Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 18 link 3 artists

Dozens of Venice Biennale Artists Stage ‘Drone’ Perfomance in Protest of Israel’s Participation

On the opening day of the Venice Biennale, around 60 artists and dozens of other participants staged a protest titled “Solidarity Drone Chorus” at the Giardini entrance, humming a viral song by Gazan composer Ahmed “Muin” Abu Amsha to sonically occupy the space. The action, organized by artists in the main exhibition over several months, protested Israel’s participation in the Biennale and expressed support for Palestine, with participants wearing T-shirts bearing the names and artworks of Gazan and Palestinian artists, many of whom have been killed. The protest follows an open letter from the Art Not Genocide Alliance demanding Israel’s exclusion.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 22 link 14 artists

Portland’s Converge 45 Reveals Theme and Artists, Including Trisha Baga, Rose Salane, and Srijon Chowdhury

Converge 45, a citywide triennial in Portland, Oregon, has announced the theme and 28 participating artists for its upcoming edition, launching August 27. Curated by New York–based Lumi Tan, the exhibition is titled “Here, To you, Now,” borrowing a phrase from Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1985 novel *Always Coming Home*. More than half of the artists are based in Portland, including Srijon Chowdhury, Aaron Cunningham, and keyon gaskin, while out-of-state participants include Trisha Baga, Rose Salane, and Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork. The triennial will take place across 16 venues, including the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art and Oregon Contemporary.

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trending_up market schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 13 link 2 artists

TikTok Shop adds ‘fine art’ category—will it disrupt the art market?

TikTok Shop has launched a new "fine art" category within its collectibles section, allowing artists to sell original artworks directly through shoppable videos, photographs, and livestreams. The category debuted with a three-hour live sale by artist Sophie Tea, who created a series of 20 oil paintings titled *Bric-a-Brac* and sold them for £2,800 each. The sale faced technical glitches—items added to baskets were prematurely marked as sold, causing confusion—and required workarounds for TikTok's pricing caps, automatic discounts, and shipping policies.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 28, 2026 visibility 14 link 4 artists

Read a book, flip off a Nazi: when reading meant resistance – in pictures

A new exhibition at Poster House in New York, titled "Reading Under Fire: Arming Minds & Hearts During Wartime," showcases vintage posters from World War I and World War II that promoted reading and book donations to support troops. The posters, drawn from the collections of the American Library Association, the YMCA, and other organizations, encouraged the public to supply soldiers with reading material as a form of morale-boosting and education. The exhibition runs until 1 November and is curated by Molly Guptill Manning.

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article news schedule Feb 26, 2026 visibility 12 link 2 artists

sagrada familia central tower completion

Construction on Barcelona’s Sagrada Família reached a historic milestone with the completion of the central Tower of Jesus Christ. The installation of a 56-foot cross atop the structure officially makes the basilica the tallest church in the world, fulfilling a key component of Antoni Gaudí’s original vision nearly a century after his death.

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article policy schedule Feb 20, 2026 visibility 11 link 3 artists

south africa officially cancels venice biennale pavilion

South Africa has officially withdrawn from the 2024 Venice Biennale following a legal battle over the cancellation of its national pavilion. The controversy began when Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie pulled the plug on artist Gabrielle Goliath’s planned exhibition, which referenced the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo challenged the decision in court, alleging censorship and a violation of freedom of expression, but a South African judge recently dismissed their case without providing a specific reasoning.

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article news schedule Feb 18, 2026 visibility 12 link 2 artists

saudi arabia commission mural domingo zapata

Saudi Arabia has commissioned New York-based artist Domingo Zapata to create what is being billed as the world's largest mural, spanning 540,000 square feet. The project, part of the $63 billion Diriyah cultural zone development in Riyadh, is backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and will involve a team of about 100 artists working over four to six years, with Zapata describing it as having "a blank check" for creative freedom.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 27, 2026 visibility 17 link 2 artists

nifty gateway closed down

Nifty Gateway, an early NFT marketplace founded in 2018 and acquired by Gemini, will shut down on February 23 after entering withdrawal-only mode. The platform, which once reported $300 million in gross merchandise value in 2021 and partnered with Sotheby's for a $17 million NFT drop, is closing amid a sharp decline in NFT trading activity. Users must withdraw their assets by the deadline, after which they can no longer list, buy, or sell NFTs on the site.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 26, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

christies koch western art american art market

Christie’s two-part auction of William I. Koch’s Western art collection realized $84.1 million with fees, more than tripling the previous record for a single-owner Western art collection and setting five new artist records. The sale, reported by the Observer and covered by ARTnews, stands out in a category that has struggled since the 2008 financial crisis, as collectors have shifted focus to postwar, contemporary, and ultra-contemporary work. Specialists attribute the success to structural changes in how American art is presented, growing cultural interest in the American West fueled by popular culture like Yellowstone, and the rare concentration of masterworks in the Koch collection.

