Performance artist Crackhead Barney, known for her viral street interventions and ambush interviews at protests and public events, is transitioning her work to the formal stage. Her new play, GOD IS RAPING ME, is having sold-out dates at the Pageant performance space in Brooklyn, marking a significant shift from her guerrilla-style, social media-driven practice to theatrical production.
A new Banksy mural appeared on a wall in west London on Monday, December 22, 2025, depicting two children in winter clothing lying on their backs and gazing at the sky. The stenciled artwork, located on Queen’s Mews in Bayswater near Notting Hill, was officially claimed by Banksy via Instagram. An identical version was also spotted outside the Centre Point tower in central London, though not yet claimed. The piece has sparked widespread speculation about its meaning, with interpretations ranging from a commentary on childhood imagination and wonder to a satirical critique of consumerism and the replacement of sacred values by utility.
Conservative religious groups in Austria have launched a campaign against the exhibition “You Shall Make For Yourself An Image” at Vienna’s Künstlerhaus contemporary art museum, which explores Christian iconography from critical, feminist, and queer perspectives. The backlash, including an online petition and a “prayer of atonement” protest outside the museum, has been linked to a prior attack on another religious-themed exhibition at a Jesuit Church in Vienna. The show features over 30 artists, including Martin Kippenberger, Andres Serrano, and Marina Abramović, and has drawn particular ire for works like Kippenberger’s crucified frog and Anouk Lamm Anouk’s depiction of the Virgin Mary as a transgender woman.
Claude Monet’s iconic water lily pond paintings are the subject of a new article exploring the artist’s deep passion for gardening. The piece details how Monet, after moving to Giverny in 1883, spent decades transforming his property into a lush, Japanese-inspired garden, complete with a pond, wisteria bridge, and exotic plants. He hired up to eight gardeners, studied botanical journals, and even faced protests from local farmers when he diverted a river to create the pond. The garden became his sole artistic focus for the last 20 years of his life, producing around 250 paintings of the water lilies.
Artist Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of Pussy Riot, began a durational performance titled *Police State* at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles on Thursday, inhabiting a cell and sewing clothing. The following day, protests erupted in the city after ICE raids in the garment district, leading to clashes with police and the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops by President Donald Trump. MOCA closed its Geffen branch early on Sunday for safety, while Tolokonnikova continued her performance, live-streaming audio from the protests into her installation.
President Trump is moving forward with the National Garden of American Heroes, a monument featuring 250 life-size statues of American historical figures, to be built for the U.S. semiquincentennial in 2026. The project, first announced in a 2020 executive order, has released grant guidelines offering $200,000 per sculpture, with $34 million diverted from the NEA and NEH. The list of 244 subjects includes figures like Hannah Arendt, Neil Armstrong, and John Singer Sargent, with six remaining to be chosen by a presidential aide. The statues must be realistic, using materials like marble or bronze, and the location is still undecided, though South Dakota is a strong contender.
On the second day of the Venice Biennale preview, the activist group Pussy Riot staged a chaotic protest at the Russian pavilion, forcing it to temporarily close. Wearing pink balaclavas and carrying flares, about 40 activists—including members of Femen—gathered outside the pavilion, shouting slogans like "Blood is Russia's Art" and attempting to enter before being pushed back by police. Founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova led the protest, condemning Europe for allowing Russian participation despite the war in Ukraine. Separately, the Art Not Genocide Alliance (Anga) demonstrated outside the Israeli pavilion, which was locked from inside, over Israel's war in Gaza.
The 61st Venice Biennale opened under grey skies and rain, with political tensions overshadowing the art world's premier event. The Russian pavilion, absent for two editions due to the Ukraine war, reappeared with a party atmosphere, though the Italian ministry of culture confirmed it would not be open to the public. The Ukrainian culture minister called Russia's symbolic presence powerful. The Iranian pavilion withdrew without explanation, and a protest by 60 artists from the In Minor Keys show marched through the Giardini humming in solidarity against Israel's participation. Over 200 artists, including Lubaina Himid and Alfredo Jaar, signed an open letter demanding the Israeli pavilion's cancellation. The event also proceeded without its curator, Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2025; her curatorial team delivered the exhibition following her plans.
