Baltimore-based artist Linling Lu on weaving color, culture, and music into her work

Baltimore-based artist Linling Lu, who trained as a classical pianist in southern China, discusses her work *Circle Dance* on view at the Frary Gallery in the Hopkins Bloomberg Center. The metal print features ten concentric orbs inspired by circle dances, geometry, and Renaissance tondos. Lu explains how her background in music informs her visual art, comparing color to a musical element and citing influences from Henri Matisse, Stravinsky, and tribal Miao circle dances. She also previews her upcoming solo exhibition *Fugue in 3 Voices* at Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum, which will respond to compositions by Dvořák, Stravinsky, and Beethoven.

The Art of an Art Exhibition

Seventeen Colby College seniors, all studio art majors, have organized the Senior Art Exhibition 2025 at the Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art in downtown Waterville, Maine. The exhibition, on view through May 24, features work by four sculptors, two photographers, three painters, five printmakers, and three digital media artists. It is the culmination of a yearlong capstone course that taught students the behind-the-scenes process of mounting an exhibition, including installation, collaboration with museum preparators, and producing a print catalog with artist statements and critical essays.

Right bank, Left bank: A walk through the sites of “Black Paris”

The article explores the sites of "Black Paris" through a walking tour of locations significant to Black artists and musicians in postwar Paris. It highlights jazz clubs like the Blue Note and Chez Haynes, galleries such as Galerie Huit and Galerie Intemporel, and museums including the Louvre and the Musée de l'Homme, where artists like Gordon Parks, Herbert Gentry, Bob Thompson, and Ernest Mancova found inspiration and community. The tour also examines the film "Harlem-sur-Seine" and the exhibition "Paris Noir," which document these cultural hubs.

Expanded and Expansive: How the Intuit Art Museum Used A Transformative Renovation to Reinvent Itself

The Intuit Art Museum (IAM) in Chicago reopens on May 23 after a $10 million renovation that began in September 2023, partially funded by a $5 million grant from the City of Chicago. The expansion triples the museum's exhibition and education space, adds ADA-compliant features, and includes new galleries, a Center for Learning and Engagement Opportunities (CLEO) named after co-founder Cleo Wilson, and a reinstalled room dedicated to outsider artist Henry Darger. The museum, originally founded in 1991 as the Society for Outsider, Intuitive and Visionary Art by figures including artist Roger Brown and gallerists Carl Hammer and Ann Nathan, has long championed self-taught and visionary artists.

Venice Unveils Stunning New Art Spaces

During the Architecture Biennale preview in Venice, two major new art spaces opened: the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation's new home in a historic palazzo on the San Barnaba canal, and SMAC (San Marco Art Centre), a contemporary art center on Saint Mark's Square designed by David Chipperfield. Additionally, Belgian artist Luc Tuymans accepted a last-minute commission from the Abbot of San Giorgio Maggiore to replace two Tintoretto paintings with his own large-scale works. The Fiorucci Foundation's palazzo, acquired in December 2024, opened May 10 with an exhibition by Georgian artist Tolia Astakhishvili, featuring works made from found materials and drawings on walls, alongside pieces by Thea Djordjadze and Maka Sanadze. SMAC, restored by Chipperfield, currently hosts two exhibitions: one on Australian modernist architect Harry Seidler and another on Korean landscape architect Jung Youngsun.

Nine Must-See Art Exhibitions to Catch in Philadelphia This Spring

Philadelphia's spring exhibition season features nine must-see shows across the city, including Kelly Kozma's solo exhibition 'Watch Me Backflip' at Paradigm Gallery + Studio, which presents a massive 22-foot installation of 35,000 hand-stitched circles made from repurposed materials. Other highlights include 'Soft/Cover' at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, exploring fabric and screenprinting in relation to the human body; 'Preserving Assyria' at the Penn Museum, focusing on Iraqi archaeologists reclaiming cultural heritage after ISIS destruction; and 'The Battle of the Bathers' at the Barnes Foundation, examining a media kerfuffle involving two Paul Cézanne paintings.

