A new exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution spotlights the history and artistry of American state and county fairs, featuring unusual exhibits such as crop art and butter sculptures from Minnesota. The show explores how these community events have long served as platforms for creative expression, agricultural pride, and local tradition.
The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring, Texas, has opened an interactive exhibition called "Art Unleashed" that invites visitors to touch tactile recreations of famous artworks, including Leonardo da Vinci's "The Mona Lisa" and Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night." The show features contoured bronze and three-dimensional reproductions, fabric sculptures, and woven textiles, all designed to be handled. Each piece includes braille placards, and the exhibition is free and runs through August 30.
The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, titled “Séance: Technology of the Spirit,” will open in August 2025 at the Seoul Museum of Art. The exhibition is curated by Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis of e-flux, who previously organized the Shanghai Biennale in 2023. The curators aim to structure a film program as an extension of the exhibition, engaging with themes of Cosmism and spiritual séance. They have collaborated with the Hong Kong-based architecture firm COLLECTIVE to transform the museum’s white-wall space into a scenography evoking different metaphysical realms, using color and light to enhance the experience.
The Frye Art Museum in Seattle has opened three new summer exhibitions: Hugh Hayden's 'American Vernacular,' Jamie Wyeth's 'Unsettled,' and the latest installment of the 'Boren Banner Series' featuring photography by Tarrah Krajnak. The exhibitions were launched with a summer reception on July 11. Krajnak's banner, which blends performance, art, and photography, is displayed on the museum's exterior wall until Sept. 28. Wyeth's indoor exhibit includes paintings and sculptures, notably pieces from his 'Screen Door Sequence,' and runs until Oct. 5. Hayden's show, a collection of mixed-media sculptures organized into thematic spaces like the nursery and the gym, is on view until Sept. 28.
Tate and the National Portrait Gallery in London have jointly acquired William Dobson's rare self-portrait (circa 1635-40) for £2.4 million, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The painting will debut at Tate Britain in November before touring the UK. Separately, the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, will digitize the complete moving-image works of Bill Viola, following a donation of over 200 works by the Viola-Perov Trust. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has acquired a monumental Tiffany Studios stained-glass window by Agnes F. Northrop, originally installed in a San Antonio chapel, for its campus expansion opening in 2026.
Fundación Cervieri Monsuárez (FCM), a contemporary-art space designed by the late Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, has opened in the exclusive coastal village of José Ignacio, Uruguay. The foundation aims to become a year-round hub for Latin American art, launching with a reinstallation of the Uruguay Pavilion from the 2024 Venice Biennale, featuring artist Eduardo Cardozo's work "Latente." FCM presents three exhibitions per year, giving curators carte blanche, and has already hosted shows by Vivian Suter, Claudia Casarino, and Gabriel Chaile, with upcoming exhibitions by Chonon Bensho and Ana Segovia.
The article reports on the exhibition "The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture" at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, which challenges visitors to reconsider how American sculpture has reinforced racist social orders. The show features 82 works from 1792 to 2023, including John Rogers’ 1864 sculpture "The Wounded Scout, a Friend in the Swamp," and includes interpretive prompts about race as a human invention and a tool of power. President Donald Trump issued an executive order condemning the exhibition for promoting "divisive narratives," and Vice President JD Vance, who sits on the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, has been tasked with stopping government funding for exhibits that do not align with a celebratory national agenda. The Smithsonian has begun a review of content across its museums, raising concerns about future candid discussions of race and history.
The Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, in collaboration with the Studio Museum in Harlem, has opened "Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images," a retrospective of the Jamaican-born abstract artist Mavis Pusey (1928–2019). The exhibition spans two floors of Pusey's paintings and archival materials, showcasing her geometric abstractions that translate urban construction and gentrification into fractured planes and rhythmic blocks of color. The show was sparked by Studio Museum director Thelma Golden's discovery of Pusey's work in an online auction catalog a decade ago, leading to a collaboration with curator Hallie Ringle.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) has opened 'Janet Dawson: Far Away, So Close,' the first-ever retrospective for Australian artist Janet Dawson, now aged 90. The exhibition spans over six decades of her career, from her teenage years at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School—where she was the only child student accepted by realist painter H. Septimus Power—through her abstract period in Europe, her defiant practice in conservative 1960s Melbourne, and her later retreat to rural NSW. The show includes major works, photos, and ephemera, arranged chronologically across four rooms, highlighting Dawson's evolution from tonal realism to abstraction and her 1973 Archibald Prize win for a portrait of her husband, theatre director Michael Boddy.
Arts of Life, a Chicago-based nonprofit supporting artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with its first museum exhibition, "Community on the Make | Arts of Life 2000 – 2025," at the Design Museum of Chicago from August 11 to September 30, 2025. The retrospective features works by over 50 artists, staff, and volunteers, including founding member Veronica "Ronnie" Cuculich, and highlights collaborative pieces such as David Krueger and Ben Marcus's Love Man series. Related programs include a public reception on August 21 and artist residency hours throughout September.
NYU’s Grey Art Museum will present the exhibition ‘June Leaf: Shooting From the Heart’ from September 9 to December 13. The show focuses on the work of American artist June Leaf, known for her expressive drawings, paintings, and sculptures that explore the human figure and emotional states.
