Paul Grimstad, a Yale humanities professor known for his roles in films by Paul Thomas Anderson and Josh Safdie, is featured in Cultured's 2026 CULT100 honorees. The article presents a Q&A where Grimstad discusses his upcoming debut novel "Cold Fusion," his experimental music and film scoring, and his views on the art industry, including a desire for more wide-open experimentation and less careerism.
Chandler Jones founded Room 412, a small, appointment-only gallery in a Birmingham, Alabama loft, in March 2022. The space functions as an intimate, immersive exhibition environment, described as a cross between a gallery and a mystical hotel room, designed to showcase Alabama artists and foster community connection. Jones, a musician, was motivated by a desire to create a visually and energetically compelling gathering place after being inspired by the historic Chelsea Hotel in New York.
Rhae Lynn Barnes, a scholar at Princeton, has published a new book titled "Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment," which examines the pervasive history of amateur minstrelsy in American life from the 19th through 20th centuries. Drawing on two decades of archival research, Barnes reveals how blackface performances were not confined to professional theaters but were common in living rooms, schools, USO shows, fraternal lodges, and even Japanese internment camps, involving figures like Shirley Temple, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby.
Texas-based artist Virginia L. Montgomery's solo exhibition 'Blue Moon Cocoon' opened at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The show features a multi-channel video installation and sculptural works centered on the artist's bond with luna moths, which she began raising during the 2020 pandemic, exploring themes of interspecies connection and cosmic curiosity through a distinctive visual aesthetic.
Toteme and CULTURED hosted a pre-Frieze week cocktail party at Toteme's Melrose Avenue flagship in West Hollywood. The intimate sunset gathering featured Ruinart champagne, Grey Goose martinis, and a curated collection of artworks by Swedish women artists, including pieces by Barbro Bäckström, Lisa Larson, and Alina Chaiderov. Guests included fashion tastemakers, arts patrons, interior designers, dealers, artists, and models, such as Christine Wuerfel-Stauss, Michelle Rubell, Yana Peel, Emma Webster, and Esther Kim Varet.
CULTURED and Aritzia co-hosted a dinner party at the former Fred Segal store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles during Frieze Week. The event celebrated Aritzia's Artistic License series, featuring photographer Gregory Crewdson, whose work appears on shopping bags and in stores. Guests included Aritzia CEO Jennifer Wong, CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson, artists Chloe Wise and Maya Man, curator Essence Harden, and others from the art and fashion worlds. The evening featured a multi-course meal, Krug champagne, and copies of CULTURED's Entertainers Issue.
Artadia hosted its fourth annual tennis tournament fundraiser at the Los Angeles Tennis Club on a Monday afternoon during Frieze Week. The event featured matches between artists, collectors, and co-chairs, raising $85,000 to fully fund all Artadia Award grants. Co-chairs included Zach Stafford, Aurele Danoff Pelaia, and Honor Titus, with participants such as artists Charles Gaines, Ariana Papademetropoulos, and Eamon Ore-Giron, along with dealers and patrons. Guests enjoyed a taco lunch, spritzes, and left with gift bags featuring a tote by Guillaume Berg.
Korean-American painter and sculptor Lisha Bai unveiled a new window installation at Hermès Maison Madison in New York, created to coincide with New York Fashion Week. The installation features polychrome fabrics molded into geometric forms, drawing inspiration from the Korean patchwork tradition of bojagi and the quilts of Gee’s Bend, reflecting Bai’s experience growing up as a Korean-American in Alabama. A conversation between Bai and Cooper Hewitt curator Alexandra Cunningham Cameron explored how Bai translates textile techniques and light into immersive art. The event was attended by Hermès Americas President and CEO Diane Mahady and VP Diane Kruger, among other guests.