Anish Kapoor has called for the United States to be excluded from the Venice Biennale, citing the country's "abhorrent politics of hate" and "incessant warmongering." His comments follow the resignation of the five-member international jury, who stepped down in protest over the inclusion of Israel and Russia. Kapoor praised the jury's decision as "courageous" but argued they should have also targeted the US. The US pavilion, featuring artist Alma Allen and his exhibition "Call Me the Breeze," has faced scrutiny over perceived Trump administration interference and a delayed selection process. Meanwhile, the Israeli and Russian pavilions remain flashpoints, with over 200 participants signing a letter demanding the cancellation of the Israeli pavilion, and the Russian pavilion closed to the public but viewable through windows.
Art critic and writer Jarrett Earnest travels to Warsaw for the opening of "The Woman Question 1550–2025," a major survey of women artists curated by Alison M. Gingeras at the Museum of Modern Art (MSN Warsaw). The exhibition features nearly 200 works spanning from Renaissance to contemporary art, including pieces by Artemisia Gentileschi, Frida Kahlo, Lisa Yuskavage, and many Eastern European artists. Earnest reflects on the enduring theme of the female nude and the political context of Poland, where far-right policies have restricted women's rights.
A group of seventy-four artists and curators participating in the 61st Venice Biennale have issued an urgent letter to the institution's leadership, including director Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. The signatories are protesting the decision to relocate the Israeli Pavilion to the Arsenale, placing it in close proximity to the central exhibition, "In Minor Keys," which was conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. The group argues that this relocation violates Kouoh’s curatorial vision of radical solidarity and introduces a threatening military and police presence into the exhibition space.
Photographer Anastasia Samoylova presents her latest exhibition and photobook, "Atlantic Coast," at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. The project documents a road trip along the old US Route 1 on the East Coast, inspired by Berenice Abbott's 1954 journey. Through her lens, Samoylova captures a country in transition, juxtaposing decaying Americana with modern structures and political commentary, including images of a statue of John C. Calhoun being removed after the George Floyd protests and the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. She draws parallels between her work and Paul Thomas Anderson's film "One Battle After Another," both centering on road trips and shared anxieties.
The article reports on "MONUMENTS," a major exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles and the nonprofit Brick. The show features 10 decommissioned Confederate monuments, some splashed with protesters' paint, alongside works by 20 contemporary artists including Hank Willis Thomas and Karon Davis. It was assembled by curators Hamza Walker, Hannah Burstein, Bennett Simpson, Paula Kroll, and artist Kara Walker, and has been in development for nearly eight years, spurred by events such as the 2015 Charleston church massacre, the 2017 Charlottesville riot, and the 2020 George Floyd protests.
Two years after the 7 October 2023 attacks, Israeli museum directors report feeling isolated from the international art world. Tania Coen-Uzzielli, director of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, says most international collaborations were put on hold, delayed, or cancelled. The museum, which has a history of political activism, closed partially during protests against judicial reforms and has taken a public stance to end the war and suffering in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Museum, which opened just after the attacks, shifted to documenting wartime reality and supporting artists, but has received no direct support from international colleagues. The National Library of Israel repeatedly deinstalled and secured its collections during Iranian missile attacks, reopening when safe.
On 17 August, a nationwide strike and protests swept across Israel, with organizers estimating 2.5 million participants demanding a hostage deal and an end to the war in Gaza. Israeli art spaces and workers joined the action: the Tel Aviv Museum of Art closed operationally but opened its lobby to protesters and projected Michal Rovner's video work *Signaling (2024)* on its façade; the Israel Museum illuminated its Shrine of the Book in yellow; the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and Shenkar College also struck, while the Mishkan Museum of Art ceased activities in solidarity.
