How to Extract the Story of Appalachia

The artist collective GRIT has issued a sharp critique of Fia Backström’s exhibition, "The Great Society," currently on view at the Queens Museum. The authors argue that Backström, a European artist, engages in "extractive" storytelling by focusing exclusively on trauma, environmental disaster, and poverty in West Virginia. They contend that the exhibition’s aesthetic choices—such as inverting landscape photographs and omitting human subjects—flatten the region's complexity into a spectacle of misery that alienates the very community it claims to represent.

LA Artists Honor Dolores Huerta’s Defiant Spirit

The Chicano cultural center Plaza de la Raza in Los Angeles has launched "DOLORES," a major group exhibition celebrating the 96th birthday and enduring legacy of labor leader Dolores Huerta. Featuring works by over 30 artists, including Barbara Carrasco and Vincent Valdez, the show utilizes portraiture, mixed media, and depictions of migrant labor to honor Huerta’s contributions to the United Farm Workers (UFW) and Chicano civil rights.

‘As an artist I have a duty to reflect the times’: photographer Misan Harriman explores protests and solidarity in new London show

Photographer and filmmaker Misan Harriman has opened a permanent installation titled 'The Purpose of Light' at London's Hope 93 gallery. The exhibition features over 100 black-and-white photographs taken over seven years at protests in the UK, US, and South Africa, including demonstrations related to Black Lives Matter, Gaza, and other social justice movements. The project debuted as a solo show last summer and, due to significant public response, has now been established as a long-term fixture with support from private collectors.

Is There an Ethical Path for AI Art?

An exhibition at Rice University's Moody Center for the Arts, titled 'Imaging after Photography', presents work by seven contemporary artists who use artificial intelligence in ethically considered ways. The show argues we are in a post-photographic moment where AI disrupts the link between photorealism and reality, and features artists who train their algorithms on their own images or public domain datasets to avoid plagiarism.

bedayat beginnings of saudi art movement

The National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh has launched "Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement," a landmark survey exhibition documenting the evolution of the country’s art scene from the 1960s through the 1980s. Curated by Qaswra Hafez and commissioned by the Visual Arts Commission, the show features a vast array of paintings, sculptures, and never-before-seen archival materials. The exhibition is organized into three sections that explore the foundations of the movement, the influence of modernization on daily life, and the specific contributions of four modernist pioneers: Mohammed Al-Saleem, Safeya Binzagr, Mounirah Mosly, and Abdulhalim Radwi.

arts panel approves trumps white house ballroom plans

The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) has bypassed standard review procedures to grant final approval for President Donald Trump’s proposed $400 million White House ballroom. The six-to-zero vote occurred after the President replaced the entire commission with allies earlier this year, following the controversial demolition of the White House’s East Wing to clear space for the project.

anne boleyn portrait sixth finger witchcraft rebuttal

Technical analysis of a 16th-century portrait of Anne Boleyn at Hever Castle has revealed that the artist deliberately reworked the queen's hands to clearly display five fingers. Using infrared reflectography and tree-ring dating, researchers determined the painting dates to 1583, during the reign of her daughter, Elizabeth I. This specific composition, known as the 'Rose' portrait, is now identified as the earliest scientifically dated panel portrait of the doomed queen.

jack lang resigns institut de monde arabe jeffrey epstein

Jack Lang, the former French culture minister and president of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, resigned from his position. His resignation came after his name, and that of his daughter Caroline Lang, appeared in newly released court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. French prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into the pair for alleged tax fraud and money laundering, leading to intense political pressure and Lang's decision to step down.

mfa boston layoffs curators color response

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston laid off 33 staff members, including several curators of color, prompting accusations that the cuts disproportionately targeted minority employees. Director Pierre Terjanian issued a statement denying the claim, asserting that the percentage of staff identifying as people of color remained unchanged at one-third. Among those let go were Marina Tyquiengco, associate curator of Native American art; Nadirah Mansour, assistant curator of Islamic art; and theo tyson, a curator in fashion arts who was reportedly the only Black curator at the museum. A union representative said workers were notified only five minutes before the public announcement, and no leadership took pay cuts despite the elimination of the COO position.