German curator Udo Kittelmann and leading time-based art collector Julia Stoschek have collaborated on "What a Wonderful World," an audiovisual poem on view at Los Angeles's Variety Arts Theater from February 6 through March 20. The project interweaves early film entries by Alice Guy-Blaché, Georges Méliès, and Walt Disney with contemporary video works from Stoschek's collection, featuring artists such as Lu Yang, Bunny Rogers, and Paul Chan. Kittelmann and Stoschek insist the work is not an exhibition but a "poem," designed to challenge how audiences consume art and moving images, urging viewers to move beyond entertainment toward a raw, emotional experience.
Elin Kling and Karl Lindman, the Swedish couple behind the womenswear brand Toteme, discuss their design philosophy and the opening of their first flagship store in mainland Europe, located on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. The article, accompanied by photography from Mikael Jansson, details how the brand has resisted trends like "quiet luxury" and minimalism labels, instead focusing on precision, restraint, and timeless essentials. The Paris store, designed by Stockholm-based Halleroed, features art-gallery-white walls, Italian limestone floors, and works by Marc Newson, Lucie Gottlieb, and Jansson, reflecting the brand's serene, uncluttered aesthetic.
Cultured magazine's holiday feature spotlights how New York's creative community—including artist Julia Chiang, chef Jess Shadbolt, and designer Todd Snyder—celebrates the season with personal, non-traditional traditions. Chiang and her children craft ornaments from felt and Sculpey clay; Shadbolt serves cheese fondue on Christmas Eve and offers it at her restaurant King; Snyder favors tartan ties and cashmere over typical holiday attire. The article ties these rituals to Rockefeller Center as the city's holiday hub, with shopping recommendations from FAO Schwarz, Anthropologie, and Jupiter.
Jonathan Anderson made his debut as the new men's artistic director of Dior with the Men's Spring/Summer 2026 collection, presented in June. The collection riffs on French history while incorporating Anderson's signature gestures: painstaking handiwork, reverence for craft, and touches of the absurd. Highlights include a collaboration with textile artist Sheila Hicks on the Lady Dior bag, literary tributes on the Book Tote (featuring works by Bram Stoker, James Joyce, and Charles Baudelaire), and intricate embroidery requiring up to 3,271 hours per coat. The collection also features Brandebourg detailing, sculptural silhouettes, and reimagined heritage pieces like a 1960s-inspired cape.
Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent, has opened a new Paris flagship store at 37 Avenue Montaigne, housed in the former Canadian embassy. The store reflects his vision with a mix of modern design and vintage furniture, including pieces by Jean-Michel Frank and François-Xavier Lalanne, alongside contemporary artworks by Mark Bradford, Camille Henrot, and Thomas Houseago on loan from the Pinault Collection. Vaccarello discusses the two-year transformation, his approach to retail as a context for the clothes, and his broader creative expansions into film with Saint Laurent Productions and the revival of Charlotte Perriand furniture designs.
Last Thursday, an intimate panel conversation took place at the sales gallery of the Jean-Georges Miami Tropic Residences in the Miami Design District, bringing together leaders from visual culture. Panelists included CULTURED Editor-at-Large Julia Halperin, designer Glenn Pushelberg, artist Marcel Dzama, and art advisor Jamie Stagnitta, who discussed how art, design, and culture shape contemporary living. Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten surprised guests by arriving at the event.
Asher Liftin, a 27-year-old New York-based artist, is profiled as part of Cultured's 2025 Young Artists list. He gained early recognition at age 12 when Wes Anderson selected his artwork for the film *Moonrise Kingdom*. Liftin now creates trompe l'oeil paintings that resemble tapestries but are actually finely rendered pointillist compositions inspired by art-historical still lifes and history paintings. He holds degrees in cognitive science and visual art, and cites graffiti artist Christian Aldunate as a key early influence.
