Cosmic Province. Between bar and studio, or the punk life of Jacopo Benassi

Provincia Cosmica. Tra bar e studio, ovvero la vita punk di Jacopo Benassi

Italian artist Jacopo Benassi, born in 1970 and shaped by the punk scene, discusses his return to his hometown of La Spezia after years in Milan, where he worked as a photographer for Rolling Stone. He describes his life revolving around his studio and local bars, and reflects on founding the underground club B-Tomic in 2011, which became a hub for his artistic and photographic work blending music and performance. He also mentions an upcoming book of drawings and texts by Renzo Daveti (alias Benzo), a formative figure from the Italian punk scene.

Elevating High Fashion. Issey Miyake and Ensamble Studio Together at Fuorisalone 2026

Valorizzare l’alta sartoria. Issey Miyake e Ensamble Studio insieme al Fuorisalone 2026

Satoshi Kondo, a director at the Miyake Design Studio, has partnered with the Madrid-based architecture firm Ensamble Studio to explore the creative potential of the Paper Log, a byproduct of Issey Miyake's signature pleating process. The collaboration will culminate in an exhibition titled 'The Paper Log: Shell and Core' during the 2026 Fuorisalone in Milan, featuring prototype furniture and sculptural forms made from the compressed paper rolls and unfolded pleated paper.

Restoration of L’Aquila’s Teatro San Filippo, Damaged by Earthquake, Concludes After 17-Year Closure

Si conclude all’Aquila il recupero del Teatro San Filippo danneggiato dal terremoto. Era chiuso da 17 anni

The Teatro San Filippo in L’Aquila has officially completed a comprehensive restoration process after being shuttered for 17 years due to the devastating 2009 earthquake. The reopening ceremony, attended by Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, marks the return of a historic site that originated as a 17th-century Baroque church before being converted into a theater and artistic hub in the 1970s. The project was funded through a combination of state resources and private donations, including significant contributions from the "Artisti Uniti per l’Abruzzo" initiative.

We Interviewed Pixar's Historic Archivist: The History and Secrets of the Legendary Production House

Abbiamo intervistato la storica archivista della Pixar: storia e segreti della mitica casa di produzione

Christine Freeman, Senior Historian and Archivist at Pixar Animation Studios, provides an inside look at the evolution of the pioneering animation house. The interview traces Pixar's origins from Ed Catmull’s early work at Lucasfilm and the development of the Pixar Image Computer to the pivotal meeting with animator John Lasseter and the eventual acquisition by Steve Jobs. Freeman details the preservation of early CGI milestones, including the first computer-animated short, 'The Adventures of André & Wally B.', and the transition from proprietary secrets to open-source contributions like RenderMan.

In Florence, Art Creates Community and Dialogue in the Bagasseria Space: An Interview with its Founder

A Firenze l’arte crea comunità e confronto nello spazio Bagasseria. Intervista al suo fondatore

Painter Samuele Alfani has launched Bagasseria, a new independent art space and studio in the Sant’Ambrogio district of Florence. Named after the Catalan word for a house of prostitution as a gesture of reclamation and freedom, the venue functions as a porous community hub that blends artistic production with public engagement. Its inaugural exhibition, "Bau Bau Baby," is a group show curated by Luigi Presicce and Anna Capolupo featuring artists such as Francesco Lauretta, Davide Serpetti, and Thomas Berra.

Meet the First Cohort of Haystack’s Artist Grant Initiative

The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, supported by the Windgate Foundation, has announced the eight recipients of its inaugural Artist Grant Initiative. Each emerging artist received an unrestricted $10,000 grant and participated in an online mentorship program with artists Vivian Chiu and Cedric Mitchell. The 2025 cohort, selected by jurors Curtis Arima and Annie Evelyn, includes Aminata Conteh, David Gutierrez, Payton Harris-Woodard, Celina Hernandez, Jason McDonald, Alex Paat, David Vuong, and Tzyy Yi (Amy) Young.