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trending_up market schedule Jan 23, 2026 visibility 15 link 6 artists

apple contract constitution christies sale

Christie's auction "We the People: America at 250" on January 23, 2026, achieved $35.5 million in total sales, doubling its presale estimate. The top lot was a draft of the U.S. Constitution annotated by founding father Rufus King, which sold for $7.3 million. Other highlights included a signed Emancipation Proclamation ($6.7 million), a 1776 Declaration of Independence copy ($5.6 million), and the Apple Computer Company Partnership Agreement from 1976, signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, which fetched $2.5 million. A Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington (ca. 1804) realized $2.8 million, setting a new auction record for the Athenaeum type.

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rate_review review schedule Jan 12, 2026 visibility 17 link 5 artists

internet personality mackenzie thomas performance review

Internet personality MacKenzie Thomas staged a four-hour durational performance titled "I Said What I Said" in New York, where she read aloud every post she made on X over the past year, interspersed with personal essays. The performance, which sold out both New York showings, will travel to Los Angeles at Heavy Manners. Thomas recounted intimate details of her life, including a breakup, her dog's death, health struggles, and family dynamics, while notably omitting her success as an influencer with half a million followers.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 26, 2025 visibility 13 link 5 artists

fondazione dries van noten venice

Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten and his partner, chef Patrick Vangheluwe, have acquired the historic 15th-century Palazzo Pisani Moretta on Venice’s Grand Canal to establish the Fondazione Dries Van Noten. The nonprofit foundation, set to open in April 2026 just before the 61st Venice Biennale, will host exhibitions, residencies, and events dedicated to the art of craftsmanship, blending traditional techniques with modern forms like AI and 3D printing. The 43,000-square-foot palazzo, known for its Carnival masquerade balls and film appearances, contains artworks by Tiepolo and was sold only to a buyer with a strong stewardship plan.

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article policy schedule Dec 17, 2025 visibility 19 link 8 artists

arts nonprofits artadia united states artists announce multi year partnership

Two arts funding nonprofits, United States Artists (USA) and Artadia, have announced a multi-year partnership. The collaboration will revive Assembly, USA’s annual gathering of artists and fellows that launched in 2015 but paused during the pandemic, now expanded to include Artadia award winners. The first reimagined Assembly events are scheduled for 2026 and 2027, featuring workshops, panels, and networking for recent fellows and awardees from both organizations.

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article policy schedule Dec 16, 2025 visibility 14 link 2 artists

villa silvestri rivaldi rome 47 million restoration

The Lazio Region of Rome and Italy's Ministry of Culture are undertaking a €35 million ($41.1 million) restoration of Villa Silvestri Rivaldi, a historic palazzo overlooking the Colosseum that has long fallen into disrepair. Originally commissioned by Pope Paul III in the 1540s and designed by Sangallo the Younger with gardens by Giacomo Del Duca, the villa has housed cardinals, served as a convent, textile factory, welfare institution, and school, and was even used by squatters and hostage-takers in the 1970s. Early restoration work since 2024 has focused on stabilizing the structure and cleaning its frescoes with laser technology, with full-scale restorations set to begin in 2026.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 4, 2025 visibility 21 link 3 artists

lucy sparrow brings a felted sugar high to art miami

British artist Lucy Sparrow has brought a new felted candy shop installation titled "Sugar Rush" to Art Miami, featuring hand-sewn and hand-painted confectionery treats like Snickers, Peppermint Patties, and Twix, priced at $50 each. The interactive project, presented by London's TW Projects, includes affordable items such as $5 jellybeans and a $10,000 case of Haribo gummies, continuing Sparrow's decade-long tradition of delighting Miami Art Week audiences with her playful felt sculptures. Sparrow's career breakthrough came in 2016 when her installation "Sparrow's Deli" was purchased by 21C Museum Hotels, and she has since created notable projects including a felt bodega in New York and a felt McDonald's in Miami.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 19, 2025 visibility 13 link 3 artists

