Fresh blood for an ancient medium: 10 young painters to watch this spring

This article profiles ten young painters to watch this spring, highlighting their innovative approaches to the ancient medium of painting. Featured artists include British painter Francesca Mollett, whose abstractions have exceeded market expectations with works like 'Two Thistles' fetching over GBP 250,000 at auction; Samuel Hindolo, whose mysterious figurative and abstract paintings have caught the attention of critic Hilton Als; and Stanislava Kovalčíková, whose provocative mythological works were exhibited at Aspen Art Museum and who runs the independent space The White Ermine in Düsseldorf. Other artists mentioned include Evelyn Plaschg, who transforms mundane objects into unsettling meditations, with a solo museum exhibition opening at HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark.

Expo Chicago connects the Midwest to the global art market

Expo Chicago returns for its second edition under Frieze ownership from April 24-27, featuring over 170 galleries from 93 cities across 36 countries. The fair includes 50 new exhibitors, a new partnership with the Galleries Association of Korea bringing 20 South Korean galleries, and a curated sector called Contrast. Local stalwarts like Rhona Hoffman and Gray gallery are participating, balancing international growth with Midwestern roots.

San Francisco Art Fair brings attention to Bay Area scene and sales for exhibitors from near and far

The San Francisco Art Fair opened on April 17 at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, running through April 20. Rebranded from ArtMrkt San Francisco last year, the fair featured 88 exhibitors, including a strong contingent from the East Bay, such as Oakland-based galleries pt.2, Johansson Projects, and Good Mother Gallery. Notable moments included artist Marc Horowitz using DeBoer Gallery's stand as a live studio, selling paintings for $25,000 and up, and the Alternative Art School showcasing works by four artist-members. Dealers reported healthy sales, with works priced from a few hundred dollars to the lower five figures, and local galleries like Micki Meng donated proceeds to the environmental non-profit Art into Acres.

art taina cruz whitney biennial

Taína Cruz, a 26-year-old New York-born artist, is gaining significant attention for her paintings of ghoulish, grimacing figures. She secured gallery representation with Berlin's Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler before graduating from Yale's MFA program and has been selected for two major New York exhibitions this spring: the Whitney Biennial, where she is the youngest artist, and the Greater New York quinquennial at MoMA PS1. Her practice spans video, sculpture, and painting, incorporating 3D animation. At the Whitney, she created a billboard above Gansevoort Street featuring one of her haunting young girls, with additional paintings inside the museum.

parties vhernier pae white jewelry frieze la

Vhernier hosted an elegant private reception in Los Angeles to unveil a new jewelry collection designed by LA-based multidisciplinary artist Pae White. The event, held at the home of esteemed collector and Museo Jumex founder Eugenio López, brought together a global crowd including MOCA board chair Carolyn Powers, gallerist Francesca Kaufmann, curator Valérie-Anne Giscard d’Estaing, visual artist Jwan Yosef, and Chanel’s President of Arts, Culture & Heritage Yana Peel. The collection, inspired by a crab’s exoskeleton, is crafted in white gold, abalone, jade, sapphires, and rock crystal, with only two iterations of each design produced.

parties hamptons summer burberry guggenheim

CULTURED magazine documents a series of summer social events in the Hamptons, blending art, fashion, and luxury lifestyle. Highlights include the Guggenheim’s lemonade-fueled festivities, Burberry’s poolside pop-up at Topping Rose House, an intimate luncheon hosted by CULTURED and Italian brand Eleventy at collectors Christine and Richard Mack’s Bridgehampton home, and the Southampton Arts Center Summerfest gala honoring Christine Mack. Other events include Roman+Williams’ Hamptons Issue launch with artists Isaac Mizrahi and David Salle, and a Marina Music Series with DJ Oli Benz at the Montauk Yacht Club.

