At London's Barbican, Lucy Raven chronicles the destruction of a California dam

Lucy Raven's video installation "Murderers Bar" (2025) has its European premiere at the Barbican's Curve gallery in London. The work documents the 2023-2024 demolition of four dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California, focusing on the destruction of the Copco No. 1 dam built in 1918. The film is the final part of Raven's trilogy "The Drumfire," exploring themes of pressure, release, and material transformation. It uses aerial photography, drones, lidar, and sonar animations to capture the river's reclamation of its course after the dam's removal, following decades of activism by Indigenous communities including the Yurok, Karuk, Klamath, Hoopa, and Shasta Indian Nation. The exhibition also includes a new kinetic sculpture, "Hardpan" (2025), that physically manifests ideas of force and pressure.

Ernest Edmonds – interview: ‘The technology didn’t make it easy at the time, but it was clearly right for the future’

Ernest Edmonds, a pioneering computer artist, discusses his six-decade career and his latest exhibition 'Networked' at Gazelli Art House in London. The interview covers his early works from 1968, including 'Nineteen' and 'Communications Game', and his ongoing exploration of human-machine interaction through interactive installations, videos, and algorithmic systems. His latest piece, 'Quantum Tango', continues his interest in networked interactivity. The article also highlights his collaborations with fellow pioneers like Stroud Cornock and his inclusion in the 2015 exhibition 'Primary Codes' in Rio de Janeiro.

Amazonia Açu

Americas Society in New York will present 'Amazonia Açu,' an exhibition opening September 3, 2025, that offers a kaleidoscopic view of Amazonian aesthetic, cultural, and material diversity. Curated by Keyna Eleison and a committee of representatives from all nine Amazonian states—Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela—the show features over 50 works by 34 local artists and collectives, addressing themes such as artistic production, land rights, cultural heritage, and spirituality.

NEXT in the Gallery: June art brings John Lennon, the Fiberart International and a moral compass

NEXTpittsburgh's June gallery guide highlights a packed month of art events across Pittsburgh, including the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival (June 5-8) with 191 artists, a Juried Visual Arts Exhibition at SPACE Gallery, and a rare photography exhibit by May Pang documenting John Lennon's "lost weekend" at Atithi Studios. Other openings include ceramicist Philip Soucy's solo show, painter Caroline Heckman's portraits at Revel, Stephanie Gonzalez's cosmic "Nebulas" at BoxHeart Gallery, the Fiberart International 2025 triennial at Contemporary Craft and Brew House Arts, and Natalie Westbrook's "Corners of My Mind" at ZYNKA Gallery.

Polar icebergs and North Devon cliffs meet with powerful new art exhibition at The Burton

Royal Academician Emma Stibbon opens a new exhibition, "Melting Ice | Rising Tides," at The Burton at Bideford on May 10. The show features monumental drawings and prints inspired by field trips to Svalbard and the Weddell Sea, alongside a five-metre-wide installation responding to erosion in Bideford Bay. It includes a film with contributions from Andy Bell, Caroline Lucas, and Dr. Dylan Rood, and a limited edition print, "Atlantic Edge" (2025), priced at £390 to support the gallery.

Staying Curious: Isabelle de Caters on 20 Years of Gallery Isabelle

Gallery Isabelle, founded by Isabelle de Caters in Dubai's Al Quoz district, celebrated its 20th anniversary in April 2026 with a 20-day exhibition titled "Move, Pause, Return." The show unveiled one work per day before bringing all 20 artists together for a final gathering. De Caters, who opened her first space B21 Gallery in 2006 when contemporary art in the Gulf was seen as a passing fad, reflects on two decades of building a gallery through instinct, long-term artist relationships, and organic growth rather than commercial dictates.

Art Central Enters Its Second Decade with a Discovery‑Led 11th Edition

Art Central 2026, the Hong Kong art fair, is launching its 11th edition with a record 117 galleries and over 500 artists. The event, staged on the Central Harbourfront, emphasizes discovery through large-scale installations, performances, and moving-image works, transforming its architecture into an immersive arena. It solidifies its role as a key regional platform.