Art and Design seniors exhibit their work at Krannert Art Museum

More than 100 seniors from the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will showcase their final projects at Krannert Art Museum from May 9 to May 16. The Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition features work across all disciplines, including art education, art history, graphic design, industrial design, and studio art. Graphic design students Rinnell Borges and Natalie Mora created the exhibition's branding and catalog under the theme "Myth of Originality," drawing inspiration from fellow students' work and university archives. Individual projects include Borges's syrup packaging concept, Mora's communication guide for Latino communities, Caroline Dorion's charcoal drawings of draped female figures, and Sylvie Leyerle's children's book about her adoption from China.

Graduating art students explore change within and around through the senior studio

Six senior art students at the University of Idaho presented their Bachelor of Fine Arts capstone works at the Ridenbaugh Gallery in an exhibition titled "Senior Studio," running from November 18 to December 12. The students—Kieran Heywood, Adelia Hopper, Sofia Nuss, Tyler Ready, and Austin Eike—each explored personal and societal themes through various media, including watercolor, felt, ceramics, and 3D printing. Heywood's work addressed grief and loss of a parent, Hopper's felt creatures examined gender non-conformity, Nuss painted nostalgic childhood memories, Ready critiqued militarism and fascism, and Eike focused on pharmaceutical addiction. Associate professor Aaron Johnson mentored the students to ensure their portfolios met professional gallery standards.

Tutankhamun set to debut at delayed Grand Egyptian Museum opening

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) will hold its official opening ceremony on November 1, more than 30 years after its initial proposal. The centerpiece of the inauguration is the Tutankhamun Gallery, featuring the famous gold funerary mask under bulletproof glass and a full-scale reproduction of the king's tomb. Designed by German studio Atelier Brückner, the gallery offers two narrative paths: one tracing Tutankhamun's life and reign, the other following Howard Carter's 1922 discovery. The museum, located near the Giza pyramids, has already been partially open to visitors, with conservation labs operating since 2010 and contemporary programming running for two years.

Exhibition coming this month will showcase work of Hampshire artist

An exhibition showcasing the work of Basingstoke-based artist Sam Sopwith will open on October 8 at the Osborne Studio Gallery in Belgravia, London. The show features 45 new pieces by the painter and sculptor, who specializes in portraying wild and domesticated animals. It marks Sopwith's first solo exhibition in six years and her debut at the gallery. Her clients include HRH Princess Alexandra and perfumer Jo Malone. Sopwith works in oils, pastels, charcoal, and bronze, drawing inspiration from her travels to Africa, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. She studied in Vancouver, trained under animal portraitist Neil Forster in England, and completed her education in Florence.

LOOK HERE Highlights the Work of Progressive Art Studios Nationwide

The Center for Creative Works (CCW) and Haverford College's Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery have partnered to present LOOK HERE, a multisensory exhibition highlighting the work of neurodivergent artists. The show features six CCW artists—Kelly Brown, Cindy Gosselin, Clyde Henry, Tim Quinn, Brandon Spicer-Crawley, and Allen Yu—and is curated by Jennifer Gilbert alongside CCW artists Mary T. Bevlock and Paige Donovan. The exhibition includes accessible design elements such as braille, ASL videos, touch panels, sensory backpacks, and tours led by neurodivergent artists. Two satellite exhibitions, LOOK THERE at Haverford's VCAM gallery and LOOK EVERYWHERE at Philadelphia's Atelier Gallery, run concurrently, along with the sixth annual Creating Community Symposium, which brings together progressive art studios from across the US.

The new chief curator of Uzbekistan’s Centre for Contemporary Art is bringing insights from London to the youth of Tashkent

Sara Raza has been appointed as the first artistic director and chief curator of Uzbekistan’s Centre for Contemporary Art Tashkent (CCA), a restored 1912 tram depot that is currently undergoing expansion by French architecture firm Studio KO. Raza, who was born in London and grew up in New York, is a former curator at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and has curated festivals in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. She took up the post in January and has already launched a programme of artist residencies in refurbished traditional Uzbek mahallas, while the CCA’s reopening has been delayed from 2025 to 2026.

Lambeth Open 2025 will be happening on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October

Lambeth Open 2025 will take place on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October, from 10 am to 6 pm, transforming the borough into a free, public gallery. Artists and makers across Lambeth will open their studios and homes, inviting visitors to explore paintings, sculptures, design, and craft. The event, started in 2009, requires no tickets and features an interactive map on the Lambeth Open website to help plan routes.

