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.

These Four Filmmakers Have Never Fully Gotten Their Due. The Kitchen Wants To Change That.

The Kitchen, a New York nonprofit arts organization, held its annual spring gala at City Winery to honor four female filmmakers: Cheryl Dunye, Garrett Bradley, Shari Frilot, and Catherine Gund. The event was co-chaired by prominent figures including Ava DuVernay, Julie Mehretu, and Komal Shah, and featured performances, remarks, and a crowd of artists, curators, and collectors. The gala celebrated the filmmakers' contributions to cinema, with special recognition of their work in expanding representation and narrative boundaries.

What Does the Future Hold for Female Collectors? We Got a Sneak Peek.

CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson hosted a panel discussion at Christie’s Rockefeller Center with collectors Tiffany Zabludowicz, Sophia Cohen, and Victoria Rogers, exploring the evolving role of women in the art market. The event coincided with Christie’s Marquee Week sales, which included a record-breaking $1.1 billion night, and featured works from the collections of legendary female patrons such as Agnes Gund, Marian Goodman, Lorinda de Roulet, and Marilyn Arison. Guests viewed masterpieces on display and received remarks from Christie’s Senior Vice President Isabella Lauria, who is leading the 21st Century Sale on May 20.

The LA Art World’s New Obsession Is a Theater Where Artists Run the Show

Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff, former artistic directors of Berlin's Grüner Salon, launched New Theater Hollywood in 2024 as a nonprofit venue on Santa Monica Boulevard. The 49-seat theater specializes in genre-defying, multidisciplinary collaborations, staging works like Sophie Becker's ventriloquist act *Ronnie's Big Idea* and Diamond Stingily's *The Driver*. Every performance sells out, attracting a cult following of literary, art world, and pop culture figures who often linger to discuss shows.

parties filmmakers cooperative anniversary john waters

The Film-Makers’ Cooperative celebrated its 65th anniversary with a gala at Judson Memorial Church in New York City on a recent Friday. The event featured performances by Isaiah Barr, a recreation of Yvonne Rainer's Trio A by Brittany Bailey, and a closing set by musician Kinlaw. Notable attendees included photographer Nan Goldin, video artist Joan Jonas, and filmmaker John Waters, who was honored in absentia. The evening included speeches, a shoppable collection of film ephemera, and a crowd of artists, actors, and filmmakers.

art frida kahlo auction record sothebys

Frida Kahlo's painting *El sueño (La cama)* (1940) sold at Sotheby's for $54.7 million, setting a new auction record for Latin American art, for the artist herself, and for any work by a female artist. The sale surpasses Kahlo's previous record of $34.9 million set in 2021 for *Diego y yo* and eclipses the $9.76 million record for her husband Diego Rivera's *The Rivals* from 2018.

parties meurice paris collectors designers art basel

CULTURED magazine hosted an intimate dinner at Le Meurice's Salon Pompadour in Paris, cohosted by Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson, arts leader Jen Roberts, and collector Jamie Goguen. The event brought together art and design-world figures including gallerists, designers, Sotheby's CEO Charles F. Stewart, and Independent Art Fair founder Elizabeth Dee, with a feast by Alain Ducasse and pastry chef Cedric Grolet. Guests received a copy of the inaugural CULTURED at Home issue and a bottle of Roos & Roos fragrance.

art chicago mca queer artists

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.

art leica camera anniversary

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.

food mina stone artists favorite food

CULTURED's food editor Mina Stone asked over two dozen artists to name their essential foods, from comfort dishes to simple staples. Responses range from Aya Brown's rice (rooted in her Black American and Japanese heritage) to Rob Pruitt's Caesar salad, Kaws's cheese, and Armando Nin's Dominican breakfast Mangú, with many artists citing coffee, eggs, and nostalgic family meals.

gaetano pesce glass house summer party

The Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, hosted its annual Summer Party on a recent Saturday, honoring the late designer Gaetano Pesce. The event featured the debut of Big Surprise 2, a limited-edition resin vase created with Italian furniture firm Meritalia and inspired by two Feltri chairs from the host's collection. Guests enjoyed a site-responsive performance by dance company Pilobolus, the exhibition “Barbara Kasten: Structure, Light, Land,” a DJ set by Pete Brockman, and activations by Max Mara. Notable attendees included artists Deborah Brown and Naudline Pierre, architect Paul Goldberger, and museum director Cybele Maylone.

anna weyant tiffany and co hardwear

Tiffany & Co. celebrated its Hardwear Collection with an event at its Landmark flagship on Fifth Avenue, featuring painter Anna Weyant as the new face of the campaign alongside actors Greta Lee and Mikey Madison. The gathering included guests such as Phoebe Gates, Laura Harrier, Chase Sui Wonders, artists Chase Hall and Sasha Gordon, and chef Daniel Boulud, with music by Ruby Aldridge and Ruinart champagne.

