Photographer Sally Mann discusses her new book "Art Work," a follow-up to her National Book Award finalist memoir "Hold Still." In the interview with Cultured, Mann reflects on her career, her black-and-white imagery of family and the Southern landscape, and her shift to digital photography. She shares insights on the changing photography landscape, the melding of art and commerce, and her hopes for the next generation of artists.
Cultured magazine asked 12 collectors to name the single work in their home that most stops guests in their tracks. Responses include Wolfgang Tillmans’s camera-less photograph *Freischwimmer 153* (2010), a medieval illuminated *Book of Hours* (ca. 1480/90), Jordan Wolfson’s robotic installation *(Female figure)* (2014), Julie Curtiss’s hair-covered sculpture *Spider* (2018), and Haegue Yang’s kinetic bell sculpture *Sonic Rotating Geometry Type E – Brass Plated #23* (2014). Each collector explains why the piece provokes awe, laughter, discomfort, or deep conversation.
Cultured magazine's Hamptons issue features an interview between designer Robin Standefer and Charlie Marder, the East End horticulturalist known as the 'tree whisperer.' Marder, who co-founded an eponymous Bridgehampton nursery with his wife Kathleen—dubbed 'a horticultural MoMA' by the New York Times—has assembled a sprawling field of massive geological specimens across from the nursery. The rocks, some weighing 10 tons, are salvaged from development sites and quarries. Standefer, who purchased one of Marder's boulders for her birthday, discusses with Marder the ethics of placement, the personalities of stones, and the human urge to give new life to ancient matter.
Lisa Yuskavage is set to have a major exhibition of her works on paper at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, running through January. The show features dozens of drawings spanning over three decades, many of which have never been publicly shown before, discovered in her flat files by her registrar. The exhibition places her provocative figurative work—known for its vulgar, humorous, and desire-laden imagery—in dialogue with the museum's renowned Old Master drawing collection.
Cultured magazine has published a roundup of must-see summer gallery shows in New York, featuring exhibitions by Che Lovelace at Nicola Vassell, Seth Price at 15 Orient, Carrie Yamaoka at Anonymous Gallery, Kati Heck at Bortolami, Lutz Bacher at Galerie Buchholz, and Dustin Yellin at Almine Rech. The shows run through July and August 2025, highlighting a diverse range of media including painting, video collage, sculpture, and light installation, with themes spanning post-colonial identity, historical collage, reflective surfaces, mythological realism, and enigmatic legacy.
A wave of new creative energy is reshaping Manhattan's Upper East Side, as artists, gallerists, and tastemakers migrate uptown. Notable newcomers include White Cube's gallery outpost (opened 2023), fashion brands like Khaite and Toteme, and fresh eateries such as Chez Fifi and Maxime's. Artist Margaret Lee, who co-founded a downtown gallery, notes the special feeling of crossing Park Avenue. Playwright Matthew Gasda observes an influx of young people while the neighborhood retains its multigenerational character. The article features nine local residents—including designer Leandra Medine Cohen and Instagram documentarian Joshua Kamei—sharing their perspectives on the area's evolution.
Cultured magazine has published its first Young Dealers List, highlighting 23 galleries under five years old that are revitalizing the art world. The list was compiled from over 100 recommendations gathered from more than 40 collectors, advisors, and curators. The article profiles one of the selected gallerists, Adora Mba, founder of ADA Contemporary Art Gallery in Accra, Ghana, who opened her space in 2020 after working as a cultural news producer. Mba emphasizes supporting emerging African artists and has dedicated her 2025 program to women artists and curators.
Larry Gagosian, the world-renowned art dealer, has purchased BookHampton, an independent bookstore in East Hampton, after its original owner put it up for sale last fall. In an interview for CULTURED's new column "Required Reading," Gagosian discusses his reading habits, his plans to maintain the store as a community hub while expanding its art and design offerings, and shares his personal summer reading list, which includes biographies of Douglas Cooper and Albert Barnes.
