Antony Gormley: ‘Everything I make now is a surprise to me’

Antony Gormley, the British sculptor best known for public works like *Angel of the North* and *Another Place*, is opening his first solo exhibition in Seoul this September, titled *Inextricable*, simultaneously at White Cube and Thaddaeus Ropac. The shows coincide with Frieze Seoul and explore how urban infrastructure shapes human consciousness. Gormley also discusses his ongoing collaboration with Japanese architect Tadao Ando at Museum SAN, where their permanent installation *Ground* (2025) is on view, and reflects on past unrealized projects in Korea, including a utopian proposal with the Kim Dae-jung Foundation.

Sarasota Art Museum celebrates 100th anniversary of Art Deco with exhibition of 100 rare advertisement posters

The Sarasota Art Museum will open an exhibition titled "Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration" on August 31, featuring 100 rare fine art advertisement posters from the 1920s and '30s. The posters, created by early master graphic designers such as A. M. Cassandre and Leonetto Cappiello, are drawn from the Crouse Collection, considered the most significant private collection of its kind. The exhibition also includes sculptural works, cocktail shakers, and Art Deco furniture on loan from the Wolfsonian Museum at Florida International University.

Artist Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming show at the Smithsonian

Artist Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming solo exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, scheduled to open September 19. The cancellation stems from a dispute over her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which depicts a trans woman with pink hair and a blue gown holding a torch. Sherald stated that the museum expressed concerns about including the portrait, leading to discussions about removing it. She claims the Smithsonian planned to replace the painting with a video of people reacting to it, which she opposed as it would debate the value of trans visibility. The Smithsonian denies the painting was to be replaced, saying the video was meant to provide context. Sherald's exhibition, *Amy Sherald: American Sublime*, was organized by SFMOMA and is currently on view at the Whitney Museum.

London’s Queen Elizabeth II memorial to feature contemplative Yinka Shonibare sculpture

A team led by architect Norman Foster and British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare has won the competition to design a national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II in St James’s Park, London. The winning proposal includes a series of royal gardens linked by a stone path, a new bridge inspired by the Queen Mary fringe tiara, and Shonibare’s Wind Sculpture as a contemplative centerpiece. The project also features figurative sculptures of the Queen and Prince Philip, a Prince Philip gate, and a main monument beside the Mall. The design will be developed with the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, which will select a sculptor for the figurative elements later this year; the final design is due in April 2026, with a provisional budget of £23m–£46m.

Design Miami announces 2025 international events and exhibitions programme

Design Miami has announced its 2025 international events and exhibitions programme, dubbed Design Miami.In Situ, in celebration of its 20th anniversary. The initiative includes a one-day design event in Aspen with Range Rover on July 31, a 14-day exhibition in Seoul titled 'Illuminated: A Spotlight on Korean Design' in September, the third edition of its Paris fair at L'hôtel de Maisons in October, and the 21st edition of its flagship Miami Beach fair in December. The programme expands beyond the fair's traditional model, with events curated by Ashlee Harrison, Hyeyoung Cho, and Glenn Adamson.

Ahead of new fair in 2026, Qatar takes centre stage at Art Basel

Qatar is making a major push at Art Basel this week, highlighted by the announcement of Art Basel Qatar, a new fair launching in February 2026. Models of upcoming cultural venues, including the Herzog & de Meuron-designed Lusail Museum, are on display in the Collectors Lounge, while Qatar Airways has announced a global partnership with Art Basel. Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani made a rare public appearance, speaking on a panel about the country's cultural ambitions and the role of art in addressing post-colonial identity and conflict.

Maine’s Ann Craven spotlighted at Farnsworth Art Museum

The Farnsworth Art Museum in Maine will host a major exhibition titled *Ann Craven: Painted Time (2020–2024)*, showcasing approximately 30 paintings by the celebrated Maine-based artist Ann Craven. The exhibition, running from May 3, 2025, through January 4, 2026, is organized into four thematic sections—moons, trees, flowers, and birds—highlighting Craven's exploration of seriality, repetition, time, and the natural world. It will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue and a film by Fiumi Studio. The exhibition anchors the 2025 Maine in America Award, a lifetime achievement honor recognizing Craven's contributions to Maine's arts and culture, with companion presentations at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and the Portland Museum of Art.