ELENA DAMIANI, XIMENA GARRIDO-LECCA AND ISHMAEL RANDALL-WEEKS: SIGNAL AND STRATA

ELENA DAMIANI, XIMENA GARRIDO-LECCA E ISHMAEL RANDALL-WEEKS: SIGNAL AND STRATA

An exhibition titled 'Signal and Strata' featuring Peruvian artists Elena Damiani, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, and Ishmael Randall-Weeks was presented at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts from February 5 to April 5, 2026. The show, examined in an accompanying essay by curator Madeline Murphy Turner, focuses on how the artists use materials like travertine, copper, and concrete to interrogate narratives of modernity, resource extraction, and the climate crisis.

GRACIELA ITURBIDE: EYES TO FLY

GRACIELA ITURBIDE: OJOS PARA VOLAR

The C/O Berlin gallery is presenting "Eyes to Fly With (Ojos para volar)," the first major retrospective in Germany of renowned Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. The exhibition, curated by Sophia Greiff and Melissa Harris in close collaboration with Iturbide, runs from February 7 to June 10 and features her iconic works like "Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas" alongside lesser-known series on fashion, the cholo community in Los Angeles, and her travels in India and Bangladesh.

The Last Quarter of My Life Should Be Like the Beginning

"Das letzte Quartal meines Lebens soll wie der Anfang sein"

Armin Mueller-Stahl, the 95-year-old German actor and painter, opens his solo exhibition "Nacht und Tag auf der Erde" (Night and Day on Earth) at Museum Schloss Moyland. The show features a graphic cycle inspired by Jim Jarmusch's film "Night on Earth," in which Mueller-Stahl played a New York taxi driver. In an interview, he reflects on his dual careers in film and painting, his life between Hollywood, East Germany, and the present, and themes of loss and memory.

Monuments in Motion

Denkmäler in Bewegung

Berlin-based artist Sarah Ama Duah, who transitioned from fashion to sculpture, creates works that explore Afro-German memory culture. Her practice includes beeswax portraits, found objects like Delft porcelain and baroque vases, and performances at venues such as the Humboldt Forum. In 2025, she received the Wolfram Beck Prize for Sculpture. Duah's early fashion work, including silicone garments shown at the Fashionclash Festival in Maastricht, evolved into sculptural investigations of clothing, body, and space, leading her to study performance and sculpture at the Berlin University of the Arts under Jimmy Robert.

The Backlash Is Here

"Der Backlash ist da"

Kathleen Reinhardt, the curator of the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, has announced her concept featuring artists Sung Tieu and Henrike Naumann under the title "Ruin." The exhibition will use East Germany as a prism to explore themes of power, history, and the present. Reinhardt was invited to submit a concrete concept and specific artists for this edition of the pavilion.

History Made Material

Material gewordene Geschichte

The German Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale has been transformed by artist Sung Tieu, who clad its Nazi-era facade with millions of small marble tiles to replicate the look of a prefabricated East German apartment block—specifically the Gehrenseestraße housing complex in Berlin where she spent part of her childhood. Inside, the exhibition features glass casts of her mother's limbs, aluminum beams evoking cramped living quarters, and works by the late Henrike Naumann, all curated by Kathleen Reinhardt to explore bureaucracy, migration, and systemic violence.

It's a Rollercoaster of Emotions

"Es ist ein Wechselbad der Gefühle"

Sung Tieu has been selected to represent Germany at the Venice Biennale with a solo exhibition in the German Pavilion. In an interview with Monopol, she discusses how her personal biography—as a Vietnamese-German artist—informs her practice, which examines Vietnamese migration to East Germany, the rise of right-wing extremism, and the cold, bureaucratic language of state power. The exhibition will bring these themes to an international audience in Venice.

Henrike Naumanns langer Weg in den deutschen Pavillon

Henrike Naumann, a German artist who recently passed away, is being honored with a posthumous exhibition at the German Pavilion during the Venice Biennale. Her work, which explores recent German history, state art, and the absence of East German art in the pavilion, finds its ultimate context in this historically charged Nazi-era building.

Industrial Dreams of the GDR

Industrieträume der DDR

The exhibition "Robotron – Arbeiterklasse und Intelligenz" has opened at the Hartware Medienkunstverein (HMKV) in Dortmund, following its initial run in Leipzig. Centered on the history of the GDR’s largest computer manufacturer, the show features 20 artistic positions including photography, film, and sculpture, alongside a significant five-meter oil sketch by Socialist Realist painter Werner Tübke. The presentation bridges East and West German industrial histories by juxtaposing state-commissioned propaganda with progressive, unofficial works by artists like Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt and A.R. Penck.

Nicole Hollander, Acerbic Feminist Cartoonist, Dies at 86

Nicole Hollander, the creator of the long-running comic strip "Sylvia," has died at the age of 86. For over three decades, she wrote and illustrated the strip, which centered on a tart-tongued, witty woman who freely expressed her many opinions, becoming a staple of feminist humor in American newspapers.