Liam Lis, a 23-year-old former child star who toured with Fifth Harmony and Zendaya, is now building a private art collection with his family in New York. In an interview with Cultured, he discusses key works in the collection, including Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Gringo Pilot (Anola Gay)" (1981), Damien Hirst's "Damnation" (2004), and Richard Prince's "A Nurse Involved" (2002), and credits his father, real estate developer Harry Lis, for nurturing his passion for art.
Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction on May 19 achieved $304 million with a 98% sell-through rate across 45 lots, more than doubling the total from the equivalent sale in November. The auction was anchored by fresh-to-market masterpieces, including Henri Matisse's "La Chaise Lorraine" from the Barbier-Müller collection, which sold for $48.4 million—the second-highest price for a Matisse painting at auction. Other highlights included works from the Enrico Donati collection, which generated a combined $58.9 million, and Pablo Picasso's "Arlequin (Buste)" (1909) selling for $42.6 million. The sale contributed to a running combined total of $839.6 million for Sotheby's marquee sales, following strong results from the Mnuchin collection and Contemporary Day Auction.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has opened "Nexus," a major retrospective of Martin Puryear featuring over 50 works, the first comprehensive survey of the artist's career in some time. The exhibition includes rarely displayed early pieces from Puryear's personal collection alongside recent works, organized in consultation with the 84-year-old artist. Highlights include the titular 1979 piece "Nexus" made of Alaskan yellow cedar, and other works like "Night and Day" and "Alien Huddle" that showcase his mastery of wood and cold-molding techniques.
The article reports that the May 2025 marquee auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's are being driven by a resurgence of major single-owner collections, reversing a period of trophy scarcity in the secondary market. Key collections include the $130 million Robert E. Mnuchin collection at Sotheby's, the personal collection of gallerist Marian Goodman at Christie's, and the S.I. Newhouse collection expected to generate around $450 million, featuring Jackson Pollock's 'Number 7A (1948)' and Constantin Brancusi's 'Danaïde (1913)'. The article notes that the ultra-high tier above $10 million rose 30% year-on-year, and single-owner collections in New York auctions totaled $730.9 million, an 89.9% increase from Q1 2025.
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles presents "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," a spring 2026 exhibition running from April 5 to August 23. Curated by Jill Spalding, the show features works by artists including Edgar Calel, Guadalupe Maravilla, Carmen Argote, and others, exploring the concept of "Brownness"—a fluid identity rooted in ancestral memory, animal kinship, and a profound connection to living materials. The exhibition is organized into three acts: large-scale installations, paintings and works on paper, and ceramics, offering a visceral and immersive experience that draws on precolonial traditions across the Americas.
Artist Dozie Kanu has debuted his first mass-production collaboration with Knoll, a line of leather-tasseled tables launched in 2026 during Milan's Salone del Mobile, shortly after the opening of his solo exhibition at Fondazione ICA Milano. The Texas-born, Portugal-based artist, who first appeared in PIN–UP magazine in 2018 as an emerging design wunderkind, has since expanded his practice beyond collectible design into art, exhibition-making, film, and music. His recent projects include a documentary short screened at South by Southwest, a two-person exhibition with László Moholy-Nagy at Meyer Voggenreiter's project space piece*unique in Cologne, and a solo show at ICA Milano that dialogues with Marc Camille Chaimowicz and Jean Cocteau, featuring works alongside selections from the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation collection.
David Kordansky Gallery is presenting "Ripple: Furniture Sculpture and Painting after 1982," an exhibition of historic works by Swiss artist John Armleder, on view from May 7 to June 13, 2026. The show focuses on Armleder's Furniture Sculpture series from the 1980s, which incorporates functional or decorative objects alongside paintings, exploring the intersection of art, design, and everyday life. Works like FS 156 (1987) and Untitled (FS) (1987) exemplify his interest in collectivity, chance, and the viewer's role in assigning meaning, influenced by experiences such as a prison stint for refusing conscription and his time on a rowing team, as well as the experimental compositions of Erik Satie and John Cage's writings on chance.
