Calder Gardens opens this weekend in Philadelphia

Calder Gardens, a new art space dedicated to the work of Alexander Calder, opens this weekend in Philadelphia on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, across from the Rodin Museum. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron with gardens by Piet Oudolf, the building is mostly underground and emphasizes a multi-sensory experience, including curated scents, textured surfaces, and no wall labels. The space will display 50 years of Calder's mobiles, stabiles, paintings, and drawings, rotating works without a fixed schedule.

On the Market: Artist Lorna Simpson's Studio, Custom-Designed by David Adjaye in Brooklyn, New York

Lorna Simpson's custom-designed Brooklyn studio, created by architect David Adjaye in 2006, has been listed for sale at $6.5 million. The 3,300-square-foot, four-story property at 208 Vanderbilt Avenue in Fort Greene features a double-height great room, three bedrooms, a rear garden, and was originally built as a live/work space for the artist and her then-husband James Casebere. The listing is handled by Leslie Marshall and Nick Hovsepian of the Corcoran Group. Simpson, whose survey exhibition "Lorna Simpson: Source Notes" is currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has moved her primary practice to a larger nearby space, using the Vanderbilt Avenue property for archives and events.

Weekly News Roundup: July 7, 2025

The Sharjah Architecture Triennial announced its third edition theme, "Architecture Otherwise: Building Civic Infrastructure for Collective Futures," opening in November 2026, curated by Vyjayanthi Rao and Tau Tavengwa. The Noguchi Museum appointed Hitomi Iwasaki as head curator, while London nonprofit YDP announced an inaugural Duan Jianyu exhibition and permanent commissions by Christine Sun Kim and Danh Võ. Australia's Mordant family gifted major artworks to the Newcastle Art Gallery.

From Origin to Future. Opening Exhibition for the Naoshima New Museum of Art by Tadao Ando

Architect Tadao Ando has designed the Naoshima New Museum of Art, the latest addition to the Benesse Art Site Naoshima project in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. This marks Ando's tenth contribution to the site and the first museum to bear the island's name. The museum will open on May 31, 2025, with an inaugural exhibition featuring works by twelve artists and groups, including both longtime collaborators and newer voices. The building, which includes one above-ground floor and two basement levels, features a large roof integrated with the hills and a cafe overlooking the Seto Sea.

Stanford University acquires Filipina American artist Pacita Abad’s archive

Stanford University has acquired the archives of Filipina American artist Pacita Abad, a gift from the Pacita Abad Art Estate that also includes funding to catalog 120 linear feet of archival materials—photographs, correspondence, exhibition records, and personal artifacts. The archive will be stewarded by Stanford University Libraries' Bowes Art and Architecture Library in collaboration with the Cantor Arts Center, and is expected to be available to students and scholars within a year. The acquisition follows Abad's posthumous traveling retrospective that opened at the Walker Art Center in 2023, which brought her prolific 32-year practice to the attention of U.S. institutions.

The Met to Reopen Its Arts of Africa Galleries on May 31, Following a Multiyear Renovation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will reopen its Arts of Africa galleries on May 31, 2025, after a multiyear renovation that began in summer 2021. The redesigned Michael C. Rockefeller Wing features some 500 works spanning from the medieval period to the present, including a 12th-century fired clay figure from Mali and Abdoulaye Konaté's 'Bleu no. 1' (2014). A quarter of the works are recent acquisitions or gifts, displayed for the first time. The project was led by Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture with Beyer, Blinder, Belle Architects LLP and the Met's Design Department, and involved a network of international scholars and digital partnerships with the World Monuments Fund and filmmaker Sosena Solomon.

Jean Tinguely’s 100th anniversary, migration museum opens in Rotterdam, Ben Shahn's social security mural—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three major stories. First, a host of exhibitions and events celebrating the 100th anniversary of Swiss kinetic artist Jean Tinguely, including shows at the Tinguely Museum in Basel, Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, and the Grand Palais in Paris. Second, the newly opened Fenix museum in Rotterdam, a museum dedicated to migration, featuring a dramatic stainless steel tornado staircase. Third, the episode's Work of the Week focuses on Ben Shahn's 1941 study 'Harvesting Wheat' for his mural 'The Meaning of Social Security,' discussed in conjunction with a major exhibition of Shahn's work at the Jewish Museum in New York.

