The galleries on Cork Street join forces for group exhibition celebrating 100 years as a landmark art destination.

Fifteen galleries on London's historic Cork Street have united for a first-of-its-kind group exhibition titled "Fear Gives Wings To Courage" to mark the street's centennial as a landmark art destination. Curated by Tarini Malik, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Royal Academy of Arts, the exhibition unfolds in three parts: an outdoor banners commission, presentations within each participating gallery from 11 to 25 July 2025, and a special catalogue issue launching during Frieze London 2025. The title references Jean Cocteau's 1938 painting of the same name, which caused controversy when shown at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery Guggenheim Jeune on Cork Street in 1938 and was confiscated by British customs.

Sophia Rivera’s Mythology of Everyday New York

The article reviews "Sophie Rivera: Double Exposures" at El Museo del Barrio, the first survey of the late Nuyorican photographer Sophie Rivera, who died in 2021. The exhibition spans her career, including her feminist conceptual series "Rouge et Noir" and "Bowl Study" (c. 1976–78), which depict intimate bodily waste like used tampons and feces, and her socially engaged "Latino Portraits" series from the late 1970s, which countered negative media stereotypes of Puerto Ricans with affectionate, mythologizing portraits. The review highlights a moment where the critic misidentifies abstract toilet photographs as pinhole or double exposures before learning their true subject.

Artist Kader Attia Will Organize 2027 Edition of India’s Top Biennial

Artist Kader Attia, known for his work addressing colonial violence and a winner of France's Prix Marcel Duchamp, has been selected to curate the 2027 edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India's premier biennial. Attia, who previously curated the 2022 Berlin Biennale, was chosen by a committee led by prominent Indian artist Jitish Kallat. His appointment continues the biennial's tradition of artist-curators, following Nikhil Chopra (2024) and Anita Dube (2018).

An Unlikely Friendship Between Artist and Forger

The article reviews Steven Soderbergh's 2026 film "The Christophers," which follows an unlikely friendship between two painters in London: Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen), an older artist facing cancellation, and Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), a young painter who restores and forges artworks. The film explores themes of attention, artistic legacy, and the purpose of art, contrasting with darker narratives like "Tár" by offering a comedic yet profound take on these issues.

The Carnegie International Makes Its Mark

The 59th Carnegie International opens in Pittsburgh, featuring 61 artists from around the world in the oldest survey of its kind in the United States. Critic Ed Simon reviews the exhibition, noting it captures the excitement of earlier editions while providing vital commentary on authoritarianism and militarism. In other news, activists protested Jeff Bezos's co-chair role at the Met Gala with a costumed action and guerrilla projections on his penthouse; Iran withdrew from its national pavilion at the Venice Biennale; MoMA PS1 announced the first US survey of Mexican artist Teresa Margolles; and Hakim Bishara reflects on MoMA's Marcel Duchamp exhibition.

In Minor Keys: how Venice's international exhibition was brought to life after the death of artistic director Koyo Kouoh

The 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," was realized after the sudden death of its artistic director, Koyo Kouoh, in May 2025. A team of five of Kouoh's collaborators, known as "la squadra di Koyo Kouoh," worked with her before her death and finalized the exhibition's themes, artist list, and scenography. The exhibition features 111 invited artists, duos, collectives, and artist-led organizations, with the team emphasizing that this remains Kouoh's vision rather than a replacement.

I’ve Got the Post-Duchamp Blues

The article is a review of the Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the first such show since 1973. Featuring around 300 works from Duchamp's six-decade career, the exhibition includes his iconic readymades like "Fountain" (1917) and early paintings such as "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" (1912). Co-curated by MoMA's Ann Temkin and Michelle Kuo along with Matthew Affron of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the show runs through August 22, 2026, before traveling to Philadelphia.

