fabrizio plessi galleria barovier toso

Italian video art pioneer Fabrizio Plessi has opened a new exhibition, "Fabrizio Plessi: Drowning in a Glass of Water," at the recently rebranded Galleria Barovier and Toso in Venice. The show features a monumental installation of rings placed in dialogue with the gallery's historic chandeliers, alongside a series of glass sculptures that mimic traditional water vessels but are largely solid, creating a trompe l'oeil effect. The works incorporate moving images and sounds of water.

Remembering Catherine O'Hara, Beetlejuice's Delia Deetz Cover Sculptor

remembering catherine ohara beetlejuice delia deetz cover sculptor

Actress and comedian Catherine O'Hara, known for her role as sculptor Delia Deetz in the 1988 film 'Beetlejuice,' has died at age 71. In the film, her character creates abstract sculptures and achieves a fictional milestone by appearing on the cover of Art in America magazine.

south africa venice biennale court

South Africa's culture minister Gayton McKenzie canceled artist Gabrielle Goliath's selected presentation for the country's national pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, prompting Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo to file a constitutional court challenge on January 22. The artist's work, *Elegy*, commemorates victims of injustice including women, queer people, and victims of the Herero and Nama genocide, and was to address deaths of Gazan women and children since October 2023. McKenzie described the work as "highly divisive" and canceled the exhibition on January 2, despite an independent committee's binding selection. The minister now plans to replace it with a project by the collective Beyond the Frames titled "Shameless Rebellions: a South African Chorus."

cultural critics 2025

The Art Angle podcast hosted eight cultural critics, theorists, and artists throughout 2025 to reflect on key tensions and transformations in the art world. The roundup features voices including Nadia Asparouhova on the value of intimate 'antimemetic' art spaces, Andrea Fraser on the fragmentation of the art field, Alison E. Gingeras on the necessity of all-women exhibitions as resistance, Dean Kissick on the problems of social justice art, and Sean Monahan on social surveillance in the art world. Each thinker offers a snapshot of the debates, anxieties, and aspirations shaping contemporary cultural discourse.

ohx gallery where form remembers

OXH Gallery in Tampa, founded just over two years ago, presents its latest exhibition “Where Form Remembers,” featuring works by artists Avani R. Patel and Julie Gladstone. The show highlights each artist's exploration of emotion through abstraction, with Patel drawing on Indian cultural influences and organic motifs, while Gladstone uses multimedia compositions rooted in psychological experiences like memory and trauma. The exhibition runs through January 23, 2025.

petition protests serbia venice biennale pick

A petition with over 600 signatures is protesting the selection of Prague-based artist Predrag Đaković to represent Serbia at the 2026 Venice Biennale with a project titled “Across Golgotha to Resurrection.” The petition, created by the ZUK Informal Art and Culture Collective, alleges that the selection process was unprofessional and non-transparent, and that commission members are closely linked to President Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). The announcement was reportedly made via Đaković’s Instagram rather than through official channels, and neither the artist nor Serbia’s Ministry of Culture has responded to requests for comment.

star wars artwork auction heritage record tom jung

A Star Wars painting by illustrator Tom Jung, used as the original half-sheet poster for *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope* (1977), sold for $3.88 million at a Heritage Auctions sale of Hollywood memorabilia in Dallas. Consigned by the family of film producer Gary Kurtz, the work first appeared in national newspapers on May 13, 1977, and later became the film’s official promotional image. The sale broke the previous record for a Star Wars object, surpassing the $3.6 million paid for Darth Vader’s lightsaber prop.

pig couch craigslist hoax explained

The article reveals the origin of the infamous 'pig couch' that has appeared in hoax Craigslist ads across the U.S. for years. It is actually a chair titled *Hillhock* (2010), created by fiber artist Pavia Burroughs for her senior thesis at Philadelphia's University of the Arts. The piece, inspired by an illustration from Kit Williams' puzzle book *Masquerade*, is hand-stitched in pink velvet and satin with carved walnut hooves. Since 2015, Burroughs' photo has been used in fake listings, often as part of scams. Twitter user Abigail Rowe first investigated the phenomenon in 2018, uncovering the hoax after responding to a fraudulent ad.