Sharon Maidenberg, who became the Ernest and Sarah Butler Executive Director & CEO of the Contemporary Austin in summer 2020, reflects on her five-year tenure in an interview with CULTURED. Under her leadership, the museum has navigated the pandemic, deepened programming, expanded accessibility with an ADA ramp and offerings for visually impaired and neurodivergent visitors, launched sustainability initiatives with the Teiger Foundation and Rute Collaborative, and hosted its annual Art Dinner featuring a Benefit Art Auction with works by Lubaina Himid, Ed Ruscha, RF. Alvarez, and others. Current exhibitions include “The Canvas Can Do Miracles,” “HOST: Raul De Lara,” and “Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art.”
Eiesha Bharti Pasricha, co-creative director of the Estelle Manor hotel and members' club in Oxfordshire, discusses her role in shaping the aesthetic and sensory experience of the property. The article profiles her background, from a childhood split between New Delhi and Scotland to her work in fashion and hospitality, and details how she developed the fictional muse 'Estelle' to guide the design of both Maison Estelle in London and the 108-room country estate, including art selection, fragrance, and a new capsule collection called Lady E.
The Corita Art Center held its first benefit gala at the Marciano Art Foundation in downtown Los Angeles, celebrating the legacy of artist and nun Corita Kent. The event drew a high-profile crowd including actors Melissa McCarthy and Kathryn Hahn, artists Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie, and Laura Owens, along with patrons, chefs, and designers. Guests enjoyed a new exhibition of Kent's work, a family-style dinner, and a performance by musician Natalie Bergman, with a 'GIVE A DAMN' tote bag as a parting gift.
Sam Chermayeff and Stella Roos are planning a day-long wedding party for 250 people in an abandoned Fascist-era villa in Rome, originally built as Olivetti offices. The couple, who live in Berlin but have no family there, decided on Rome for its festive appeal. They initially considered joining the Catholic Church to secure a venue but ultimately arranged to hold their ceremony in a ruined church on the Appia Antica, with artist Tacita Dean asked to officiate. The party venue, inherited by a friend of a friend, sits near the Baths of Caracalla and features overgrown gardens and dusty rooms. Invitations were designed by their friend Leo of Something Fantastic, and the couple's mood board includes whimsical details like an ice sculpture, tiny potatoes, and a flower chain.
The Istanbul International Arts and Culture Festival, co-founded by curator Demet Müftüoğlu-Eşeli and filmmaker Alphan Eşeli, returns for its 15th edition with the theme “What Is Really Real?” Over three days in October, the festival brings together creative minds from film, technology, photography, literature, and visual art for panels, screenings, workshops, and exhibitions. In an interview with Cultured, the founders and artist José Parlá discuss the urgency of questioning authenticity in a digitally mediated world, touching on memory, dreams, and the blurred line between the artificial and the real.
Versace has appointed Dario Vitale as its new Chief Creative Officer, and under his direction, the house launched the Spring/Summer 2026 collection at Milan Fashion Week alongside a new initiative called Versace Embodied. This series commissions photographers, painters, filmmakers, and poets to reinterpret Versace’s visual language through their own mediums. The first chapter features contributions from photographer Stef Mitchell, poet Eileen Myles, artist Collier Schorr, photographer Camille Vivier, and photographer Andrea Modica, whose works range from motorcycle portraits to hand-drawn nudes and regional Italian portraiture.
Clara Wu Tsai, owner of the New York Liberty, and CULTURED Arts Editor-at-Large Sophia Cohen hosted an evening at Barclays Center in Brooklyn to honor artist LaToya Ruby Frazier. The event celebrated the debut of Frazier's first outdoor public art commission, "The Liberty Portraits: A Monument to the 2024 Champions," which reimagines the plaza as a tribute to the women's basketball team. Attendees included WNBA players Natasha Cloud and Isabelle Harrison, Brooklyn Nets CEO Sam Zussman, artists Sarah Sze, Joan Jonas, Shaun Leonardo, and Dustin Yellin, gallerist Gavin Brown, public art advocate Susan Freedman, and curators Eric Shiner, Tina Kukielski, Drew Sawyer, and Jennifer Blessing. Wu Tsai also announced upcoming public art commissions from Sarah Sze and Rashid Johnson for Barclays Center.