Working in Art: Opportunities from Movin’Up, Fondazione Accademia Carrara, nctm, and Sugar Music

Lavorare nell’arte: opportunità da Movin’Up, Fondazione Accademia Carrara, nctm e Sugar Music

Several Italian cultural institutions and organizations have launched new open calls and job opportunities for artists and creative professionals. Key initiatives include the Movin’Up international mobility grant for creatives under 35, a residency scholarship from nctm e l’arte, and a talent scouting program by the record label Sugar Music. Additionally, the Fondazione Accademia Carrara is seeking a new Head of Educational Services, while the Associazione Amici dell’Arte has opened a competition for young visual artists to exhibit in Piacenza.

At Alserkal Avenue’s Deja Vu, UAE galleries find strength in collaboration

Alserkal Avenue in Dubai has launched "Deja Vu," a multi-gallery exhibition bringing together 20 UAE-based galleries at the Concrete venue, running until May 8. Curated by Zaina Zaarour with co-curators Kevin Jones and Nada Raza, the show features works including German artist Michael Sailstorfer's installation of a car fuel tank, reflecting anxieties around fuel prices and geopolitical uncertainty. The exhibition emerged from urgent community meetings after the Iran war disrupted the spring art season, which typically includes Art Dubai and collector visits. Participating galleries include 16 from Alserkal Avenue, plus Nika Project Space, Total Arts at The Courtyard, Tabari Artspace, and Iris Projects, with many works priced under $10,000 to facilitate sales.

Selling exhibition to support art: Déjà Vu at Alserkal heralds joint initiative

A multi-gallery selling exhibition titled 'Déjà Vu' opens at Concrete in Alserkal Avenue on April 25, running for 14 days. The exhibition features over 50 artists from 20 leading UAE contemporary art galleries and is curated by Kevin Jones, Nada Raza, and Zaina Zaarour. It is designed as a commercial initiative to support galleries impacted by recent events.

Exhibition | Sopheap Pich, 'Works' at Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium

Axel Vervoordt Gallery in Antwerp is presenting the first Belgian solo exhibition of Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich. The show features a new body of work, including large-scale sculptures made from bamboo, rattan, hand-forged copper, and recycled aluminum, as well as wall-based pieces. Visitors can physically enter some of the large sculptural forms.

Palestinian artist ‘cancelled’ by US museum comes to Frieze Masters

Palestinian artist Samia Halaby is presenting a solo stand at Frieze Masters in London, hosted by Sfeir-Semler Gallery. This follows the abrupt cancellation of her retrospective at Indiana University Bloomington's Eskenazi Museum of Art last year, after staff raised concerns about her social media posts expressing support for Palestinian causes during the Israel-Gaza war. A petition launched by her grandniece garnered over 15,000 signatures, and the gallery reports sustained interest in her work from both private collectors and museums.

A hundred years on, Cork Street is the beating heart of London’s art scene once more

Cork Street in London's Mayfair district, a historic hub for commercial art, is celebrating its centenary with a collaborative group show involving 15 galleries. The exhibition is inspired by a controversial 1938 Jean Cocteau work, "La peur donnant des ailes au courage," which was deemed obscene by British authorities and only shown in a back office at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, after her petitions. Participating galleries include Stephen Friedman Gallery, Alon Zakaim Fine Art, and Goodman Gallery, with works by artists like Caroline Coon, Shirin Neshat, and others, curated by Tarini Malik.

Collections of two leading dealers, Barbara Gladstone and Daniella Luxembourg, hit the auction blocks in New York

Sotheby's will auction collections from two prominent dealers, Barbara Gladstone and Daniella Luxembourg, in New York on May 15. Gladstone's estate consigned 12 lots, including an Andy Warhol painting (est. $1m-$1.5m) and a Richard Prince work (est. $4m-$6m), following a competition between Christie's and Sotheby's. Luxembourg's collection of 15 post-war works, valued at over $30m, features pieces by Lucio Fontana, Salvatore Scarpitta, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, with Fontana's 'Fine di Dio' (1963) expected to lead at $12m-$18m.

Nelson-Atkins Museum picks architect for $160m expansion

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has selected the New York-based firm Weiss Manfredi Architecture Landscape Urbanism to lead a $160–170 million campus expansion. The decision followed an international competition that drew 182 firms from 30 countries, with six finalists—including Kengo Kuma & Associates, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Selldorf Architects, Studio Gang, and Why Architecture—presenting concepts publicly. Weiss Manfredi's design places a new 61,000-square-foot wing to the southwest of the original 1933 Beaux-Arts building, mirroring the Steven Holl Architects addition from 2007, and features curved glass walls that open onto the sculpture park. The project aims to accommodate growing attendance, which has doubled since director Julián Zugazagoitia joined in 2010, reaching about 600,000 visitors annually.