sleep artist lee hadwin

Artist Lee Hadwin creates elaborate drawings and paintings while sleepwalking, with no memory of making them. His nocturnal creativity began at age four and intensified at 15 when he produced three pencil drawings of Marilyn Monroe overnight. Now based in London, Hadwin has made hundreds of works while asleep, selling them for $1,500 to $10,000 each. His art is currently featured in a sleep-themed exhibition in Albury, Australia, and he is working on a book titled *The Awakening*.

sung tieu new board member kw institute

Artist Sung Tieu has sold her 2025 work *Declaration of Donation* for €25,000, with proceeds funding a five-year term for a new board member at KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin. The work, created for her exhibition “1992, 2025” at KW, consists of a contract engraved on four mirrors that criticizes the institution’s €5,000 yearly board member fee, arguing it limits board diversity. Tieu nominated curator Mi You for the position, and KW director Emma Enderby expressed gratitude for the provocation.

konstantin chaykin mad horological party universe

Russian watchmaker and artist Konstantin Chaykin debuts his new painting, 'A Mad Horological Party,' at Dubai Watch Week 2025 from November 19–23, before it heads to auction via Ineichen Auctioneers on December 13. The artwork draws inspiration from Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' and parallels Chaykin's ambitious 'White Rabbit' wristwatch, which features 16 complications. Chaykin, a master of haute horlogerie and member of the Academy of Independent Creators in Watchmaking (AHCI), blends his technical watchmaking expertise with painting, using a proprietary method rooted in geometry, precise calculations, and hidden symmetries.

trump fires commission of fine arts members

All six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency that reviews major construction projects in Washington, D.C., including President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch and a new White House ballroom, have been fired. The commissioners, appointed under former President Joe Biden to four-year terms, received termination emails on October 28, with several expected to serve through 2028. The move follows a pattern of political turnover at the agency, as Biden had previously fired Trump appointees in 2021. Architect Bruce Becker, one of the fired commissioners, noted the commission’s role in shaping the nation’s capital and reviewing plans for the new structure replacing the historic East Wing.

guillermo del toro collection sells heritage

Oscar-winning film director Guillermo del Toro sold the first part of his macabre collection, known as "Bleak House," through Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, for a total of $1.65 million. The trove included art, props, and rare objects tied to his fascination with the macabre, with highlights such as H. R. Giger's painting for the unrealized project *The Tourist* fetching $325,000 (an auction record for the artist), Mike Mignola's original illustration for *Hellboy: Seed of Destruction* selling for over $50,000, and Bernie Wrightson's cover for Meat Loaf's *Dead Ringer* album reaching $167,000. Props from del Toro's films, including a clay model of the Amphibian Man from *The Shape of Water* and drivesuits from *Pacific Rim*, also sold for significant sums.

park avenue armory 50 pianos 11000 strings

The Park Avenue Armory in New York is hosting the North American premiere of *11,000 Strings*, an orchestral piece by composer Georg Friedrich Haas featuring 50 black pianos arranged in a ring. The performances began last night and run through October 7, with the 55,000-square-foot Drill Hall providing a dramatic setting for the microtonally tuned pianos and a 25-member ensemble from Klangforum Wien. The piece explores texture and tone over melody, evoking composers like Ligeti, Penderecki, and Stockhausen.

estonian museum director russian prison

Maria Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova, the director of the Narva Museum in Estonia, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison by a Russian court. The charges stem from her hanging banners on Narva Castle that label Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” including one that fuses Putin’s face with Adolf Hitler’s and another showing a bloodied mug shot of Putin. The court cited laws against disseminating “war fakes” and “rehabilitating Nazism.” Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova has been displaying such banners since 2023 on Russian Victory Day, and Russian authorities have projected Victory Day parades toward Narva from the nearby town of Ivangorod.