This article, published by Tokyo Weekender, lists eight art exhibitions opening in Tokyo during May. The featured shows span a range of venues and styles, including a solo presentation by Yayoi Kusama at the National Art Center, a group show of contemporary Japanese photography at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, and an installation by teamLab at their borderless digital art museum. Other highlights include a retrospective of the Gutai movement at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and a showcase of emerging artists at the Mori Art Museum.
From April 29 to September 6, 2026, MAXXI L'Aquila presents "AI WEIWEI: Aftershock," an exhibition curated by Tim Marlow featuring approximately seventy works by Chinese artist, architect, and activist Ai Weiwei. The show spans his entire career, focusing on themes of earthquakes, wars, political repression, and memory. The centerpiece is the installation "Straight" (2009–2012), made from 150 tons of steel rods recovered from schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, displayed across three rooms. The exhibition is held at Palazzo Ardinghelli, a Baroque building that houses MAXXI L'Aquila and was itself restored after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, creating a dialogue between the works and the building's history of recovery.
Scottish artist William Turnbull (1922–2012) is the subject of a new exhibition titled 'Origins (1946–1959)' at Karma gallery in Chelsea, New York. The show surveys Turnbull's early career, focusing on the transformative period after World War II when he moved between Surrealist Paris and Abstract Expressionist New York. It features key works such as the sculpture 'Horse' (1946), inspired by a Parthenon marble at the British Museum, and 'Playground (Game)' (1949), reflecting his interest in phenomenology and movement. The exhibition traces his evolution from an illustrator and Slade School student to a sculptor and painter who engaged elemental forms like the horse, standing figure, and human head.
A rare 1988 vintage silkscreen exhibition poster by Peter Halley, published for his show at Jablonka Galerie in Cologne, has surfaced on the secondary market. The work is notably hand-signed and dedicated by the artist to fellow artist Bill Radawec, distinguishing it from standard mass-produced exhibition ephemera. Halley, a central figure of the 1980s Neo-Geo movement, is recognized for his 'cell' and 'conduit' paintings that critique social and technological structures.
Poly Auction Hong Kong concluded its modern and contemporary art sale on April 6, achieving a total of HK$76.4 million (US$9.8 million) with a 67% sell-through rate. The auction was headlined by Liu Wei’s 1995 masterpiece "You Like Pork?", which sold for HK$27.6 million (US$3.5 million) to a phone bidder. Other top performers included Zao Wou-Ki’s "15.07.67" from his Hurricane period and Wu Dayu’s "Rhymes of Beijing Opera," both of which surpassed the HK$10 million threshold.
Sotheby’s London kicked off the spring auction season with a "white-glove" Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale, totaling £131 million ($176 million). Despite significant geopolitical instability and market anxiety following recent escalations in the Middle East, the auction achieved a 100 percent sell-through rate across 54 lots. Key highlights included works by Andy Warhol, a Claude Monet landscape once owned by John Singer Sargent, and a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that sold for £3.7 million after a mid-sale renegotiation.
Singapore Art Week 2026 transforms the Lion City into a stage for contemporary creativity, featuring a packed programme of exhibitions, auctions, and symposia from January through March. Key events include Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Art auction (21–24 January) spotlighting works by Walter Spies, Raden Saleh, David Hockney, and Takashi Murakami; the Tanoto Art Foundation’s first exhibition 'Rituals of Perception' at New Bahru School Hall (21 January–1 March); the inaugural Print Show & Symposium at STPI (22–31 January) with artists like Yayoi Kusama and Jeff Koons; and Loy Contemporary Art Gallery’s 'Mosaic SG' showcasing contemporary Italian artists under the patronage of the Embassy of Italy in Singapore.
Designboom has curated a list of the top 10 art exhibitions of 2025, highlighting standout shows from around the world. Key exhibitions include Yayoi Kusama's new infinity room at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Do Ho Suh's solo show 'Walk the House' at Tate Modern, Andy Goldsworthy's 'Fifty Years' land art retrospective at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, and Steve McQueen's immersive light and sound installation 'Bass' at Schaulager Basel. The list also features A.A. Murakami's mist-filled installation at Museo della Permanente during Milan Design Week 2025.