Venice Biennale denies it helped ‘circumnavigate’ sanctions against Russia with pavilion

The Venice Biennale is facing allegations that it helped Russia circumvent EU sanctions by allowing the Russian pavilion to operate during preview days, when only arts professionals and press are present. Investigative website Open published emails between Biennale officials and Russian pavilion organizers, including requests for visa assistance for artists and staff. The commissioner, Anastasia Karneeva, is the daughter of a Rostec deputy CEO and runs a consultancy with the daughter of Russia's foreign minister. The Biennale denies any wrongdoing, stating it acted in compliance with international law. Russia has been absent from the Biennale since 2022 but retains a permanent pavilion in the Giardini.

‘Paper Gardens’: The Flower and the Serpent Beneath

The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is hosting 'Paper Gardens,' an exhibition that re-examines the history of botanical art through the lens of British colonialism. While the show features visually stunning hand-coloured lithographs of rhododendrons and medicinal plants, it juxtaposes these aesthetics with the harsh realities of the East India Company’s surveys. The exhibition highlights how local Indian artists and knowledge keepers were often marginalized or left anonymous, even as their expertise was essential to the scientific and commercial success of the British Empire.

Brittany Invites Itself to the Venice Biennale: An Unusual Pavilion Dedicated to Breton Creation Moors in the Lagoon

La Bretagne s’invite à la Biennale de Venise : un insolite pavillon dédié à la création bretonne s’est amarré dans la lagune

For the 61st Venice Biennale, a group of artists and art figures from Brittany have created an unofficial "Breton pavilion" in the form of a spectacular sailboat moored on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The boat, designed by artist Joachim Monvoisin, features contributions from Morgane Tschiember (who sewed a sail with a black cross, the 11th-century Breton flag) and master glassmaker Andrew Erdos (who made the navigation lights). Performances during the opening week included readings by Breton authors and traditional music concerts with binious and bombardes on the Via Garibaldi.

Hedwig Fijen to Depart as Founding Director of Manifesta

Hedwig Fijen, the founding director of Manifesta, the nomadic European biennial launched in 1996, has announced she will depart on October 5. Fijen began working on the platform in 1991 under a commission from the Netherlands Office for Fine Arts, and oversaw editions in cities including Rotterdam, Palermo, Pristina, and Barcelona. The supervisory board has appointed Emilia van Lynden as general director and Catherine Nichols as artistic director to lead future editions, starting with Manifesta 16 in Germany’s Ruhr Valley this year and Manifesta 17 in Coimbra, Portugal, in 2028.

We Spent a Week Quarantined on an Uninhabited Island with 80 Artists

A journalist from Colossal spent a week on an uninhabited island in the Balearic Islands with nearly 80 artists for a residency program called Quarantine, conceived by artist Carles Gomila. Participants follow a rigorous, opaque schedule of talks, workshops, and mentorship sessions, with phones and internet banned, and must stay on the island from early morning until late evening. The April 2026 edition, themed "Tears in Rain" after a Blade Runner monologue, began with a theatrical tour by an actor playing Captain Horacio Hollynwood, who introduced the historic Lazaretto of Mahón, an 18th-century fortress and infirmary.

“Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes” at Marres, Maastricht

Seven artists with roots in West Africa—Yacine Tilala Fall, Selly Raby Kane, Maguette Dieng, Ican Ramageli, Hamedine Kane, Eva Diallo, and Babacar Traoré Doli—have jointly created a multi-sensory total installation at Marres in Maastricht. Titled “Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes,” the exhibition incorporates sculpture, sound, textiles, and video, connecting Zikr chanting of mantras, daily life in the Medina, and the trees of the dry landscape.

'Sachlichkeit' at Galerie Albrecht, Berlin, Germany on 2 May–27 Jun 2026

Galerie Albrecht in Berlin presents 'Sachlichkeit', an exhibition running from 2 May to 27 June 2026, that explores the concept of objectivity in art. The show features works by Kate Diehn-Bitt, a forgotten representative of the New Objectivity movement, alongside Michael Langner, associated with 'German Pop', as well as Rafael Cidoncha, Emese Kazár, and Sabine Herrmann. The exhibition examines how these artists portray people and objects with empathy, realism, and sometimes surreal distortion, ranging from Diehn-Bitt's empathetic portraits to Langner's automobile studies and Kazár's commentary on women's lives.

Ccucu Gall-Art – The Brickell Key Gallery aka B K G -Makes History as the First Art Gallery on Brickell Key, Opening on March 13th with a Solo Exhibition by Ricardo Garcia… Inspired by the Old Masters

The Brickell Key Gallery (BKG), also known as Ccucu Gall-Art, is set to make history as the first art gallery to open on Miami’s Brickell Key. The inaugural event, scheduled for March 13th, features a solo exhibition by artist Ricardo Garcia, whose contemporary works are heavily influenced by the techniques and aesthetics of the Old Masters.