Writer Thomas Clerc casts a tender fictional gaze on Montmartre's 'daubs'

L’écrivain Thomas Clerc pose, à travers une fiction, un regard tendre sur les « croûtes » de Montmartre

French writer and essayist Thomas Clerc has published a new fiction titled "Croûtes" as the fifteenth volume in the "Fléchette" collection by éditions sun/sun. The book draws inspiration from a single autochrome image taken from the Musée Albert-Kahn's "Archives de la planète" (1909–1931), specifically a one-minute film shot in March 1927 at the Foire aux croûtes in Montmartre, Paris. Clerc's narrative tenderly and humorously explores the life of an amateur painter and the infinite possibilities of so-called "croûtes"—a French slang term for amateurish or kitsch paintings that exist outside institutional recognition.

Janusz Jurek Embraces the Weirdness of Everyday Life in Captivating Street Photographs

Polish photographer Janusz Jurek, who works as a graphic designer and commercial photographer, creates candid street photographs that capture humor, happenstance, and the bizarre. He focuses on authentic moments outside the mainstream, often turning away from main attractions to observe people's reactions, small gestures, and strange coincidences. Jurek is preparing a photo collection titled "Look, Before It’s Gone," compiling five years of his street photography.

Harta Space's 'A Third Eye' exhibition pays tribute to late multi-dimensional artist Askandar Unglehrt

Harta Space in Penang is hosting 'A Third Eye', an exhibition paying tribute to the late multi-dimensional artist Askandar Unglehrt. Born in Germany, Unglehrt studied at the Sorbonne in Paris during the 1960s, where he was influenced by Dadaism and surrealist poet Jean Hans Arp. He later settled in Malaysia, taught at Universiti Sains Malaysia, and developed a distinctive artistic practice rooted in collage, assemblage, and the concept of a 'third eye' that synthesizes Eastern and Western perspectives. The exhibition explores his humorous, esoteric works and his lifelong questioning of art's seriousness.

design collectible fair julio torres picks

Comedian and designer Julio Torres debuted a furniture collaboration with Sabai at Collectible's second New York edition, hosted by Water Street Projects. The Brussels-based design fair featured Torres's playful line alongside other standout pieces, including works by Studio Sam Klemick, Merve Kahraman, Realm, Andrea Spiridonakos, 304.Cage, and María Laura Camejo. Torres, known for his work on Saturday Night Live, the film Problemista, and the series Los Espookys and Fantasmas, offered whimsical commentary on each selected object in an interview with Cultured.

Studio Sessions: Raili Jänese

Artist Raili Jänese, an Estonian-born painter now based in Kirkland, Washington, creates colorful acrylic works that capture everyday human and animal behaviors with humor and tenderness. Her practice, which began after a corporate career, focuses on observation of mundane moments—people eating, drinking coffee, riding transit, and animals in urban settings. Her upcoming solo exhibition, "E.L.U," will be on view at Ryan James Fine Arts from May 1–31, 2025, with a Gallery Night on May 22. Jänese has shown work regionally at venues including Happy Time Studio Gallery, Oxbow Montlake, and the Seattle Art Fair, and has completed public art projects in Bellevue, Kent, Kirkland, and Seattle.

In Dubai, the art-world panel discussion is re-envisioned

Crit Club, a roving debate series founded by artist and curator Cem A., reimagines the traditional art-world panel discussion by staging face-to-face debates between two figures in a sporting-style arena, complete with absurdist interludes by athletes. Last month, the series invited journalist and art critic to Dubai in collaboration with Alserkal Avenue to debate the motion "Are art fairs relevant?" against artist-turned-dealer Umer Butt, founder of Grey Noise gallery. The debate forced participants to switch sides mid-way, emphasizing that the goal is not to reach a definitive answer but to explore false binaries.

