bryn mawr college nekisha durrett monument lab

Monument Lab and Bryn Mawr College have unveiled a permanent public artwork by Nekisha Durrett titled "Don't Forget to Remember (Me)" in the school's Cloisters courtyard. The installation features 9,000 custom pavers arranged in an intertwined knot pattern, with 250 of them engraved with the names of Black staff whose labor was essential to the college's early operations but went unrecognized. The project emerged from a multiyear initiative called Art Remediating Campus Histories, which included symposia, lectures, and community consultations to address the institution's histories of systemic exclusion.

LATIN AMERICA AT THE VENICE BIENNALE: A VISUAL TOUR OF THE CENTRAL EXHIBITION

LATINOAMÉRICA EN LA BIENAL DE VENECIA: UN RECORRIDO VISUAL POR LA MUESTRA CENTRAL

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opened its preview days on May 8, 2025, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025). The central exhibition, realized by a team she selected before her death, features 110 participants from around the world, with a strong Latin American presence of 15 artists, collectives, and organizations. The show explores themes of colonial history, plantation economies, geological memory, and environmental crisis through works that emphasize shared materials, politics, and poetics across geographies from Dakar to San Juan.

LA LECHUZA DE MINERVA

The Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, founded in 1926 by a small group of artists, has launched a centenary exhibition titled "La lechuza de Minerva" (The Owl of Minerva). Curated by Isabella Lenzi, the project revisits the institution's most disruptive exhibition, "El sueño imperativo" (1991), curated by Mar Villaespesa, which invited twelve artists to intervene in both exhibition spaces and transit areas, challenging traditional display logic. The new exhibition features works by artists including Dagoberto Rodríguez, Elo Vega, Rogelio López Cuenca, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, Itziar Okariz, Los Carpinteros, María Salgado, Pedro G. Romero, Regina Silveira, Silbatriz Pons, and Tino Sehgal, who activate hidden and unexpected corners of the building through visual and sound actions. The project also restores Nancy Spero's 1991 intervention "Minerva, Sky Goddess," which had largely disappeared, through archaeological research led by restorer Rocío Casasus.

Collecting in Madrid: 50 Ways to Build the Contemporary

COLECCIONAR EN MADRID: 50 FORMAS DE CONSTRUIR LO CONTEMPORÁNEO

The exhibition 'Madrid Colecciona. 50 colecciones de arte contemporáneo' opened at CentroCentro, showcasing a hundred works from fifty private collections in Madrid. It shifts focus from the artwork and artist to the often-opaque figure of the collector, allowing each collector to present two pieces: one of personal significance and one recent acquisition, accompanied by their own explanatory texts.

Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge

SANTIAGO YAHUARCANI: EL PRINCIPIO DEL CONOCIMIENTO

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) is hosting "El principio del conocimiento," the first solo exhibition in Brazil for Peruvian artist Santiago Yahuarcani. Curated by Amanda Carneiro, the show features approximately 35 paintings on llanchama (tree bark) that explore the Uitoto worldview. The exhibition is organized into five thematic sections that navigate the sensory experience of the Amazon, the spiritual significance of sacred plants like coca and tobacco, and the brutal historical memory of colonial extraction.

When Shells Become Weapons

Wenn Muscheln zu Waffen werden

Swedish artist Lotta Antonsson, born in 1963, presents her exhibition "I am Everything" at Fotografiska in Stockholm, featuring around 50 works that repurpose found black-and-white photographs from 1960s and 1970s fashion and lifestyle magazines. She overlays these images of women in objectifying poses with shells, stones, and crystals, creating assemblages that obscure faces or add threatening details like crystal vampire teeth on actresses Ali MacGraw and Jane Fonda. The show opened during the Stockholm Art Fair and draws on Antonsson's extensive archive, including East German erotic magazines sourced from Berlin flea markets.

Venice in Crisis Mode

Venedig im Krisenmodus

The 61st Venice Biennale has opened under extraordinary circumstances, marked by political protests, a jury resignation, and canceled awards. The Biennale's jury resigned en masse after announcing they would exclude Israeli and Russian contributions from their decisions, leading to the cancellation of the Golden Lion awards and a crisis over the international competition's legitimacy. A newly introduced audience prize also faced boycotts from artists in solidarity. Protests, closed pavilions, and pro-Palestinian actions dominated the preview days, with artists pasting protest posters directly onto their works, reflecting heightened tensions.