The article reviews "Feeling Color: Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling" at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, an exhibition that pairs works by two artists from Guyana who worked in London in the late 20th century. Both explore abstraction, materials, and sociopolitical themes, with Bowling's color field paintings and Williams' geometric, Pre-Columbian-inspired works displayed in alternating galleries. The reviewer describes the show as dense and vibrant, noting the sensory experience of the paintings and the subtle dialogue between the artists.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and its Art Bridges Foundation have acquired 90 contemporary works by Indigenous artists from the John and Susan Horseman Collection. Art Bridges will receive 81 works for long-term loans across the U.S., while nine pieces will join Crystal Bridges' permanent collection. Artists include Kent Monkman, George Morrison, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Cannupa Hanska Luger. The acquisition is part of a broader strategy to expand the museum's holdings in Indigenous and craft art, with works set to debut in exhibitions starting November 2024.
American photographer Nan Goldin was confronted by a protester during her acceptance of the 2025 Women In Motion Award at the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival. Goldin used the occasion to speak about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, describing the conflict as "the first live-streamed genocide" and projecting images of Gaza before and after the Israeli military campaign. A woman in the audience repeatedly shouted, "Why don't you talk about the hostages?" while other audience members chanted "Free Palestine." Goldin responded by acknowledging the 7 October attacks but emphasizing the scale of Palestinian casualties. She also accused the Israeli government of conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and of putting drugs in flour delivered to Gaza, a claim not independently verified.
The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University will present "Fred Wilson: Reflections," a major survey of the artist's work from 2003 to the present, on view from August 20, 2025, through January 4, 2026. Curated by Dr. Gannit Ankori, the exhibition spans three sections, including Wilson's glassworks inspired by the 2003 Venice Biennale, his black-and-white Flag paintings, and the debut of a new immersive installation, "Black Now!," which features over 2,500 found objects collected since 2005 that explore themes of race, identity, and material culture.
Two concurrent exhibitions at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth explore the American West from distinct perspectives. "Richard Avedon at the Carter" marks the 40th anniversary of Avedon's landmark 1985 series "In the American West," featuring 124 unflinching portraits of working-class subjects like oilfield workers and ranchers, alongside archival photographs by Laura Wilson that show the project's human side. Across the hall, "East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art" presents 48 works from the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, spanning from the 1849 gold rush to the present, highlighting Asian American artists including Bernice Bing, Roger Shimomura, Chiura Obata, and Toshiko Takaezu.
Manchester International Festival (MIF) has opened a new exhibition titled 'Football City, Art United' at Aviva Studios, exploring the intersection of football and contemporary art. Co-curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Juan Mata, and Josh Willdigg, the show features 11 works pairing artists like Paul Pfeiffer, Philippe Parreno, Ryan Gander, and Rose Wylie with football figures including Eric Cantona, Edgar Davids, Ella Toone, and Lotte Wubben-Moy. Highlights include a sound installation recreating the stadium tunnel experience, a spotlight piece on celebrity isolation, and a documentary on sexism in women's football.
Manchester International Festival 2025 presents "Football City, Art United" at Aviva Studios, a group exhibition co-curated by former footballer Juan Mata, curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Josh Willdigg. The show pairs eleven international footballers with artists across media—including Ryan Gander with Eric Cantona, Keiken with Ella Toone, and Suzanne Lacy with Vivianne Miedema and Ali Riley—to explore intersections of sport and contemporary art. Works range from a holographic tribute to Diego Maradona by Jill Mulleady to an interactive installation by Stefano Boeri Architetti with Sandro Mazzola. The exhibition runs through August 24, 2025.
The 12th Site Santa Fe International, titled "Once Within a Time," has opened at Site Santa Fe in New Mexico, running until January 12, 2026. Guest curated by Cecilia Alemani, director of New York's High Line, the biennial centers on visual storytelling, featuring over 70 artists and 27 historical figures. Highlights include Helen Cordero's Cochiti-inspired storyteller figurines, a film by Lebanese artist Ali Cherri at the New Mexico Military Museum, and works by literary figures D.H. Lawrence and Vladimir Nabokov. The exhibition extends beyond the main building to a dozen locations across Santa Fe, including museums, a former foundry, and storefronts.
The Museu de l’Art Prohibit (Museum of Censored Art) in Barcelona, the world's first museum dedicated to censored artworks, has closed indefinitely less than two years after opening. Founded in October 2023 by Catalan journalist and businessman Tatxo Benet, the museum housed over 200 banned works by artists including Ai Weiwei, David Wojnarowicz, and Abel Azcona. The closure, announced on June 27, was attributed to financial losses caused by four months of picketing by the Solidarity and Unity of Workers union (SUT), which protested the museum's termination of a contract with management company Magma Cultura. The union demanded better working conditions, including improved air conditioning, more breaks, and higher pay.