In the Studio with Harley Burns

Asheville-based artist Harley Burns discusses their transition from a career in public health to a full-time painting practice centered on trans and gender-nonconforming identity in the American South. The interview focuses on Burns's triptych "Buttoning Back Up" (2025), which translates a vulnerable public performance of chest-binding into a series of oil paintings that explore the hypervisibility and invisibility of non-binary bodies.

A New "Creative" Campus in Rennes

Un nouveau campus « créatif » à Rennes

The private higher education group Icônes is investing €33 million to construct a new 16,000-square-meter "creative campus" in the EuroRennes district of Rennes, France. Scheduled to open in 2027, the complex will feature three buildings designed by architect Philippe Dubus, including a new home for the ESMA 3D animation school, a 300-studio student residence, and coworking spaces dedicated to creative startups.

The delirious teaser by the creators of 'Panique au village' for the reopening of the Musée de la Figurine in Compiègne

Le teaser délirant des créateurs de « Panique au village » pour la réouverture du musée de la Figurine à Compiègne

The Musée de la Figurine in Compiègne, France, is set to reopen on May 23, 2026, after a major renovation. To promote the reopening, the museum commissioned Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, the creators of the cult stop-motion series "Panique au village" (known for its absurd plastic figurines), to produce a teaser video. The museum, which holds a rare collection of nearly 155,000 figurines spanning from prehistory to the present, has been redesigned with a 1,000-square-meter space, six thematic areas, interactive displays, and a monumental diorama of the Battle of Waterloo featuring 12,000 figurines, now enhanced with augmented reality. Admission will be free for all from May 23 to August 16, 2026.

This Risograph Studio Celebrates 400 Artist Postcards Mailed Around the Globe

Glasgow-based design studio Risotto is celebrating a major milestone for its Riso Club subscription service with a retrospective exhibition at the Glue Factory. Since 2017, the club has commissioned and mailed four artist postcards monthly to subscribers worldwide, reaching a total of 400 unique works. The exhibition, running from April 11 to 19, marks the 100th mailing and showcases the full collection of prints together for the first time.

Latefa Wiersch “Atlas Studios“ at Istituto Svizzero, Rome

Istituto Svizzero in Rome presents "Atlas Studios," the first solo exhibition in Italy by Swiss-based artist Latefa Wiersch. The show is specifically designed for the spaces of Villa Maraini and evokes the famous Atlas Studios film sets located on the edge of the Moroccan desert, which have been used by international film productions.

New Currents: Liu Shuai

Liu Shuai, a multimedia artist from Shandong province, China, presented an interactive installation titled "The Kiss" (2025) at VILLA tbh in Shanghai during the 15th Shanghai Biennale (2025–26). The work, co-created with carpenter bees, features bamboo stalks punctured by the insects and transformed into hanging instruments. It was part of the biennale's "City Projects" and housed in Liu's temporary studio within the Shanghai Botanical Garden, offering a poetic exploration of interspecies collaboration.

Hyeree Ro: What Bears

Hyeree Ro is preparing for the 2026 Venice Biennale, where she will present the work "Bearing (2026)" as part of the Korean Pavilion, titled "Liberation Space: Fortress/Nest." The article follows Ro in her temporary Brooklyn studio, where she works with salvaged objects and materials that migrate across multiple works over years—such as a sheet of organza purchased in 2023 that later appeared in "Niro (2024)" and "Carry (2025)" before being repurposed as the pavilion's fabric walls. Her practice is defined by a nomadic, accumulative material logic: objects enter without a fixed destination and gain meaning through repeated reuse.

Une souscription pour la Maison-atelier Lurçat

The Académie des beaux-arts has launched a subscription campaign to acquire a monumental tapestry by Jean Lurçat, recently rediscovered by Christie's. The tapestry, titled *Bestiaire* (1930), measures 3 by 6.45 meters and was originally created for the artist's home-studio in Paris's 14th arrondissement. It will be publicly unveiled at Christie's Paris on May 6–7, 2025, before a private sale between the Académie and the auction house for €110,000. Donations are being collected online or by check to fund the purchase.