anastasia samoylova casa tua breakfast with

Anastasia Samoylova, an artist who works in photography and painting, is presenting her rarely shown "Breakfasts With" series at Casa Tua Aspen this summer. The series, begun in 2015 after she received her green card, combines breakfast food with photo books by notable creatives, creating still-life "conversations" that serve as daily creative prompts. The exhibition follows her dual show with Walker Evans at the Met, which showcased two differing visions of Florida. In an interview, Samoylova discusses how the series developed from a meditative morning ritual into a practice that helped her ground herself after leaving a tenured teaching position, and how intuitive pairings—like a cut mango with Barbara Kasten's work—emerged from spontaneity rather than conceptual planning.

art nicola lees aspen art museum

Nicola Lees, director of the Aspen Art Museum since 2020, discusses her tenure and the launch of AIR, a new initiative that blends festival, think tank, and public artwork to cultivate artists as leaders. The weeklong kickoff event begins with a closed-door session for artists, scientists, and technologists, followed by citywide programming from July 29 to 31. Lees reflects on how the museum's remote Colorado location has become an asset, enabling durational projects like Precious Okoyomon's rooftop garden, and emphasizes artist-centered programming and long-term collaborations.

nicole wittenberg maine exhibition

Nicole Wittenberg, known for her early paintings of amateur porn, has shifted her focus to landscapes and flowers, culminating in four simultaneous exhibitions across two continents. Her first solo museum survey is at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, while the Center for Maine Contemporary Art shows her largest canvases through September 14. In Paris, her flower paintings are on view at Le Corbusier’s Maison La Roche, and Acquavella will host her New York solo show in October. Phaidon has also published her first monograph, with essays by David Salle, Devon Zimmerman, and Suzanne Hudson.

hotels museum future architecture

The article, written by a former New Museum staffer, traces the evolution of museum architecture from the early 2000s starchitect era toward a hospitality- and community-focused model. It cites examples like MoMA's extensive visitor amenities (four restaurants, two retail spaces) and the Williams College Museum of Art's open, evolving design by SO-IL. The piece also highlights the Underground Museum's storefront approach in Los Angeles and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York as strategies that prioritize accessibility and community engagement.

Art Collector and ‘Galerie’ Magazine Founder Lisa Fayne Cohen Fawned Over Jeffrey Epstein in Emails: ‘There Is No One Else Like You’

Newly released documents from the Justice Department's Epstein files reveal that New York art collector and Galerie magazine founder Lisa Fayne Cohen and her husband, real estate developer Jimmy Cohen, were in close contact with financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2015 and 2016. The emails show Cohen seeking Epstein's advice and arranging to photograph his Paris apartment for her magazine, which later featured the residence anonymously in its second issue.

Who’s That Nude Figure on a Washing Machine Outside the New Museum?

British artist Sarah Lucas has unveiled a new public sculpture titled "VENUS VICTORIA" (2026) at the New Museum's entrance plaza on the Bowery in Lower Manhattan. The work, which will remain on view for two years, features a monumental nude female figure with flailing arms and large pink breasts perched atop a dusty washing machine, wearing bright yellow high heels. Lucas adapted the figure from her ongoing "Bunnies" series (1997–present), which uses knotted pantyhose and found objects. The sculpture was unveiled on May 12, 2026, inaugurating a decade-long series of public commissions by women artists at the museum.

Across Venice, Artists Defy Censorship to Mourn and Memorialize Gaza

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled “In Minor Keys,” features numerous artworks that mourn and memorialize the destruction of Gaza, despite censorship pressures. The main exhibition opens with a poem by slain Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, and includes works by artists such as Theo Eshetu, Mohammed Joha, Manuel Mathieu, and Avi Mograbi that directly or indirectly address the conflict. Outside the official Biennale, South African artist Gabrielle Goliath’s performance series “Elegy” was censored by her country’s culture minister after she proposed a version honoring murdered Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, leading her to present the work independently at a church in Venice.