56 Henry Gallery has partnered with artist Josh Smith and art dealer Leo Fitzpatrick to curate an exhibition focused on small format paintings, all measuring 8 x 10 inches. The show brings together established artists and skaters, featuring works by Nicole Eisenman, Rita Ackermann, Wade Guyton, and Fred Tomaselli, among others. Smith contributed a painting of the film credits rather than his signature motifs, and the exhibition's spray-painted sign signals a deliberate departure from conventional gallery presentation.
Dr. Sarah-Joy Ford, an artist and independent scholar based in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, has opened her exhibition "Dykeland: Volume 1" at The Whitaker Museum & Art Gallery in Rossendale on June 7, 2025. The show explores the history of dyke and lesbian landscapes in the UK, focusing on queer relationality to placemaking and preservation. It interweaves historical material, personal memory, and fantasy in response to Jane Cambell's upcoming poetry collection "Dykeland and other secret islands," and is displayed alongside Cambell's art. Ford uses quiltmaking as a medium to share lesbian and queer archival material, continuing a tradition of queer fabric art that includes recent installations like the ACLU's 258-square-quilt display on the National Mall and the Euphoria Quilt by Eliot Anderberg.
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The Louvre invited 100 contemporary artists to create copies or reinterpretations of works from its collection, spanning antiquity to the 19th century. The resulting artworks—paintings, sculptures, audio recordings, and videos—are now on view in the exhibition "Copyists" at the Pompidou Center Metz, curated by Chiara Parisi and Donatien Grau, running until February 2, 2026. Artists were given an open-ended brief, leading to diverse outcomes from faithful reproductions to radical reinventions of masterpieces by Delacroix, Goya, and Vermeer.
On Saturday, June 28, the Lower East Side gallery Olympia will host CAKE, a one-night exhibition and feast featuring desserts donated by dozens of New York-based artists, including Hannah Beerman, Mie Yim, Wells Chandler, Robin F. Williams, Hein Koh, and Melissa Joseph. The event functions as a fundraiser for the gallery and a participatory performance art piece, with tickets priced at $45. The gallery's founder and director, Ali Rossi, conceived the show as a community-centric alternative to typical summer group exhibitions, and all desserts will be photographed before consumption to preserve documentation.
Fenimore Art Museum has announced its summer and fall 2025 exhibition season, featuring two major shows open through September 1, 2025. 'Mary Cassatt/Berthe Morisot: Allies in Impressionism' examines the relationship and influence of these two pioneering women artists within the male-dominated Impressionist movement. 'The Power of Photography' presents 120 iconic 20th-century images that serve as historical time capsules. Museum staff Chris Rossi and Ann Cannon discuss the upcoming season.
An exhibition catalogue from the American Folk Art Museum's 2024 show traces the story of Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole, a French psychiatric asylum that sheltered Spanish Republican refugees and resistance fighters during World War II. Under Catalan psychiatrist Francesc Tosquelles, patients were encouraged to create art from found objects, producing works that later influenced Jean Dubuffet's concept of Art Brut. The asylum became a haven where hierarchies between doctors and patients were leveled, and patients bartered their creations for food during wartime austerity.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has opened “Alex Da Corte, The Whale,” a solo exhibition dedicated to the painting practice of artist Alex Da Corte (b. 1980). Featuring more than forty paintings, the show highlights Da Corte’s lesser-known work in two dimensions, as he is more widely recognized for his installations and video pieces. The exhibition includes works such as *Siren (After E K Charter)* (2015) and *Electronic Renaissance* (2021), and places Da Corte’s paintings alongside those of Robert Mapplethorpe and Vija Celmins to explore themes of self-representation and perception.
Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation and Yinka Shonibare Foundation have announced the 2025–26 edition of 'Re:assemblages', a programme focused on African and Afro-diasporic archives as sites for artistic inquiry and decolonial practice. Curated by Naima Hassan with contributions from Maryam Kazeem, Ann Marie Peña, and Jonn Gale, the initiative includes international convenings, symposia, fellowships, and micro-publications, anchored by a two-day symposium in Lagos during Lagos Art Week (4–5 November 2025). The programme draws on the Picton Archive at G.A.S.'s Lagos campus and is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, featuring four curatorial themes: Ecotones, The Short Century, Annotations, and The Living Archive. It also launches the African Arts Libraries Lab (AAL Lab), a pan-African network of libraries and publishers across Lagos, Dakar, Marrakesh, Cairo, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Limbe.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., will present "Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600–1750" from September 26, 2025, to January 11, 2026. This landmark exhibition features nearly 150 artworks by 40 Dutch and Flemish women artists, including Judith Leyster, Rachel Ruysch, and Clara Peeters, alongside works by unnamed textile makers. Co-curated by Virginia Treanor and Frederica van Dam, the show includes loans from over 50 institutions such as the Rijksmuseum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Prado Museum. It will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, from March to May 2026.
A new exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Basel, titled 'Beyond Surrealism,' explores the multifaceted career of Meret Oppenheim, best known for her fur-covered teacup 'Object' (1936). The show presents a range of her work, including melancholic wartime oil paintings, elegant abstract sculptures, and later witty pieces like 'Eichhörnchen' (1970) and 'Das Auge der Mona Lisa' (1967), highlighting her refusal to be confined to any single style or movement.