Volunteer Restorer Accused of Painting PM Giorgia Meloni's Face into Angel on Church Fresco

church fresco giorgia meloni

A volunteer restorer in Rome, Bruno Valentinetti, has been accused of altering a church fresco to make an angel bear the likeness of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The fresco, in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, was restored after water damage, and the angel holding a map of Italy now appears to resemble the political leader. Valentinetti denies the likeness, claiming he faithfully followed the original design.

art market minute feb 2

Saudi Arabia is scaling back some of its ambitious 'gigaprojects' under the Vision 2030 plan due to falling oil prices and budget constraints, raising questions about the future of its major cultural investments. This shift occurs as the art world's attention turns to the Gulf region for the inaugural Art Basel Qatar, highlighting the tension between grand cultural ambitions and economic realities in a key emerging art market.

courtney mcclellan evangelical college supreme court simulation shirley fiterman liberty

Courtney McClellan's exhibition "Simulations" at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center in Lower Manhattan features deadpan photographs of empty mock courtrooms at universities across the American South, including a haunting simulation of the Supreme Court's chambers at Liberty University, an evangelical Southern Baptist college in Virginia. The show, which includes images taken over six years, is installed with blue borders and wainscoting that blur the line between architecture and image, placing viewers in the position of judge and jury while highlighting the theatricality of these spaces.

bianca censori furniture design performance art

Bianca Censori, known for her revealing fashion and as Ye's wife, debuted her first performance art piece titled "BIO POP (The Origin)" on December 12-13 at Layer 41 in Seoul, South Korea. The 14-minute performance features Censori in a maroon bodysuit preparing an object at a kitchen island before revealing furniture intertwined with female contortionists styled as her duplicates, all made from discarded mobility devices. A related jewelry line inspired by medical devices also launched the same day.

cartier into the wild miami

Cartier has opened a theatrical pop-up exhibition titled "Into the Wild" in Miami during Art Week, showcasing its archive of animal-themed jewelry and objets. The exhibition guides visitors through five staged "worlds" featuring the iconic Panthère motif alongside other fauna and flora, with vintage pieces from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and a finale by Berlin-based artist Clare Celeste. The experience concludes with golf carts transporting guests to Cartier's newly renovated Miami flagship boutique.

andrew wolff artnet artsy future

Andrew Wolff, CEO of Beowolff Capital, has acquired Artnet and a controlling stake in Artsy, positioning himself as a key consolidator in the digital art market. In an interview tied to his inclusion in the Observer's “Art Power Index,” Wolff outlined plans to integrate data across platforms, develop AI-native tools, and create a seamless ecosystem for discovery, valuation, and transaction, aiming to empower younger collectors who favor networked, permissionless access over traditional gatekeepers.

pemberton asset management buys bonhams from private equity firm epirus for undisclosed sum

Pemberton Asset Management, a European private credit manager backed by Legal & General, has acquired the auction house Bonhams from private equity firm Epiris for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition led to the departure of Bonhams's global CEO Chabi Nouri and chief commercial officer Céline Assimon, with a new senior leadership team appointed including Seth Johnson as CEO, Liese Thomas as CFO, and Jennifer Babington as COO. Bonhams chairman Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard will remain in his role, while Chris Ellerker and Mohit Agarwal from Pemberton join the board.

india venice biennale pavilion 2026 seven years

India has announced that emerging artists from its Indigenous tribes will represent the country at the 2026 Venice Biennale, marking the nation's first national pavilion since 2019. The news was delivered by Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at a conference on conservation and tribal arts, highlighting a renewed government focus on Indigenous artistic heritage.

forged polish painting returns to the national museum in poznan poland

A painting long attributed to Polish Realist painter Józef Pankiewicz and held by the National Museum in Poznań has been revealed as a forgery. The work, titled 'Vegetable Market at Żelaznej Bramy Square in Warsaw' and dated 1888, was awarded a silver medal at the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris and acquired by the museum in 1948. In 2017, scholar Michał Haake noticed discrepancies between the museum's version and historical reproductions, prompting an investigation. Conservators removed overpainting and found that the canvas, pigments, and composition differed from the original, with Pankiewicz's signature added after completion. The forgery, now attributed to an unidentified early 20th-century artist, is back on display alongside a photo of the original in the exhibition 'Succumb to Illusion.' The original painting has been missing since 1890.

charlie kirk statue florida new college

New College of Florida, a public liberal arts school in Sarasota that was overhauled by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023 to become a conservative institution, announced on September 17, 2025, that it will commission a statue of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA who was assassinated in Utah the previous week. The statue, privately funded by community leaders, will depict Kirk seated at a table with two empty chairs, speaking into a microphone, and is intended to honor his legacy and commitment to free speech and civil discourse on campus.

mars meteorite sothebys auction

A 54-pound chunk of Mars, believed to be the largest Martian meteorite ever discovered on Earth, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s New York on July 16 with an estimate of $2 million to $4 million. Named NWA 16788, the meteorite was found in November 2023 in Niger’s Agadez region and accounts for 6.5 percent of all known Martian material on Earth, making it 70 percent larger than the next largest piece. Sotheby’s is billing it as the most valuable meteorite ever offered at auction, and it will be on public view from July 8–15 before the live sale.

ford foundation heather gerken next president

The Ford Foundation has appointed Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, as its next president. She will succeed Darren Walker and become the 11th president of the foundation, as well as the second woman to lead the organization in its nearly 90-year history. Gerken will officially assume the role on November 1, following a national search launched after Walker announced his departure after 12 years.

