courtney mcclellan evangelical college supreme court simulation shirley fiterman liberty

Courtney McClellan's exhibition "Simulations" at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center in Lower Manhattan features deadpan photographs of empty mock courtrooms at universities across the American South, including a haunting simulation of the Supreme Court's chambers at Liberty University, an evangelical Southern Baptist college in Virginia. The show, which includes images taken over six years, is installed with blue borders and wainscoting that blur the line between architecture and image, placing viewers in the position of judge and jury while highlighting the theatricality of these spaces.

burmese curator flees bangkok china censors art exhibition

The curator of an exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre (BACC) fled Thailand two days after its opening, fearing arrest and deportation. The show, titled “Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machine of Authoritarian Solidarity,” featured exiled artists from China, Russia, Iran, and Myanmar and was curated by an artist from Myanmar known as Sai. After receiving warnings from BACC directors that Thai police were seeking his contact information, Sai learned that the Chinese embassy, Thai Foreign Ministry, and Bangkok city officials had pressured the museum over potential diplomatic tensions. The exhibition was censored: black paint covered artists' names and descriptions of Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang; a multimedia piece by Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron was nearly entirely removed; and flags representing Tibet and the Uyghur people were taken down. Sai immediately flew to London and plans to restage the exhibition elsewhere without censorship.

ousted dusable museum vp lawsuit

Kim Dulaney, former vice president of education and programs at Chicago's DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, has filed a whistleblower and retaliatory discharge lawsuit against the museum and its CEO, Perri Irmer. Dulaney alleges she was wrongfully terminated in October after repeatedly raising concerns about misuse of restricted funds, improper financial practices, and workplace misconduct to museum leadership, the board, and government agencies. The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on December 1, seeks reinstatement, damages, and injunctive relief. The museum has denied the allegations, stating that Dulaney's termination followed a thorough review process and that it maintains strict financial controls.

brussels nativity scene stolen baby jesus

Belgian police are investigating the theft of the infant Jesus figure from a controversial Nativity scene at a Brussels Christmas market. The installation, created by German artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, features faceless cloth figures intended to allow all Catholics to identify with the biblical story, but it sparked a national scandal and political backlash, with critics calling the design zombie-like and the €65,000 cost exorbitant. The figure was stolen from its manger in the early hours of November 29, and authorities have since replaced it with a new model.

thirty five arrested in bulgaria criminal art trafficking network

Bulgarian authorities, with support from Europol, arrested 35 individuals and conducted 131 searches across Bulgaria, seizing over 3,000 cultural artifacts valued at more than €100 million. The operation targeted a criminal network trafficking artifacts from Thracian and Greco-Roman civilizations across Europe, with connections to illegal excavations in Bulgaria and the Balkans. The investigation, which began after a 2020 house raid that uncovered 7,000 artifacts, involved law enforcement from Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the UK, and was coordinated from Sofia and Eurojust in The Hague.

40 year old sculpture demolished battery park city resiliency project

Crews have begun demolishing Ned Smyth's 40-year-old sculpture *Upper Room* in Battery Park City, New York, to make way for the North/West Battery Park City Resiliency (NWBPCR) project. The 20-column concrete colonnade, commissioned in 1986 as the neighborhood's first public art piece, features an elongated table with inlaid chessboards and was appraised at $1.5 million. The demolition is part of a larger plan to install a coastal flood barrier system along the Hudson River waterfront, intended to protect against storms like Hurricane Sandy.

art basel ubs report women and gen z

The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025, authored by Clare McAndrew, surveyed 3,100 high-net-worth collectors across ten markets. It reveals that nearly three-quarters of respondents are Gen Z or Millennials, with Gen Z collectors allocating an average of 26% of their wealth to art—the highest of any age group. Female collectors outspent men by 46% in 2024 and the first half of 2025, and 51% of collectors purchased digital artworks. Direct purchases from artists surged to 63%, up from 27% two years earlier, with 35% buying via Instagram links.

