what defined 2025 curators pick the years best art

Several international curators and museum directors, including Connie Butler of MoMA PS1, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Julieta Gonzalez of the Wexner Center for the Arts, and Madeleine Grynsztejn of MCA Chicago, selected artworks that they believe define 2025. Highlights include Ayoung Kim's video installation 'Delivery Dancer’s Arc: 0º Receiver' (2024), Beeple's 'Regular Animals' premiered at Art Basel Miami Beach, and Kerry James Marshall's painting 'Haul' (2025) from his retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts. Julieta Gonzalez also pointed to a broader constellation of practices emphasizing collectivity, ecological thinking, and Indigenous cosmologies rather than a single emblematic work.

‘This is mine, I own it’: how Tracey Emin and Frida Kahlo inspired me to make meaning out of pain

The article is a personal essay by a writer who, after undergoing a colectomy in 2023, found inspiration in Tracey Emin's unflinching self-portraiture following her 2020 cancer diagnosis. The author describes taking her own post-surgery photographs, echoing Emin's mantra "This is mine, I own it," and reflects on Emin's current work, including the Tate Modern exhibition and paintings like "I watched Myself die and come alive" (2023) and "Barbed Wire Stitches" (2024). The essay also connects Emin's approach to that of Frida Kahlo, whose retrospective is upcoming at Tate.

Celia Paul Transcends Her Own Mythology

Celia Paul's exhibition "Innervisions" at Gladstone Gallery showcases her latest paintings, including works like "Cruciform Muse" (2025) and "Burning Painter" (2025). The show features her characteristic autobiographical approach, depicting family members, self-portraits, and ocean scenes, while also exploring themes of vulnerability and power through nude figures inspired by Gwen John. The exhibition builds on Paul's established reputation as a painter and memoirist, following her book "Letters to Gwen John" (2022) and a documentary by Jake Auerbach.

The Art Insider's Guide To Frieze London

Sophia Penske, founder of Penske Projects and art advisor at Gagosian Art Advisory, presents an insider guide to Frieze London week (October 13, 2025). The article highlights key gallery exhibitions including Ed Ruscha's new linen paintings at Gagosian Davies Street, El Anatsui's wooden sculptures at Goodman Gallery, Danielle Fretwell's still lifes at Alice Amati, Victor Man's dreamlike works at David Zwirner, Danny Fox's colorful paintings at Hannah Barry, and Lenz Geerk's portraits at Massimo De Carlo. It also previews museum shows like Kerry James Marshall's "The Histories" at the Royal Academy of Arts and mentions satellite fairs and auction previews.

At the Tate Modern, the Moving Renaissance of Tracey Emin

À la Tate Modern, la bouleversante renaissance de Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin has returned to the Tate Modern for a major retrospective titled "A Second Life," marking a poignant milestone in her career. The exhibition features over a hundred works, including the iconic and once-scandalous "My Bed," which first catapulted her to international fame during the 1999 Turner Prize. This survey explores her evolution from the "enfant terrible" of the Young British Artists to a Dame of the British Empire, showcasing her multidisciplinary practice across painting, sculpture, and installation.

untangling the myths behind henri rousseau eccentric masterpiece

The article examines the history and critical reception of Henri Rousseau's 1897 painting *The Sleeping Gypsy*. It details the painting's creation, its initial exhibition at the Société des Artistes Indépendants, and its subsequent journey through the art market—from being lost and rediscovered at a coal dealer's to being sold by dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler and collected by John Quinn, before ultimately entering the collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

friedrich kunath

Artist Friedrich Kunath, known for his sincere yet absurd paintings, discusses his unlikely friendship with tennis star Reilly Opelka, who is also an art collector. The two share a mutual obsession with each other's crafts—Kunath coaches Opelka in tennis, while Opelka seeks Kunath's insights on artists like Philip Guston. Kunath is preparing for his solo debut at Pace Gallery in New York this November, following his move from Blum Gallery, which closed shortly after. He reflects on the loneliness of both tennis and art, and his creative process, which draws heavily from music and film.