On Thursday morning, a supporter of the environmental activist group Last Generation Canada splattered pink paint on Pablo Picasso's 1901 painting *L'hétaïre* at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). The painting, on loan from the Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin and featured in the exhibition *Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-garde*, was behind protective glass and showed no immediate damage. The activist, identified only as Marcel, was arrested and charged with mischief under $5,000. The museum reopened the rest of the exhibition after about an hour.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has acquired the 35 individual paintings, drawings, and video works that comprised Adam Pendleton's monumental installation *Who Is Queen?* (2019-21), which was on view in the museum's atrium from 2021 to 2022. The installation explored Pendleton's conceptual framework of "Black Dada," a term he first outlined in his *Black Dada Manifesto* (2008), and included works such as *Notes on the Robert E. Lee Monument, Richmond VA (Figure)* (2021), a film reflecting on the 2020 racial justice protests. The acquisition marks a significant institutional commitment to Pendleton's practice, which continues to evolve in his current exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump was booed while attending a fundraiser for the musical *Les Misérables* at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He arrived with Melania Trump to support the center, but faced a mixed reception of boos and chants of 'U-S-A.' The event followed Trump's controversial takeover of the Kennedy Center, where he fired the board of trustees appointed by Joe Biden and George W. Bush, installed himself as chair, and replaced longtime president Deborah Rutter. Several artists, including Ben Folds, Renée Fleming, Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, and Rhiannon Giddens, resigned in protest, and the center has seen program cancellations such as *Hamilton* and Pride events.
The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens amid global turmoil and internal controversy. Kouoh, who passed away in May 2025, conceived the exhibition around the metaphor of a "creole garden," emphasizing deep affinities between 111 artists from diverse locations such as Dakar, Beirut, and Salvador. The Biennale is overshadowed by recent geopolitical events, including US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, and faces protests: over 70 participating artists signed an open letter opposing the participation of Israel, Russia, and the US, while the Australian pavilion saw the reinstatement of Khaled Sabsabi after being dropped, and South Africa withdrew its official pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's femicide project, which she will still present independently.
On May 3, 2026, the activist group Everyone Hates Elon projected messages condemning Jeff Bezos and Amazon onto Bezos's luxury penthouse in Manhattan's Madison Square Park, ahead of the Met Gala on May 4. The projections included a video testimony from Amazon warehouse worker Mary Hill, who called for honoring workers instead of billionaires, and slogans such as 'Boycott The Bezos Met Gala.' The group also projected onto the Chrysler and Empire State buildings. This action follows earlier protests, including littering the Met with fake urine bottles and wheatpasting posters across the city, all targeting Bezos's role as an honorary co-chair of the gala.
Activists have launched a wheatpasting campaign across New York City calling for a boycott of the 2026 Met Gala. The protest targets the event's lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, highlighting Amazon's alleged exploitation of warehouse labor and its technological support for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The posters, designed by the activist group Everyone Hates Elon, feature provocative imagery such as urine-filled water bottles and tear gas canisters to symbolize the human cost of Amazon's business practices.
A diverse array of international photography festivals and exhibitions are scheduled for May 2026. Key events include Bieler Fototage in Switzerland, focusing on vulnerability as a social condition; Photo London, which is relocating to the Olympia and introducing new curated sections; Hard Copy New York at the ICP, exploring photocopied imagery; Fotofestival Lenzburg, an open-air exhibition in Switzerland; and several other events across Europe and the US.
Beirut gallery Marfa' Projects celebrates its tenth anniversary, a milestone founder Joumana Asseily never expected to reach given the immense challenges faced since opening in 2015. The gallery, located in the city's port district, survived widespread civil protests, Lebanon's economic crisis, and the devastating 2020 Port of Beirut explosion that destroyed its premises. Asseily rebuilt within a year, supported by a global network of fellow dealers who inspired her with virtual shows and offered solidarity during Israel's 2024 bombardment. The anniversary group exhibition features works consigned by partner galleries including Sadie Coles HQ, Experimenter, and Emalin, alongside Marfa' Projects artists like Mohamad Abdouni and Stéphanie Saadé, both of whom won major art fair prizes last year.