Sophia Rivera’s Mythology of Everyday New York

The article reviews "Sophie Rivera: Double Exposures" at El Museo del Barrio, the first survey of the late Nuyorican photographer Sophie Rivera, who died in 2021. The exhibition spans her career, including her feminist conceptual series "Rouge et Noir" and "Bowl Study" (c. 1976–78), which depict intimate bodily waste like used tampons and feces, and her socially engaged "Latino Portraits" series from the late 1970s, which countered negative media stereotypes of Puerto Ricans with affectionate, mythologizing portraits. The review highlights a moment where the critic misidentifies abstract toilet photographs as pinhole or double exposures before learning their true subject.

The Kyrgyzstan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Builds a Bridge Between Two Cultures

Il Padiglione del Kirghizistan alla Biennale di Venezia getta un ponte tra due culture

Alexey Morosov presents "BELEK" at the Kyrgyzstan Pavilion of the 61st Venice Biennale, a project inspired by the mountainous landscapes, glaciers, and brutalist dams of Kyrgyzstan. Combining video, sculpture, painting, and sound, Morosov explores water as a key resource for the future and a deep cultural memory of Central Asia, linking the region's hydro-engineering transformations with the nomadic heritage of the Kyrgyz people. The project centers on the traditional equestrian game Kok-Börü, which Morosov describes as constitutive of Kyrgyz identity, and features centaur-like figures made from raw earth used in local dwellings.

American Folk Art Museum Workers Picket Gala, Calling for Higher Wages

Workers at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, represented by UAW Local 2110, picketed the museum's annual gala at the Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan on May 6, 2026. They demanded higher wages and better benefits after contract negotiations stalled for nearly two years. Frontline workers earn $19 per hour, about $12,000 below the city's living wage, while the museum's CEO Jason Busch earned $321,882 in 2024. The union requested a three-year contract raising wages to $30 per hour, but management offered only $21.50 and refused to guarantee existing benefits, leading to the protest.

An Unlikely Friendship Between Artist and Forger

The article reviews Steven Soderbergh's 2026 film "The Christophers," which follows an unlikely friendship between two painters in London: Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen), an older artist facing cancellation, and Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), a young painter who restores and forges artworks. The film explores themes of attention, artistic legacy, and the purpose of art, contrasting with darker narratives like "Tár" by offering a comedic yet profound take on these issues.

Pussy Riot and FEMEN Join Forces in Punk Protest in Venice: ‘Russia Kills! Biennale Exhibits!’

On Wednesday morning, Pussy Riot and FEMEN led a protest outside the Russian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, chanting slogans like “Russia kills! Biennale exhibits!” and “Blood is Russia’s art!” Dozens of protesters, some in pink balaclavas and others bare-chested with floral crowns, gathered in the Giardini under light rain, carrying guitars and blasting punk rock and hip-hop. The action was organized by Nadya Tolokonnikova and other Pussy Riot members alongside FEMEN, a Ukrainian-founded women’s movement. They released pink, yellow, and blue smoke, and Tolokonnikova criticized the Biennale for allowing Russian participation while artists who oppose the war in Ukraine are imprisoned. She proposed an alternative exhibition, “Resistance Imprisoned,” currently on view in Strasbourg, featuring incarcerated artists.

Artists, Read the Fine Print

Artist Damien Davis writes a critical piece on how so-called 'standard' contracts in the art world systematically undermine artists' power, citing long consignment periods, moral rights waivers, and opaque terms that favor institutions. Separately, the Venice Biennale has scrapped its traditional Golden Lion awards after the awards jury resigned; instead, ticket holders will vote on 'Visitor Lions,' with results announced in November, and notably Israel and Russia remain eligible despite the jury's earlier ban. Other news includes damage to a 1,000-year-old Native American archaeological site by construction crews building President Trump's border wall.