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.

Philadelphia museums are pooling resources — and telling bigger stories together

Philadelphia’s major art institutions are entering an unprecedented era of collaboration, launching a series of joint exhibitions that pool resources and collections. The centerpiece of this movement is “Bodies and Souls,” a dual-site exhibition hosted by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and the Woodmere Art Museum featuring the contemporary art collection of Robert and Frances Coulborn Kohler. Other notable partnerships include a three-museum retrospective of sculptor Syd Carpenter and an upcoming 18-gallery initiative titled “Radical Americana” led by the Clay Studio.

June 2025 Exhibitions -

ArtDog Istanbul's editors have curated a selection of standout exhibitions opening across Istanbul in June 2025. Highlights include 'A Day’s Story, A Lifetime’s Truth' at Galeri 77, a joint show by Bayram Demir and İlker Kayalı exploring personal memory and collective mythology; solo exhibitions by Jorinde Voigt ('365 Seasons') and Mustafa Hulusi ('Breathing In the World') at Dirimart's two locations; 'Extraordinary Minas' at Pera Museum, celebrating its 20th anniversary with Kütahya tile and ceramic works by Minas Avramidis; and Ali Kazma's 'Landscapes of the Mind' at Istanbul Modern, alongside shows by Nermin Er at Galeri Nev Istanbul and Pelda Aytaş at Gülden Bostancı.

Princeton University Art Museum graduates to expansive new home

The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is opening a new 146,000-square-foot facility on October 31, doubling its previous exhibition and education spaces. The original 1880s building, which underwent multiple additions before being demolished in 2021, could only display about 2% of Princeton's 117,000-object collection. Designed by Adjaye Associates with executive architect Cooper Robertson, the new three-story museum features nine interlocking pavilions, 80,000 square feet of exhibition space, classrooms, and a grand hall. Curators have rethought the installation to move away from rigid geographic and chronological categories, instead emphasizing cross-cultural and cross-media pairings, such as placing Andy Warhol's Blue Marilyn (1962) alongside a 14th-century Italian Virgin and Child.

2025 Late Summer Exhibit - Art Galleries

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) is hosting its 2nd annual summer group exhibition from July 1–31, 2025, featuring forty-two Northern Nevada artists. The show, titled "Myself/My Space: Collage Interpretations of Self-portraits & Environment," is presented by WEDGE OUTSIDE THE BOX in connection with Artown 2025. An opening reception will be held July 9 at TMCC’s Main Art Gallery in the V. James Eardley Student Center, Reno, NV. The exhibition explores identity and place through two- and three-dimensional mixed-media collage works.

Five can’t-miss fall art shows in Whatcom and Skagit counties

The article highlights five must-see fall art exhibitions in Whatcom and Skagit counties in Washington state. Featured shows include Mary Ann Peters' solo exhibition "myself inside your story" at the Whatcom Museum, Barbara Sternberger's abstract painting survey "At the Core" at Western Gallery, Joy Olney's "Pure Joy" at Cordata Gallery, and Voxel Gallery's first anniversary celebration with its "World Famous" exhibition. The piece also notes a photo exhibition on broadcasting pioneer Elaine Horn curated by archivist Jeff Jewell at the Whatcom Museum's Old City Hall.

February e-bulletin

Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) announces the reopening of its upper-level galleries (Assyrian, Shaw-Ruddock, Walker, and Markell) on February 3, 2026, following floor refinishing and reinstallation projects, with additional galleries (Bowdoin, Boyd, Rotunda) set to reopen in March. Three new exhibitions are now on view in the lower-level galleries: "Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free," "Hung Liu: Happy and Gay," and "From Guild to Genius: Inventing 'The Artist' in Western Culture." The museum also highlights the acquisition of Anna Boberg's painting "The Blue Roof [Det blå taket]," a loan of an Edmonia Lewis sculpture to the Peabody Essex Museum for the exhibition "Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone" opening February 14, 2026, and an upcoming artist talk with Samira Abbassy.