In West Philly, “third space” Studio 34 offers healing to everyone

Studio 34, a wellness and community center located at 4522 Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia, is hosting a new solo exhibition by Lebanese multidisciplinary artist Tracy Chahwan. Titled “Alien of Extraordinary Abilities,” the show runs through the end of May and features over a decade of Chahwan's work in posters, textiles, and comics. The exhibition traces her journey from designing posters for Beirut's music scene and collaborating with the Samandal and Zeez comics collectives to arriving in Philadelphia during the pandemic, where she was stranded after a planned short visit turned into a permanent relocation.

‘This cactus looks as if it’s preaching’: Joseph Cyr’s best phone picture

Joseph Cyr, a language teacher and avid trail runner, captured a rare crested saguaro cactus while running in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona. The photograph highlights a unique mutation found in only about 75 of the park's estimated two million saguaros, featuring a fan-like growth that gives the plant a distinct, human-like silhouette.

Week in wildlife: wild boar babies, fenland ponies and a slug with strange genitalia

The article is a photographic roundup of notable wildlife encounters and animal behaviors from around the world. It features images of wild boar piglets in Germany, a wild boar that wandered into a Berlin supermarket, a camouflaged snow leopard in Ladakh, Konik ponies sparring in a UK fenland reserve, a banana slug with unusual reproductive anatomy in California, a seagull with a sea star in Seattle, a Palestine sunbird in Israel, and rhinos reintroduced to a Ugandan national park.

Experience Western’s 2026 art biennial

Western Washington University’s art department has opened its 2026 faculty and staff biennial, featuring 20 artists with works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation. The exhibition is held in the Fine Arts Building, room 124, and runs Monday through Saturday until May 2, with free admission. New gallery director Kelly Lindner curated the show, which includes interactive pieces and collaborative works. Featured artist Jennifer Anable contributed three works inspired by Skagit Valley and dark humor, emphasizing the importance of students seeing their teachers’ professional practice.

This Quirky Love Hotel-Themed Art Exhibition At Joo Chiat Has NSFW But Cute Merch Like “Kurex” Condoms

Heartware Store & Gallery in Singapore's Joo Chiat neighborhood is hosting a pop-up exhibition titled 'Ikuiku Love Hotel,' a collaboration with Taiwanese artist Ikuiku. The show transforms the space into a love hotel-themed environment, complete with a reception counter, mock hotel room, and bathroom set, all featuring the artist's vibrant, character-driven artworks that explore themes of sexuality and intimacy with playful, cheeky humor.

Get your skates on: artist puts ice rink in Venice palazzo

German artist Olaf Nicolai has installed a functional ice rink titled 'Eisfeld II' within the frescoed grand banqueting hall of the 18th-century Palazzo Diedo in Venice. The installation, which includes a soundtrack by the Berlin band To Rococo Rot and two lightboxes, is a reinterpretation of a work first developed over two decades ago and will be on view until February 22.

‘It was the cheapest possible art form I could imagine’: Sophia Al-Maria performs stand-up for Frieze London

Sophia Al-Maria, winner of the 2025 Frieze London Artist Award, is performing a stand-up routine titled *Wall-Based Work* (2025) daily at the fair. Her act blends humor and serious topics, from art world bureaucracy and the Gaza conflict to being mansplained to by Robert De Niro, and includes karaoke and an editioned work benefiting the LGBTQ+ asylum charity Micro Rainbow.

Playful and Provocative, the Artist Tom Friedman Lands in Seoul and New York

The New York Times profiles American artist Tom Friedman, known for his playful and provocative sculptures and installations that often use everyday materials like toothpicks, aspirin, and cereal boxes. The article highlights his concurrent exhibitions in Seoul and New York, showcasing his career-spanning work that blends humor, meticulous craftsmanship, and conceptual depth.

Très Riches Heures: Chantilly exhibition offers ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to see famed medieval manuscript

The Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly, north of Paris, has opened a special exhibition of the Très Riches Heures, the celebrated 15th-century illuminated manuscript. For the first time in decades, the public can view the 12 monthly calendar pages as independent works, detached from the manuscript after a painstaking conservation project. The exhibition, running until October, also features around 100 loaned medieval manuscripts, sculptures, and paintings to contextualize the manuscript's importance. The Très Riches Heures, commissioned by the Duc de Berry and begun by the Limbourg brothers around 1411, has been held at Chantilly since 1856 and is normally never lent out due to the conditions of the Duke d'Aumale's bequest.

