Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Mar 2, 2026 visibility 11 link 2 artists

winston churchill statue vandalized

A bronze statue of Winston Churchill in London's Parliament Square was vandalized with pro-Palestine graffiti, including the phrases "Stop the Genicide" and "Globalise the Intifada." A 38-year-old man, identified by prosecutors as Caspar San Giorgio but identifying himself as Olax Outis, was arrested and charged with criminal damage. The activist claimed the act was a protest against the British government's alleged complicity in human rights violations and the legacy of Churchill himself.

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article news schedule Feb 26, 2026 visibility 13 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 18, 2026 visibility 18 link 3 artists

south african court rejects gabrielle goliaths bid to reinstate venice biennale pavilion

A South African high court has dismissed artist Gabrielle Goliath’s urgent application to reinstate her selection for the 61st Venice Biennale. Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie canceled Goliath’s pavilion, titled "Elegy," labeling the work "highly divisive" just days before the official submission deadline. The artist and curator Ingrid Masondo argued the cancellation was an act of censorship and a violation of constitutional freedom of expression, but the court rejected the bid without providing immediate reasons.

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article culture schedule Jan 28, 2026 visibility 15 link 6 artists

bad bunny crossing the delaware ektor rivera

Artist Ektor Rivera has created a painting titled "The Discovery of Americans" (2025) that reimagines Emanuel Leutze's "Washington Crossing the Delaware" to celebrate Puerto Rican cultural figures, with Bad Bunny at the center. The work was commissioned by Miami art collector Seth Goldberg as a response to conservative criticism over Bad Bunny being selected to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. The five-by-eight-foot painting places George Washington in the background while Puerto Rican icons including Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, and Roberto Clemente take center stage, with Bad Bunny draped in the Puerto Rican flag. The artwork has garnered over 2.3 million views on Instagram and Facebook.

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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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article news schedule Jan 13, 2026 visibility 18 link 4 artists

south africa pavilion venice biennale cancelation qatar

South Africa has canceled its pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which was to feature a performance by artist Gabrielle Goliath addressing the killings of women and queer people in South Africa, a German-led genocide in Namibia, and Israel’s war in Gaza. The performance would have included readings of poetry by Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023. South African Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie blamed an unidentified foreign nation for seeking to use the pavilion for "proxy power," and Israeli publication Ynetnews reported that nation is Qatar. McKenzie denied censorship, claiming a rift with the nonprofit Art Periodic South Africa over a foreign nation's offer to purchase artworks after the Biennale.

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article policy schedule Jan 13, 2026 visibility 14 link 4 artists

south african culture mp denies censoring venice pavilion

The South African Ministry of Sport, Arts, and Culture has denied censoring its 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion after canceling a proposed artwork by artist Gabrielle Goliath on December 2. The work, part of Goliath's "Elegy" series curated by Ingrid Masondo, addressed sexual assault, femicide, the killings of women and queer people in South Africa, colonial-era genocide in Namibia, and included a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. Culture minister Gayton McKenzie initially called the piece "highly divisive" and linked to a polarizing international conflict, but a January 10 statement reframed the cancellation as a safeguard against foreign interference, alleging a foreign country attempted to fund or purchase the work to use the pavilion as a proxy for a geopolitical message about Israel's actions in Gaza.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 26, 2025 visibility 14 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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gavel restitution schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 11 link 1 artist

pope repatriate indigenous artifacts canada

The Vatican has repatriated 62 Indigenous cultural treasures to Canada, following years of negotiations that began with a visit by the late Pope Francis in 2022. The objects, which include a kayak made of driftwood and seal skin used for beluga whale hunting, were first sent to Rome for a 1925 exhibition organized by Pope Pius XI and remained there until Pope Francis called for their return. The handover was unveiled this week at a warehouse belonging to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, where Indigenous elders and experts are now examining each piece to trace its origins. Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith and Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, spoke at a news conference about the significance of the return.

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article local schedule Dec 4, 2025 visibility 16 link 5 artists

elizabeth street garden mamdani reconsider demolition

For 12 years, a one-acre community garden in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood, Elizabeth Street Garden, has been locked in a battle with New York City officials over plans to build affordable housing on the site. The city, under former Mayor Eric Adams, had scheduled an eviction for March 2024 to make way for Haven Garden, a 123-unit senior housing development. After a last-minute impasse, the Adams administration abandoned those plans in June, instead rezoning three nearby sites. However, newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on closing the garden for housing, has revived uncertainty. Just before Mamdani took office, the Adams administration permanently dedicated the land as public parkland, requiring state legislative approval for any future development.