‘I don’t want to compare myself with these masters’: Giorgio Armani placed side by side with Raphael and Caravaggio in Milan exhibition

Milan's Pinacoteca di Brera has opened a major exhibition titled *Giorgio Armani: Milano, per amore*, juxtaposing over 120 garments designed by the legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani—who died this month—with Renaissance masterpieces by Caravaggio, Bellini, Raphael, and Mantegna. Unveiled on September 24 during Milan Fashion Week, the show was planned by Armani until shortly before his death, making it his final project. The exhibition also includes a catwalk event in the museum's courtyard on September 28, originally conceived to celebrate 50 years since the Armani fashion house launched in the Brera district.

The Big Review | 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art at the Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne ★★★★★

The article reviews the exhibition "65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art" at the Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne. The show features over 400 works, including 194 loans from 78 lenders, spanning 11 rooms and a decade of planning. It highlights rarely seen bark masterpieces from Arnhem Land, such as Woŋgu Munuŋgurr's "Djapu’ miny’tji" (1942), and juxtaposes colonial depictions with Indigenous perspectives, including works by William Barak and John Glover. The exhibition is on track to become the most visited in the museum's history.

Bowdoin College Museum of Art Will Present Landmark Josefina Auslender Retrospective and Hung Liu’s "Happy and Gay"

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) will present two exhibitions this winter: "Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free" (December 11, 2025–May 31, 2026), the first museum retrospective of Argentine-born, Maine-based artist Josefina Auslender, featuring over 90 drawings from the 1970s to the present; and "Hung Liu: Happy and Gay" (January 22–May 31, 2026), which examines how Hung Liu reinterpreted Chinese propaganda from her childhood during the Cultural Revolution through ten paintings, prints, archival materials, and a video. Both shows explore themes of immigration, history, memory, and personal experience.

Find UW alumni at art exhibits across Seattle (and beyond) this fall

This fall, the University of Washington (UW) is promoting a series of visual arts exhibitions featuring its alumni and faculty across Seattle and beyond. Notable shows include Carly Sheehan's "Call Me Superstitious" at Specialist Gallery (July 3–Aug. 17), Caryn Friedlander's "When Water Becomes Light" at ArtX Contemporary (Aug. 7–Sept. 20), Mary Ann Peters' "myself inside your story" at Whatcom Museum (Aug. 16–Jan. 25, 2026), and Whiting Tennis' "Refuge" at Greg Kucera Gallery (Sept. 4–Nov. 1). Each artist draws on personal history, cultural heritage, and experimental techniques such as shibori dyeing and mixed-media sculpture.

Unbound Narratives: Embodied Language at Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta

The Atlanta Contemporary is presenting the group exhibition 'Unbound Narratives: Embodied Language,' curated by Karen Comer Lowe. It features works by artists February James, Bethany Collins, Gabi Madrid, and a’driane nieves across film, painting, and mixed media, focusing on how each translates personal and embodied experience into visual and linguistic forms. Key pieces include nieves's monumental painting on grief and rage, Collins's text-based interrogation of racial identity, James's debut stop-motion film exploring stillness, and Madrid's inscribed headboards addressing healing and cultural memory.

Here's what's at Southwest Florida art centers in August

Southwest Florida's art centers are hosting 29 exhibitions in August, spanning venues from Sarasota to Marco Island. Highlights include Art Center Sarasota's juried show 'Vice and Virtue' exploring morality, Jacob Z. Wan's LGBTQ+ intimacy-themed mixed media installation 'Me, Myself and I, Vol. 3', a youth exhibition 'INK: Quilt of Identity' by ALSO Youth, and Dorothea (D') Calvert's ceramic series 'Praxis'.

Frank Relle’s Photos Revel in Louisiana’s Otherworldly Swampland

Photographer Frank Relle continues his long-term artistic exploration of Louisiana's swamps, capturing the ethereal transition between day and night in his series 'Until the Water'. Based in New Orleans, Relle uses submerged lights to illuminate cypress trees and Spanish moss, creating serene, otherworldly images that convey a sense of timelessness and connection to a primordial landscape.