Michael Armitage and the Feverish Memory of Images

Michael Armitage und das fiebrige Gedächtnis der Bilder

The British-Kenyan painter Michael Armitage is the subject of a major solo exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, part of the Pinault Collection. The showcase features new works, including the titular painting "52,000 Years," which references prehistoric cave art while weaving together themes of political unrest, the refugee crisis, and lush landscapes. Armitage’s technique is noted for its use of Lubugo bark cloth, a traditional Ugandan material that adds a tactile, irregular dimension to his complex figurative compositions.

The International Jury of the Biennale Arte 2026

The International Jury for the Biennale Arte 2026 has been announced, with Solange Oliveira Farkas serving as president. The jury includes curators Zoe Butt and Elvira Dyangani Ose, each bringing extensive experience in contemporary art from the Global South, biennial curation, and institutional leadership. Farkas is the founder of Associação Cultural Videobrasil, Butt founded the in-tangible institute, and Dyangani Ose is artistic director of the 2nd Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial and former director of MACBA Barcelona.

Kid Cudi’s Debut Solo Art Exhibition Is Underway – But Is His Work Any “Good”?

Musician Kid Cudi, working under the artist alias Scotty Ramon, has launched his debut solo art exhibition titled 'Echos of the Past' at the Ruttkowski;68 gallery in Paris. The show features a collection of paintings characterized by a cartoonish aesthetic, bold colors, and themes ranging from inner turmoil to meditative peace, accompanied by a 16-minute documentary detailing his creative process.

In Karyn Lyons’s Paintings, the Ghost of Girlhood Lingers

American painter Karyn Lyons explores the longing and desolation of adolescent girlhood in her solo exhibition “Day for Night” at Stems Gallery in Paris, which opened ahead of Art Basel Paris. The show features paintings of an adolescent girl in affluent yet lonely settings, which Lyons describes as metaphoric pages from her diary. After studying journalism and working in advertising and fashion, Lyons earned a post-baccalaureate degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2003, but kept her work private for nearly two decades until a creative breakthrough during the pandemic led her to explore her own adolescence more psychologically.

The Best Art Exhibitions To Visit In Hong Kong This July

This article highlights three must-see art exhibitions in Hong Kong for July 2025. At Alisan Fine Arts, local artist Cherie Cheuk presents her first solo show, 'A Wrinkle In Time,' blending traditional Chinese ink painting with pop culture motifs like Super Mario and Pac-Man. At Villepin, 'Worlds Within' unites works by four migrant-influenced artists, including a debut Hong Kong showcase for Spanish-Filipino modernist Fernando Zóbel and a record-breaking painting by Lê Phổ. Ben Brown Fine Arts hosts 'Wish You Were Here,' a group show curated by Jie Xia featuring artists such as Gerhard Richter and Hilary Pecis, exploring themes of travel, paradise, and nostalgia.

Chelsea Exhibition Reviews: Rosebud Contemporary, Paula Cooper, Fredericks & Freiser, Berry Campbell and more

This article reviews several Chelsea gallery exhibitions, focusing on Mary Ann Unger's monumental sculpture show 'Across the Bering Strait' at Berry Campbell, which features her hydrocal-over-steel works exploring themes of feminism, anthropology, and the natural world. It also covers 'En Route' at Rosebud Contemporary, a group exhibition of abstract painters Rifka Milder, Meg Hitchcock, and Ketta Ioannidou, each reflecting on artistic journeys through their work.

An Iranian museum holds a rare exhibit of American art, reflecting on war

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting a rare exhibition of American art, featuring works from its collection that were acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The show includes pieces by artists such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, and is presented as a reflection on the complex history of U.S.-Iran relations, including themes of war and cultural exchange.

Drones, Uncle Sam, and Grand Master Rafael: 10 Must See Exhibits This Spring

New York City’s museum landscape is entering a major spring season characterized by high-profile retrospectives, institutional reopenings, and the 82nd Whitney Biennial. Key highlights include a massive Raphael survey at the Metropolitan Museum of Art featuring over 200 works, the reopening of the expanded New Museum with a tech-focused exhibition on the future of humanity, and a major survey of sculptor Carol Bove at the Guggenheim. The season also features thematic shows exploring American folk art, Dutch Golden Age masterpieces, and the relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

V&A East targets young people

Le V&A East vise les jeunes

The Victoria and Albert Museum has opened a new branch called V&A East in Stratford, east London, within the former Olympic Park. The £135 million (€155.8 million) building, designed by O'Donnell and Tuomey, features 479 sand-colored concrete panels and houses around 500 objects from the V&A's collection across two permanent galleries titled "Why We Make." The museum opened on April 18 and is part of the East Bank cultural complex supported by the London municipality. It prioritizes local engagement and mediation tailored to attract younger audiences, with exhibitions addressing social justice and environmental themes.

Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski on Representing Poland at the 61st Venice Biennale

Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski, representing Poland at the 61st Venice Biennale, plan to exhibit a project inspired by the Choir in Motion (a phonic/sign-language ensemble of hearing and Deaf people), underwater role reversals, and whale communication. Their work explores alternate forms of communication, Deaf Gain, and the retrieval of voices—both human and non-human—aligning with the Biennale's theme "In Minor Keys." The Polish pavilion is located in the Giardini.

Morad Montazami appointed artistic director of 2026 Dakar Biennale

Morad Montazami has been named the artistic director for the 16th edition of the Dakar Biennale, scheduled to run from November 19 to December 19, 2026. Titled "(Anti)Fragility: Arts of Repair and Counter-Shock Strategies," the exhibition will explore themes of community-led restoration and the transformation of vulnerability into collective strength. Montazami, a former Tate Modern curator and founder of the platform Zamân Books & Curating, brings an extensive background in postcolonial art histories and global modernisms to the prestigious African forum.

À Nîmes, la peinture sans entrave de Tursic & Mille envahit le Carré d’art

The article covers the retrospective exhibition of French artist duo Ida Tursic and Wilfried Mille at the Carré d'art in Nîmes. Titled "Dissonances à géométries variables," the show traces their career from student works at the École nationale supérieure d'art de Dijon to recent paintings, featuring a critical, humorous, and materially rich approach to figurative painting. The duo draws from press images, internet sources, art history, and archives, disrupting reproductions with paint splatters and odd details, and the exhibition is organized thematically from "happiness" to "melancholy."

Beyond the Sagrada Família: These 6 Surprising Places in Barcelona Reveal a Lesser-Known Gaudí

Au-delà de la Sagrada Família, ces 6 lieux étonnants à Barcelone qui révèlent un Gaudí méconnu

Beaux Arts Magazine highlights six lesser-known architectural works by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona, beyond his famous Sagrada Família. The article features Casa Vicens (1883–1885), his first private commission; Torre Bellesguard (1900–1909), a medieval-inspired tower with panoramic views; Casa Calvet (1897), a residential building with textile-themed details; and the Finca Güell and Palau Güell, experimental projects for his patron Eusebi Güell. These sites showcase Gaudí's organic style, fusion of nature and architecture, and influences from Japanese, Arabic, and Catalan Gothic traditions, with several recently opened to the public.

Alice Riehl Grows a Porcelain Tree Full of Humanity in Jouy-en-Josas

Alice Riehl fait pousser un arbre de porcelaine plein d’humanité à Jouy-en-Josas

Artist Alice Riehl has unveiled a major porcelain installation titled "Herbarium Interior" at the Musée de la Toile de Jouy in Jouy-en-Josas. The work, a sprawling tree with leaves, branches, and roots, is crafted from porcelain and was inspired by the museum's historical textile collections. The installation is part of a solo exhibition, and a concurrent presentation of her work, "Porcelain Florilegium," is on view at New York's Museum of Arts and Design.

Ittai Gradel, Whistleblower in British Museum Gem Theft, Dies at 61

Ittai Gradel, the Israel-born Danish gem expert who alerted the British Museum to the theft of thousands of antiquities from its collection after discovering them for sale on eBay, died on April 28 of renal cancer at age 61. Days before his death, British Museum officials visited him in hospice and presented him with a rarely awarded medal for his service. Gradel first warned deputy director Jonathan Williams in 2021 that artifacts were being sold online, identified veteran curator Peter Higgs as the culprit, and provided detailed evidence. After the museum failed to act, Gradel contacted then-director Hartwig Fischer; two years later, Higgs was fired, and Fischer and Williams left the institution amid the scandal.

V&A Museum Has Acquiesced to Censorship Requests from Chinese Printer: Report

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) reportedly complied with censorship demands from its Chinese printing firm, C&C Offset Printing, to alter exhibition catalogues. Internal emails revealed that the museum removed a photograph of Lenin from a Fabergé exhibition book and altered historical maps to align with Chinese government standards after the printers flagged them as "sensitive." Staff noted that while they were aware of contemporary geopolitical sensitivities, the restrictions had expanded to include historical imagery, forcing last-minute editorial changes to avoid production delays.