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article local schedule Nov 17, 2025 visibility 16 link 4 artists

elizabeth street garden eric adams zohran mamdani

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has permanently designated the Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood as public parkland, blocking plans for affordable housing on the site. The move comes just weeks before Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes office, who had campaigned on building affordable housing for older adults on the lot. The garden, a one-acre green space managed by executive director Joseph Reiver since 1991, had previously faced eviction under Adams before he abandoned the housing project in June. Mamdani now needs state legislature approval to pursue any development on the land.

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trending_up market schedule Nov 10, 2025 visibility 17 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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museum exhibitions schedule Sep 23, 2025 visibility 10 link 4 artists

st patricks cathedral cvijanovic mural

A new mural by artist Adam Cvijanovic, titled *What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding*, was unveiled at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on September 17, 2025. Spanning 1,920 square feet across 12 panels, the work is the largest permanent artwork commissioned for the cathedral in its 146-year history. It reimagines the 1879 Apparition at Knock, Ireland, as a backdrop to immigrant life in New York, featuring figures such as St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Dorothy Day, and Pierre Toussaint among contemporary immigrants. The project was facilitated by art adviser Suzanne Geiss and funded by benefactors Kevin and Dee Conway, with installation handled by UOVO.

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article culture schedule Jun 5, 2025 visibility 14 link 6 artists

as seen on goodfellas

Martin Scorsese's 1990 film *Goodfellas* features a brief but memorable scene where mobsters Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro), and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) visit Tommy's mother, played by Scorsese's own mother Catherine. She shows them a small painting of a man in a boat with two dogs facing opposite directions, prompting an improvised, humorous exchange of amateur art criticism that ties into the film's dark plot. The painting was actually based on a photograph by Adam Woolfitt from the November 1978 issue of *National Geographic*, depicting Irish river advocate John Weaving and his dogs Brocky and Twiggy; the on-screen version was created by Pileggi's mother.

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candle obituary schedule May 16, 2025 visibility 14 link 5 artists

koyo kouoh curating venice biennale died

Curator Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman appointed to curate the Venice Biennale, has died suddenly. Her death was confirmed by the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town, where she served as executive director and chief curator. The Venice Biennale issued a statement mourning her loss, noting she had been working on the conception and development of the Biennale Arte 2026. Kouoh, born in Cameroon in 1967, was a prominent figure in contemporary African art, having curated for documenta 12 and 13, co-founded the Raw Material Company art center in Dakar, and organized the landmark exhibition "When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting" at Zeitz MOCAA.

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article news schedule Mar 12, 2026 visibility 16 link 3 artists

‘Sweet Lilly-Marie’ by Marlos E’van – A Burnaway Artist Edition

Burnaway has launched its fourth Artist Edition, a limited-run t-shirt titled 'Sweet Lilly-Marie' created by artist Marlos E'van. The design is inspired by a character from the film *La Strada* and represents themes of family, innocence, and joy during chaotic times. Preorders are open until April 10, with shirts being hand-printed in Nashville and shipped in late April.

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museum exhibitions schedule Mar 23, 2026 visibility 27 link 10 artists

Images of a Visionary World

Film Notes has published an essay by Mats Antonissen analyzing Henri Michaux's 1963 film "Images du monde visionnaire." The essay situates the film within Michaux's decade-long exploration of psychotropic substances, the history of pharmaceutical filmmaking, and postwar avant-garde cinema. This publication coincides with an exhibition at the Vandenhove Centre in Ghent dedicated to the film and related works, on view through May 2026.

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article local schedule Apr 24, 2026 visibility 21 link 5 artists, 2 galleries

For the People: Lubbock’s First Friday Art Trail Engages Thousands of Art-Goers Each Month

Lubbock’s First Friday Art Trail (FFAT), now in its 22nd year, has grown from a small gathering of a few dozen attendees to regularly drawing thousands to the downtown arts district each month. In October 2025, the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) distributed 6,000 wristbands before running out. The event features exhibitions, open studios, craft vendors, music, hands-on activities, drinks, and food trucks, with streets closed to traffic and visitors moving on foot or by trolley. The trail began organically in August 2004, spearheaded by artist Steve Teeters of St. Eligius Studio, and was inspired by a First Friday event in Corpus Christi.

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article culture schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 6 link 6 artists, 1 gallery

Jewellers delve into the Dalíesque with dreamlike pieces

Jewellers are creating a new wave of sculptural, nature-themed pieces inspired by the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. These dreamlike works draw on Dalí's iconic motifs—melting clocks, fantastical creatures, and organic forms—reimagined in precious metals and gemstones by contemporary designers and luxury houses.