rabkin foundation 2025 arts journalism grant winners

The Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Foundation in Portland, Maine, has named eight recipients of its 2025 Rabkin Prize for visual arts journalists. Each winner receives an unrestricted $50,000 grant. This year's honorees are Tempestt Hazel, Jessica Lynne, Nicole Martinez, Brandy McDonnell, America Meredith, Eva Recinos, Paul Chaat Smith, and J Wortham. The foundation also commissioned portraits by photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki and will publish a series of interviews with the winners starting September 10.

painter morgan weistling dhs stole work social media homelands heritage

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted an image of Morgan Weistling's oil painting "New Life in A New Land" on its X account with the caption "Remember Your Homeland’s Heritage," without obtaining the artist's permission. Weistling publicly stated that the use was a violation of his copyright, expressing surprise and seeking next steps. The painting depicts a pioneer family in a covered wagon, and DHS had also recently used a Thomas Kinkade work without apparent authorization.

confederate heritage group sues stone mountain exhibition

A Confederate heritage group, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, has filed a lawsuit against Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, challenging a new exhibition that examines the site's history of slavery, segregation, and white supremacy. The group argues that the exhibition, commissioned by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association and developed by Warner Museums, violates state law by repurposing the park away from its original mandate to honor the Confederacy. The exhibition, funded with $11 million from the Georgia legislature in 2023, is not yet open to the public but has already sparked backlash from heritage groups.

mfa boston returns benin bronze robert owen lehman

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston has returned two Benin Bronzes—a 16th/17th-century terracotta and iron Commemorative Head and a 16th-century bronze Relief Plaque—to the Kingdom of Benin. The works were looted by British soldiers during the 1897 attack on Benin City, later acquired by collector Robert Owen Lehman Jr., and donated to the MFA in 2013 and 2018. The repatriation ceremony took place on June 27 at Nigeria House in New York, with the items handed over to Prince Aghatise Erediauwa and Ambassador Samson Itegboje. The MFA closed its Benin Kingdom Gallery in April and noted that three other Benin works donated by Lehman remain in its collection pending further provenance research.

hew locke belgium sculpture cancelled

London-based British-Guyanese artist Hew Locke expressed disappointment on Instagram after learning that the city of Ostend, Belgium, canceled a site-specific artwork commissioned late last year. The newly-elected city council cited insufficient public consultation before accepting Locke's proposal, which aimed to re-contextualize a statue of former Belgian King Leopold II—a ruler notorious for brutal colonial exploitation in the Congo. Locke offered to extend public consultation and reduce the installation from ten to five years, but received no response. The council's decision was announced without joint press release coordination, and Locke has had no further communication from them.

gary burden album cover artist gary auction

Bonhams Los Angeles is auctioning the archive of legendary album cover designer Gary Burden, who died in 2018, in a sale titled "Cover to Cover" running from June 20 to 30. The collection includes original artwork, sketchbooks, and ephemera from Burden's five-decade career, featuring iconic covers for the Doors' *Morrison Hotel* (1970), the Eagles' *Desperado* (1973) and *One of These Nights* (1975), Joni Mitchell's *Ladies of the Canyon* (1970), and Jackson Browne's 1972 debut, among others. Highlights include a lithograph for the Eagles' *One of These Nights* (estimate $10,000–$15,000) and Burden's preparatory pencil sketch for *Desperado* (estimate $30,000–$40,000).

as seen on goodfellas

Martin Scorsese's 1990 film *Goodfellas* features a brief but memorable scene where mobsters Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro), and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) visit Tommy's mother, played by Scorsese's own mother Catherine. She shows them a small painting of a man in a boat with two dogs facing opposite directions, prompting an improvised, humorous exchange of amateur art criticism that ties into the film's dark plot. The painting was actually based on a photograph by Adam Woolfitt from the November 1978 issue of *National Geographic*, depicting Irish river advocate John Weaving and his dogs Brocky and Twiggy; the on-screen version was created by Pileggi's mother.

world war ii documents and artifacts auction

Boston's RR Auctions is offering a sale of over 170 World War II autographs and artifacts, live through June 11. Highlights include a German Enigma I Cipher Machine (estimated at over $200,000), a Navy ensign flag that flew on D-Day, and a letter of surrender signed by Reich President Karl Dönitz on May 6, 1945 (estimated at over $100,000). The sale also features handwritten drafts of radiotelegrams from Colonel General Alfred Jodl and a mimeograph copy of General Dwight D. Eisenhower's victory announcement, signed by him as a souvenir.

