Performance artist Pat Oleszko, known for her satirical costumes and public interventions, is receiving significant institutional recognition in New York. At 78, she is featured in the 2026 Whitney Biennial and is the subject of a solo exhibition, "Fool Disclosure," at SculptureCenter, her first institutional solo show in the city in over 35 years.
Frida Kahlo's 1940 self-portrait *El sueño (La cama)* sold for $54.7 million at Sotheby's on Thursday, setting a new auction record for a woman artist. The sale surpassed the previous record held by Georgia O'Keeffe and Kahlo's own prior record. Separately, Louvre director Laurence des Cars gave a major interview addressing security failures after a recent heist, and influential collector Dorothy Vogel died at age 90.
Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass has renewed his demand for the return of the ancient bust of Nefertiti from Berlin's State Museums, citing the recent full opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near Giza as proof that Egypt can properly safeguard its artifacts. The bust, dating to ca. 1351–1334 BCE and discovered in 1912 by German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt, has been on display at the Neues Museum since 2009. Hawass, who has shifted his position over time—calling the bust not looted in 2010 but “brazenly stolen” in 2024—argues that Western museums can no longer claim Egyptian institutions lack adequate climate control and display standards.
The Daily Beast published a lengthy article on Thomas Kinkade's legacy two years after his death from alcohol and Valium, detailing his divorce, alcoholism, and strip club visits—contradicting the idyllic scenes in his mass-marketed paintings. Despite these revelations, Kinkade's commercial empire has thrived: sales on ShopNBC have risen, most galleries report higher sales than before his death, licensing partners like Hallmark and Andrews McMeel Publishing saw double-digit growth, and Kinkade ranked #81 on Global License!'s bestselling licensed brands with $425 million in annual sales, ahead of CBS Consumer Products and National Geographic.
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.
National Geographic has launched a traveling exhibition and book titled "Women of Vision," curated by senior photo editor Elizabeth Krist. The show highlights the work of 11 award-winning female photojournalists—Erika Larsen, Kitra Cahana, Jodi Cobb, Amy Toensing, Carolyn Drake, Beverly Joubert, Stephanie Sinclair, Diane Cook, Lynn Johnson, Maggie Steber, and Lynsey Addario—featuring images ranging from indigenous Sami people in Sweden to conflict zones and urban scenes. It opened at Michigan's Cranbrook Institute of Science, where it runs through December 30, before traveling to the Palm Beach Photographic Center.
Stockton University’s Art Gallery in Galloway, New Jersey, will present a fall exhibition titled “Diverse Perspectives in Photography: Four Black Guggenheim Fellows in the Philadelphia Region,” running from September 4 to November 8. The show features works by four African American photographers who are Guggenheim Fellows: Donald E. Camp (1995), Ron Tarver (2021), William E. Williams (2003), and Wendel A. White (2003). The exhibition opens with a free reception and panel discussion moderated by Julie L. McGee, associate professor at the University of Delaware, and includes a lecture by Laura Auricchio, vice president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, on the fellowship’s 100th anniversary.
A farmer in southern Mexico discovered the first Olmec head in the late 1850s while clearing land for corn cultivation. Since then, 17 colossal stone heads have been unearthed, primarily at the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan archaeological site in Veracruz. Carved by the Olmec civilization between 1200 and 400 B.C.E., these basalt monuments range from 3.5 to 11.5 feet tall and weigh up to 45 tons. Each head features unique facial expressions and is thought to depict individual Olmec rulers, possibly serving as funerary monuments. The heads are now held by institutions such as the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology.
Australian photographer Elle Leontiev has been named the Open Photographer of the Year at the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards. Her winning image, titled 'Barefoot Volcanologist,' features Phillip Yamah standing on a lava bomb at Mount Yasur in Vanuatu. Leontiev captured the surreal portrait under challenging technical conditions, relying entirely on autofocus beeps after her camera screens shorted out due to volcanic activity.
The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, will open two exhibitions in May 2025: "Architecture of the Dalí" on May 2, tracing the museum's history from its 1980s origins to its current bayfront structure, and "Dalí in America" on May 9, featuring over 70 works exploring Salvador Dalí's vision of the United States. Other notable openings include "Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan" at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art (May 9), multidisciplinary artist Babs Reingold's solo show "After Venus" at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg (May 15), and "Cigars! Photography, Industry, and Identity" at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, commemorating Ybor City's cigar-rolling history. Additional events include Florida NOW at Florida CraftArt, Charles Morrison's "Head in the Sky, Feet on the Ground" at the Morean Center for Clay, and a photography contest sponsored by FloridaRAMA and St. Petersburg Month of Photography.
Ethics and Parafiction: A Conversation
e-flux Screening Room hosted an event featuring artist and filmmaker Salomé Lamas on December 6, 2025. The program included screenings of her films 'Eldorado XXI' (2016) and 'Gold and Ashes' (2025), a presentation of her related publication, and a public conversation with curator Lukas Brasiskis. The published transcript focuses on Lamas's filmmaking process, particularly the logistical and ethical challenges of shooting in extreme locations like La Rinconada, Peru.
Experts from the Polish Conservator of Monuments have authenticated a Neolithic Venus carving discovered by a Polish farmer in 2022. The Venus of Kołobrzeg, a 6,000-year-old limestone sculpture, is one of the oldest artifacts from an agricultural community in this part of Europe. The figurine, now owned by the Polish Arms Museum in Kołobrzeg, was unveiled after extensive analysis including microscopic residue analysis that found traces of mussel and snail shells. Unlike other prehistoric Venus figures, it lacks distinct facial features but shares the characteristic pronounced breasts and voluptuous hips.
The National Geographic Society has announced an extended tour of its exhibition "The Greatest Wildlife Photographs," following its run at The Momentary in Arkansas, USA. The show features a curated selection of iconic wildlife images from National Geographic magazine, chosen by picture editor Kathy Moran, and includes works by renowned photographers such as Michael “Nick” Nichols, Steve Winter, Paul Nicklen, Beverly Joubert, and David Doubilet. The exhibition will be available for booking in the US and globally as a digital delivery, and is currently on view at The Momentary from November 22, 2025, to June 7, 2026.
Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) has partnered with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to launch an 'art train' — three train cars converted into a traveling gallery — that is currently crossing Ukraine. The exhibition, titled *Courage of a Nation*, features photographs taken by billionaire Howard Buffett during his 19 trips to Ukraine between April 2022 and February 2025, documenting the country's resilience after Russia's full-scale invasion. Curated by Pulitzer Prize-winning National Geographic photographer Muhammed Muheisen, the show will make 63 stops over four months, starting in Odesa. Due to security risks, the exact timetable is not publicly announced. A book of the same name, with a foreword by Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska, has also been published.
Dr. David Clardy, a cardiologist at Sanford Health in Fargo, has his travel photography displayed above the baggage claim area at Hector International Airport. The exhibition, installed on June 17, 2025, pairs landscape and portrait images from his travels to Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Peru. Clardy, who began taking photography seriously in 1999 and resumed in 2016 after a break, participated in workshops with National Geographic photographers and now shares his work through the airport's ArtWORKS program, which places local art in public spaces.
The Bruce Lurie Gallery in Santa Monica is set to host "Observed / Imagined," a joint exhibition featuring the work of husband-and-wife duo Gary and Jody Levinson. Opening April 18, 2026, the show juxtaposes Gary’s minimalist, award-winning street photography with Jody’s intuitive abstract paintings. While Gary’s work focuses on the patient observation of solitary figures in sparse environments, Jody’s practice explores internal narratives of gender and power through a physical, multi-media approach.