Art gallery inspired by 'phenomenal' local talent

Three women—Tarot Crick, Penny Bowley, and Rhiannon Griffiths—opened a new art gallery called Jackdaw in Oundle, Northamptonshire, in March 2025. The gallery exclusively sells artwork created by artists based within 50 miles of the shop, aiming to showcase local talent that the owners describe as 'phenomenal' but underrecognized. They have built extensive connections with local artists and collaborate with Northants & Rutland Open Studios to provide a year-round platform for creatives.

Studio Shop Gallery Celebrates A Figurative Artist's Centennial

Studio Shop Gallery is presenting "Roland Petersen at 100: A Life in Painting," a major retrospective honoring the centennial of Bay Area Figurative artist Roland Petersen. The exhibition opens May 8, 2026, with a black-tie reception and runs through May 30, 2026, featuring works spanning eight decades from early 1950s abstractions to a painting completed in 2026.

Bridge Street Studios mark 30 years with anniversary exhibition

Bridge Street Studios, a cornerstone of the Dundalk arts community, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a special group exhibition titled "The things that matter most are the things that can’t be seen." Hosted at the Basement Gallery in An Táin Arts Centre, the show features works from current studio members including Orlaith Cullinane, Rachel Tinneswood, and Sarah McKenna, among others.

Two New Exhibits at Penn’s Institute of Contemporary Art

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania has opened two new exhibitions. "Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images" (through December 7, 2025) is the first major museum survey dedicated to Jamaican-born geometric abstractionist Mavis Pusey (1928-2019), featuring over 60 works from her 50-year career, including her "Broken Construction" series. Co-organized with the Studio Museum in Harlem and curated by Hallie Ringle and Kiki Teshome, the show includes archival materials. The second exhibition, "Entryways: Xenobia Bailey" (through August 9, 2026), continues ICA's collaboration with textile studio Maharam, featuring a window installation by Philadelphia-based fiber artist Xenobia Bailey, curated by Denise Ryner.

Torbay’s art scene swipes right on creativity in bold new exhibition

A new exhibition titled SwipeRight4Art has opened at Artizan Gallery in Torquay, running until 4 May. Inspired by dating apps, the show invites visitors to engage with artworks as if swiping through profiles, using “matchmaker cards” to indicate which pieces they would “pass” or “match” with. The exhibition is the first project from Sienna Editions, a publishing and art venture co-founded by charcoal artist Hannah Leadbetter and landscape photographer Kevin Cowell, with backing from local studio Print2Wall and funding from Innovate UK. It features works by local artists including Szabotage, David Norman, Francesca Lawrence, Rosie Rowell, Peter Blakesley, and Sally Loxton, alongside pieces by the founders.

parties tropa tequila haas brothers carvingblock

Tropa Tequila launched its limited-edition Añejo Artist Series bottle, designed by artist Nikolai Haas of the Haas Brothers and produced by Max Block and Cam Saffle of CARVINGBLOCK. The launch event was held at the Haas Brothers’ new studio in North Hollywood, featuring an intimate dinner for Los Angeles artists, designers, and collaborators. Only 300 individually numbered bottles were released, with caps hand-beaded by artisans in South Africa.

art alix vernet young artist

Alix Vernet, a 28-year-old Yale Sculpture MFA graduate based in New York, is profiled as part of Cultured's 2025 Young Artists list. Her downtown-inspired sculptural work, made from materials like cheese cloth, spray paint, and stoneware, has been shown at Market Gallery, Museion, and Helena Anrather. She describes a recent project where she invented a job as a prayer collector at a church, gathering and refilling prayer cards that are eventually recycled, exploring themes of disposability and sacredness.

“From the Artist’s Studio: Alexi Torres” Solo Exhibition

The article announces the solo exhibition "From the Artist’s Studio: Alexi Torres" in Alpharetta, Georgia. It presents a focused look at the artist's work directly from his creative space.

design formafantasma andrea trimarchi simone farresin

Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Milan-based design studio Formafantasma have become fashion and art's go-to design duo. In the past year, they designed runways for Meryll Rogge's Marni debut, scenography for the new Fondation Cartier, and a radical take on the Shaker legacy for a show at the Vitra Design Museum. In an interview, they discuss their critical approach to design, the gap between design's progressive claims and its environmental and labor impacts, and their commitment to using design as a tool for inquiry rather than mere form-making.