Thomas Hoving recounts his decision to pursue art history graduate school after military service, rejecting his father's demand that he join the family business and attend business school instead. He describes a cross-country road trip with his wife Nancy and their dog Whiskey, including a failed gambling attempt in Las Vegas and mechanical troubles in Missouri.
Performance artist Marina Abramović is being sued by her former creative and romantic partner Frank Uwe Laysiepen, known as Ulay. Ulay alleges that Abramović violated a 1999 contract by failing to share royalties and credit for collaborative works they created together. He claims Abramović has omitted his name from attributions and provided inaccurate sales statements, paying him only four times in 16 years. Abramović's lawyer has dismissed the allegations, and the case may be heard in Amsterdam district court.
Toyin Ojih Odutola is presenting two major solo exhibitions simultaneously—one at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York and one at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin—marking a pivotal moment in her career. The New York show, titled "Ilé Oriaku," features recent works that build on themes from her 2024 Kunsthalle Basel exhibition and the Nigerian Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, incorporating personal loss, ancestral memory, and layered storytelling. The artist describes a need for freedom and resists tidy conclusions, instead embracing flux and experimentation.
SuperRare, the digital art trading platform, is opening a permanent New York gallery called Offline in the East Village at 243 Bowery, the former home of Salon 94. The inaugural exhibition, “Mythologies for a Spiritually Void Time,” curated by X.S. Hou and Jack Wedge, opens July 8 and features 15 artists working across animation, painting, sculpture, and networked media. The launch includes a week-long festival with dance performances, panels on art and A.I., and a choreographed NFT auction ritual.
Richard Hambleton, the Canadian street artist known for his iconic "shadowman" silhouettes that appeared on New York City walls in the 1980s, died on Sunday at age 65, as confirmed by Woodward Gallery. Hambleton emerged alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenny Scharf in the downtown graffiti scene, but a long battle with heroin and crack addiction plagued his life. His career saw a resurgence following a documentary by Oscar-nominated director Oren Jacoby, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, leading to renewed exhibitions including his participation in "Club 57: Film, Performance and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983" at the Museum of Modern Art.
Frank Uwe Laysiepen, known as Ulay, has died at age 76 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The German-born artist was a pioneer of performance art, photography, and body art, best known for his collaborative works with former partner Marina Abramović, including the iconic "Relation Works" series and their 1988 walk along the Great Wall of China. Ulay had been recovering from lymphatic cancer; the cause of death has not been confirmed. He leaves behind the ULAY Foundation in Amsterdam and a project space in Slovenia.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened "Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s," a major survey featuring over 250 works including painting, photography, jewelry, ceramics, fashion, and furniture. The exhibition draws entirely from the museum's own collection, with around 40 percent of the works never exhibited before. It includes early pieces by celebrated figures like Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, as well as works by queer artists such as Paul Cadmus, Beauford Delaney, and Romaine Brooks, alongside self-taught artist Horace Pippin. Chief curator Jessica Smith emphasizes that the show aims to present a more complex, multivalent narrative of the decade beyond the dominant story of Abstract Expressionism.
Art advisor Naomi Baigell recalls that when she managed Prudential's corporate art collection in the late 1980s and 1990s, executives refused to hang textile works by Colombian-born artist Olga de Amaral, preferring abstract paintings instead. Now 93 and still working, Amaral is experiencing a major market and institutional renaissance: the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami is hosting a solo show of her work (through October 12), her pieces are included in MoMA's "Woven Histories" exhibition, and she has been represented by Lisson Gallery since 2019. In 2025, her auction performance has been stellar, with a new record of $1.16 million set in May for *Imagen perdida 27* (1996) at Phillips New York, and total sales of $4.07 million as of June.
P·P·O·W gallery in New York has opened a group exhibition titled "Hope is a Dangerous Thing," running from June 6 to July 12, 2025. Curated by director Eden Deering, the show features artists including Robin F. Williams, Marianna Simnett, Kyle Dunn, Kayode Ojo, Raque Ford, and Diane Severin Nguyen, all united by their devotion to singer Lana Del Rey. The exhibition explores themes of art and artifice, sincerity and spectacle, with works that reference Del Rey's persona and millennial nostalgia, incorporating elements like AI, pop culture, and fast fashion.
A new exhibition and book, "The Making of Modern Korean Art: The Letters of Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan, and Park Seo-Bo, 1961-1982," at Tina Kim Gallery in New York presents the early correspondence and artworks of four pioneering Korean artists. The show, on view through June 21, features paintings by Lee Ufan, Kim Whanki, Park Seo-Bo, and Kim Tschang-Yeul, alongside letters that document their struggles and aspirations during the 1960s and '70s, before they gained international recognition. The accompanying book, published by Gregory R. Miller & Co. and Tina Kim Gallery, is edited by art historians Yeon Shim Chung and Doryun Chong.