Church History Museum debuts 'Lift Up the Hands Which Hang Down' art gallery

The Church History Museum in Salt Lake City has opened a 150-piece art exhibition as part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 13th International Art Competition. The competition received submissions from 584 artists across 26 countries, with works selected by five regionally diverse jurors based on thematic resonance, innovation, and technical merit. The exhibition's theme, 'Lift Up the Hands Which Hang Down,' is drawn from the Church's scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 81:5, and features works inspired by scripture and personal stories of service and faith. Notable pieces include Linda Vance Etherington's painting 'How Many Loaves Have Ye? Bring Them Hither to Me' and Silvana Alvarez Rhodes's oil painting 'Fishers of Men.'

The Humboldt Forum is Already Under Fire

"Das Humboldt Forum wird schon beschossen"

The architectural firm J. Mayer H. and partners Jürgen Mayer H. and Hans Schneider have won the eighth 'Kunst-am-Bau' competition for Berlin’s Humboldt Forum. Their winning installation, titled "Südpfeil" (South Arrow), features a 3.6-meter-long abstract arrow embedded high in the building's facade. The work references the 19th-century discovery of 'Pfeilstörche'—migratory storks that returned to Europe with African arrows in their bodies—which provided the first scientific proof of global migration routes.

Meloni takes control of Italian museums

Meloni reprend en main les musées italiens

Italy’s culture ministry under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has appointed 14 new directors for so-called “second-tier” museums, reinforcing a shift away from the international “super-director” model introduced by the 2014 Franceschini reform. All appointees are Italian except for French director Axel Hémery, who was reappointed at the Pinacoteca di Siena due to his strong performance. The move follows the earlier ousting of foreign directors at top-tier museums, with only two foreign-born directors—Eike Schmidt and Gabriel Zuchtriegel—remaining, both of whom hold Italian citizenship.

Sotheby’s Auction Raises Funds for Yale MFA Scholarships

The Yale School of Art is partnering with Sotheby’s to host an auction benefiting scholarships for its Master of Fine Arts program. The 13 lots, including works by Howardena Pindell, Josef Albers, Richard Prince, Mickalene Thomas, Do Ho Suh, and Barkley L. Hendricks, will be sold as part of Sotheby’s Contemporary Day Auction in New York on May 15. Estimates range from $5,000 to $700,000. Dean Kymberly Pinder, who has raised $13 million toward debt-free graduation since 2021, stated the auction supports a larger initiative to ensure MFA students graduate without debt.

Venice Biennale Awards Jury Won’t Consider Russia and Israel

The international awards jury for the 61st Venice Biennale has announced it will not consider countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prizes. The all-women jury, chaired by Solange Farkas, published a statement on e-flux declaring this policy, which implicitly targets Russia and Israel, whose leaders Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu face ICC warrants. The jury is responsible for awarding Golden Lions for the best national pavilion and best artist in the central exhibition. A majority of artists in the main show issued an open letter supporting the decision, while the Biennale Foundation faces criticism for allowing both nations to participate in 2026.

“So Fun! An Exploration of Maximalism” opens at Vision Gallery

“So Fun! An Exploration of Maximalism” opens at Vision Gallery in Chandler, Arizona, from August 23 to November 2, 2025. The group exhibition features five artists—including Lex Gjurasic, Sarah Hurwitz, and Sofie Ramos—who use plush emoji bean bags, flowers, Perler beads, and other media to create sculptures, drawings, paintings, and site-specific installations that celebrate the aesthetic of excess. Curated by Hanley Ange, the show counters Minimalist traditions and embraces color, pattern, and repetition to foster storytelling, self-expression, and empowerment.

Former Sotheby's chairman recounts the birth of the London art market as we know it

James Stourton, former chairman of Sotheby's UK, has written a book titled "Rogues and Scholars" that chronicles the rise of London's art market after World War II. The article highlights key moments such as Sotheby's 1958 sale of the Goldschmidt collection of Impressionist art, which transformed auctions into glamorous evening events, and the introduction of the buyer's premium in 1975, which Stourton calls "the Big Bang of the art world." It also profiles influential dealers and galleries like Marlborough Gallery, Robert Fraser, Christopher Gibbs, and Robin Symes who shaped global tastes from London.