A Deep Dive Into Westchester’s Arts Scene Right Now

This article surveys the visual arts scene in Westchester County, New York, highlighting museums, galleries, public displays, and artist profiles north of Manhattan. It features institutions such as the Neuberger Museum of Art, ArtsWestchester, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, Hudson River Museum, and Hudson Valley MOCA, noting specific exhibitions like "Smoke in Our Hair: Native Memory and Unsettled Time" and "Bill Viola: Moving Stillness." The piece emphasizes that Westchester offers a vibrant, bucolic alternative to New York City's art scene, with historic estates and contemporary spaces showcasing both established and emerging artists.

Collaged Denim Sculptures by Nick Doyle Unravel American Mythology

Brooklyn-based artist Nick Doyle creates large-scale wall sculptures using layered and bleached denim, exploring American mythology and its contradictions. His solo exhibition "Collective Hallucinations" at Perrotin features works such as stylized cacti, landscapes, tarot cards, and a fortune teller's shop, all rendered in denim. Doyle's practice began after finding a discarded roll of denim in 2018, which he saw as a metaphor for the complexities of American history, including slavery, masculinity, and Manifest Destiny.

Thousands of Strips of Silk Undulate in Kenny Nguyen’s ‘Deconstructed Paintings’

Kenny Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born artist based in Charlotte, North Carolina, creates large-scale wall works using thousands of hand-cut strips of silk. Drawing on his background in fashion design, he employs techniques like pinning, weaving, sewing, and layering to produce what he calls “deconstructed paintings.” Each piece is built around an imaginary body, with creases and undulating forms that evoke movement. Though the works appear fixed, they are malleable—their shape changes depending on pin placement during installation. Nguyen’s work is currently on view in the group exhibition *Textile Art Redefined* at Saatchi Gallery in London.

Jill Westwood’s Archive of Feminine Power

Jill Westwood's 1980s photographic and sculptural work exploring feminine power, kink, and queer identity is being exhibited at NEVEN gallery in London. The exhibition presents archival material that was largely unseen for decades, focusing on themes of dominance, submission, and the female gaze within subcultural scenes.

148 News: Awards & Obituaries

This article from ArtAsiaPacific reports on three recent art awards. Iraqi artist Ali Eyal received the Hammer Museum's $100,000 Mohn Award for emerging artists in Los Angeles. Japanese artist Mari Katayama won the inaugural ¥10 million Mori Art Award from the Mori Contemporary Art Foundation in Tokyo. Korean media artist Jeamin Cha secured the Hermès Foundation's 21st Missulsang, receiving KRW 30 million and production support for a solo exhibition at Atelier Hermès in Seoul in 2027.

Whispering Gallery: The Cratable Hedge and the Colonial Hangover

The article questions the appointment of James Taylor-Foster as the incoming director of Para Site in Hong Kong, noting his background as a curator of architecture and design rather than contemporary art, and his lack of prior engagement with Asia's curatorial scene. It also reports that Philip Tinari, former director of UCCA in Beijing, has been appointed to lead Tai Kwun, replacing Pi Li, who has become founding director of the Tencent-funded Róng Museum of Art in Shenzhen.

With ‘Sister Dreamer’ Park, Lauren Halsey Brings Her Heroes Home

Artist Lauren Halsey has unveiled a new installation titled 'Sister Dreamer' Park in South Central Los Angeles. The work features stone monuments that elevate familiar faces from the neighborhood, celebrating local heroes and community members. The installation is part of Halsey's ongoing practice of centering Black and brown communities in her art, using architecture and sculpture to create spaces of empowerment and memory.

At Hong Kong Art Basel, an Exhibition of Works by El Anatsui

El Anatsui, the celebrated Ghanaian artist, is presenting a major exhibition of new works at Art Basel in Hong Kong. The presentation, titled "The Way of the Earth," features large-scale metallic tapestries and sculptures created from found materials like bottle caps and copper wire, reflecting his signature style.

Without Consciousness, No Creativity

"Ohne Bewusstsein keine Kreativität"

Matthias Hornschuh, a speaker at the German Creative Economy Summit in Hamburg, discusses artificial intelligence and its impact on art and creativity in an interview with Monopol. He argues that AI systems lack intentionality and true creativity, describing them as "probability-based imitation" rather than genuine creative tools. Hornschuh warns against the hype surrounding AI, noting that efficiency gains are often overstated and that users can become trapped in unproductive interactions with these systems.