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.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 10, 2025 visibility 16 link 8 artists

christies london dalloul collection sale 2025 results

Christie’s London achieved £4.1 million ($5.2 million) in a sale of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art on November 6, with a 93% sell-through rate by value and 85% by lot. The sale featured 21 works from the Dalloul Art Foundation (DAF), part of the collection built by Ramzi Dalloul and Saeda El Husseini Dalloul over 55 years. Standout lots included Saloua Raouda Choucair’s *Poem* (1966–68), which sold for £393,700 ($500,000)—tripling its estimate and setting a world auction record for a wood artwork—and Sliman Mansour’s *Untitled* (2014), which fetched £323,850 ($411,000) after intense bidding. Seven artist records were set, with 38% of buyers new to Christie’s and 21% millennials.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 7, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

rare dinosaur skeleton christies auction

Christie’s will auction a rare 68-million-year-old Caenagnathid dinosaur skeleton nicknamed 'Spike' at its inaugural 'Groundbreakers: Icons of Our Time' sale in London on December 11. Discovered in 2022, the sub-adult specimen is one of the most complete of its kind, with over 100 preserved fossil bones, and may represent a new species. It is estimated to fetch between £3 million and £5 million ($4 million to $6.6 million), marking the first time a Caenagnathid Oviraptorosaur has been offered at auction.

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article policy schedule Oct 28, 2025 visibility 8 link 3 artists

australian government rejects proposal text data mining ai companies

On Monday, Australian Attorney General Michelle Rowland confirmed the federal government's rejection of a proposal that would have allowed tech companies to use text and data mining to train artificial intelligence models. The proposal, initially presented to the Productivity Commission in August, had been advocated by tech firms including Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar, who argued for copyright changes similar to those in the US and Europe. The decision follows backlash from Australian creatives, including rapper Adam Briggs, author Anna Funder, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and the Australian Recording Industry Association.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 9, 2025 visibility 18 link 4 artists

anonymous artist xcopys digital work last selfie sells for record breaking 3 27 m to private collector

An edition of XCOPY's digital artwork "Last Selfie" (2019) sold for a record-breaking $3.27 million (727 ETH) to a private collector, making it the highest price ever paid for an editioned artwork in the tokenized art space. The anonymous London-based artist minted the limited edition of 10 in 2019 for $20 each; the buyer's intermediary approached all ten holders, nine of whom rejected the offer before one accepted. Notable collectors who own editions include Raoul Pal, CozomoMedici, and punk6529, while AI art collector Jediwolf turned down the offer.

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article policy schedule Oct 6, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

syracuse university pauses admission for 20 undergraduate majors

Syracuse University has paused admission for 20 undergraduate majors, including fine arts and digital humanities, in its College of Arts and Sciences as of late August 2025. The decision, announced at the first senate meeting of the 2025–26 academic year, has sparked faculty concern over a lack of input and perceived targeting of humanities programs. Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew instructed deans to conduct an academic portfolio review using nine-year enrollment data and financial metrics, leading to preliminary recommendations. The pause, expected to last one year, affects majors with 10 or fewer students, though classes will still be offered and graduate programs remain unaffected.

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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 23, 2025 visibility 14 link 3 artists

chinese collector to open new non profit art space in londons bloomsbury district

Chinese collector and philanthropist Yan Du will open Yan Du Projects (YDP), a new nonprofit art space in London’s Bloomsbury district this October. Housed in a Grade I-listed 18th-century Georgian townhouse on Bedford Square, YDP will host site-specific commissions, exhibitions, artist residencies, and public events focused on artists from Asian backgrounds. The opening show features Chinese painter Duan Jianyu, and the first artist-in-residence is Bangkok-based Harit Srikhao. Hong Kong-based BEAU Architects designed a modular "suitcase project" interior to respect the building’s listed status.

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person people schedule Sep 19, 2025 visibility 18 link 9 artists

2025 gold art prize winners

The Gold Art Prize, a biennial award series for AAPI and Asian diaspora artists, has announced its 2025 winners: Dan Lie, Stella Zhong, Morehshin Allahyari, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork, and Kenneth Tam. Each receives an unrestricted $25,000. The prize, now in its third iteration, was launched in 2021 by adviser Kelly Huang and Gold House, a Los Angeles-based organization focused on the AAPI community. The 2025 edition is funded by the Kahng Foundation. Finalists included Trisha Baga, CFGNY, Ajay Kurian, Sa’dia Rehman, and TT Takemoto.