A rebuke to Modernism: the Venice Architecture Biennale imagines new ways of building to cope with climate change

The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Carlo Ratti, opens with immersive installations that confront climate change, including a film on civilizations rising and collapsing, a reflective pool installation by Michelangelo Pistoletto symbolizing humanity-nature reconciliation, and a non-functional air conditioner display by Transsolar Klima Engineering. Ratti issued the Biennale's first open call, selecting over 300 multidisciplinary teams—engineers, scientists, artists, and architects—to explore new building methods that reject Modernist materials like steel and concrete in favor of natural and Indigenous approaches.

Isa Genzken at Galerie Buchholz

Galerie Buchholz in New York is presenting "Projects for Outside — ISA USA," a solo exhibition by the influential German artist Isa Genzken. Running from March 11 through April 25, 2026, the show focuses on Genzken's outdoor proposals and large-scale sculptural projects, documenting her career-long engagement with public space and urban architecture through a comprehensive selection of works.

Ali Cherri Files War Crime Case Over Israeli Airstrike on Beirut

French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, in collaboration with the International Federation for Human Rights, has filed a civil complaint in a French court regarding a 2024 Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike, which occurred in the Noueiri neighborhood just hours before a ceasefire, destroyed Cherri’s family home and killed seven civilians, including his parents and their domestic helper. The legal action, submitted to a specialized war crimes unit, alleges that the targeting of a civilian residence constitutes a war crime under both French and international law.

Matt Dillon’s New Paintings Trace a Journey Across West Africa

Actor Matt Dillon presents his first solo exhibition at The Journal Gallery in New York, titled "Porto Novo to Abomey," opening April 24. The series of paintings was inspired by Dillon's travels through Senegal and Benin after filming Claire Denis's movie *The Fence* (2025). Dillon, who began painting about a decade ago with little formal training, creates spontaneous, textured works featuring bold figures, symbols, and words. The show's title traces a 100-mile journey from Benin's capital to the historic Kingdom of Dahomey, reflecting the artist's impressions of local textiles, architecture, and landscapes.

eames house restored reopened 2670603

The Eames House, designed by Charles and Ray Eames in the late 1940s in Los Angeles's Pacific Palisades, has reopened after a six-month closure due to smoke damage from the January 2025 wildfires. The property was saved from destruction partly because hundreds of surrounding trees were removed in 2024. The restoration has expanded visitor access, opening the studio for the first time, which will host exhibitions on the house's evolution and contemporary design influences. The first exhibition may focus on community rebuilding after the fires.

193 gallery bricks and grids 2663799

A new dual-artist exhibition titled “Bricks and Grids” has opened at 193 Gallery’s Venice location, running through July 27, 2025. The show features works by Zoila Andrea Coc-Chang, who creates sculptural weavings from materials like dried fruit and industrial objects to explore power and economy, and Modou Dieng Yacine, whose photography-based paintings blend figuration and abstraction to examine urban architecture, memory, and marginalized communities. Curated by Miriam Bettin, the exhibition coincides with the Venice Architecture Biennale, whose theme is “Intelligens. Naturale. Artificiale. Collettiva.”

Sharjah’s Barjeel Art Foundation Is Building its First Museum

The Barjeel Art Foundation has officially broken ground on its first permanent museum in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, with a scheduled opening for January 2028. Founded by Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, the 38,750-square-foot facility will be designed by Abdelmoneam Essa of Architecture Corner Consultants, featuring a design inspired by the traditional architecture of the Al Rigga neighborhood.

Lebanese Artist Ali Cherri Files War Crimes Complaint Against Israel After 2024 Beirut Bombing

Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has filed a civil complaint in France seeking an investigation into an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut residential building in November 2024. The strike killed seven civilians, including Cherri's parents. The complaint, supported by forensic analysis from Forensic Architecture and Amnesty International, alleges the attack used munitions documented as being employed by the Israeli air force and targeted a civilian object, potentially constituting a war crime.

At London's Barbican, Lucy Raven chronicles the destruction of a California dam

Lucy Raven's video installation "Murderers Bar" (2025) has its European premiere at the Barbican's Curve gallery in London. The work documents the 2023-2024 demolition of four dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California, focusing on the destruction of the Copco No. 1 dam built in 1918. The film is the final part of Raven's trilogy "The Drumfire," exploring themes of pressure, release, and material transformation. It uses aerial photography, drones, lidar, and sonar animations to capture the river's reclamation of its course after the dam's removal, following decades of activism by Indigenous communities including the Yurok, Karuk, Klamath, Hoopa, and Shasta Indian Nation. The exhibition also includes a new kinetic sculpture, "Hardpan" (2025), that physically manifests ideas of force and pressure.

