Cultural Centre Small Auditorium, featuring nearly 30 exhibitions across the city in six sections including Main Exhibition, Public Art Exhibition, City Pavilion, Special Exhibition, Local Curatorial Project, and Collateral Exhibition. The Main Exhibition at the Macao Museum of Art showcases nearly 80 artworks by 46 artists from 13 countries, curated by Feng Boyi under the theme "Hey, what brings you here?" The event runs through October and was officiated by government officials and casino executives.
Art Macao 2025, the Macao International Art Biennale, will run from July to October 2025, featuring nearly 30 exhibitions across six sections. Chief curator Feng Boyi has themed the Main Exhibition around the everyday question "Hey, what brings you here?", showcasing nearly 80 works by 46 artists from 13 countries at the Macao Museum of Art. The event is organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and co-organized by major casino-resort operators including Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, MGM, Sands China Ltd., SJM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts Macau.
Chinese art curator and critic Feng Boyi has been appointed chief curator of Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2025, as announced by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC). The biennale opens on 19 July and runs for three months, featuring six sections including the Main Exhibition, Public Art Exhibition, and City Pavilion. Participating artists include Xu Bing, Ann Hamilton, Gregor Schneider, Bart Hess, and Kasia Molga, with the theme “Hey, what brings you here?”
Luca Fine Art, a new gallery founded by Rodney Kazemi, opens this weekend in the Star Metals Building on Howell Mill Road in West Midtown, Atlanta. The 2,000-square-foot space debuts with works by eight international and local artists, including Russell Young, Juan Miguel Palacios, Nemo Jantzen, Stanley Casselman, Simon Berger, Yigal Ozeri, Seo Young Deok, Marco Grassi, and Peter Demetz. Kazemi, a career arts professional with 29 years of experience as an artist agent and dealer, aims to rotate exhibitions every six weeks with a mix of group and solo shows.
A 2024 report by Artprice shows global art auction sales fell by a third to US$9.9 billion, the lowest since 2009, reflecting cautious collector behavior amid economic uncertainty. Despite the downturn, major auction houses—Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips, and Bonhams—have opened new flagship showrooms in Hong Kong, signaling confidence in recovery. Phillips, Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams all unveiled spaces in the West Kowloon Cultural District, The Henderson, Landmark Chater, and Six Pacific Place respectively. Online auctions and private sales are growing, with digital innovation helping engage younger buyers.
Banksy has unveiled a new mural on Instagram after a six-month hiatus, depicting a black lighthouse with the stenciled phrase “I want to be what you saw in me.” The work, located in Marseille’s Rue Félix Fregier, marks the first time the artist has referred to himself in the first person in a public mural. Speculation about its meaning ranges from a tribute to a deceased artist known as Lonely Farmer to a moment of rare self-reflection, though Banksy’s studio Pest Control declined to comment.
The article reports on the rapid growth of the contemporary African art market, which has more than doubled in value since 2016 to an estimated annual combined value of $72 million. Sales of ultra-contemporary works by African-born artists under 45 surged from $16.2 million in 2020 to $40.6 million in 2021, and the market could reach $1.5 billion this year. Aspire Art, a South African auction house, has set records for artists like Joseph Ntensibe, whose painting *Forest Scene* sold for R924,200, and Nicholas Hlobo, whose work *Intlambo yochulumanco* fetched R1,479,400.
The Colour Inspired Academy's 'I Can Change the World' Exhibition and Student Art Contest opens tomorrow at the Lakeshore branch of the Innisfil ideaLAB and Library in Innisfil, Ontario. Thirty-nine artists aged eight to sixteen will showcase paintings and sculptures, with awards presented in four categories (Junior, Intermediate, Senior, and Community Choice). Judges include Mayor Lynn Dollin, Innisfil Arts, Culture and Heritage Council vice chair Jeanette Luchese-Jacobs, and Community 4 Kids representatives Debra Harrison and Charlotte Hamilton. Winners receive Van Gogh Immersive Experience tickets donated by Lighthouse Immersive and Eugenia Protsko. Proceeds from sales benefit Community 4 Kids, a local charity supporting families in need.
Walt Disney Animation Studios is presenting a special exhibition titled "Whimsy & Wonder" at the Animayo festival in Gran Canaria, Spain, from May 7-10, 2025. The exhibition honors female talent in animation, featuring works by trailblazing color stylist Mary Blair and six contemporary female artists from the studio: Lorelay Bové, Lisa Keene, Brittney Lee, Griselda Sastrawinata-Lemay, Josie Trinidad, and Fawn Veerasunthorn. The show includes art from films such as "Frozen," "Encanto," "Moana 2," and "The Princess and the Frog." Animayo, an Oscar-qualifying animation festival, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with Disney as an official sponsor.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a major contemporary art exhibition in India, is the subject of this article. The piece likely covers the event's programming, participating artists, or organizational updates, though the provided text is truncated and primarily consists of a newsletter subscription prompt and footer information, obscuring the full details of the biennale's activities.
Indonesia will return to the Venice Biennale in 2026 after a six-year absence. The national pavilion, titled "Printing the Unprinted," will be curated by Aminudin TH Siregar and will feature archival materials alongside works by 14 emerging artists, aiming to explore the country's cultural identity and art history.
A PIONEERING EXHIBITION AT THE MAC IN BARRANCO
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC Lima) and the Lima Art Museum (MALI) have launched "Thought is a Hybrid Garden," a comprehensive exhibition spanning six decades of work by Francesco Mariotti and María Luy. The show draws from the Mariotti-Luy Archive and features light installations, acoustic works, and silkscreens that blend technology with Amazonian myths and environmental activism. Curated by Miguel A. López and José-Carlos Mariátegui, the exhibition includes never-before-seen works in Peru, such as the "Hybrid Gardens" series which uses bioluminescence as a metaphor for ecological health.