Munnings Art Museum marks 65th anniversary with special exhibitions

The Munnings Art Museum in Dedham, England, is celebrating its 65th anniversary with two special exhibitions. 'Pictures from Private Collections' features rarely-seen works by equestrian artist Sir Alfred Munnings, loaned from private collections, while 'The Influence of John Constable' examines Constable's impact on Munnings' work, including sky studies and a presumed Constable sketchbook. The museum, formerly Munnings' home, also displays 150 permanent works and will host a side-saddle demonstration on May 30 honoring Lady Munnings.

Around town: Art Garden reopens in new downtown gallery

Art Garden, a combination art gallery and plant shop in Asheville, North Carolina, reopens on May 7, 2025, at a new downtown location at 98 N. Lexington Ave. The business was displaced after its former home in Riverview Station was flooded by over 25 feet of water during Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024. The reopening includes a preview party for the ReRoot art exhibit, a fundraising gala, a theatre performance, and a Mother's Day plant sale, celebrating community support that helped rebuild the space.

And the (Senior Show and URECA Art Exhibition) Winners Are …

The Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at Stony Brook University hosted the opening reception of the ninth annual combined Senior Show and URECA Arts Exhibition on April 29, drawing about 300 attendees including students, faculty, staff, university leaders, and local museum curators. The Senior Show, a nearly 50-year tradition, features works by senior studio art majors and minors, while the URECA exhibition highlights undergraduate research-based art selected by faculty. This year's exhibition is noted for its diversity in subject matter and materials, from chalk painting to digital media, and runs through May 22.

Emory student art featured in High Museum education center exhibit | Emory University | Atlanta GA

Emory University undergraduate students are exhibiting their artwork at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta through November 2, in the museum's Greene Family Education Center. The exhibition, the first of a planned annual show, features 18 pieces by six students, three of whom curated the show after being selected by a panel of judges from Emory Libraries and the Michael C. Carlos Museum. Students worked with faculty sponsors and High Museum staff to install the work, gaining hands-on experience in exhibition planning, artist statements, and professional presentation.

ARTS AND HUMANITIES: Aiken Center for the Arts exhibition focuses on the shaping of identity

Artist Lucy Bailey is presenting a solo exhibition titled "Roots and Wings" at the Aiken Center for the Arts, running through April 29. The show features nearly 50 mixed-media works created on vintage early 20th-century infant gowns, exploring the complex origins of human identity through themes of genetics, genealogy, community, and nature. Bailey utilizes diverse materials—ranging from DNA-inspired patterns and family photographs to resin-dipped cicada wings—to symbolize the foundational "roots" of selfhood and the "wings" of individual expression.

Artist Mär Martinez explores the threads that bind and separate us in new exhibition

Artist Mär Martinez is presenting her first solo exhibition in Orlando, titled 'a loom, a fence, a wire, a thread,' at the Art & History Museums of Maitland. The exhibition features paintings and a loom, inspired by her experiences during a Fulbright Scholar grant in Istanbul and her family's history with Syrian textiles.

Exhibition to showcase work of local artist at Basingstoke museum

An upcoming exhibition titled 'Me, Myself and Art' will showcase the work of local figurative artist Neal Whelan at The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery in Basingstoke, running from September 6 to October 5. The show features a diverse collection of Whelan's best works, including familiar North Hampshire landscapes and abstract pieces like 'An August Dance', inspired by Brian Friel's play 'Dancing at Lughnasa'. Whelan's art has previously been displayed at THAT Gallery and the 7Artists+ exhibitions at Proteus.

The business of body art

The article explores the evolving economic landscape of the professional tattooing industry, shifting from a counter-culture fringe to a sophisticated global business sector. It details how artists and studio owners are adopting traditional corporate structures, including brand licensing, specialized retail products, and digital marketing strategies to capitalize on the increasing mainstream acceptance of body art.