On 25 August, the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) removed a large permanent installation by artist Denisa Lehocká, allegedly without her permission and in violation of contract terms. The removal, which Lehocká calls a "gross violation," occurred amid a broader crisis at the institution, which has seen multiple directors fired and mass employee resignations under the country's populist government. The incident is part of a pattern of government intervention in the arts, including the firing of museum directors by Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová, who has targeted "progressive art." In response, Slovak artists and organizations like Otvorená Kultúra! have issued the Bratislava Declaration for Artistic Freedom, calling on the EU to adopt a European Artistic Freedom Act to protect creative expression.
The Met Gala, hosted by Anna Wintour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, raised millions for the museum's Costume Institute. This year's event featured celebrities like Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Heidi Klum, with a dress code of "Fashion is Art." Beyoncé and Kidman brought their daughters for the first time, while Klum dressed as a stone statue. The gala opened the "Costume Art" exhibition and was co-sponsored by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, drawing protests over Bezos's involvement.
Gruppe "Neue Generation" plant "Kunstprotest" am Mittwoch
The activist group "Neue Generation" has announced a week of protests in Berlin under the theme "Revolution Days," promising creative and artistically designed actions. Their activities began with a "protest dance" on the steps of the Reichstag building, leading to three participants being investigated for trespassing. The group has scheduled a "Kunstprotest" (art protest) for Wednesday and a "revolutions attempt in the government district" for Thursday.
The 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," opened with a somber curatorial press conference, as artistic director Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2024 at age 57, was not physically present. The exhibition features 110 invited participants across the Arsenale and Giardini, including works by Buhlebezwe Siwani, Johannes Phokela, Wangechi Mutu, Ebony G. Patterson, and Kambui Olujimi. Protests marked the opening, with gatherings at the temporary Israeli pavilion and Pussy Riot's presence at the Russian pavilion, while the exhibition itself asks viewers to look closer at overlooked forms of representation and consider innovative models of measuring the world.
"Ich habe mich schon immer zum Verachteten hingezogen gefühlt"
Irish artist Alice Maher discusses her ongoing exploration of patriarchal structures, mythology, and the symbolic power of female hair in her practice. Her current work focuses on large-scale drawings of Sibyls—ancient female prophets—whose excessive hair serves as a metaphor for identity, power, and the 'monstrous feminine.' Maher reflects on her career-long engagement with Irish history, from collecting hair during the Troubles to her collaborative textile masterpiece, "The Map," which reclaims the legacy of Mary Magdalene from Catholic institutional narratives.
On May 6, 2026, the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian pavilions at the Venice Biennale organized a procession in solidarity with Ukraine, walking approximately one and a half miles from the Lithuanian Pavilion in the Fucina del Futuro to the Estonian pavilion. The action honored Ukrainian cultural workers creating under war conditions and those who have died. It is one of several political protests at the contentious 2026 Biennale, including demonstrations by Pussy Riot and FEMEN at the Russian pavilion, a "Solidarity Drone Chorus" opposing Israel's inclusion, and a planned 24-hour strike by the Art Not Genocide Alliance.
Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of the Venice Biennale, defended the decision to allow Russia to reopen its pavilion for the first time since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, stating that the Biennale is "not a court; it is a garden of peace." The move has sparked widespread backlash, including threats to pull €2.3 million in EU funding. Protests have erupted on the ground, with Pussy Riot and FEMEN staging a theatrical demonstration outside the Russian Pavilion, setting off smoke flares and chanting slogans. Separately, around 60 artists performed a "Solidarity Drone Chorus" to protest Israel's participation, and the Art Not Genocide Alliance has called for a 24-hour strike and rallies across Venice. The Russian Pavilion will be open only during press preview days due to EU sanctions, with video projections visible from outside for the rest of the Biennale's run.