Ecuador has unveiled "Kanua: listening practices," a public program for its pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, launching on May 8 with solar-powered boat tours through Venice's canals. Developed by the anticolonial film collective Tawna in collaboration with the Kara Solar Foundation and curated by Manuela Moscoso, the project features six intimate boat journeys with discussions on extractivism, aqua-feminism, and territorial resistance, involving artists such as Carolina Caycedo, Mariana Castillo Deball, and Tabita Rezaire. The initiative reactivates Tawna's floating Amazonian film festival, which originally brought cinema to remote communities in Ecuador via a solar-powered boat.
Pinakotheke Cultural, founded by Max Perlingeiro in Rio de Janeiro in 1979, will open a new, significantly larger gallery space in São Paulo on May 16. Located on Rua Minas Gerais in the Higienópolis neighborhood, the venue nearly doubles the size of the gallery's previous São Paulo outpost. The inaugural exhibition, "Surrealisms: Art Beyond Reason," curated by Max Perlingeiro and Tadeu Chiarelli, will feature approximately one hundred works by sixty artists from Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean, offering a comprehensive overview of the surrealist movement.
Artist and writer Sarah Hotchkiss recounts two personal experiences where galleries and residency programs used standard contracts to limit artists' rights. In the first, a new gallery refused to shorten a six-month consignment period after an exhibition, leaving her work in "contractual limbo" where she would owe the gallery half of any sale even if she found the buyer herself. In the second, a residency required her to waive moral rights under the Visual Artists Rights Act, protections that allow artists to prevent distortion and control attribution of their work.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published a new round of fines against UK art market participants for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance failures, covering October 2024 to March 2025. Notable penalties include £158,679 levied against London-based DYS44 Art Gallery Limited, whose director is Old Masters dealer Cesare Lampronti, for procedural violations such as lacking risk assessments, policies, staff training, and due diligence. Other fines include Atlas Gallery (£28,500) for failing to report material business changes. Over 80 penalties were issued in this six-month period, compared to 61 in the previous 20 months, signaling a sharp enforcement uptick.
Chicago artist Laura Berger presents a new suite of monumental paintings exploring themes of communion and interdependence. Her signature minimal, nude figures are depicted merging with natural elements like waves, flowers, and clouds, rendered in varying states of translucence to symbolize a deep connection with the earth and each other.
A new exhibition titled "Sacred Spaces: Visions of the West from the Prosaic to the Sublime" has opened at The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls, featuring works by six contemporary artists—David Dibble, Bryan Mark Taylor, Josh Clare, Allie Zeyer, Louisa Lorenz, and Carson Thompson. The show, curated by museum Executive Director Alexa Stanger, focuses on the agricultural landscapes of the American West, portraying farms, ranches, and working spaces not as scenic backdrops but as living environments shaped by labor, memory, and generational stewardship. It runs through July 3.
The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho in Rexburg will open a new exhibition titled "Sacred Spaces: Visions of the West from the Prosaic to the Sublime" this Friday. The show features works by six contemporary artists from Idaho and Utah—David Dibble, Bryan Mark Taylor, Josh Clare, Allie Zeyer, Louisa Lorenz, and Carson Thompson—primarily in oil paintings, alongside historic farm photographs from the Museum of Idaho and private collection photos from executive director Alexa Stanger. Free public events include an Art Walk on Thursday, an opening reception on Friday with an audio tour featuring artists' voices, and art demos with a Q&A on Saturday.
Solo Studios 2025 returns to the Riebeek Valley in South Africa from 24–26 October, transforming the twin towns of Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek West into a living canvas. Over sixty artists will participate in open studios, curated exhibitions, performances, and culinary events, with highlights including the LANDscape[s] exhibition at Die Kunshuis featuring works from the Modern Art Projects South Africa collection, a group show at EcoPlace made from recycled materials, and talks on art collecting led by Strauss & Co.'s Elmarie van Straten. The weekend also features music, a marketplace of ceramicists, and exhibitions such as 'Red Hot, Pink Spot' at the Church Hall.
"Können wir in der Kunst für die Krisen üben?"
Belgian theater director Miet Warlop is presenting her work "It never SSST" at the Belgian Pavilion during the Venice Biennale. The installation combines performance, sculpture, a radio show, and objects, featuring six performers, musicians, dancers, and a sculptor who periodically calls "Freeze" to capture movements in plaster reliefs. Warlop, known for her physically exhausting ritualistic performances like "One Song," discusses the piece's themes of ceaseless activity and the body as a resource, as well as the challenge of engaging visitors who often rush through the pavilion.
Venedig-Biennale-Chef unter Druck
Just before the opening of the Venice Art Biennale, its president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco is facing mounting criticism after the entire jury resigned. Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli accused Buttafuoco of pursuing a form of "parallel foreign policy" by readmitting Russia to the six-month exhibition, calling him a "victim of a pacifist fantasy." The opening ceremony and the traditional Golden Lion awards have been canceled; prizes will now be decided by visitor vote at the end of the Biennale in November.
DDR-Frauen ohne Filter
The Kunsthaus Apolda in Thuringia is presenting a posthumous retrospective of Günter Rössler, the East German photographer who defined nude and fashion photography in the GDR, on what would have been his 100th birthday. The exhibition features 130 works spanning six decades, including fashion assignments, reportage from his travels abroad, and large-format black-and-white nudes. It is curated by his widow and estate manager Kirsten Schlegel, and complemented by an audio guide in which Rössler's models reflect on their collaboration with him.