The Burlington Magazine - No. 1477 Vol. CLXVIII - April 2026

The Burlington Magazine - n°1477 vol CLXVIII - April 2026

The April 2026 issue of The Burlington Magazine presents a wealth of new scholarship, highlighted by significant discoveries regarding the 'Rainbow' portrait of Queen Elizabeth I and a previously unpublished portrait of Sarah Churchill by Godfrey Kneller. The edition spans centuries of art history, featuring research on 18th-century color theorist Mary Gartside, the pottery windows of William Bell Scott, and newly identified drawings by Marcellus Laroon the Younger.

Humans, Machines, and Possible Futures: The Last 100 Years at New Museum

HUMANS MACHINES AND POSSIBLE FUTURES THE LAST 100 YEARS AT NEW MUSEUM

The New Museum has launched "New Humans: Memories of the Future," a massive exhibition spanning its entire building and featuring over 200 international contributors. The show traces a century of artistic, scientific, and social evolution, pairing 20th-century masters like Constantin Brâncuși and Salvador Dalí with contemporary commissions from artists such as Hito Steyerl and Wangechi Mutu. By exploring themes of automated labor, artificial intelligence, and mechanized warfare, the exhibition frames the relationship between humanity and technology as a series of cyclical leaps and reversals rather than linear progress.

The Invincible Spirit of Edmonia Lewis

The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, has opened "Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone," the first major retrospective of the 19th-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis, who was of Black and Indigenous (Mississauga-Tuscarora) descent. The exhibition displays 30 of her Neoclassical white marble sculptures alongside archival materials and works by other artists, organized into four thematic rooms that explore antislavery, Indigenous artistic worlds, her studios in Rome, and religion and mythology. Co-organized with the Georgia Museum of Art, the show emphasizes Lewis's dual heritage without conflating the two identities, featuring extensive text and quotes from the artist herself.

How Former Fashion Designer Emma Safir Turns Fabric into Beguiling Paintings

Emma Safir, a former fashion designer and printmaker, creates beguiling paintings and tapestries that blend textiles, digital printing, and traditional embroidery techniques. Her works, such as "APRICOT SILK" (2025) and "BABY DARLING" (2025), use smocking, glass beads, and shells to produce organic, jewel-toned surfaces that resist easy reflection or entry, challenging viewers to engage with layered material hierarchies.

Tilda Swinton to Perform at Guggenheim Bilbao in June

Actress and performance artist Tilda Swinton will stage a performance titled 'House of Gestures' at the Guggenheim Bilbao on June 5 and 6. The work, a collaboration with fashion historian and curator Olivier Saillard, is commissioned by Dom Pérignon as part of its 'Creation is an eternal journey' series. The piece explores gesture, presence, and transformation, set in the museum's atrium, and is free and open to the public with advance registration.

British Museum Unveils Elaborate Display for Bayeux Tapestry

The British Museum has revealed its plans for displaying the nearly 1,000-year-old Bayeux Tapestry when it arrives on loan from France later this year. For the first time in recent history, the 230-foot-long embroidered narrative of the Norman Conquest will be laid flat in a bespoke case, allowing visitors to view all 58 scenes in a single unbroken display. The exhibition, supported by a £5 million pledge from WorldQuant CEO Igor Tulchinsky, will also feature loans including the Junius II manuscript from Oxford's Bodleian Libraries and silver coins from the Chew Valley Hoard. Tickets for the ten-month show, opening September 10, cost £25–£33.

A New Show Explores the Cutting-Edge Designs of Fashion’s Mad Scientist, Iris van Herpen

Iris van Herpen's mid-career retrospective "Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" has opened at the Brooklyn Museum, marking the designer's first major museum presentation in the United States. Originally mounted at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2023, the exhibition features over 140 haute couture looks alongside artworks, design objects, fossils, videos, and natural specimens. The show begins with a water-themed section and includes garments made from materials such as glass bubbles, bioluminescent algae, and 3D-printed polyamide, exploring themes of skeletal structures, primordial fear, and cosmic movements. A centerpiece room, the Atelier, displays swatches, prototypes, and experimental materials, highlighting van Herpen's scientific approach to fashion design.