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), described by critic Robert Hughes as "the most important American artist of the last century," spent four decades in Florida, where materials and collaborators from the state fueled breakthroughs like his scrap-metal sculptures and the Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange (Roci). As Miami Art Week unfolds, two projects mark his centennial: "Robert Rauschenberg: Real Time" at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale (through April 2026) and the forthcoming book "Out of the Real World: Robert Rauschenberg at USF Graphicstudio." However, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation announced it will end its Captiva Island residency and sell the artist's home and studio, prompting reflection on how Florida shaped his legacy.
Artsy's December 2025 edition of "Artists on Our Radar" highlights five emerging visual artists who have gained attention through new gallery representation, exhibitions, auctions, or art fairs. Featured artists include British painter Imogen Allen, known for gauzy, nature-inspired works with a Gerhard Richter-like blur effect; Brazilian painter Elian Almeida, who reimagines marginalized figures in Brazilian visual culture through vibrant, narrative paintings; and nomadic American artist ektor garcia, who works with unconventional materials like wire, clay, and leather. The article details their recent exhibitions, gallery affiliations, and career milestones.
The Portland Art Museum is currently featuring an installation by artist Christopher Myers titled *Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me* (2022), which serves as the centerpiece of the exhibition *Global Icons, Local Spotlight*. The work consists of stained glass lightboxes arranged in an octagonal structure, depicting Black life and water symbolism, including images of a Black mermaid, fire hydrant scenes, and references to the water spirit Mami Wata. The installation incorporates objects like gas cans, oars, life jackets, and votive candles, transforming the space into a shrine-like environment.
Christie’s New York concluded its 20th and 21st Century Art sales week on November 21, 2025, generating a total of $964.5 million, the auction house’s highest in three years. The sales included the Collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis, which alone brought in $218 million, led by Mark Rothko’s *No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)* at $62.1 million. Other top lots included works by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, and David Hockney, each exceeding $40 million. Fifteen artist records were broken, including for Beauford Delaney, Leonor Fini, Firelei Báez, and Olga de Amaral. Bidding was active across all platforms, with the highest online bid ever placed at a live Christie’s auction.
Christie's 21st Century Evening Sale on November 20 achieved $123.6 million across 45 lots, with a 98% sell-through rate. The top lot was Andy Warhol's *The Last Supper*, selling for $8.1 million with fees, while works from the collection of Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson brought in $49.2 million. The sale included strong results for Christopher Wool, Cindy Sherman, and Diego Giacometti, though it lacked the record-breaking fireworks of earlier sessions.
Maurizio Cattelan's solid-gold toilet sculpture, *America* (2016), will be auctioned at Sotheby's New York on 18 November 2025 as part of the Now & Contemporary Evening Auction. The work, weighing 223 pounds of 18-karat gold, has a raw material value of around US$10.2 million based on current gold prices. In a first for auction history, the starting bid will fluctuate with live gold prices until bidding begins. The sculpture was previously installed at the Guggenheim Museum, where over 100,000 visitors used it, and later made headlines when the Guggenheim offered it to the Trump White House as a loan alternative to a Van Gogh painting. One edition was stolen and never recovered, making this the only surviving example.
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London-based ceramic artist Holly Stevenson discusses her recent and upcoming projects in an interview with Studio International. She had a joint exhibition, "A Hyena Wore My Face Last Night," at C+N Gallery Canepaneri in Milan, with works titled after Leonora Carrington's short story "The Debutante," and a solo exhibition, "Tracing the Irretraceable," at the Freud Museum in London in collaboration with the Jane McAdam Freud Estate. Stevenson reflects on the resurgence of surrealism, particularly feminist perspectives, and the influence of psychoanalysis on her work, noting coincidental timing with a major Carrington exhibition at Palazzo Reali in Milan.