Rocío Sáenz: Wild Order

ROCÍO SÁENZ: ORDEN SALVAJE

Mexican artist Rocío Sáenz presents "Orden salvaje" (Wild Order) at the Museo de las Artes de la Universidad de Guadalajara (MUSA), an exhibition featuring over 60 works created over three years. Spanning painting, ceramics, photography, and drawing, the collection explores the tension between beauty and horror, specifically addressing the harrowing reality of forced disappearances in Mexico. The exhibition is designed as an open studio, showcasing the artist's creative process alongside finished pieces that utilize black humor and satire to navigate themes of death and reconstruction.

Historic condom exhibit at Rijksmuseum sparks protest

A Christian group, Stichting Civitas Christiana and TFP Student Action Europe, is protesting the Rijksmuseum's display of a 1830s condom made from a sheep's appendix, featuring an erotic etching of a nun and three clergymen. The condom, acquired at auction, is part of a small exhibition on 19th-century prostitution and riffs on the judgment of Paris myth. The group has distributed flyers and launched a petition calling the display a sacrilege, while the museum defends it as historically significant and humorous.

Spirit Halloween to Temporarily Take Over Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has signed a temporary lease with seasonal retailer Spirit Halloween to occupy its space, aiming to generate alternative revenue. This move is intended to supplement funding for a $250 million renovation project, as federal funds originally earmarked for the capital project were reportedly reallocated to the Department of War.

5 Art Job Openings That Are Definitely Not Exploitative

Hyperallergic published a satirical list of five fictional art world job openings, each parodying exploitative or absurd practices common in the industry. The positions include an Instagram comment moderator for a collector, an assistant to a famous artist with invasive demands, a "sentence complicator" for an art institution, a residency where the artist pays to work, and an endurance-based performance art participant compensated only with "exposure."

Edmond Arts Festival offers family fun with art, crafts and food

The Edmond Arts Festival is currently underway in Edmond, Oklahoma, featuring over 160 exhibits and booths that include paintings, handmade crafts, and food. The festival runs through Sunday evening, offering family-friendly entertainment in the heart of the city, with local artist Kris Fairchild highlighting the supportive atmosphere and unique, humorous artwork on display.

How do you break bad news to someone you love? With this artist’s help, it’s a piece of cake

Artist Keely O'Brien has transformed the Richmond-Brighouse SkyTrain station in Vancouver into a public gallery with her exhibition "Secret Ingredients." Part of the Capture Photography Festival, the installation features large-scale photographs of decadent, homemade cakes iced with unconventional messages like "You Snore" or "I'm So Proud of You." These images originated from a social experiment where O'Brien solicited anonymous confessions from the public and delivered them as custom-baked confections to recipients across the city.

Manchester artist Vinay Jalla invites viewers to find wisdom in footwear at Altrincham art exhibition

Manchester-based illustrator Vinay Jalla is headlining a new group exhibition at Altrincham Town Hall, presented by the Altrincham Society of Artists. The showcase features over 40 original works ranging from traditional British landscapes to contemporary social commentary, with Jalla’s piece 'Old Shoes Never Bite' serving as a focal point. His work utilizes humor and symbolism to transform everyday objects into reflections on memory and quiet wisdom.

Aiza Ahmed: ‘I’m finding ways to explore humanity’

Interdisciplinary artist Aiza Ahmed is presenting a solo exhibition of new paintings and woodcut sculptures with New York gallery Sargent's Daughters at the inaugural Art Basel Qatar. The 28-year-old, who splits her time between residencies in Doha and New York, uses the theatrical Wagah-Attari border ceremony between India and Pakistan as a central subject to explore identity, nationalism, and power dynamics.