phillip hoffman ed dolman patti wong consultancy new perspectives

A group of high-profile art market veterans—Ed Dolman, Alex Dolman, Brett Gorvy, Philip Hoffman, and Patti Wong—have launched a new collaborative consultancy called New Perspectives Art Partners (NPAP). Unlike traditional advisory firms, NPAP operates on a flexible, project-based model where partners retain their existing roles and assemble only for high-level, specialized challenges. The consultancy aims to advise collectors, fiduciaries, and family offices on managing, growing, or dispersing significant collections, leveraging the partners' deep experience across auction houses, galleries, institutions, and advisory, with a global footprint spanning Hong Kong to Doha.

justin allen new language wendys subway

Justin Allen celebrated the launch of his debut book *Language Arts* (2024), published by Wendy’s Subway, with a live reading at Performance Space in New York’s Lower East Side. The book merges music, dance, performance, and language, including a poem "140 BPM" that recreates nights at Bushwick’s Bossa Nova Civic Club. Allen, who grew up in Northern Virginia and moved to New York City, draws on influences from experimental punk, indie sleaze artists like Santigold and M.I.A., and his own invented language, Hatnahans, to craft a work that blends leftist critique with speculative fiction and club culture.

scientists recreate egyptian blue pigment

A team of researchers has successfully recreated Egyptian blue, the world's oldest synthetic pigment, which was used by ancient Egyptians from as early as 3100 B.C.E. The study, published in NPJ Heritage Science, was led by John S. McCloy of Washington State University and Edward P. Vicenzi of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute, in collaboration with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The researchers experimented with various minerals, heating them in ovens at around 1,000 degrees Celsius for up to 11 hours, and used modern microscopy and analysis techniques to compare their results with ancient artifacts from the Carnegie Museum's collection.

trump nominates nea head mary anne carter

President Donald Trump has nominated Mary Anne Carter to return as head of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a position she previously held from 2019 to 2021. The nomination comes after Trump’s 2026 budget proposed eliminating the agency, which distributes federal grants to arts organizations nationwide. Carter, who lacks extensive arts experience and previously served as chief policy adviser to Florida Governor Rick Scott, is currently listed as a senior adviser to the NEA. Her nomination follows a wave of resignations among senior NEA leaders and reports that over 350 organizations have had their grants canceled as the agency shifts its funding priorities.

hikers in the czech republic giant gold hoard

A pair of hikers in the Czech Republic discovered a 20th-century gold hoard worth over $340,000 in the foothills of the Krkonoše mountains. The find, consisting of 600 gold coins from multiple countries and a second box of gold items, was turned over to the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové, where archaeologists are investigating its origins.

house democrats urge jd vance to stop smithsonian

Four Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives—Joseph Morelle, Terri Sewell, Norma Torres, and Julie Johnson—sent a letter to Vice President J.D. Vance on Thursday urging him to reject an overhaul of the Smithsonian Institution. The letter responds to President Donald Trump's March 27 executive order, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which aims to eliminate "divisive" and "anti-American" content from Smithsonian exhibitions and restore removed monuments. The lawmakers argue that the order threatens the curatorial independence that has made the Smithsonian a globally respected cultural institution.

‘I waited half an hour for one of Hong Kong’s iconic red taxis to pass by’: William Shum’s best phone picture

William Shum captured a photograph of a red taxi passing through Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong, using an iPhone 13 Pro Max. He waited half an hour for the taxi to align perfectly with a dense residential building in the background, creating a contrast between the simple vehicle and the layered architecture. The image earned him a win in the 2025 Mobile Photography awards.

Perna, Cruz-Diez, Otero, Barboza: Venezuelan Focus at ISLAA

PERNA, CRUZ-DIEZ, OTERO, BARBOZA: ENFOQUE VENEZOLANO EN ISLAA

The Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA) in New York has launched its 2026 exhibition program with a major focus on Venezuelan modern and contemporary art. The season features a significant solo exhibition of Claudio Perna—his first in New York—alongside a showcase of Carlos Cruz-Diez and digital 'Spotlight' presentations on Diego Barboza and Alejandro Otero. The Perna retrospective, titled 'Idea como arte,' gathers over forty works including photography, photocopies, and conceptual cartography created between the 1960s and 1990s.

Body, Territory, and Food Sovereignty at MAMM

CUERPO, TERRITORIO Y SOBERANÍA ALIMENTARIA EN EL MAMM

The Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM) has inaugurated a trio of exhibitions titled 'Nos habitan pájaros y montañas', 'La luz, el fuego y la ceniza', and 'El susurro del barro'. These shows collectively explore the intersection of the human body, territorial sovereignty, and food security, featuring a dialogue between the museum's permanent collection—specifically the work of Débora Arango—and contemporary artists. The exhibitions utilize diverse media, including sound and raw materials like clay and soil, to address environmental and social crises.