Dior has launched the 10th edition of its Lady Art initiative, inviting a new roster of artists to reimagine the iconic Lady Dior handbag. The project, which began nearly a decade ago, has previously featured artists like Judy Chicago, Jack Pierson, and Mickalene Thomas. This year's participants include Jessica Cannon and Ju Ting, who discuss their creative processes, material explorations, and the dialogue between their artistic practices and Dior's heritage. The handbags incorporate sculpted tulle, pleated silk, stones, glass beads, and pearlized elements, blending fine art with fashion.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has organized a summer exhibition titled 'To Share a Garden,' bringing together over 30 artists in a decade-spanning review of queer art and activism. The show draws its theme from Chicago's historic motto 'urbs in horto' (city in a garden) and features works from the 1980s to the present, including pieces by Brendan Fernandes, Nick Cave, Mary Patten, and Doug Ischar. The exhibition acts as a visual archive of queer artistic expression, spanning from the AIDS crisis protests to contemporary movements.
French artist Mimosa Echard presents "Facial," a new exhibition at Amant in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, running through February 16, 2026. The show features a series of palimpsest-like canvases and a video work of Times Square, inspired by Echard's pedestrian observations of New York City. Key motifs include ginkgo trees—which she links to survival, ancient sexuality, and the city's olfactory character—and the repetitive eye imagery found on beauty salon facades, which she interprets as a form of "sweet surveillance." Echard, who won the Prix Marcel Duchamp in 2022, created the works during a two-month residency in the neighborhood, drawing on her characteristic blend of botanical and digital themes.
Hero Bean Stevenson, a New York-based photographer, is featured in Cultured's "29" series, nominated by Brigitte Lacombe. Stevenson has shot for clients like Maison d’Etto and Carven, co-founded the Los Angeles gallery Raum, and developed a spare black-and-white photographic style. The article includes Stevenson's reflections on portraiture, citing influences such as Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, and a memorable 2023 portrait session with filmmaker Werner Herzog.
Cultured magazine profiles French-Algerian photographer Camille Farrah Lenain, nominated by Bell Pitkin of Leica Gallery Boston as part of the publication's '35—New Orleans, New York' feature. Lenain's documentary and portrait work has earned her the Arnold Newman Prize, a residency at the Joan Mitchell Center, and publication in The New York Times and Rolling Stone. She is preparing to release her first monograph in spring 2026. The article includes Lenain's personal reflections on photography, trust, and connection, illustrated with her self-portrait and images titled 'A Day With Edith,' 'Cassandra and Raymond,' and 'Ramziya's Dance.'
Leica celebrates the 100th anniversary of its groundbreaking Leica I camera, which debuted in 1925 and introduced 35mm film to the masses. The article highlights the company's history, including Ernst Leitz II's decisive risk to produce a portable camera, and the cultural impact of Leica cameras through iconic photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa. A special edition, the Leica M11 "100 YEARS OF LEICA NEW YORK USA" Edition, was released in New York this year to mark the centennial.
CULTURED magazine hosted a September issue launch party at FOOD, a revived 1970s art-world restaurant now run by artist Lucien Smith and the estate of Gordon Matta-Clark. The event, co-hosted by legendary model and activist Bethann Hardison and CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson, drew a crowd of fashion and art insiders including designers, stylists, artists, and editors. Guests enjoyed family-style dishes, Lagavulin cocktails, and left with copies of the magazine's latest covers featuring Julia Fox, Anthony Edwards, Vicky Krieps, Sophie Calle, and Lucien Smith.
IMMA in Dublin is presenting the first Irish solo exhibition of Lebanese sound artist and composer Tarek Atoui, titled "Souffle Continu and Sunflowers." The exhibition opens on February 21, 2026, showcasing Atoui's innovative work in sound, performance, and custom instrument creation, which focuses on the physical experience of listening.