Hannah Black at zaza'
Artist Hannah Black opened a solo exhibition titled "Harsh Muting" at the gallery zaza' in Naples. The show runs from March 20 to May 3, 2026, and is documented with 14 images on the Contemporary Art Daily platform.
Artist Hannah Black opened a solo exhibition titled "Harsh Muting" at the gallery zaza' in Naples. The show runs from March 20 to May 3, 2026, and is documented with 14 images on the Contemporary Art Daily platform.
Le lent demain at Air de Paris
The group exhibition "Le lent demain" (The Slow Tomorrow) was held at the Air de Paris gallery in Romainville from February 14 to March 21, 2026. Curated by Sebastián Quevedo Ramírez, it featured works by 17 artists, including Nicolas Aguirre, Devendra Banhart, and Hudinilson Jr., among others.
Announcement
The Contemporary Art Daily has released the full digital archive of artist SoiL Thornton's solo exhibitions. The comprehensive collection, published in their Contemporary Art Quarterly, documents Thornton's work dating back to 2017, providing centralized access to years of the artist's major projects and installations.
A Guardian investigation revealed that 241 UK museums, universities, and councils collectively hold over 263,000 items of human remains, with at least 37,000 originating from overseas, including former British colonies. The Natural History Museum in London houses the largest collection of non-European remains, followed by the University of Cambridge and the British Museum. Records are often incomplete, with the origins of 16,000 items unconfirmed and many institutions unable to provide exact figures due to poor documentation.
Researchers have attributed two previously unattributed works to Michelangelo. The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage of Belgium used radiocarbon dating, pigment analysis, and infrared reflectography to link a 16th-century oil-on-canvas Pietà to the master, finding monograms and a date consistent with his work. Separately, Italian researcher Valentina Salerno published a decade-long study using archival documents and stylistic analysis to attribute a marble bust of Christ in a Roman basilica to Michelangelo.
The Weyburn Art Gallery in Saskatchewan is presenting a dual exhibition running through the end of June, featuring two complementary shows. The first, 'Omentum: A look into the Indigenous Experience of the 21st Century- Exhibition Series, 2019' by Nehiyawak-Métis artist John Brady McDonald, comprises ten paintings that address themes such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, cultural appropriation, residential school legacies, and the murder of Colten Boushie. Each painting was personally named by an influential Indigenous figure, including Isaac Murdoch, Rosanna Deerchild, and Dr. Evan Adams. The second exhibition draws from the City of Weyburn’s Permanent Collection, showcasing works by Indigenous artists Michael Lonechild, Ken Lonechild, and Mike Keepness, which explore identity, place, and memory.
The PinchukArtCentre has opened a new exhibition titled "Still Joy — From Ukraine Into the World" as part of the official parallel program of the 61st Venice Biennale. The show, which opened on May 7 at Palazzo Contarini Polignac and runs through August 1, features works by over 20 international and Ukrainian artists exploring joy as an act of resilience and humanity. Central to the exhibition are testimonies from Hlib Stryzhko, a marine veteran who returned from Russian captivity, which are transformed into sculptural elements. Notable works include a protest performance by Yurii Hruzinov at the Russian pavilion, a video installation of Kyiv rave parties by Malashchuk and Khimei, and installations by Future Generation Art Prize laureates Ashfika Rahman and Zhanna Kadyrova.
Two paintings by Claude Monet, hidden from public view for over a century, have resurfaced and been sold at Sotheby’s Paris. The works—*Les Îles de Port-Villez* (1883) and *Vétheuil, effet du matin* (1901)—represent distinct phases of Monet’s career, with the latter setting a record for a Monet sold at auction in France, fetching more than $12 million.
Tang Contemporary Art in Beijing is launching a massive retrospective titled '1985–2025: Chinese Modern Ink Art,' curated by Zou Jianping. Featuring over 120 works by 68 artists across two gallery spaces, the exhibition traces the forty-year evolution of ink painting from the '85 New Wave movement to the present day. The show highlights key figures such as Gu Wenda, Wang Tiande, and Liu Qinghe, showcasing how the medium transitioned from traditional brushwork to experimental forms including installation and digital media.
The article reports on the impact of President Javier Milei's anarcho-capitalist economic policies on Argentina's cultural sector since his December 2023 election. Public museums like the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes face frozen budgets and loss of autonomy, the cultural ministry has been shuttered, and a climate of fear and retribution has led many in the art world to speak anonymously. The piece focuses on artist Liv Schulman's film and exhibition "Un círculo que se fue rodando" (2024) as a psychological portrait of the nation under Milei, and includes observations from a Buenos Aires gallerist and journalist about the dismantling of civic institutions.
