forget blue chip art its a red chip art world now 2607301

The article introduces and defines the concept of "red-chip art," a new category of art collecting that rejects traditional art-historical reverence in favor of aesthetics rooted in street art, graffiti, super-flat cartoons, multi-colored chrome, and crypto culture. It describes red-chip collectors as mysteriously affluent millennials, techies, hip-hop visionaries, and crypto aspirants who gravitate toward artworks that resemble toys, limited-edition dolls, NFTs, and memecoins, often consumed at venues like the Eden Fine Art gallery at the Wynn in Las Vegas or parties during Art Basel Miami Beach. Key artists associated with this movement include KAWS, George Condo, Virgil Abloh, Tom Sachs, Alex Israel, Damien Hirst, Harmony Korine, Yoshitomo Nara, and Banksy, with Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami seen as transitional "purple chip" figures.

lomex las vegas marvin a i influencer 2712607

Artnet News's Wet Paint column reports that Lomex gallery founder Alexander Shulan and art advisor Ralph DeLuca are partnering to open a new gallery, Lomex Las Vegas, in an old atomic ranch home three miles from the Strip. The space, located in a historic neighborhood where parts of Martin Scorsese's 'Casino' were filmed, will feature seasonal exhibitions, performances, and events curated by Shulan, with a new roster of artists distinct from Lomex's existing lineup. Separately, the column introduces Marvin, an AI-generated Instagram influencer who mimics a techno-optimistic art speculator and leaves ChatGPT-style comments on art world accounts.

punk magazine ki smith gallery new york 2724150

Ki Smith Gallery in New York is hosting "50 years of PUNK," an exhibition honoring the seminal punk magazine that launched in 1975. Running through January 11, the show features ephemera, new artworks, and issues 24 and 25 of the magazine, which famously covered bands like the Ramones and Lou Reed. The exhibition opened on November 28, marking 50 years since PUNK interviewed Reed and the Ramones at CBGB's. Co-curated by gallery founder Ki Smith and PUNK co-founder John Holmstrom, the show celebrates the magazine's DIY spirit and its role in shaping punk culture.

justin sun gave silk road founder ross ulbricht cattelan banana 2651374

At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun presented Maurizio Cattelan's artwork *Comedian* (2019)—a duct-taped banana that sold for $6.2 million at Sotheby's—to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road online marketplace. Ulbricht, recently pardoned by Donald Trump after receiving a life sentence, accepted the gift and joked about replacing the banana as it perishes. Sun had previously eaten the banana at a press conference in Hong Kong after purchasing it at auction.

Mexico’s art community calls for greater transparency in management of treasured collection

Over 350 Mexican cultural professionals have signed an open letter demanding greater transparency from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL) regarding the management and export of the Gelman Collection. The collection, recently acquired by the Zambrano family and rebranded as the Gelman Santander Collection, includes 18 works by Frida Kahlo and other major 20th-century Mexican artists, with 30 pieces designated as national artistic monuments requiring state oversight.

alison weaver grey art museum nyu director 1234771136

New York University has appointed Alison Weaver as the next director of its Grey Art Museum, effective May 26. Weaver, who has served as founding executive director of the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University since 2015, succeeds Lynn Gumpert, who retired last year after leading the museum since 1997. At Rice, Weaver oversaw the completion of a new building for the Moody Center, launched an artist-in-residence program, curated over 25 exhibitions, and expanded the university's art holdings. She previously taught art history at the City University of New York and served as director of affiliate museums at the Guggenheim Museum, overseeing its outposts in Bilbao, Venice, Berlin, and Las Vegas.

patrizia sandretto re rebaudengo new museum commissions 1234751303

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, a top European art collector and founder of a Turin-based foundation, is partnering with New York's New Museum for a series of commissions. The first commission will be realized by Italian artist Diego Marcon, known for his uncanny videos, with his work titled 'Krapfen'—a musical dance film blending American animation and Italian opera. The New Museum, currently undergoing a renovation and expansion with a seven-story annex, is set to reopen this fall. 'Krapfen' was also co-commissioned by Chicago's Renaissance Society, Paris's Lafayette Anticipations, and the Vega Foundation, run by Canadian collector Elisa Nuyten, and will debut at the Renaissance Society before its New Museum run.

rosa barba moma times square moynihan 1234746109

Rosa Barba's exhibition "The Ocean of One's Pause" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York surveys 15 years of her work, featuring over a dozen cinematic sculptures arranged as a single installation. Central to the show is her latest 25-minute film *Charge* (2025), co-commissioned by MoMA and the Vega Foundation, shot at CERN in Geneva. The film will also screen at Moynihan Train Hall and in Times Square as part of the "Midnight Moment" program throughout July. Barba transforms a black box gallery into a cello-like space, with long wires and film projectors creating a celluloid symphony through mechanical clicks and analog apparatuses.