Marcel Duchamp Was the Messenger of History

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York is launching the first comprehensive U.S. exhibition of Marcel Duchamp’s work in over 50 years. In an interview regarding the opening, renowned scholar Thierry de Duve discusses the artist's enduring legacy, from his infamous readymades like "Fountain" to his complex, labor-intensive works like the "Large Glass." The exhibition seeks to reconcile Duchamp’s identity as both a conceptual provocateur and a meticulous craftsman.

Philadelphia Museum of Art Rebrands Again as "PhArt"

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has announced a rebranding to "PhArt," following the discovery of a long-lost Marcel Duchamp readymade—an early prototype of a whoopee cushion titled "Le rire"—in its archives. The institution is dropping "Museum" from its name to signal a commitment to art that transcends traditional boundaries, and the new branding will be featured prominently on social media.

The Underrated Architect of the Avant-Garde

Der unterschätzte Architekt der Avantgarde

The Fondazione Antonio Dalle Nogare in Bolzano is hosting a comprehensive retrospective dedicated to Ilja Sdanewitsch, known as Iliazd, a Georgian-Russian-French avant-garde polymath. The exhibition, titled "Toutité Iliazd. Die Erforschung der Form," showcases his diverse output as a writer, designer, and publisher who viewed the book as a primary art object. The display includes architectural reliefs, textile designs for Coco Chanel, and his significant collaborations with icons like Picasso and Duchamp.

How Alexander Calder Set Sculpture in Motion

Wie Alexander Calder die Skulptur in Bewegung setzte

The Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris has launched a major retrospective titled "Rêver en Équilibre," dedicated to the American sculptor Alexander Calder. Featuring over 300 works, the exhibition traces Calder’s journey from his 1926 arrival in Paris to his invention of the "mobile," a term coined by Marcel Duchamp. The show includes iconic large-scale hanging sculptures like "Rouge triomphant," wire figures from his famous "Cirque Calder," and rarely seen private loans, alongside paintings and jewelry that highlight his engineering background and poetic approach to abstraction.

The must-see exhibitions of 2026: from Duchamp in New York to Baldessari in Beijing

The article previews major art exhibitions scheduled for 2026, highlighting two standout shows. At Basel's Fondation Beyeler, a Cezanne exhibition from January to May will focus on the artist's later works, featuring around 60 oil paintings and 20 watercolours, half from private collections. Highlights include a privately owned oil study of 'The Bathers' (around 1902-06) and 'The Boy in the Red Vest' (1888-90), with curator Ulf Küster emphasizing Cezanne's fragmentary, radical perspective. Separately, the traveling exhibition 'Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone' will premiere at the Peabody Essex Museum in February, showcasing 30 sculptures by the 19th-century Black and Indigenous artist, organized after a 2016 acquisition by the Georgia Museum of Art spurred curators to track down her works.

In Geneva, John M Armleder’s Stunning Lesson in Art History

À Genève, la renversante leçon d’histoire de l’art de John M Armleder

The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (MAH) in Geneva has unveiled its sixth "carte blanche" exhibition, curated by the influential Swiss artist John M Armleder. Following in the footsteps of figures like Ugo Rondinone and Wim Delvoye, Armleder was invited by museum director Marc-Olivier Wahler to mine the institution's vast collection of 800,000 objects. The resulting show defies traditional museum hierarchies by juxtaposing fine art with decorative objects, such as silver-topped corks and musical instruments, alongside Armleder's own prolific output of multiples.

Alexander Calder, Brilliant Sculptor of Air and Color Celebrated at the Fondation Vuitton

Alexander Calder, génial sculpteur de l’air et de la couleur célébré à la fondation Vuitton

The Fondation Louis Vuitton is hosting a major celebration of Alexander Calder, the American sculptor who revolutionized 20th-century art by introducing movement and play into the medium. The article traces Calder's formative years in Paris starting in 1926, where the young engineer-turned-artist gained avant-garde fame with his 'Cirque Calder'—a miniature circus of wire and fabric figurines. This period marked his transition from traditional painting to his signature 'drawings in space,' featuring wire sculptures of figures like Josephine Baker that projected dancing shadows and captured the kinetic energy of the era.