Human Touch Wins Big With the 2026 Loewe Craft Prize

Jongjin Park won the 2026 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and €50,000 for his work "Strata of Illusion, 2025," which combines glassblowing and bookbinding techniques using porcelain-coated paper layers. The ceremony took place at the National Gallery Singapore, with a jury led by Loewe's new creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, alongside architects Minsuk Cho, Frida Escobedo, Wang Shu, and Patricia Urquiola. Special mentions went to Graziano Visintin for his necklace "Collier" and a collaborative piece by Baba Tree Master Weavers and Álvaro Catalán de Ocón. The exhibition of 30 finalists, selected from over 5,100 applicants across 133 countries, runs at the National Gallery Singapore through June 14.

Venice’s Chicest Invite This Week? A Pizza Party Where the Artists Chose the Ingredients

Diana Campbell, Chomwan Weeraworawit, and Paris-based art advisors Samy Ghiyati and Nicolas Nahab of NG Partners organized a pizza party called Pizzalo Mundo during the Venice Biennale. Each artist contributed an ingredient from home: Rirkrit Tiravanija brought a Penang coconut base, Precious Okoyomon added flowers, Daria Kim wild honey, Tarek Atoui za'atar on hummus, Miet Warlop artichoke hearts, Tori Wrånes self-grown potatoes, and Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka fig leaf oil with yuzu salt. The event drew a crowd of curators, directors, and collectors from institutions including Tate, Musée d'Orsay, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, MoMA, and Centre Pompidou.

Hundreds of ‘Piss Bottles’ Left at the Met Gala in Protest of Jeff Bezos

Hundreds of bottles filled with what appeared to be urine were discovered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the Met Gala on May 5, 2026, according to the New York Post. The protest was claimed by the anti-billionaire group Everybody Hates Elon, which targeted the event over Jeff Bezos serving as the gala's chair. The group left the bottles with signs labeling them a "Met Gala VIP toilet" and criticizing Bezos for alleged labor practices at Amazon, where workers reportedly feel forced to urinate in bottles due to lack of bathroom breaks. The group later clarified on Instagram that the bottles did not contain real urine.

The Strange Coincidence Behind Ivy Getty’s Ludovic de Saint Sernin Met Gala Dress

Ivy Getty, an American model and philanthropist, collaborated with Parisian designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin to create her Met Gala dress, inspired by the 1926 illustration *L’Eclat de l’Or* by Russian artist Erté. The sketch, originally for the show *The Golden Fables*, was chosen from Getty’s mood board; the pair later discovered it is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s archive, coinciding with its 100th anniversary. The final fringed gown debuted on the Met Gala red carpet, and the duo discussed the creative process in an interview.

An Abandoned Shipyard in Venice Is Getting a New Life Thanks to This Congolese Choreographer

Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula is staging "The Galeazze Project," a performance in a 16th-century shipyard complex in Venice that has been inaccessible since World War II and never open to the public. Commissioned by the nonprofit Scuola Piccola Zattere, the work will bring up to 500 people into the 32,291-square-foot open-air ruin for two nights during the 2026 Venice Biennale preview week. The rental fee from the performance will help stabilize and restore the floors of the historic Galeazze site.

fashion ivy getty met gala ludovic de saint sernin

Ivy Getty, an American model and philanthropist, collaborated with Parisian designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin on her 2025 Met Gala look. The design was inspired by a 1926 illustration titled *L’Eclat de l’Or* by Russian artist Erté, originally created for the show *The Golden Fables*. Getty's mood board included vintage sketches and imagery from the 1920s, and the pair discovered that the original artwork is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's archive, which they visited in person. The final dress features a fringe-lined reinterpretation of the historic design, and the article includes an interview with the duo about their creative process and the experience of preparing for the event.

US National Gallery of Art receives $116m gift to continue nationwide lending programme

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, has received a landmark $116 million donation from the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation to permanently endow its Across the Nation lending programme. Launched in spring 2025, the initiative has already reached around 900,000 visitors at ten partner institutions, including the Anchorage Museum and the Mint Museum, by loaning works from the NGA's collection at no cost—covering transport, installation, insurance, and marketing. The next cycle will run from autumn 2027 to 2029, with new partners to be announced.

Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–US Border

The exhibition "Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–US Border" at The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford, British Columbia, brings together archival materials from the Northwest Boundary Survey (1857–62) with new works by five Indigenous artists. The show features photographs, maps, and watercolors from British and American surveyors alongside commissions by Dr. Shawn Brigman, Dr. Michelle Jack, Deb Silver, Xémóntalot Carrielynn Victor, and Dr. T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, who respond to the legacy of the border's creation through canoe culture, transboundary identity, and place-based knowledge.

fashion yana peel chanel art

Yana Peel, president of arts, culture, and heritage at Chanel, is profiled in Cultured's 2026 CULT100 honorees feature. The article, accompanied by a photograph by Jason Schmidt, highlights her leadership in elevating Chanel's commitment to the visual arts, including supporting China's first public contemporary art library, transforming Gabrielle Chanel's French Riviera home into a creative retreat, and launching the Next Prize for emerging artists. Peel answers a series of personal and professional questions, discussing her influences, career highlights such as building pavilions with architects Frida Escobedo, Francis Kéré, and Liu Jiakun during her tenure as CEO of the Serpentine, and her ongoing work with Christo's final project in London.

Sustainability charity Gallery Climate Coalition launches new consultancy to support climate action

The Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC), a sustainability charity founded in London in 2020, has launched a new consultancy called Climate Action Services International (Casi) to help galleries, museums, and cultural organizations turn climate commitments into measurable action. Casi offers services such as carbon auditing, decarbonisation strategies, governance advice, and staff training, and follows a pilot phase working with institutions including English Heritage, Hauser & Wirth, and Art Fund. The consultancy is structured as a mission-driven social enterprise that will reinvest 51% of its profits into GCC.

food marcel sothebys restaurant roman williams

Marcel, a new restaurant, opened on April 17 in the lower level of Sotheby’s new home at the Marcel Breuer building on the Upper East Side. Designed by Roman and Williams in partnership with the auction house, the space features walnut-paneled walls, an open kitchen, and a pâtisserie. Chef Marie-Aude Rose, who also oversees La Mercerie downtown, created a “continental” menu rooted in French technique but influenced by Breuer’s Hungarian heritage, with dishes like chicken paprikash and lobster bisque with turmeric and ginger. The wine list comes from Sotheby’s own collection, allowing guests to purchase bottles they enjoy during their meal.

Prehistoric Stone Altar with Human Remains Discovered in Central Mexico

Archaeologists conducting salvage work for a new passenger train line between Querétaro and Mexico City have unearthed a 1,000-year-old Toltec stone altar. Located within the Tula Archaeological Monument Zone in Hidalgo, the three-level structure was found alongside four human skulls, long bones, a black ceramic bowl, and obsidian blades. Preliminary assessments by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) suggest the remains belong to individuals offered as ritual sacrifices.

art collector questionnaire dallas art fair 2026

Cultured magazine interviewed five Dallas collectors ahead of the 18th edition of the Dallas Art Fair, which runs April 17–19 at the Fashion Industry Gallery. The article features collectors Rachel and Adam Green, who discuss the city's collaborative art scene, their 20-year collection journey, and how local collectors grow alongside artists. Adam Green, who founded the Green Family Art Foundation and Adam Green Art Advisory, and Rachel Green, founder of L'Epoque Parfums, highlight works by Dana Schutz, Nicole Eisenman, Ilana Savdie, and Lynda Benglis, among others.

Endless’s Street Art Calls Attention to London’s Homeless Crisis

British street artist Endless has installed a new public artwork on the corner wall of Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church in London. The piece depicts a rough sleeper in a sleeping bag with the text "210,000 Homeless today," creating a stark visual juxtaposition against the affluent backdrop of the nearby Oxford Street shopping district.

art gabriela hearst adam pendleton nina simone

Fashion designer Gabriela Hearst and visual artist Adam Pendleton have collaborated on a limited edition of 25 Nina bags, reimagining Hearst's classic style with Pendleton's unique silkscreens. The bags are being sold this month at Sotheby's, with net sales proceeds going to preserve singer Nina Simone's childhood home, which Pendleton and other artists purchased in 2017. The collaboration coincides with Pendleton's exhibition "Love, Queen" at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, running through January 2027.

Galerie Sept Sets Its Sights on a New, Expanded Vision on the Belgian Seaside

Galerie Sept, founded by Florian Araïb in Brussels in 2018, has expanded by opening a second gallery location in the Belgian seaside town of Knokke. The new, larger space features high ceilings and natural light, designed to support more ambitious presentations of its artists' work, and is launching with an exhibition by Juliette Clovis.