Artist Chase Hall discusses his new solo exhibition “Momma’s Baby, Daddy’s Maybe” at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Vienna, which takes its title from a phrase his father told him in childhood. The show explores themes of race, mixed-race identity, fatherhood, and family dynamics, using coffee as a signature medium—Hall layers espresso on raw cotton canvas to create symbolic and formal depth. The exhibition follows his rise from photojournalism to a buzzy painting career, with works acquired by major institutions and auction records at Christie’s.
The Château de Wargemont, a 19th-century seaside castle in Normandy where Pierre-Auguste Renoir summered and painted, has been listed for sale by Sotheby’s International Realty for €4 million ($4.5 million). The 17-room property, set on 25 acres, is the last great Impressionist site still in private hands and retains original features including Renoir’s dining room mural The Two Hunts, the only in-situ decor by an Impressionist. Renoir was invited there by diplomat and banker Paul Bérard, and the estate appears in several of his works, including Les rosiers à Wargemont (1879), which sold for $7.5 million at Sotheby’s in 2004.
This week's art industry roundup covers major personnel changes at Phillips, with Cheyenne Westphal stepping down as global chairwoman and Jean-Paul Engelen departing for Acquavella Galleries, alongside promotions of Robert Manley and Miety Heiden. Auction results show mixed performance: Christie's Riggio collection brought $488.8 million, but Sotheby's and Phillips saw declines, while Marlene Dumas set a record for a living woman artist at Christie's. Other highlights include the launch of Derrick Adams' Scout Art Fair in Baltimore, Art Basel's inaugural awards, and the opening of Destinee Ross-Sutton's gallery in Stockholm.
Michelle Grabner, a Milwaukee-based artist known for examining overlooked visual languages, has created a new series of porcelain sculptures at the Kohler Company's MakerSpace in Wisconsin. These works, which mimic janitorial supplies like sponges, sinks, and mop carts, are being shown at the Independent art fair this week with Cleveland's Abattoir Gallery. Grabner, who co-curated the 2014 Whitney Biennial and served as the inaugural artistic director of FRONT International, continues to expand her practice beyond painting into industrial materials, while also holding two concurrent museum retrospectives: "Underdone Potato" at the Schneider Museum of Art and "Under the Sink" at the Haggerty Museum.
Gallery Weekend Berlin took place during the city's spring bloom, featuring exhibitions like Alvaro Urbano's melancholic installation "September and Lions" at ChertLüdde and Pamela Rosenkranz's flesh-toned water bottles at KaDeWe. The event kicked off on May Day and included expanded public tours, artist talks at the Neue Nationalgalerie, and a 24-hour window project. Notable attendees included collector Frédéric de Goldschmidt and celebrity Usher, who collected art. The weekend was marked by a mood of resilience despite political turmoil.
Sotheby's New York held a single-owner auction titled "175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundation" on December 11 and 12, achieving a world record for a photography auction. The sale grossed $21,325,063, surpassing its presale estimate of $13–20 million and beating the previous record of $15 million set by a Sotheby's sale in 2006. The collection came from the late American financier Howard Stein, who founded the Joy of Giving Something Foundation in 1999. The auction had a strong sell-through rate of 90.3 percent by lot and 94.9 percent by value, with top lots including Alvin Langdon Coburn's "Shadows and Reflections, Venice" (1905) at $965,000 and August Sander's "Handlanger" at $749,000. Several female photographers set new records, including Tina Modotti, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Lee Miller.
Artnet News and Morgan Stanley have released an analysis of the global art market, examining auction performance by artists from different regions over the past decade. The report breaks down sales by region—North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East—and by genre categories including Old Masters, Impressionist and Modern, Postwar and Contemporary, and Ultra-Contemporary. Key findings show that North American and European artists dominate the market, while African-born artists have seen notable but uneven growth, and Asia-Pacific-born artists have experienced a marked decline.
Over 350 Mexican cultural professionals have signed an open letter demanding greater transparency from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL) regarding the management and export of the Gelman Collection. The collection, recently acquired by the Zambrano family and rebranded as the Gelman Santander Collection, includes 18 works by Frida Kahlo and other major 20th-century Mexican artists, with 30 pieces designated as national artistic monuments requiring state oversight.
This week's art roundup from The Guardian highlights a range of exhibitions across the UK, including Bruce Asbestos's 'Bootleg Shreg 2' at Exeter Phoenix Gallery, a playful show featuring a green ogre that parodies copyright rules. Other notable shows include Roy Oxlade's primitive paintings at Alison Jacques, May Morris's craft legacy at Lady Lever Art Gallery, a 30-year anniversary group show at Timothy Taylor, and Alan Charlton's monochrome grey works at Annely Juda Fine Art. The article also features an image of a naturally sculpted rock on Kangaroo Island, a review of the Turner Prize nominees, and a masterwork analysis of Vermeer's 'The Guitar Player' at Kenwood House, which was stolen in the 1970s and recovered with the help of a clairvoyant.