Who are the members of the Venice Biennale jury?

Qui sont les membres du jury de la Biennale de Venise ?

The 61st Venice Biennale, opening May 9, 2026, has announced its international jury, which is composed entirely of women. The five members are Solange Oliveira Farkas (president), Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, hailing from Brazil, Thailand, Spain, the United States, and Switzerland. Their backgrounds span the Global South, feminist studies, and transnational curatorial practices.

Venice Art Biennale: The Time of Nuances

Biennale d’art de Venise : le temps des nuances

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opened under the artistic direction of the late Swiss-Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh. The exhibition features 111 artists and collectives, presenting a more subdued, poetic, and experiential approach compared to the previous edition's explicit decolonial program. It navigates contemporary political tensions, including the participation of Israel and the reopening of the Russian pavilion, while aiming for a radical return to art's own environment and its place in society.

MoMA Plans a Retrospective for Marcel Duchamp, the Dada Artist Who Was Unimpressed With His Own Masterpieces

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York will open a major retrospective of Marcel Duchamp in April 2026, marking the first U.S. retrospective for the artist in over 50 years. The exhibition will feature more than 200 works, including a 1968 replica of his infamous 'Fountain,' spanning his experiments in Cubism, Futurism, film, photography, and his pioneering readymades.

7 Iconic Works From Alexander Calder’s Major Paris Retrospective

The Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris is presenting a major retrospective of Alexander Calder's work, titled "Calder. Rêver en Équilibre" ("Calder. Dreaming in Balance"). The exhibition, marking the 50th anniversary of the artist's death and the centenary of his first arrival in France, features nearly 300 works, including his iconic mobiles and stabiles.

art dead artists museum exhibitions politics

CULTURED reports that in 2025, nearly 50 percent of solo exhibitions at New York museums featuring modern and contemporary art focused on deceased artists, more than double the 18 percent share in 2019. Major institutions like MoMA, the Broad, ICA Miami, and the Whitney have programmed posthumous shows for figures such as Wifredo Lam, Helen Frankenthaler, Ruth Asawa, Robert Therrien, Joyce Pensato, Richard Hunt, and Roy Lichtenstein. The article traces this trend to a confluence of factors: ongoing scholarly revisionism, a cultural swing toward equity during the Biden administration, and the long lead times for museum exhibitions that have landed in a more polarized political climate under Trump II.

strategies art world

Cem A., an artist and anthropologist known for the art meme page @freeze_magazine, argues that the art world is suffering from an oversupply of graduates trained by art schools that cannot sustain them. He describes a paradox where art graduates face high unemployment and are dismissed as unqualified for non-art jobs, while those who remain in the field must align with market trends and the attention economy, risking burnout and compromised creativity. Cem A. shares his own experience of being rejected for being "too artsy" before finding success through his Instagram page, which opened doors that traditional career paths could not.

How Duchamp Inspired These 4 Artists

Contemporary artists continue to grapple with the legacy of Marcel Duchamp, specifically his 1917 readymade "Fountain." This analysis highlights four modern creators who have directly referenced or reinterpreted the iconic porcelain urinal to explore themes of gender, domesticity, and institutional critique.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Says He's Writing a New Musical About the Time the 'Mona Lisa' Vanished Without a Trace in 1911

Andrew Lloyd Webber, the legendary composer behind 'The Phantom of the Opera,' has announced he is developing a new musical centered on the 1911 theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Mona Lisa.' The production will dramatize the true story of Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian glazier who stole the masterpiece from the Louvre, leading to a two-year international search before the painting was recovered in Italy.

Thinking Infrastructurally: On Diversity of Aesthetics, Part 2

The article, part of a series on e-flux, presents a theoretical analysis of the 1965 Watts rebellion through the lens of Guy Debord's Situationist thought. It examines how the rioters' destruction and theft of commodities, like refrigerators they couldn't power, acted as a rejection of capitalist integration and exposed the false promise of consumer affluence.