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article culture schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 19 link 2 artists

Taking a Deep Dive into a Connecticut Ranch House

Artist couple Janis Provisor and Brad Davis transformed an indoor swimming pool in their Connecticut ranch house into a studio, prioritizing their creative work over leisure. The article explores how they adapted the unconventional space to suit their artistic practices.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 4, 2026 visibility 15 link 1 artist

This Professor Won the ‘Bauhaus Bathroom’ Design Competition for the Gropius House

The New York Times Art section announced the winner of a competition to design a public restroom at the historic Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts. The winning design, dubbed the 'Bauhaus Bathroom,' was created by a professor whose identity has not been disclosed in the provided text. The competition aimed to add a functional, contemporary restroom that respects the iconic Bauhaus architecture of the house, which was designed by Walter Gropius in 1938.

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article culture schedule Mar 6, 2026 visibility 46 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

The Ten Best Books to Complement Your Viewing of This Year’s Oscar-Nominated Movies

Smithsonian magazine has curated a list of ten books to enhance the viewing experience of this year's Oscar-nominated films, published ahead of the 2026 Academy Awards. The selections include direct source material for nominated adaptations, such as Thomas Pynchon's *Vineland* for Paul Thomas Anderson's *One Battle After Another*, as well as thematic companions like *Frankenstein* and *The Vegetarian* for other recognized movies.

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rate_review review schedule May 15, 2026 visibility 12 link 3 artists

‘My Father’s Shadow’: Now You See Me

Clive Chijioke Nwonka reviews Akinola Davies Jr.'s film *My Father's Shadow* (2025), a semi-autobiographical story of two adolescent brothers traveling through Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian presidential elections. The film, selected for the Cannes Official Selection, employs a metaphysical narrative style rooted in the Nigerian oral tradition, blending literal and spiritual worlds to explore diasporic identity, memory, and cultural preservation.

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article news schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 16 link 3 artists

The Interview: Gabrielle Goliath

Gabrielle Goliath, a South African artist, created the performance work "Elegy" in 2015 after hearing a father mourn his daughter, Ipeleng Christine Moholane, who was raped and murdered. The piece features seven operatic women sustaining a single note in relay for an hour, evolving over a decade into a series of iterations that address systemic violence and grief. In January 2026, South Africa's Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, cancelled Goliath's presentation of the latest version of "Elegy" at the 61st Venice Biennale, which was to include tributes to victims in South Africa, Namibia, and Gaza, including journalist Hiba Abu Nada. Goliath refused to alter the work, took legal action, and will now show it independently at the Chiesa di Sant'Antonin in Venice, while the official South African Pavilion will remain empty for the first time since 2011.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 3, 2026 visibility 16 link 4 artists

Margaret Whyte on Representing Uruguay at the 61st Venice Biennale

Margaret Whyte, an artist from Uruguay, is set to represent her country at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, with her pavilion located in the Giardini. In an interview with ArtReview, Whyte discusses her exhibition, which builds on her earlier show "Tiempo de Escuchar" at the National Museum of Visual Arts in Uruguay, curated by Patricia Bentancur. Her work is inspired by Nassim N. Taleb's book "Antifragile" (2012), exploring themes of chaos, uncertainty, and resilience. She sees her antifragile approach as complementary to the Biennale's theme, "In Minor Keys," curated by Koyo Kouoh, emphasizing emotional depth, silence, and healing.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 21, 2026 visibility 14 link 3 artists

Marina Xenofontos on Representing Cyprus at the 61st Venice Biennale

Artist Marina Xenofontos will represent Cyprus at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. Her exhibition, centered on an animatronic sparrow titled 'Passer' and incorporating folk songs recorded by her grandmother and great-aunts, explores themes of memory, endurance, and the quiet persistence of culture.

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museum exhibitions schedule Apr 10, 2026 visibility 28 link 10 artists

Five Artists on Representing India at the 61st Venice Biennale

India has announced its artist lineup for the 61st Venice Biennale, featuring Alwar Balasubramaniam, Sumakshi Singh, Ranjani Shettar, Asim Waqif, and Skarma Sonam Tashi. The national pavilion, located in the Arsenale, will showcase a diverse range of installations that explore themes of architectural memory, environmental sustainability, and the physical processes of nature. From Tashi’s recreations of Ladakhi homes using recycled materials to Singh’s spectral thread-based architectural fragments, the works collectively examine the fragility of heritage and the shifting relationship between humans and their environments.

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article news schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 18 link 6 artists

Somali Cultural Organizations Unhappy With Somalia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

Somali artists and cultural organizations are protesting the Somalia pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, arguing it excludes artists based in Somalia and relies on diaspora figures and an Italian co-curator, which they view as colonial. The Somali Arts Foundation issued a statement condemning the lack of consultation, while the queer arts collective Warbixinta Cidda criticized the appointment of Italian curator Fabio Scrivanti. Somali American poet Ladan Osman boycotted the pavilion, calling it "anti-indigenous."

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