Inside the Fight to Keep a Trove of Frida Kahlo Works from Leaving Mexico

The Gelman Collection, featuring 11 essential masterpieces by Frida Kahlo, is at the center of a heated legal and cultural dispute following news of its transfer from Mexico to Spain. Acquired by the Zambrano family and managed by the Banco Santander Foundation, the collection is slated for a multi-year residency at the new Faro Santander cultural hub. Critics and historians argue the move potentially violates Mexico’s strict heritage laws, which designate Kahlo’s works as national monuments subject to permanent export bans.

artful tom a memoir damn the originals 2592113

Thomas Hoving recounts his decision to pursue art history graduate school after military service, rejecting his father's demand that he join the family business and attend business school instead. He describes a cross-country road trip with his wife Nancy and their dog Whiskey, including a failed gambling attempt in Las Vegas and mechanical troubles in Missouri.

art cayetano ferrer sculpture los angeles

Cayetano Ferrer, a 44-year-old artist born in Honolulu and raised in Las Vegas, is featured in a studio visit ahead of his solo exhibition "Object Prosthetics" at Commonwealth and Council in Los Angeles, running from January 31 to March 14. Ferrer's work often begins in archives, exploring how time is annotated and reinterpreted; his early piece made from casino carpeting was shown at the first "Made in L.A." biennial in 2012. He has salvaged fragments from the original William Pereira-designed LACMA buildings for recent projects, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Historic Preservation at Columbia University. The interview covers his creative process, influences like Caetano Veloso's concept of antropofagia, and his use of a hot iron seaming machine called the Kool Glide Pro.

best outdoor new york activities

This article from Cultured magazine highlights seven outdoor art and performance activities in New York City for summer 2024. It covers MoMA PS1's Warm Up dance party series featuring monumental sculptures by Yto Barrada, Socrates Sculpture Park's annual fellows exhibition themed "Up/Rooted," Little Island's adventurous performance series including works by Suzan-Lori Parks and Laurie Anderson, Wave Hill's 60th-anniversary installations with Yoko Ono's wish tree and works by Monica Duncan and Sarah Jimenez, the Beach Sessions Dance Series on Rockaway Beach, and SummerStage NYC's music performances in Central Park.

HOPE Outdoor Gallery Makes Its Long-Awaited Return

The HOPE Outdoor Gallery, a beloved open-air graffiti art space in Austin, is preparing to reopen after six years of closure. Founder Andi Scull announced that the new site, located on an 8-acre plot near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, is purpose-built with four distinct sectors including a courtyard, a roofless circular structure, a garden, and a village of shipping containers. The layout is designed to spell out "HOPE" when viewed from planes landing or departing. The original location on Baylor Street closed in 2018, and the team has been working since then to secure a new home, with the goal of opening before the end of the year, pending permits.

las vegas museum of art francis kere designs 2731855

The Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA) has unveiled architectural designs by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré for its first standalone museum, a 60,000-square-foot building at Symphony Park in downtown Las Vegas. The design incorporates local stone, baobab trees, and a canopy for shade, drawing inspiration from the Mojave Desert and the city's culture, with a central staircase evoking a canyon. The museum, supported by a land donation from the city and a partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), has raised over half of its $200 million goal and is slated to open in 2029.

trump assassination monument statue oval office 2643906

A small statue depicting President Donald Trump raising his fist after a failed assassination attempt during a 2024 campaign rally has appeared on his Oval Office desk, drawing renewed attention. The sculpture, based on a photograph by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci, was created by artist Stan Watts, who is fundraising for a nine-foot-tall version. Separately, documentary filmmaker Steven C. Barber installed a life-sized bronze monument of the same scene at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, created by George and Mark Lundeen of Lundeen Sculpture.