The 5 Best Booths at ARCOmadrid 2026

The Personal Collection of ‘Last Surrealist’ Enrico Donati Heads to Auction

Sotheby’s has announced the sale of the personal art collection of Enrico Donati, often referred to as the 'last Surrealist.' The 45-lot collection, titled "A Night in May," features works amassed by Donati and his wife Adele, including a rare 1909 Cubist portrait by Pablo Picasso, 'Arlequin (Buste),' estimated at $40 million. The auction marks the first time these intimate pieces—many acquired through direct exchanges with friends like Marcel Duchamp and Yves Tanguy—have been offered since the artist's death in 2008 and his wife's passing last year.

art basel air de paris

The French gallery Air de Paris has publicly withdrawn from Art Basel in Switzerland after being assigned a booth position its founders considered unfavorable. In an open letter, owners Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino stated they were offered a choice between their usual stand and a new one, only to have the rejected option imposed. The gallery, which has participated in Art Basel since 1999, accused the fair of prioritizing managerial efficiency over longstanding relationships. Art Basel defended its placement process, citing curatorial vision and logistical factors. Bonnefous, who served on the fair's selection committee, confirmed the gallery will still participate in Art Basel Paris in the fall.

Inside the New Madison Avenue Flagship of the Powerhouse Gagosian Gallery

Larry Gagosian has opened a new flagship gallery at 974 Madison Avenue (preferring the address 980 Madison at 76th Street) after Bloomberg Philanthropies took over the building's upper floors, which had housed Gagosian's New York flagship since the late 1980s. The megadealer relocated to the street level, creating a 12,000-square-foot complex with exhibition spaces, offices, meeting rooms, and private viewing areas designed by Jonathan Caplan of Caplan Colaku Architects. The gallery launched with a double-header presentation of works by Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg, and features ceilings just over 12 feet high, adaptable walls, and a vestibule display of art books.

14 artists having major museum moments in 2026

The article previews 14 artists who will have major museum exhibitions in 2026, highlighting key shows such as a long-awaited US retrospective of Marcel Duchamp, a Calder exhibition in Paris, and a Rothko show in Florence. It also details concurrent auction highlights at Christie's New York, including works from the S.I. Newhouse collection by Brancusi, Lichtenstein, Matisse, and Pollock. Specific exhibitions covered include "Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Whitney Museum, and multiple European shows for Constantin Brancusi's 150th anniversary.

Renowned Gallery Air de Paris Bankrupted, Closing This Week

Air de Paris, the Paris gallery known for its punk ethos and commitment to cutting-edge Conceptual art, will close this week after 36 years and more than 400 exhibitions, amid bankruptcy proceedings. Founded in Nice in 1990 by Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino, the gallery was named after Marcel Duchamp’s 50cc of Paris Air and became legendary for its inaugural show, “Les Ateliers du Paradise,” which featured artists living in the gallery and later influenced critic Nicolas Bourriaud’s theory of relational aesthetics. The gallery moved to Paris in 1994 and later to Romainville in 2019, showing artists such as Paul McCarthy, Raymond Pettibon, Liam Gillick, Pierre Huyghe, and Dorothy Iannone.

Marcel Duchamp Is Stripped Bare at MoMA

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has opened "Marcel Duchamp," the first retrospective of the artist on this continent in over 50 years. Curated by Ann Temkin, Michelle Kuo, and Matthew Affron, the exhibition is organized strictly chronologically and features Duchamp's most famous works—including his revolutionary readymades like *Fountain* (1917) and *Bicycle Wheel* (1913)—often shown only in photographic reproduction or as later refabricated copies, replicas, and miniatures from his *Box in a Valise* series. The show highlights how Duchamp's original objects have been lost or dematerialized, forcing viewers to confront the very definition of an artwork.