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trending_up market schedule Sep 8, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist

christies reportedly closes digital art department

Christie's is closing its digital art department and has parted ways with Nicole Sales Giles, the auction house's vice president of digital. The decision comes over four years after Christie's record-breaking $69.3 million sale of Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" (2021), which ignited the NFT boom. Christie's stated it will continue selling digital art within its broader 20th- and 21st-century art category.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 21, 2025 visibility 14 link 7 artists

maria lai magazzino

Maria Lai (1919–2013), a Sardinian artist who blended abstraction, Arte Povera, and craft, is receiving her first North American museum retrospective at Magazzino Italian Art in Cold Spring, N.Y. The exhibition, curated by Paola Mura, features nearly 100 works drawn from the personal collection of founders Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu, the artist's foundation, and Italian museums. It includes a permanent installation of Lai's 1992 cement sculpture *Colombe di Cemento* on the museum grounds.

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article news schedule Jul 9, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

artist jacky tsais painting launches into space literally

Chinese artist Jacky Tsai has created a painting on an orbital rocket, produced in collaboration with commercial space company LandSpace. The artwork, titled ZQ-2E Y2 (Zhuque-2 Enhanced, Flight 2), was rendered in aerospace-grade paint using advanced methods coordinated with engineers, and launched into space earlier this year. Inspired by the Chinese folktale “Chang’e Flying to the Moon,” the design remained visible as the rocket approached the stratosphere, marking what Tsai calls the first fully art-painted rocket to enter Earth’s orbit.

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person people schedule Jun 24, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

aislan pankararu brazil new talent 2025

Aislan Pankararu, an Indigenous Brazilian artist and licensed physician, maintains a studio in São Paulo where he creates works that draw from his Pankararu heritage, medical training, and the Caatinga biome of northeastern Brazil. His practice includes clay-pigmented paintings, abstract forms evoking cellular structures and ritual designs, and series such as "Soil" (2024) and "Touch" (2024). After returning to drawing during his medical residency in 2019, Pankararu quickly gained recognition, participating in exhibitions at the Museu Nacional da República and Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and winning the prestigious PIPA Prize in 2024.

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article culture schedule Jun 20, 2025 visibility 11 link 3 artists

sean monahan

Trend forecaster and writer Sean Monahan, known for coining the term "vibe shift" and popularizing "normcore" through the collective K-HOLE, reflects on cultural trends, platform fatigue, and the possibility of a long-awaited cultural shift. In an interview with Artnet News, Monahan discusses his journey from art school to brand consulting, the legacy of post-internet art, institutional decay, and why the 2020s may finally be congealing into a definable decade. He currently runs the Substack newsletter 8Ball, which decodes contemporary aesthetics and social dynamics.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 11, 2025 visibility 17 link 1 artist

frieze seoul house september fair 2025

Frieze is launching Frieze House Seoul, a new exhibition space in the Yaksu-dong neighborhood of central Seoul, which will open alongside the fourth edition of Frieze Seoul in early September 2025. The four-story venue, renovated by architecture studio Samuso Hyoja, spans 210 square meters and includes two main galleries and a landscaped garden. Galleries can apply to program the inaugural season, following a model similar to Frieze's No. 9 Cork Street space in London. The announcement coincides with Korean artist Im Young-zoo being named the 2025 Frieze Seoul Artist Award recipient, a prize funded by Bvlgari.

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person people schedule May 19, 2025 visibility 12 link 1 artist

sculptor biohack agnes questionmark tentacular trans

Agnes Questionmark, a multimedia performance artist based in Brooklyn, creates work exploring the trans body—encompassing transgender, transhuman, and trans-species identity—often with an aquatic, tentacular aesthetic. During a studio visit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, she showed recent fabric works overpainted with acrylic and silicone, depicting organs in vivid reds and oranges. Her performances include TRANSGENESIS (2021), a 23-day endurance piece at Harlesden Highstreet in London, and CHM13hTERT (2023), a 16-day installation in a Milan subway station where she was suspended in a mermaid-like tail. She also produced an artist's edition, QuestionGen (2024), containing a capsule of her own DNA, made with biohacker Josie Zayner and publisher Nero.

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