Three downtown galleries in New York are currently exhibiting works centered on kittens, puppies, and puppetry, offering an escape from geopolitical conflict and domestic strife. At Chapter NY in Tribeca, Joseph Jones presents a solo show of photorealist pet portraits, including 'White cat with gemstones, 2026,' which dares viewers to engage with the often-dismissed genre of pet portraiture. Further east, Tibor de Nagy gallery hosts 'The Nagy Marionette Company: A 75th Anniversary Exhibition,' celebrating the gallery's origins in puppetry with archival documents and contemporary puppet-inspired art by nearly 20 artists, including Sarah McEneaney and Tabboo!.
Photographer Martin Parr, 73, visited 24-year-old Moscow-born artist Maya Golyshkina at her London home for a collaborative shoot and interview published by Cultured. The two, who both began photography before age 16, discussed playfulness in their work, non-traditional materials like cardboard and household objects, and the role of social media in their careers. Golyshkina showed Parr her wearable cardboard creations, and the conversation ranged from Parr’s decades-long career documenting human banality to Golyshkina’s viral crying videos and her rise from posting self-portraits on Instagram to collaborating with luxury fashion houses.
A missing page from the Archimedes Palimpsest, the oldest surviving copy of the Greek mathematician’s writings, has been rediscovered at the Museum of Fine Arts in Blois, France. The 10th-century parchment, which had been missing for 120 years, contains portions of the treatise 'On the Sphere and the Cylinder' hidden beneath 20th-century illumination. The page was identified by a researcher from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) after being unaccounted for since 1906.
The Birmingham Museum of Art has launched a public appeal to locate missing artworks by Corietta Mitchell, the first Black artist to receive a solo exhibition at the institution during the Jim Crow era. Staged quietly in March 1963 just months before the repeal of local segregation ordinances, the exhibition is documented only by a checklist and a single grainy photograph. As the museum celebrates its 75th anniversary, officials are seeking to recover these works to address a significant gap in their institutional archives.
A newly released document from the Department of Justice’s Jeffrey Epstein files has linked billionaire collector Leon Black to a $27.7 million inventory of Southeast Asian antiquities, some of which may be looted. The records indicate that Black acquired high-value Cambodian, Thai, and Vietnamese artifacts, including a $7 million bronze Shiva sculpture that matches the description of a piece handled by the late, indicted antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford. While Black’s representatives state he never dealt with Latchford directly and acquired the works through a reputable dealer, correspondence suggests Latchford was involved in facilitating sales to Black through intermediaries.
Janne Sirén, director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery), received a $335,000 museum loan at a 0.18% interest rate in 2013 to help finance a $710,000 home. A review by the Erie County Comptroller's Office found that Sirén has not repaid any principal or interest, and the loan was later converted into a 30-year mortgage without being recorded with the county. The loan appears to violate New York's Not-For-Profit Corporation Law, which prohibits loans to directors or key officers, though the law was enacted a year after the initial bridge loan was issued.
A newly released tranche of documents from the US Department of Justice reveals a $5,000 donation from Jeffrey Epstein's foundation, Enhanced Education, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Benefit (the Met Gala) in 2014. The check was part of millions of pages made public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
YouTube star Rachel Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, announced an exhibition and fundraiser titled "Colors That Survived" featuring artworks created by children in Gaza. The show opens Tuesday at Caelum Gallery in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, with limited-edition prints priced at $200 each available through January 30 via the nonprofit Artists Support. All proceeds will go to young Palestinian artists. Accurso, who has over 18 million YouTube subscribers, became an advocate for children in Gaza after participating in a Save the Children fundraiser in May 2024, and has faced backlash from Zionist groups including StopAntisemitism, which falsely accused her of receiving funds from Hamas.
On December 11, the National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA), part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., announced it is returning three Khmer period sculptures to Cambodia. The works—a 10th-century Uma, a 10th-century Harihara, and a circa-1200 Prajnaparamita—were determined to have been likely looted during Cambodia’s civil war (1967–1975), based on research with Cambodian authorities, lack of export documentation, and links to dealers known for trafficking looted antiquities.
A new survey from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) reveals that one-third of American museums have lost government grants and contracts since President Donald Trump took office. Based on responses from 511 museum directors, the report documents funding cuts from federal agencies including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). These losses have forced museums to defer infrastructure improvements, cancel programming for underserved communities, and lay off staff. Some institutions have taken legal action, and a court ruling in May halted further dismantling of the IMLS. The Mellon Foundation has offered emergency grants, but two-thirds of surveyed museums have been unable to replace lost funding, with a median grant loss of $30,000.
The Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, is repatriating 17 items—including a human tooth and funerary objects such as tools, animal hides, and fabric—to the Wabanaki Nations, a confederation of four local tribes (Penobscot Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, Mi’kmaq Nation, and Houlton band of Maliseet Indians). The objects, many excavated by Warren K. Moorehead in the late 19th century, passed through the R.S. Peabody Museum, the Bangor Historical Society, and the Abbe Museum, with some lost due to undocumented loans. A Field Register notice from the National Park Service, published September 11, 2025, details their complex provenance. The repatriation is set to occur on or after October 14, 2025.
Documents from Jeffrey Epstein's estate, including a birthday book compiled for his 50th birthday by Ghislaine Maxwell, were released in full by the US House Oversight Committee. The book contains contributions from art collectors Leon Black and Leslie Wexner, as well as a lewd drawing by President Donald Trump. The release also includes Epstein's last will, his 2007 non-prosecution deal, and entries from his contact book. Black contributed a handwritten poem calling Epstein a "Dear Friend," while Wexner included a note with a drawing of breasts.
Iwan and Manuela Wirth, owners of the global art gallery Hauser & Wirth, have relocated their permanent residency from the United Kingdom to Switzerland, where the gallery’s holding company is based. The move was registered in documents filed with Companies House this month, and the gallery confirmed to the Financial Times that the decision was for personal reasons, unrelated to tax law changes. Despite the relocation, the Wirths plan to open a new London location in 2026, and their UK gallery reported a 13 percent drop in turnover to £144 million in 2023.
A new European Union law, Regulation 2019/880, aimed at preventing the sale of looted antiquities, is set to go into effect on June 28. The law imposes heightened due diligence requirements on anyone importing cultural goods from outside the EU, including fine arts, antiquities, and decorative arts. It categorizes cultural goods into three groups, with the strictest rules for archaeological items over 250 years old, which require an import license and proof of legal export. Non-compliance could lead to seizures or criminal consequences for art dealers, collectors, and professionals. While there is a partial exemption for temporary exhibitions, it primarily benefits museums outside the EU, leaving private collectors without the same protections.
A group of arts professionals, including art historian Konstantin Akinsha and Francesca Thyssen Bornemisza, has published an open letter in Le Monde calling for the International Council of Museums (ICOM) to expel Russia for violating its code of ethics. The group threatens to take ICOM to court in France if it fails to act, citing Russia's systematic erasure of Ukraine's cultural identity since the 2022 invasion, including looting of museum collections and destruction of cultural sites documented by UNESCO. Signatories demand the exclusion of ICOM Russia and Russian museum staff involved in looting, and seek either negotiation or legal proceedings in a French court.
London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has acquired a reconstructed version of YouTube's 2006 interface, including its first-ever uploaded video, 'Me at the zoo.' The interactive display, built using archived code and Adobe Flash, is now on view in the museum's 'Design 1900-Now' gallery, representing a significant effort to preserve the look and feel of early internet culture.
Newly released documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case reveal the financier's intense personal interest in the Frick Collection, the museum located across from his Manhattan mansion. Epstein drafted letters opposing the museum's proposed expansion, criticizing plans as "brutish" and a "travesty," and claimed to have insider knowledge about the institution and its founder, Henry Clay Frick. He was joined in his opposition by other powerful neighbors, including billionaire Howard Lutnick.
Egypt has recovered two ancient artifacts from Belgium after a decade-long effort, announced on December 2 by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The objects—a painted and gilded Ptolemaic sarcophagus (305–30 B.C.E.) and a wooden beard from a Middle Kingdom statue—were seized by Belgian authorities in 2015 following an Interpol alert, as they were displayed in a Brussels antiques gallery without legal documentation. After a drawn-out diplomatic and legal process, the artifacts were returned in a ceremony at the Royal Museums of Art and History in July, attended by senior Egyptian culture ministers.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrived at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (NMPRAC) in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood on Tuesday, with between 15 and 20 DHS vehicles appearing without notice or a warrant. Museum staff reported that officers claimed to be assessing entry and exit points for undocumented immigrants at upcoming events. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the account, stating the visit was a briefing for a narcotics investigation, but security camera footage shows officers inside the museum, contradicting her statement. Local aldermen and museum leadership condemned the action as intimidation, with the museum vowing to resist and continue its community programming.
Johannesburg-based artist Hannelie Coetzee is the subject of a solo exhibition, “Eco Queer Creature Series,” at Morton Fine Art in Washington, D.C., on view through June 24. The show, an official partner event of WorldPride 2025, features drawings and studies of non-reproductive animal behavior, including a fox series based on a pack near Oxford University. Coetzee, who has a background in documentary photography and community development, returned to drawing in 2020 and uses the medium to explore animal behavior on its own terms, challenging patriarchal and anthropocentric assumptions.