Morad Montazami Named Artistic Director of 16th Dak’Art Biennial

Morad Montazami has been appointed as the artistic director for the sixteenth edition of the Dak’Art Biennial, scheduled to run from November 19 to December 19. Titled "(Anti)Fragility: Arts of Repair and Counter-Shock Strategies," the upcoming biennial will focus on themes of community, co-creation, and the transformation of vulnerability into artistic strength. Montazami, an esteemed art historian and curator known for his work on global modernism and postcolonial narratives, brings extensive experience from previous roles at Tate Modern and various international exhibitions.

Billboards celebrating peace will arrive in L.A. as part of the Broad's Yoko Ono exhibit

Yoko Ono will install seven digital billboards across Los Angeles bearing peace messages like "THINK PEACE" and "IMAGINE PEACE," as part of her upcoming exhibition "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind" at the Broad museum opening May 23. The billboards echo her 1969 "WAR IS OVER!" campaign with John Lennon. Ancillary programming includes re-creations of her performance works "Cut Piece" (1964) and "Sky Piece to Jesus Christ" (1965), plus a concert series "Yoko Only" guest-curated by Yuka Honda featuring Yo La Tengo, Nels Cline, Sleater-Kinney, and others.

Boats and trains, not planes: reflections on a greener—but sometimes greenwashed—Venice Biennale

The article recounts the author's train journey from London to Venice for the 61st Venice Biennale, highlighting the environmental benefits and pleasant experience of traveling by rail versus flying, despite higher costs and longer duration. It then focuses on the Biennale's central exhibition "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, which foregrounds environmental themes through works that engage with earth, nature, and ecological stakes, featuring artists like Otobong Nkanga, Célia Vasquez Yui, Theo Eshetu, Linda Goode Bryant, and Annalee Davis.

Grayson Perry’s life story to be told in ‘outrageous’ musical

Grayson Perry’s life story is being adapted into a stage musical titled *Grayson the Musical*, co-created with Richard Thomas, composer of *Jerry Springer: The Opera*. The show follows Perry from his childhood in Chelmsford to his rise as a Turner Prize-winning ceramicist and tapestry-maker, featuring his iconic dresses and his teddy bear Alan Measles. Perry wrote the lyrics, with a book by screenwriter Sara-Ella Ozbek and direction by Sean Foley. A workshop production will run for five performances in July at Soho Theatre Walthamstow, the east London borough where Perry once kept a studio and which inspired his famous work *The Walthamstow Tapestry*.

A woman with a bull costume exuding masculine energy: Marisol Mendez’s best photograph

Marisol Mendez, a Bolivian photographer based in Paris, describes the creation of her striking 2019 photograph featuring Marta Salinas, a theatre actor, holding a bull costume in a field. The image is part of Mendez's series "Madre," which explores womanhood and challenges traditional feminine depictions in Bolivia. Mendez explains that the bull costume, inspired by the Bolivian dance waka tokori, symbolizes masculinity, and the photograph aims to portray a woman comfortable with her masculine energy. The work was inspired by a dream and executed with the help of Mendez's mother, who scouted the location. Mendez is the winner of this year's Saltzman-Leibovitz prize, and her work is featured at Photo London.

Venice Biennale’s Russian Pavilion and Pussy Riot Spar Over Usage of Protest Footage

The Russian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale has become embroiled in a new controversy after accusing the anti-Putin art collective Pussy Riot of censorship. The pavilion posted on Instagram that Pussy Riot demanded the removal of footage featuring them from a documentary film about the pavilion's project, labeling the request as self-censorship. Pussy Riot responded sarcastically, questioning the pavilion's use of Instagram given Russia's 2022 ban of the platform. The dispute follows earlier protests at the pavilion's opening, led by Pussy Riot and FEMEN, against Russia's participation in the Biennale amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Artist Bouke de Vries creates sculptural porcelain bottles for Dries Van Noten perfume

Artist Bouke de Vries has created five unique sculptural porcelain bottles for Dries Van Noten's unisex perfume Soie Malaquais, which launched in 2022. The bottles, priced at £6,000 each, are sold at the designer's London and New York stores, with a limited-edition series also available online. De Vries, known for reassembling broken china fragments into dynamic objects, designed the bottles to reflect the fragrance's warm notes of chestnut, rose, blackcurrant, and cardamom, developed by perfumer Marie Salamagne.