Glenstone Is Celebrating 20 Years Of Art, Architecture, & Nature

Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, is celebrating its 20th anniversary as one of the largest private contemporary art museums in the United States. Founded in 2006, the institution offers a unique, immersive experience across 230 acres, combining world-class art, minimalist architecture, and expansive nature trails. The museum currently features major works by iconic artists such as Jackson Pollock, Ruth Asawa, and Kerry James Marshall within its two primary structures, The Gallery and The Pavilions.

LACMA spent nearly $724 million on the David Geffen Galleries — here's how it was all used

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has finalized the construction of the David Geffen Galleries, a $723.8-million project designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. As the museum prepares for its April 16 gala, officials have released a detailed breakdown of the spending, which supported over 8,600 jobs and generated an estimated $1.2 billion in regional economic activity. Despite the massive investment, the project remains a lightning rod for controversy due to its unconventional modernist design and the fact that it offers less gallery space than the four buildings it replaced.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation celebrates 25th Anniversary with Exhibition

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the exhibition "Dialogues & Conversations," which explores artistic exchange through the lens of curator and collector Emily Rauh Pulitzer. Featuring over 35 artists—including Edgar Degas, Willem de Kooning, Dan Flavin, Alberto Giacometti, David Hammons, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Bruce Nauman, Medardo Rosso, and Doris Salcedo—the show presents around 90 works spanning the late 19th century to the present. These pieces come from Mrs. Pulitzer's personal collection, assembled with her late husband Joseph Pulitzer Jr., as well as from her curatorial work at Harvard Art Museums and Saint Louis Art Museum, and loans from The Museum of Modern Art and private lenders.

Remembering Frank Gehry, legendary architect of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Frank Gehry, the legendary architect who transformed the global architectural landscape with his deconstructivist style, has died in Santa Monica on 5 December. The article traces his career from his early days remodeling his own Santa Monica home—a controversial project that used corrugated metal, plywood, and chain-link fencing—to his rise as a Pritzker Prize winner and the creator of the iconic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (1997). Gehry, born Ephraim Goldberg in Toronto in 1929, studied at the University of Southern California and Harvard before founding Frank O. Gehry & Associates in 1962, and spent over six decades championing buildings that embraced emotion and movement over cold minimalism.

Same is More: Parisian Architecture à l’identique by Octave Perrault

Paris is undergoing a wave of architectural preservation and renovation that prioritizes the "à l’identique" (identical) approach, most notably seen in the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral following its 2019 fire. This trend extends to other major cultural landmarks, including the renovation of the Bourse de Commerce by Tadao Ando and the upcoming multi-year closure of the Centre Pompidou for technical upgrades. The author uses the critical lens of 19th-century writer Joris-Karl Huysmans to question whether this obsession with restoring buildings to a previous state stifles contemporary architectural evolution.

Beyond the prompt: when the medium is generative AI, the artist becomes a systemic director

Oltre il prompt: quando il medium è l’AI generativa l’artista diventa regista sistemico

The article argues that as AI-generated images become more spectacular, the role of the artist is often misunderstood as merely writing prompts. Instead, the author contends that the most significant generative artworks are systems—predetermined rule-based environments where the artist designs the conditions for images to emerge. Works like Hans Haacke's "Condensation Cube" (1963-1965) and Refik Anadol's "Unsupervised" (2022) exemplify this shift from object to process, where the artwork is the behavior or architecture itself.

In Barcelona, the Joan Miró Foundation celebrates 50 years. All the planned initiatives

A Barcellona la Fondazione Joan Mirò festeggia 50 anni. Tutte le iniziative in programma

The Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an extensive program of exhibitions, concerts, performances, and public initiatives. The festivities begin on June 11 with the exhibition "Poetry Has Just Begun: 50 Years of the Miró," a retrospective tracing the foundation's history and its role in the international art system. Other highlights include "Miró and the United States" in autumn, exploring the artist's dialogue with post-war American avant-garde figures like Louise Bourgeois, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, organized in collaboration with the Phillips Collection in Washington. In March 2026, the foundation will unveil a new permanent collection layout based on Miró's creative processes and open the Garden of the Cypresses, a previously inaccessible historic area on Montjuïc.

Residencies, Exhibitions, and Events: Here are the Programs for the New Società delle Api Foundation in Rome

Residenze, mostre ed eventi. Ecco i programmi della nuova fondazione Società delle Api che ha aperto a Roma

The Società delle Api foundation, established by collector Silvia Fiorucci in 2018, has officially inaugurated its new permanent headquarters in Rome on Via Gregoriana. The move marks a strategic shift for the organization, which previously operated across a decentralized network of locations in Monaco, France, and Greece. The 2026-2027 program focuses on artistic production as a shared process, featuring residencies and exhibitions by artists such as Pol Taburet, Chiara Camoni, and Francis Offman, alongside multidisciplinary public programs covering poetry and architecture.