Open Letter on the Imminent Departure of the Gelman Collection from Mexico

An open letter signed by hundreds of Mexican artists and cultural figures warns that the core of the renowned Gelman Collection, including eleven Frida Kahlo paintings declared national monuments, is at risk of permanent export from Mexico. The letter alleges that Banco Santander's new Faro Santander museum, through an agreement with collector Marcelo Zambrano, is misinterpreting Mexico's strict heritage laws to justify a "dynamic" but effectively permanent display abroad, which would violate the legal prohibition on the permanent export of Kahlo's work.

art exhibition carlos vega anima mundi jack shainman

Carlos Vega's exhibition "Anima Mundi" is on view at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York through April 18. The show features Vega's large-scale paintings on lead substrate, which depict a psychedelic, Edenic universe filled with nymphs, extraterrestrial flora, galaxies, and portals. Vega, who is also the husband of gallerist Jack Shainman, draws on ancient Greek philosophy and his own biography—including his upbringing in Melilla, Morocco, and his grandfather's assassination during the Spanish Civil War—to explore themes of consciousness, death, and the interconnectedness of all things. The works incorporate Renaissance antique frames, nodding to his classical training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Spain.

LACMA’s New Era Begins With David Geffen Galleries Opening

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is preparing to open its new David Geffen Galleries in April, marking a major milestone in a two-decade transformation led by CEO and director Michael Govan. The opening coincides with the 20th anniversary of Govan's hiring and features Jeff Koons's outdoor sculpture 'Split-Rocker' as an anchor piece.

Space One Eleven presents art exhibitions by El Paso artist José Villalobos and local artist Jason Tanner Young

Space One Eleven in Birmingham, Alabama, is presenting two new exhibitions: “Navegando la Masculinidad de la Frontera / Navigating the Border’s Masculinity” by El Paso artist José Villalobos and “see saw sawn” by local artist Jason Tanner Young. The opening reception with the artists takes place on February 19, 2026, and the shows run through April 17, 2026. Villalobos, a multidisciplinary artist, explores queer identity, machismo, and border culture through sculpture, performance, and installation, while Young, an associate professor at the University of Montevallo, works primarily in sculpture.

LA LECHUZA DE MINERVA

The Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, founded in 1926 by a small group of artists, has launched a centenary exhibition titled "La lechuza de Minerva" (The Owl of Minerva). Curated by Isabella Lenzi, the project revisits the institution's most disruptive exhibition, "El sueño imperativo" (1991), curated by Mar Villaespesa, which invited twelve artists to intervene in both exhibition spaces and transit areas, challenging traditional display logic. The new exhibition features works by artists including Dagoberto Rodríguez, Elo Vega, Rogelio López Cuenca, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, Itziar Okariz, Los Carpinteros, María Salgado, Pedro G. Romero, Regina Silveira, Silbatriz Pons, and Tino Sehgal, who activate hidden and unexpected corners of the building through visual and sound actions. The project also restores Nancy Spero's 1991 intervention "Minerva, Sky Goddess," which had largely disappeared, through archaeological research led by restorer Rocío Casasus.

gelman collection of mexican art surfaces at santander with plans to bring it to spain 1234770736

Banco Santander has announced it will manage roughly half of the Gelman Collection, one of the most significant collections of 20th-century Mexican art, which disappeared from public view in 2008. The Madrid-based bank now oversees 160 of approximately 300 works amassed by patrons Jacques and Natasha Gelman. The collection will anchor the new Faro Santander cultural center in Spain, set to open in June, through a long-term loan agreement with the Zambrano family, the prominent Mexican business family revealed to own the once-lost collection. The collection's whereabouts had been largely unknown, with only sporadic sightings in foreign institutions, after it was divided by executor Robert R. Littman despite the will's stipulation that it be shown intact in a private museum in Mexico.

An Art Fair for the "Global Majority" Debuts in Brooklyn

The inaugural Conductor Art Fair debuted at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn, running through May 3. Co-curated by fair director Adriana Farietta and PHA president Eric Shiner, the event features 28 gallery exhibitors and 20 special projects, with a focus on representing "the global majority and Indigenous nations." Highlights include an immersive yurt installation by Vuslat and Sana Frini, works by Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar, Puerto Rican sculptor Margarita Vincenty, Venezuelan artist Esmelyn Miranda, and Bangladeshi artist Bishwajit Goswami. The fair offers affordable booth fees starting at $2,500 for nonprofits and free participation for self-representing artists with a 30% sales donation to PHA.

Victor Vasarely | Pink Composition (1980) | For Sale

Victor Vasarely's 1980 serigraph "Pink Composition" is being offered for sale through Palm Beach Modern Auctions. The limited-edition print, signed and numbered 183/300, is executed on Arches paper and measures approximately 70 × 51 cm. The listing provides detailed condition notes, bidding terms, and a 28% buyer's premium, with the auction house encouraging in-person inspection and advance shipping quotes.