us antiques and decorative arts hit hard by trump tariffs

Import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on October 14 are causing unintended harm to the international trade of antiques and decorative arts. The executive order, signed on September 29, placed 25 percent tariffs on wood imports and products like upholstered furniture and kitchen cabinets, with further increases scheduled for January 1, 2026. While painting, sculpture, and fine art are exempt under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, collectibles such as antique furniture, watches, wine, and classic cars are not protected. Dealers like Millicent Ford Creech and Michael Pashby report that the costs are unpredictable and largely absorbed by businesses, with shippers struggling to quote rates amid constant fluctuations.

historic preservation groups request pause on trump ballroom at the white house

Historic preservation groups, led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have formally requested a pause on construction of President Donald Trump's new ballroom at the White House. Demolition began on the East Wing to make way for a 55,000-square-foot addition, which the Trust argues would overwhelm the White House's classical design and disrupt its historic fabric. The letter, sent to the National Capital Planning Commission, National Park Service, and Commission of Fine Arts, urges a halt until legally required public reviews occur. The Society of Architectural Historians and the American Institute of Architects have also voiced concerns, though none of these groups hold statutory authority to stop construction.

trump demolishes east wing of the white house

President Donald Trump has demolished a portion of the East Wing of the White House to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, despite earlier claims that the addition would not impact the historic structure. The demolition began on October 20, with a backhoe tearing through the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that will nearly double the size of the main building and accommodate 650 people. The $250 million project, which Trump says is privately funded, marks one of the most significant changes to the White House in over a century.

frieze acquisition finalized mari ari emanuel

Ariel Emanuel, through his newly formed company Mari, has finalized the acquisition of Frieze, which includes its magazine, seven art fairs worldwide, and two exhibition spaces. The deal also encompasses tennis events like the Miami Open and Madrid Open, along with a majority stake in the collector car auction house Barrett-Jackson. The acquisition was first announced in May and reportedly valued at $200 million, with financial backing from investors including Apollo, RedBird Capital Partners, and the Qatar Investment Authority. Mari will be led by Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, with Simon Fox remaining as CEO of Frieze.

vapid art world novel dimes square zoe dubno happiness love

Zoe Dubno's novel *Happiness & Love* is a satire of the art world, heavily borrowing from Thomas Bernhard's 1984 novel *Woodcutters*. The book follows an unnamed narrator who relentlessly criticizes the vapid, social-climbing denizens of the downtown New York scene, using the word "stupid" over twenty times. The narrator laments the art world's obsession with wealth and clout over meaning and beauty, but her own hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness are evident. The novel has received superficial coverage from outlets like *New York Magazine*, focusing on the author's lifestyle rather than the book's content.

artnet ceo resigns handelblatt

Jacob Pabst, CEO of Artnet AG, resigned late Sunday night just before the company's annual general meeting in Berlin. His contract had expired at the end of August, and he cited a failure to reach an agreement on continuing. Andrew E. Wolff, who holds about 98.93% of Artnet shares and also owns rival platform Artsy, will serve as interim CEO. The meeting proceeded without Artnet management present, leading to criticism from investor-protection group DSW. Shareholders were given an overview of 2024 finances and approved the creation of authorized capital for a possible increase of up to 50% of share capital. Former major shareholder Rüdiger K. Weng announced he will pursue civil and criminal claims against members of the founding Neuendorf family and board members.

nazi looted painting argentina recovery

Argentine authorities believe they have recovered a Nazi-looted painting by Italian Baroque artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, which appeared in a real estate listing for a home in Mar del Plata. The home belongs to Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a Nazi official, who initially faced accusations of obstructing the investigation but later turned over the painting to the Civil Court. The work was once owned by Jewish dealer Jacques Goudstikker, who fled Amsterdam during the Nazi rise and died shortly after; it is listed as missing in a registry of lost art.

burmese artist sai exhibition bangkok arts cultural center

An art exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre titled “Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machine of Authoritarian Solidarity” was censored after repeated visits by Chinese embassy representatives. The show, featuring exiled artists from China, Russia, Iran, and Burma, had black paint applied over artists' names and descriptions of homelands such as Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang. Works by Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron were particularly affected, with television screens showing her films switched off and Tibetan and Uyghur flags removed. Burmese artist Sai told BBC News that since the censorship, he and his wife fled to the UK to seek asylum.