The Antwerp Six and the Problem of Now

A new exhibition at MoMu in Antwerp, guest-curated by Geert Bruloot, explores the enduring legacy of the 'Antwerp Six'—a group of visionary designers who graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s. The show features dedicated rooms for members including Walter Van Beirendonck and Dirk Van Saene, showcasing their distinct aesthetics ranging from maximalist rave-wear to surrealist runway recreations. It traces their journey from a self-funded trip to a London trade fair in 1986 to becoming global icons who challenged the dominance of Parisian couture.

New exhibition ‘Personal Structures – Confluences’ to open in Venice in May 2026

The European Cultural Centre Italy has announced the eighth edition of its biennial contemporary art exhibition, 'Personal Structures – Confluences,' set to run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, in Venice. Spanning Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora, and the Marinaressa Gardens, the massive showcase will feature 175 artists from over 40 countries, including high-profile figures like ORLAN, Rashid Al Khalifa, and Hirohiko Araki. This edition introduces 'PS Design,' a new section dedicated to the intersection of art and architecture, and will host the national pavilions of El Salvador and Seychelles alongside a significant collaboration with the Palestine Museum US.

Conspiracies: Who Can You Trust?

A new exhibition titled 'Conspiracies' has opened at the Warburg Institute in London, featuring works by contemporary artists Hannah Black, Caspar Heinemann, Sam Keogh, and Shenece Oretha, alongside an installation by ceramicist Edmund de Waal and panels from Aby Warburg's Bilderatlas Mnemosyne. The show explores the concept of conspiracy, tracing its history as both a response to power and a contaminating force in contemporary society, through multimedia installations, drawings, and speculative biographies.

Yang Fudong’s Memory Palace

Yang Fudong has opened his largest solo exhibition to date, 'Fragrant River,' at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. The show features over 30 works and eight hours of video, including major new installations like the five-channel 'Young Man, Young Man' and the furniture-and-video piece 'Breastfeeding,' which immerse viewers in scenes from the artist's hometown of Xianghe.

Art Collaboration Kyoto announces new leadership

The contemporary art fair Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK) has announced a major leadership change, transitioning from a single director to a seven-member leadership committee. The new committee, effective April 1, includes Doi Miho, Hattori Yoko, Mine Keiko, Ohishi Masako, Suzuki Hidenori, Takamura Miwa, and Tezen Wakako. Current director Yamashita Yukako will step down and assume the role of chair of ACK Ambassadors. The fair's sixth edition is scheduled for November 7–9 at the Kyoto International Conference Center.

An Iranian museum holds a rare exhibit of American art, reflecting on war

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting a rare exhibition of American art, featuring works from its collection that were acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The show includes pieces by artists such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, and is presented as a reflection on the complex history of U.S.-Iran relations, including themes of war and cultural exchange.

Cy Twombly | Untitled | Art & Prints

This article is a listing for Cy Twombly's artwork "Untitled" (1960-61), a graphite and wax crayon on paper piece offered at Christie's. It provides a detailed biography of the artist, noting his birth in Lexington, Virginia, his studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Art Students League of New York, and Black Mountain College, and his permanent move to Rome in 1957. The listing includes his major exhibitions, such as retrospectives at MoMA and the Whitney Museum, and highlights his high auction record of $70.5 million for "Untitled" (1970) at Sotheby's in 2015.

Dialing Up the Dollars: Giorno Poetry Systems Names Inaugural Recipients of New Need-Based Grant

Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS), the New York-based nonprofit founded in 1965 by artist John Giorno, has announced the twelve inaugural recipients of its new need-based grant, the Treat a Stranger grants. Each recipient receives an unrestricted grant of $4,545 to cover daily expenses like food, housing, health care, and emergencies. The grants are a relaunch of GPS's AIDS Treatment Project grants from 1984–1994, and are named after Giorno's mantra, “Treat a complete stranger with the same compassion you would treat a lover or a good friend.” Winners are selected by a rotating anonymous jury of LGBTQIA+ artists, poets, and musicians through a multi-meeting nomination and voting process.