Ballets of Repetition

Ballette der Wiederholung

Vivien Zhang, a painter whose work blends botany, mathematics, and migration, is now exhibiting in Berlin. Her paintings feature tongue-like petals, crystalline butterflies, dewdrops, seed capsules, chromosomes, and frozen brushstrokes, all arranged in grid-like patterns that create a ballet of repetition. The forms are technoid-organic and three-dimensional, presenting enigmatic visual puzzles that explore how shapes, identities, and systems emerge anew.

Israel Criticizes Venice Biennale Jury over Pavilion’s Exclusion

The international jury of the 61st Venice Biennale has excluded the Israeli and Russian pavilions from consideration for official prizes, citing that countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court will not be eligible. Israel’s foreign ministry condemned the decision as a political boycott, and Israeli representative Belu-Simion Fainaru called it a hostile act that exceeds the jury’s mandate. The Biennale’s president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, has distanced the institution from the jury’s action, insisting the exhibition remain open to all nations recognized by Italy.

film nadav lapid yes israel palestine

Nadav Lapid's fifth feature film, *Yes*, follows an Israeli musician and his artist wife who adopt a hedonistic lifestyle of parties, orgies, and drug use alongside war ministers and Russian oligarchs in the wake of the October 7 attacks and the Gaza conflict. The film, which premiered out of competition at Cannes, faced production challenges including crew walkouts and actor dropouts, and struggled to find US distribution before being picked up by Kino Lorber for a March 27 release in New York and April 3 in Los Angeles.

Family of Nonagenarian Sculptor Is Fighting to Halt Demolition of Iconic Brutalist Fountain in Downtown San Francisco

The family of 96-year-old Quebecois sculptor Armand Vaillancourt is fighting to halt the demolition of his 710-ton concrete fountain, known as Québec Libre! or the Vaillancourt Fountain, in San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza. The city began dismantling the 1971 public artwork this week, citing a planned plaza renovation, and the disassembly is expected to cost $4 million. Vaillancourt’s son Alexis and the group Friends of the Plaza have filed an appellate petition challenging the city’s use of an emergency exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act, arguing that the fountain’s disrepair does not constitute a sudden emergency requiring immediate action.

Monk football and sperm whales: All About Photo awards winners 2026

The 11th edition of the All About Photo awards – The Mind's Eye has announced its 2026 winners, with first place awarded to Matt McClain for his image of an intern working in a historic millinery shop at Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. The competition features a diverse range of winning photographs, including conceptual self-portraiture by Brooke Shaden, a street scene at the Benin-Togo border by France Leclerc, a train sleeping in Tunisia by Javier Arcenillas, freedivers with sperm whales by Khaichuin Sim, and young monks playing football in the Himalayas by Andrew Newey. Winners receive $5,000 in cash prizes.

World Press Photo 2026 winners – in pictures

The World Press Photo 2026 winners have been announced, with Carol Guzy awarded the top honor for her image of distraught girls clinging to their father as ICE agents detain him after an immigration hearing in New York City. Finalists include Saber Nuraldin’s photograph of Palestinians scrambling for aid in Gaza, Victor J Blue’s image of Achi women outside a Guatemala City court, and other powerful works documenting climate displacement in Mexico, a wedding during a typhoon in the Philippines, police detaining a priest at a pensioners’ protest in Argentina, and a social robot in Europe.

Sony world photography awards 2026 – in pictures

The 2026 Sony World Photography Awards have announced their top honors across professional, open, student, and youth categories. Notable winners include Citlali Fabián for her series on Indigenous activists in Mexico, Seungho Kim for a project exploring the intersection of parenting and pet ownership in South Korea, and Dafna Talmor for her abstracted, collaged landscapes. The winning works span a diverse range of subjects, from the documentation of a fire at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm to intimate portraits of faith at the Vatican.

Venice Biennale Breaks No Sanctions Over Russia Pavilion

venice biennale no sanctions broken russia pavilion

The Venice Biennale organizers have reaffirmed their decision to allow Russia to participate in the upcoming exhibition, despite intense pressure from the European Commission and Italy’s own Culture Minister, Alessandro Giuli. The Biennale maintains that it has fully complied with all international sanctions and that its mission is to reject censorship while providing a platform for artistic freedom. This stance has been bolstered by Italian Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini, who argued against "Russophobia" and stated that culture should serve as a bridge rather than a tool for division.