lilo and stitch galleria dell accademia graceland

Disney has placed a white statue of the character Stitch from "Lilo & Stitch" inside the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, where it sits on a plinth near Michelangelo's David. The installation, part of a partnership between Disney and the Italian Ministry of Culture, promotes the upcoming live-action remake of the 2002 animated film. A promotional video shows Stitch causing mischief in the museum before carving its own marble likeness. The statue will be on view through June 20. Separately, Stitch also made an appearance at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, where it posed with Elvis Presley memorabilia and a pink Cadillac.

sothebys napoleons auction bicorne hat

Sotheby's will auction approximately 100 lots from the private collection of French antiques collector Pierre-Jean Chalençon on June 25 in Paris, including Napoleon Bonaparte's iconic bicorne hat (estimated at €800,000), a herald sword and stick from his 1804 coronation, his personal gold and ebony seal, worn stockings, and a portable camp bed. The sale, described as one of the most significant offerings of Napoleonic material ever to come to market, spans imperial furniture, Old Master paintings, and personal relics. Chalençon, who has amassed the collection over four decades, is reportedly selling the items to repay a €10 million loan from Swiss Life Banque Privée, though he has denied being deeply in debt.

auction abraham lincoln memorabilia

A collection of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia, including personal possessions, autograph letters, and campaign artifacts, was auctioned by Freeman’s | Hindman in Chicago on May 22. The sale, held on behalf of the Lincoln Presidential Foundation, featured around 140 lots and exceeded expectations, totaling nearly $7.9 million. The top lot was a pair of blood-stained white kid gloves Lincoln wore the night of his assassination, which sold for $1.5 million. Other highlights included a cuff button bearing the initial 'L' that fetched $445,000 and a handwritten math exercise from Lincoln’s youth that sold for $521,200.

trump names appointees us holocaust memorial museum board

President Donald Trump announced eight new appointees to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum board via a social media post on Thursday night, replacing trustees previously appointed by former President Joe Biden. The new appointees include Betty Schwartz, Fred Marcus, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, Sid Rosenberg, Ariel Abergel, Barbara Feingold, Alex Witkoff, and Robert Garson. They fill vacancies created after Trump removed Biden's appointees, which included Doug Emhoff, Ron Klain, Tom Perez, Susan Rice, and Anthony Bernal, leaving the council with only 41 members instead of the typical 55 presidential appointees.

ORDINARY MIRACLES. A Conversation with Rene Matić by Bianca Stoppani

Artist Rene Matić discusses their multidisciplinary practice and the personal history that informs their exploration of British identity, race, and subculture. The conversation highlights Matić’s deep connection to skinhead culture—inherited from their father—and their use of an "ethnographic methodology of the Self" to document queer BIPOC communities and personal memories.

Open Letter in Support of the Artist Asel Kadyrkhanova

An open letter initiated by members of the Kazakhstani and international art community protests the removal of artist Asel Kadyrkhanova's work *Machine* (2013) from the Kazakhstan pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale. The mixed-media installation, which addresses Stalinist repression through a vintage typewriter, arrest warrants, and red threads, was dismantled on May 5, 2026, reportedly by order of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Culture and Information, just before the pavilion's opening. The artist and curator were allegedly pressured to alter the work beforehand, and the ministry initially cited restrictions from the Italian side, but the Italian Ministry of Defense denied involvement.

Floral photography makes space for grief at Plug In ICA

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg is presenting 'Transcendence,' a dual exhibition pairing Sheila Spence's 'Lexicon of Loss'—floral prints made by pressing roses on a flatbed scanner—with 'Observance,' a video installation by the late Toronto artist April Hickox, who died in 2025. The two artists, who first met at the Banff Centre in 1989, reconnected four years ago after both experienced profound loss: Spence's long-term partner died, and Hickox faced a cancer diagnosis. Their collaboration, conceived during daily conversations, brings together works that explore grief through botanical imagery and moving image.