A Venezia una mostra ripercorre l’opera di Jenny Saville con un inedito omaggio a Tiziano. La recensione

A major solo exhibition of British painter Jenny Saville has opened at Ca' Pesaro in Venice, tracing her career from early works like "Propped" (1992) and "Hybrid" (1997) to new paintings explicitly inspired by Titian. The show, curated by Elisabetta Barisoni, highlights Saville's monumental female nudes, her engagement with Renaissance masters, and her place within the Young British Artists generation that also included Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

Tania Bruguera on Why Today’s Art Must Be Political

Cuban artist and activist Tania Bruguera will stage her performance "Tatlin’s Whisper #6" in Times Square on May 1, International Workers' Day. Originally created for the 2009 Havana Biennial, the work invites participants to speak freely on a platform for one minute, highlighting the conditional nature of free expression under authoritarian rule. Bruguera discusses the performance's relevance amid rising authoritarianism in both Cuba and the United States, noting that when she attempted to restage the work in Havana, she and other participants were arrested.

Can an Artwork Have Personhood?

The article explores a growing trend in contemporary art where artists like Pierre Huyghe, Nina Katchadourian, and Marge Monko create works that blur the line between art objects and sentient beings. These works incorporate human performers, animals, AI, and smart devices, prompting viewers to question whether these entities possess or simulate personhood, and forcing an examination of our instinct to anthropomorphize.

Historic $116M Gift Endows Lending Program at National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) has received a historic $116 million donation from the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation to permanently endow its 'Across the Nation' lending program. This initiative loans artworks from the NGA's collection to smaller regional museums across the United States, covering all associated costs. In its pilot year, the program reached an estimated 900,000 visitors at ten institutions, bringing works by artists like Georgia O'Keeffe, Rembrandt, and Mark Rothko to communities from Alaska to Michigan.

Genesis P-Orridge’s Subversive Mail Art Goes on View

A focused exhibition at Art Metropole in Toronto presents a selection of mail art submissions by the late transgressive artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge to the Canadian collective General Idea in the 1970s. Drawn from the National Gallery of Canada's collection, the show features letters, collages, photos, and ephemera that capture P-Orridge's early, boundary-pushing work with collectives like COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle.

French Engineer Snags $1 Million Picasso With $116 Raffle Ticket

French engineer Ari Hodara has won a 1941 Pablo Picasso painting titled 'Tête de Femme' through a charity raffle after purchasing a single €100 ticket. The draw, held at Christie’s Paris, sold 120,000 tickets globally and raised €12 million for the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation. The artwork was sourced from the Opera Gallery, which will receive approximately €1 million of the proceeds.

A Parisian Man Just Won a $1 Million Picasso Painting with a $117 Raffle Ticket

Ari Hodara, a 58-year-old engineer from Paris, has won a Pablo Picasso painting valued at approximately $1 million after purchasing a raffle ticket for just 100 euros. The artwork, a 1941 gouache-on-paper titled "Head of a Woman," depicts the artist's muse Dora Maar and was provided by Opera Gallery. The raffle sold 120,000 tickets globally, successfully raising significant funds for charity.

Art Problems: Do I Need to Go to Art Fairs?

Art critic Paddy Johnson addresses the common dilemma faced by unrepresented artists regarding the necessity of attending major art fairs. While acknowledging that fairs can be physically exhausting and prohibitively expensive, Johnson argues that their true value lies in strategic information gathering and long-term career planning rather than immediate sales or representation.

Nine Lessons on My Path From Engagement to Leadership

The article is an excerpt from the forthcoming field resource 'Curating Engagement,' featuring a first-person reflection by an arts professional. The author outlines nine lessons learned over two decades of practice, moving from engagement-focused roles to institutional leadership. Key lessons emphasize curiosity as a foundational practice, engagement as a form of service to communities rather than extraction, and the importance of site and history as collaborators in curatorial work.

Woman With Her Back to the Viewer in Gallery Photos Speaks Out

A satirical article features an exclusive interview with the fictional archetype "Woman With Her Back to the Viewer in All Those Gallery Photos." She describes her daily routine of posing ambiguously next to artworks, her artistic influences like Caspar David Friedrich, and the challenges of her unseen labor, including a lack of sales commission and the need for side hustles like making herself blurry in photos.

Fastest Art Heist in History?

Thieves stole three valuable paintings by Cézanne, Matisse, and Renoir from a small museum in northern Italy in a heist that reportedly took less than three minutes. The combined value of the artworks is estimated at around $10 million.