Valuable Art Collection Featuring Frida Kahlo Set To Leave Mexico Sparks Concern in Art Community

The Mexican art community is voicing alarm over the relocation of the prestigious Gelman Collection to Spain, where it is slated to become the centerpiece of the new Foro Santander cultural center. Managed by Santander Bank and previously acquired by the Zambrano family, the collection includes 160 works by modern masters such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, including 18 rare paintings by Frida Kahlo. Critics and academics have signed an open letter demanding transparency from the Mexican government regarding the legality of this long-term export, given that many of these works are designated as national artistic monuments.

Christie’s expects Elaine Wynn’s collection to bring $75m, while her record-breaking Bacon triptych goes to Lacma

Christie’s will auction more than a dozen jewels from the collection of the late billionaire and philanthropist Elaine Wynn this autumn in New York, with total estimates exceeding $75 million. Highlights include Lucian Freud's *The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer* (2005) and Richard Diebenkorn's *Ocean Park #40* (1971), each estimated at $15–$25 million, alongside works by Joan Mitchell, J.M.W. Turner, Wayne Thiebaud, and others. Meanwhile, the crown jewel of Wynn’s collection—Francis Bacon’s 1969 triptych *Three Studies of Lucian Freud*, which she bought for a record $142.4 million at Christie’s in 2013—has been bequeathed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) and will debut in its new David Geffen Galleries building next April.

Stories brought to life: the National Portrait Gallery's latest virtual reality venture is a triumph of immersive storytelling

The National Portrait Gallery has partnered with Frameless Creative, a London-based immersive experience studio, to launch 'Stories—Brought to Life,' a virtual reality exhibition that brings portraits of historical and contemporary figures to life through dynamic 150-second animated sequences. The experience, projected onto a mosaic of screens, features figures including Queen Elizabeth I, Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela, David Bowie, and Ncuti Gatwa, drawing on the museum's collection. It debuted at a temporary site in MediaCity, Manchester, and is designed to travel to other locations.

Never-before-seen landscape photos on display at Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum has opened a new photography exhibition titled "What We've Been Up To: Landscape," featuring works acquired over the past 17 years that have never been publicly displayed before. The show, curated by the museum's photography department (established in 2008), includes a range of landscape photographs from historic images by Ansel Adams, Marion Post Wolcott, and William Henry Jackson to contemporary works by artists such as Abelardo Morell, Meghann Riepenhoff, and Steve Fitch. The exhibition occupies a few rooms on the sixth floor of the Martin Building and highlights the museum's recent acquisitions in photography.

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Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, revealed the cover of his new album "Cuck" earlier this month, featuring an unauthorized photograph by acclaimed photojournalist Peter van Agtmael. The image depicts two Ku Klux Klan members in full regalia embracing, with one holding a bouquet, originally titled "The wedding of two members of the KKK in a barn in rural America." West altered the photo to make one Klansman appear Black and removed a dog with a "White Power" cape. Van Agtmael confirmed that neither West nor his team sought permission, and a legal process is now underway.

Protests in Mexico Against the Transfer of a Rare Collection to Spain

Protestations au Mexique contre le transfert en Espagne d’une rare collection

A coalition of nearly 400 art professionals in Mexico is protesting the planned transfer of the prestigious Gelman Collection to Spain. The collection, which includes iconic works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, is slated to move to the Faro Santander museum in northern Spain under a five-year management agreement with Banco Santander. Critics describe the move as a "public disaster," citing the opaque 2023 sale of the collection to the Zambrano family and the potential violation of Natasha Gelman’s original will, which stipulated the works remain in Mexico.

Long Live the King?

Sam Jacob's essay in ArtReview uses the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film 'EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert' (2026) as a springboard to explore the cultural and technical implications of digital restoration. The film, a spinoff from Luhrmann's 2022 Elvis biopic, draws on 59 hours of previously unseen footage from Elvis Presley's 1970 and 1972 Las Vegas performances, recovered from Warner's Kansas salt-mine archive. Using Peter Jackson's Park Road Post technology—including Machine Assisted Learning (MAL) for demixing audio and video—the damaged, fragmented material has been digitally scanned, reconstructed, and enhanced to 4k resolution with 12-channel sound, presented in IMAX cinemas.