david chichkan ukraine artist dead battle russia

David Chichkan, a Ukrainian artist known for his explicitly political and often censored work, has died at age 39. The Ukrainian culture ministry reported that his heart stopped after he was wounded in battle against Russian troops. Chichkan founded the Libertarian Club of Underground Dialectics in 2014 and staged provocative exhibitions, including one about the 2013–14 Maidan revolution that was vandalized by masked intruders. He enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2024 as a mortar operator, after being unable to serve earlier for health reasons, and continued to create art depicting antiauthoritarian soldiers until his death.

ugly and pornographic mermaid statue removed copenhagen

The Danish government has ordered the removal of a 13-foot tall mermaid statue known as the "Big Mermaid" from Dragør Fort in Copenhagen, following years of criticism that it is sexualized, ugly, and pornographic. The sculpture, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, was installed without permission on a protected monument site overseen by the Agency for Culture and Palaces, which determined it disrupts the fort's military structure. Critics including Sorine Gotfredsen and Mathias Kryger condemned the work, while entrepreneur Peter Bech, who commissioned it, defended the statue's proportions.

nathan myhrvold modernist cuisine

Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft CTO, chef, author, and photographer, has released his first series of safari photographs taken in Africa. The collection, titled 'Resting Leopard' (2025) and 'The Young King' (2025), marks a shift from his meticulously staged food and beverage photography to wildlife portraiture. In an interview, Myhrvold discusses how the project reconnects with humanity's place in the natural world, contrasting the controlled environment of studio work with the unpredictability of photographing wild animals.

how nebra sky disc made study

Researchers from Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, and the Saxony-Anhalt-State Museum of Prehistory, in collaboration with engineering firm DeltaSigma Analytics and coppersmith Herbert Bauer, have successfully replicated the manufacturing process of the Nebra Sky Disk, a 3,600-year-old bronze artifact depicting the cosmos. By analyzing a small sample of the disk using advanced techniques like energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, the team determined the disk was cast and then forged at least 10 times through repeated heating and hammering. Bauer replicated this by annealing a similar metal mixture 55 times, revealing that the disk's microstructure matches a stage after 10 forging cycles, not the final 55, indicating the original preform was thinner and wider than assumed.

institute of museum and library services restraining order overturned

A federal judge has declined to extend a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the Trump administration from dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The ruling, issued on Friday, allows the administration to proceed with mass layoffs and budget cuts that have already placed the agency's entire 75-person staff on leave. The IMLS, which distributes federal grants to museums and libraries nationwide, was targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in April. The case, ALA v. Sonderling, was brought by the American Library Association and AFSCME, and will continue in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

world press photo foundation suspends the terror of war attribution

The World Press Photo Foundation has suspended the authorship attribution of the iconic 1972 photograph 'The Terror of War' (also known as 'Napalm Girl') from Associated Press photographer Nick Út. The decision follows new research presented in the documentary 'The Stringer' (January 2025) by the VII Foundation, which suggests that the image was more likely captured by stringer Nguyễn Thành Nghệ or Huỳnh Công Phúc. An independent investigation by forensic analysts and media experts, along with separate inquiries by AP and World Press Photo, found insufficient evidence to definitively confirm the original credit, leading to the suspension until authorship can be conclusively determined.

mrbeast mexico ancient mayan sites outrage

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has filed an administrative lawsuit against the production company of YouTuber MrBeast (James Donaldson) over a video titled “I Explored 2000 Year Old Ancient Temples,” uploaded on May 10, 2025. The video shows MrBeast and his companions exploring Mayan sites in Yucatán, including Chichén Itzá, Calakmul, and Balamcanché, and features a scene where he promotes his snack brand Feastables as “the only Mayan-approved snack on the planet.” INAH alleges that the permit granted to Full Circle Media did not authorize commercial advertising or false information, and it demands compensation and a public retraction. The controversy escalated after Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum called for further investigation into whether the permit was violated.