Theme and Artists Revealed for Ekow Eshun–Curated British Art Show 10

Organizers of the British Art Show have unveiled the theme and artist list for its tenth edition, titled "A Chorus of Strangers." Curated by Ekow Eshun, the quinquennial exhibition will launch in Coventry on October 2, 2025, before touring to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle Gateshead through 2028. The show features a diverse roster of contemporary artists including Turner Prize winner Jasleen Kaur, Alvaro Barrington, and Precious Okoyomon, organized around three conceptual pillars: psychological, sociological, and ecological.

Hampshire College, Alma Mater to Many in the Arts, Closing

Hampshire College, the experimental liberal arts institution in Massachusetts, has announced it will permanently close after nearly sixty years of operation. The college's board cited insurmountable financial pressures and a failure to meet regulatory requirements as the primary drivers behind the decision, noting that progress toward a stable financial foundation fell short of expectations.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater Has a New, Waterproof Roof

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has completed a comprehensive three-year, $7 million restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpiece, Fallingwater. The project focused on critical structural vulnerabilities, including moisture degradation of interior finishes, leaking windows and doors, and the installation of a new waterproof roof. Experts addressed specific design flaws inherent to Wright’s original 1935 construction, such as the lack of through-wall flashing and the use of river pebbles in concrete aggregate, which had exacerbated the building's battle against the elements.

In London, you can discover an unpublished Luigi Ghirri in an exhibition made of photographs and words. Review

A Londra si può scoprire un Luigi Ghirri inedito in una mostra fatta di fotografie e parole. Recensione

A new exhibition titled "Felicità" at Thomas Dane Gallery in London presents previously unseen works by Italian photographer Luigi Ghirri (1943–1992). Curated by Alessio Bolzoni and filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, the show features unpublished photographs, fragments of atlases, postcards, posters, and mirrors, exploring Ghirri’s unique vision of everyday life as visual discovery. The exhibition spans two gallery spaces on Duke Street, juxtaposing interior and exterior scenes, and includes works by conceptual artists Félix González-Torres and Giorgio Morandi. A bilingual book, "Luigi Ghirri. Felicità" (MACK), accompanies the show, collecting the exhibited works and three essays by the artist.

Primitivism to Reinvent Art

Le primitivisme pour réinventer l’art

Philippe Dagen has published the third and final volume of his series on primitivism, covering the period from World War II to the late 1970s. The book traces how Western artists, from Barnett Newman and Jackson Pollock to members of the CoBrA movement and figures like Jean Dubuffet, Lucio Fontana, and Yayoi Kusama, engaged with so-called "primitive" art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, often as a means of rejecting or redefining modern civilization. Dagen also examines the intellectual debates surrounding primitivism, including the critiques of colonized peoples who refused the label "primitive," and the shifting attitudes of thinkers like Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michel Leiris, and Aimé Césaire.

A tour of 10 must-see booths at the miart 2026 fair in Milan

Un giro in 10 stand da non mancare alla fiera miart 2026 a Milano

The 30th edition of miart, Milan’s international modern and contemporary art fair, has launched at the Allianz MiCo South Wing under the artistic direction of Nicola Ricciardi. Titled "New Directions," the 2026 edition features 160 galleries from 24 countries, organized into sections like Emergent, Established, and Established Anthology. Despite some logistical complaints regarding the new layout, the opening saw high attendance and early optimism from dealers regarding sales.

Do you remember the last negative review you read?

« Vous souvenez-vous de la dernière critique négative que vous avez lue ? »

The traditional art of negative criticism is vanishing from mainstream media, replaced by a culture of polite consensus or violent but unprincipled social media attacks. Historically, critics like Baudelaire, Zola, and Huysmans used sharp, subjective arguments to defend avant-garde movements and challenge academicism, viewing the attack on certain artists as a necessary byproduct of championing others. Today, limited editorial space and a desire to support the arts have led French journalists to focus almost exclusively on praise, resulting in a loss of discernment and comparative analysis.