Mango Tango Art Gallery Presents: “Gone but Not Forgotten,” Opening Saturday

Mango Tango Art Gallery in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, is opening a commemorative exhibition titled “Gone but Not Forgotten” on Saturday, November 22, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The show honors three beloved local artists—Kathy Carlson, Max Johnson, and Smokey Pratt—whose lives and works shaped the Caribbean art scene. The evening will feature live music by Neko Crush, appetizers, and spirits. Carlson and Johnson, both East Coast natives who studied at the Art Students League of New York, created lush floral paintings and portraits inspired by their Caribbean travels. Johnson also painted New England landscapes. Carlson was a respected educator who taught math at Antilles High School, while Johnson had a career in advertising at J. Walter Thompson. Pratt, a chef, musician, and gallery co-owner, contributed humorous cartoons and played in the blues duo 2 Blue Shoes. The exhibition runs for one month.

Andi Crist’s Five-Star Exhibition on Artistic Labor at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art

Andi Crist presents her first solo museum exhibition, “Live, Laugh, Labor: Thoughts on Usefulness and Other Myths,” at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art, on view until January 11, 2026. The show explores the hidden labor behind art production through works like “How to Hang a Painting,” a cast-aluminum instructional piece, and includes preparatory sketches, a recreated “The Door,” and ceramic works such as “Good Idea/Bad Idea (trash can)” and “Target Practice.” Crist, who identifies as a creative, designer, fabricator, art handler, and comic, uses humor and self-deprecation to expose the messy realities of making art.

Art exhibition preserves a moment in time using historical scientific research, microbiology and macabre curiosity

Artist Emily Mulvaney has opened her debut solo exhibition, "Preservation of Bodies," at Off-Site Art Space, exploring themes of preservation and degradation through a blend of art and science. The show features bioplastics, mold, vacuum-sealed bags, and synthetic organ-like forms, drawing on historical scientific research from the Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the Linda Hall Library. Mulvaney, who was the Lance Williams Art and Science Artist-in-Residence at the University of Kansas, uses materials like bioplastics to address ethical and environmental concerns, collaborating with PhD student Eryk Yarkosky on bacterial communication pieces.

Exhibition review: Relic at 28 Broad Street - Nottingham Culture

An immersive pop-up exhibition titled 'Relic' is on display at 28 Broad Street in Nottingham City Centre, led by local street artist Kid30 and featuring collaborators Detail, Ging, Boaster, Grim Finga, Dizzy Ink, Lambhorse, and 2 Foot. The exhibition transforms a partially renovated building into a dystopian 'museum of found objects from the after years 2035-2055,' combining sculpture, audio production, and parody to critique consumer culture and envision a bleak future. Highlights include a pirate radio soundtrack, a model village by Roadman Rails, and satirical reimaginings of brands like Apple, Netflix, and Coca-Cola.

Farewell, Jerry Gogosian—or is it?

Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, the creator of the popular Instagram satirical persona Jerry Gogosian, announced she was ending the account after seven years and over 152,000 followers. The account was known for its sharp commentary on blue-chip dealers and art fair management, and helped launch other projects including a Sotheby's show in 2022 and a signing with Hollywood talent company UTA. Helphenstein told The Art Newspaper she wants to write a TV series like "White Lotus" or "Succession" set in the art world, and aims to work for MCH Group and eventually Art Basel.

There’s A Whimsical Pop-Up Exhibition With Cute Artworks & Sculptures Featuring Animals & Fruits

London-based illustrator Tess Smith-Roberts is making her solo debut in Singapore with a pop-up exhibition titled "Hello Singapore!" at the newly opened Heartware Store & Gallery in Joo Chiat, running from 25th April to 25th May 2025. The free-entry exhibition features a whimsical collection of colorful artworks, sculptures, silkscreen prints, and merchandise, all centered on playful motifs of animals, fruits, and food. Smith-Roberts, known for her bold and humorous style, has previously exhibited in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Seoul, and during the opening weekend she drew live portraits of visitors.

chi too, 1981–2026

chi too, 1981–2026

Malaysian artist chi too, known for his multidisciplinary and community-focused work, passed away on March 7, 2026, at age 44. A self-taught artist, he was a key figure in Malaysia's alternative art scene, creating works across painting, performance, and installation that addressed identity and societal issues through a blend of humor and seriousness.