The Camden Art Centre in London is hosting a significant survey of the late Guyanese-British artist Donald Locke, marking the final stop of a UK touring exhibition. Locke is celebrated for blending the formal language of minimalism and modernism with the potent symbols of Guyanese and Black American culture, effectively challenging the traditional art world's Eurocentric perspectives through his work in ceramics, painting, and sculpture.
The article is a weekly art roundup highlighting several major exhibitions opening in London and Cambridge. It spotlights a new show of nature-themed paintings by Cecily Brown at the Serpentine Gallery, ceramics by Phoebe Collings-James at Pitzhanger Manor, a career survey of Turner Prize-winner Veronica Ryan at the Whitechapel Gallery, a Frank Bowling retrospective at The Fitzwilliam Museum, and a presentation of Aboriginal Australian art at Edel Assanti. The piece also features a powerful war photograph from Iraq and includes brief news items on topics ranging from a Matisse retrospective to potential museum entry fees.
ArtReview has compiled a running list of national pavilions for the 61st Venice Biennale, running from 9 May to 22 November 2026. The Biennale was set to be curated by Koyo Kouoh, who died on 10 May 2025. Recent announcements include Haitham Al Busafi representing Oman, Genti Korini representing Albania with a three-channel video installation titled 'A Place in The Sun (still)', and Matías Duville representing Argentina with an interactive salt-and-charcoal installation. The Australia Pavilion will feature artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, who were initially dropped due to controversy over Sabsabi's 2007 film 'You' but later reinstated. Florentina Holzinger will represent Austria with a water-themed performance.
Para Site, a Hong Kong contemporary arts center, has launched a year-long 30th anniversary programme featuring exhibitions, performances, and residencies. The programme is structured around acts of response, pairing artists and fostering new collaborations, drawing inspiration from the organization's earliest experimental exhibitions.
The Box, a pioneering Los Angeles gallery known for its nonprofit-style support of experimental and performance art, has announced its closure after nearly two decades. Founded in 2007 by Mara McCarthy, the gallery’s final exhibition featured late California painter Wally Hedrick, and a closing event will include a fashion show by Johanna Went. Mara McCarthy cited the shifting market for her father Paul McCarthy’s work and the loss of family homes in the Eaton Fire as factors behind the decision.
Christophe de Menil, a collector, designer, and patron who cultivated deep relationships with many of the 20th century's most influential artists, died in New York on August 5 at age 92. A member of the renowned Menil family, she was the daughter of John and Dominique de Menil, founders of the Menil Collection in Houston. Her close friends included Merce Cunningham, Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, and Jasper Johns. She married artist Enrique Castro-Cid and was the grandmother of artist Dash Snow. De Menil appeared three times on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list and built a collection featuring works by René Magritte, Barnett Newman, and others. She also worked as a fashion designer, creating garments for theater director Robert Wilson, and commissioned Frank Gehry and Doug Wheeler for her New York home renovation.
Beaux Arts Magazine has published a comprehensive dossier on David Hockney, coinciding with his current exhibition at Galerie Lelong in Paris. The article presents a multi-episode series covering the British artist's career, from his iconic "Pool Paintings" like *A Bigger Splash* (1967) to his recent works created on iPad in Normandy. It highlights his ongoing exhibitions at multiple venues, including a major retrospective at the Centre Pompidou starting June 21, a dialogue with Matisse at the Musée Matisse in Nice, a show at the Van Gogh Museum, and a loan from Tate Britain to the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence. The piece also explores Hockney's fascination with Old Masters, his use of technology, and his enduring status as a pop art and hyperrealist superstar.
David Hockney presents "The Moon Room," a series of fifteen iPad drawings of full moons created during the 2020 lockdown, at Galerie Lelong in Paris until May 7, 2026. The exhibition, free and open to the public, features nocturnal landscapes Hockney painted from his farm in Normandy, inspired by Maupassant's "Clair de lune" and his own nightly observations. The works were first shown at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen in 2024 and later at the Fondation Louis Vuitton.
Multidisciplinary artist Trevor Paglen has been awarded the 2026 LG Guggenheim Award. The honor, established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and LG, includes an unrestricted $100,000 grant and recognizes artists working at the intersection of art and technology.
The 16th Gwangju Biennale has revealed its theme, 'You must change your life,' a line from Rainer Maria Rilke's poem 'Archaic Torso of Apollo.' Artistic director Ho Tzu Nyen and curators Che Kyongfa, Park Gahee, and Brian Kuan Wood will lead an edition focused on art's transformative power during a time of multiple crises. The exhibition, running from September 5 to November 15, will feature the smallest number of artists in the biennale's history, emphasizing intensity over accumulation and tracking the evolution of individual artistic practices.
Frieze New York announced a partnership with major New York cultural institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and Dia Art Foundation, to present performances and exhibitions timed with its May fair. The Whitney will show Jonathan González's "Body Configurations," while Dia will display David Lamelas's video work. This initiative explicitly aims to extend the fair's presence beyond its commercial venue into established museums.