who took famous napalm girl photo

A documentary film titled *The Stringer* has sparked a controversy over the authorship of the iconic 1972 Vietnam War photograph known as "Napalm Girl" (officially *The Terror of War*). Both the Associated Press and World Press Photo conducted investigations into whether the credited photographer, Nick Ut, actually took the image. While the AP decided to maintain Ut's credit due to insufficient evidence to the contrary, World Press Photo stripped his authorship, concluding that the level of doubt is too significant to keep the existing attribution. The organization found that two other photographers—Nguyen Thanh Nghe and Huỳnh Công Phúc—were also present and could have taken the shot, but it could not definitively reassign authorship.

ancient greek author title oxford herculaneum scroll

Researchers have identified the title and author of a charred scroll from Herculaneum, which was buried by the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Using X-ray imaging and AI analysis at the Diamond synchrotron facility in Oxfordshire, they determined the scroll is part of the multivolume work *On Vices* by the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus, dating to the 1st century CE. The scroll is one of three from the Villa of the Papyri housed at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University, and its contents had been unknown for 2,000 years. The discovery was awarded the $60,000 first title prize from the Vesuvius Challenge, an international competition that uses AI to decipher the unopenable scrolls.

yuga labs seeks access to crypto wallets bored apes lawsuit

Yuga Labs, the parent company of Bored Ape Yacht Club, has filed a motion in US District Court demanding that Jeremy Cahen, co-creator of the RR/BAYC NFT series, turn over control of four cryptocurrency wallets allegedly holding $400,000 in assets. This follows a February judgment ordering Cahen and Ryder Ripps to pay nearly $9 million for trademark infringement and cybersquatting. Yuga Labs claims Cahen transferred funds to private wallets after a court-authorized levy was served on his crypto exchange account, and seeks court-ordered access via the U.S. Marshals. Cahen's legal team plans to respond by May 5, calling the motion "courtroom theater" and arguing it contains factual misrepresentations.

house democrats urge jd vance to stop smithsonian

Four Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives—Joseph Morelle, Terri Sewell, Norma Torres, and Julie Johnson—sent a letter to Vice President J.D. Vance on Thursday urging him to reject an overhaul of the Smithsonian Institution. The letter responds to President Donald Trump's March 27 executive order, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which aims to eliminate "divisive" and "anti-American" content from Smithsonian exhibitions and restore removed monuments. The lawmakers argue that the order threatens the curatorial independence that has made the Smithsonian a globally respected cultural institution.

art young photographer hero bean stevenson

Hero Bean Stevenson, a New York-based photographer, is featured in Cultured's "29" series, nominated by Brigitte Lacombe. Stevenson has shot for clients like Maison d’Etto and Carven, co-founded the Los Angeles gallery Raum, and developed a spare black-and-white photographic style. The article includes Stevenson's reflections on portraiture, citing influences such as Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, and a memorable 2023 portrait session with filmmaker Werner Herzog.

QUISQUEYA HENRÍQUEZ: THE CENTER CAN BE EVERYWHERE

QUISQUEYA HENRÍQUEZ: EL CENTRO PUEDE ESTAR EN TODAS PARTES

A major retrospective exhibition titled "El centro puede estar en todas partes" (The Center Can Be Everywhere) for artist Quisqueya Henríquez has opened at the Centro de Arte Complutense in Madrid. Curated by René Morales with Isabella Lenzi and Alfonsina Martínez, the show presents the most comprehensive European review of Henríquez's multidisciplinary work, spanning photography, video, collage, and installation, and is organized thematically rather than chronologically.

The Many Sheddings of Valie Export

Die vielen Häutungen der Valie Export

Valie Export, the Austrian media and performance artist known for using her body as a site of social critique, has died at age 85 in Vienna. Her final works include a black-and-white photo series of her forearm resting on a stone snake sculpture at the University of Vienna, exploring themes of skin, transformation, and mimesis. From the 1970s onward, she created iconic "Body Configurations" in which she placed her body on streets and against buildings along Vienna's Ringstrasse, tracing architectural forms to expose institutional power and patriarchal authority.

Colectivo Los Ingrávidos wins Schering Stiftung Award

The Colectivo Los Ingrávidos, an anonymous film collective based in Tehuacán, Mexico, has been named the winner of the 2026 Schering Stiftung Award for Artistic Research. The group will receive a €15,000 prize, a solo exhibition at Berlin's KW Institute of Contemporary Art featuring a newly produced work, and a publication.