Beatriz González, indefatigable force in Colombian art, has died, aged 93

Beatriz González, the influential Colombian artist, writer, curator, educator, and intellectual known as 'la maestra,' died in Bogotá on January 9 at age 93. Born in 1932 in Bucaramanga, she studied architecture and fine arts before forging a distinctive path in Colombian art, rejecting abstraction and the style of her contemporary Fernando Botero. Her work, including the series 'Suicidas del Sisga' (1965) and 'La Encajera,' reinterpreted Western artworks and local press photographs with flat forms and vibrant colors, often incorporating kitsch and subaltern aesthetics. She was a key figure in the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (Mambo), envisioned a school for museum guides, served as chief curator of the Museo Nacional de Colombia, and mentored generations of museum professionals.

Date announced to celebrate landmark reopening of Newcastle Art Gallery

Newcastle Art Gallery will celebrate its landmark reopening on February 27, 2026, with a street party and temporary sculpture park on Laman Street, followed by a three-day opening weekend. The event launches the major exhibition "Iconic Loved Unexpected" on February 28. The expansion, the largest capital works project in City of Newcastle's history, adds 1,600 square meters of exhibition space and 13 galleries, making it the largest public art institution in New South Wales outside Sydney. The project was funded through 16 years of fundraising and perseverance.

What else is happening

Was sonst noch geht

Ahead of the Gallery Weekend Berlin (May 1–3), the city is buzzing with parallel exhibitions that extend far beyond the official gallery circuit. The fourth edition of the Sellerie Weekend opens over 75 independent Off-Spaces from April 30 to May 3, featuring performances, curated tours, and a kickoff event with artist Sophia Süßmilch at the Spoiler project space. The Paper Positions art fair returns to Tempelhof Airport (April 30–May 3) with 70 international galleries specializing in works on paper, including artists like Annegret Soltau, Una Ursprung, and Stefanie Moshammer. Meanwhile, the art initiative House presents the group show "Gravity Ease Contract" in the Berghain heating plant hall (May 1–24), curated by David Douard, with works by Susan Philipsz, Julia Scher, and others. Finally, collectors Karen and Christian Boros unveil "Berlin Bunker #5" in their bunker-turned-museum, featuring recent acquisitions by Pol Taburet, Sung Tieu, and Jill Mulleady.

Francois Boisrond prend de la hauteur

French artist François Boisrond, a key figure of the 1980s Figuration libre movement, presents his new series "Ouvrages d'art" at Galerie Maïa Muller in Paris. The series reinterprets monumental architecture—including the Millau Viaduct, the Pont de Normandie, Mont Saint-Michel, Notre-Dame, and the Eiffel Tower—using drone-sourced images. Boisrond employs a new liquid acrylic technique that creates a matte, flat finish, producing works that appear hyperrealistic from a distance but dissolve into impressionistic or pixelated abstraction up close. The exhibition, extended through May 16, 2026, features large-format paintings priced between €25,000 and €50,000.

Matisse, Soulages, Chagall… The most beautiful churches and chapels decorated by artists throughout France

Matisse, Soulages, Chagall… Les plus belles églises et chapelles décorées par des artistes dans toute la France

Renowned modern and contemporary artists have transformed various religious sites across France into immersive 'total works of art.' From Pierre Soulages’ translucent stained-glass windows in the Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques to Pablo Picasso’s monumental 'War and Peace' murals in Vallauris, these projects demonstrate how secular artists have engaged with sacred architecture. The article highlights ten specific locations where artists like Matisse, Chagall, and Cocteau integrated painting, glasswork, and furniture into historic ecclesiastical settings.

Who is Prune Delon, the 24-year-old fashion designer selected for a residency at the Villa Medici?

Qui est Prune Delon, cette créatrice de mode de 24 ans sélectionnée pour une résidence à la Villa Médicis ?

Prune Delon, a 24-year-old fashion designer and Institut français de la mode graduate, has been awarded a prestigious one-month research residency at the Villa Medici in Rome. Moving away from traditional ready-to-wear collections, Delon is using the residency to develop a multidisciplinary project that blends textile art with sculptural installation. Her work at the historic site draws inspiration from the villa's mineral architecture and classical sculptures, as well as her formative experiences studying traditional embroidery and natural dyeing techniques in India.