yasmina reza art play putting a higher price on it 1234751691

The article examines the revival of Yasmina Reza's play "Art" on Broadway, which centers on three men arguing over a seemingly blank canvas purchased for a high price. The new production updates the painting's cost from 200,000 francs (about $60,000) to $300,000, reflecting today's inflated art market. The play's themes of aesthetics versus market value resonate with current debates about speculative hype and irrational pricing in contemporary art.

here are 11 must see gallery shows this armory art week 2529767

Artnet News highlights 11 must-see gallery shows during Armory Art Week in New York City, running from September 5 to October 26, 2024. Featured exhibitions include Gina Beavers' 'Divine Consumer' at Marianne Boesky Gallery, where she presents semi-sculptural relief paintings inspired by internet blankets and towels; Jenny Holzer's 'Words' at Sprüth Magers, showcasing her text-based works from the 1980s to present, including a new AI-generated LED installation; 'Radical Artists of the 1960s/1970s: Between Geometry and Gesture' at David Nolan, featuring works by Barry Le Va, Bruce Nauman, and others; and Stephen Thorpe's 'Dream House' at Dimin, with oil paintings of interiors merging into dreamlike landscapes.

ibrahim mahamas stunning textile installation blankets the barbican in london 2476760

Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama has transformed the lakeside terrace of London's Barbican Centre with a monumental textile installation titled "Purple Hibiscus" (2023-24). The work, measuring 6,560 square feet, is made from handcrafted pink and purple fabric adorned with approximately 130 traditional ceremonial robes called batakaris, sourced from communities in Tamale, Ghana. Mahama collaborated with a network of local women weavers and employed around 1,000 workers to produce the piece over seven months, using Tamale's Alui Mahama sports stadium as a workspace. The installation is part of the Barbican's exhibition "Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art."

5 latinx artists transforming everyday materials from cobijas to pinatas into statements on identity 2711684

Ballroom Marfa in Marfa, Texas, presents the exhibition “Los Encuentros,” on view through March 29, 2026, featuring five Latinx artists—Ozzie Juarez, Justin Favela, Antonio Lechuga, Narsiso Martinez, and Yvette Mayorga—who transform everyday materials like blankets (cobijas) and piñatas into works exploring Latinx identity. Curated by Maggie Adler, the show prioritizes local community engagement over the international art world, with works such as Juarez's "Coatzomaki" (2025) synthesizing LA street art and Aztec culture. The exhibition grew from Adler's existing relationships with the artists and her belief in working beyond institutional walls.

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Tracey Emin’s major retrospective, "A Second Life," has opened at Tate Modern, marking a significant milestone in the artist's career following her recovery from bladder cancer. The exhibition surveys her evolution from the provocative "Young British Artist" era—featuring iconic works like the 1998 installation 'My Bed' and her early quilted blankets—to her more recent, expressive oil paintings and bronze sculptures. The show specifically highlights her 1996 film 'How it feels,' positioning her early 1990s abortion as the central, transformative event of her life and artistic practice.

Singapore Biennale 2025 Review: Divorced From Reality

Singapore Biennale 2025 Review: Divorced From Reality

The 8th Singapore Biennale, titled 'pure intention', features artworks like Gala Porras-Kim's picnic blanket sold in migrant-worker shops, intended to blur lines between art and daily life. The exhibition, curated by SAM staff, deliberately explores contradictions in artistic intention and challenges notions of purity and power through over 80 artists' works.

Éliane Radigue, Electronic Music Pioneer, Dies at 94

eliane radigue dead electronic music 1234774581

Éliane Radigue, a pioneering French composer and electronic music visionary, has died at the age of 94 in Paris. A student of musique concrète founders Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, Radigue became renowned for her meditative, long-form compositions created primarily on the ARP 2500 modular synthesizer. Her work, deeply influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, focused on the subtle, sculptural qualities of sound and "barely perceptible" sonic shifts.

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W. David Marx's book "Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century" argues that 21st-century culture has stagnated, blaming the Internet and its economies for a lack of innovation. The book cites critics like Jason Farago and Alex Ross who lament the death of monoculture and the failure of the Internet's promised diversity, while Marx himself longs for a past era of linear artistic progress defined by -isms like Realism and Cubism. However, the review criticizes Marx's framework as rooted in a 19th-century positivist fallacy, noting that art history has never been a clean linear progression and that overlooked artists—such as Hilma af Klint and Hector Hyppolite—have always complicated the canon.

jennifer packer and marie watt win 250000 heinz award 1234752264

American artists Jennifer Packer and Marie Watt have been named winners of this year's Heinz Awards for the Arts, each receiving an unrestricted cash prize of $250,000. The awards, now in their 30th year, are distributed by the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation and honor six recipients annually across three categories: arts, the economy, and the environment. Packer, based in New York, is known for her jewel-toned paintings that explore Black figuration and abstraction, while Watt, a citizen of the Seneca Nation, works with printmaking, textiles, and sculpture to examine Indigenous traditions and community memory, notably through her "Blanket Stories" series.

sylvester stallones palm beach house has works by warhol condo botero and many other contemporary art stars 1234751983

Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin's Palm Beach home, featured in a Veranda profile, showcases their extensive contemporary art collection. The house includes works by Andy Warhol, George Condo, Damien Hirst, Bridget Riley, Fernando Botero, Rashid Johnson, Sterling Ruby, and LeRoy Neiman, among others. Stallone, who began collecting at age 16, treats the home as a constantly rotating gallery, with a long hallway kept blank for changing displays and a dining room anchored by a Hirst mosaic and Condo abstract. The collection is integrated into daily life, with art hanging in the screening room, entry, and even near the gym.

Children curate exhibition of Clyfford Still works inspired by their reservation

The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver has handed curatorial authority to 100 children from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation for the exhibition "Tell Clyfford I Said ‘Hi’" (on view until May 10, 2026). The show features works by Clyfford Still, who in 1936 traveled to the Colville Reservation with colleague Worth Griffin to document tribal members and landscapes. The museum collaborated with tribal youth from three schools—Nespelem School, Nespelem Head Start, and Hearts Gathered Montessori—who selected artworks from facsimiles of Still’s paintings and photographs, drawing connections between his abstract works and their own cultural experiences, such as a student noting that a painting resembled a pow wow blanket.

bob dylan point blank book 2661190

Bob Dylan, at 84, is releasing a new book titled *Point Blank (Quick Studies)* in November 2025, published by Simon & Schuster. The volume collects about 100 drawings he created between 2021 and 2022, featuring portraits, still lifes, and landscapes in black-and-white. The works were originally the foundation for his current exhibition of the same name at Halcyon Gallery in London, on view through July 6. The book includes prose contributions from writers Lucy Sante and Eddie Gorodetsky.

ai artist elias marrow cardiff museum installation 1234761328

Conceptual artist Elias Marrow secretly installed an AI-generated artwork titled *Empty Plate* inside the National Museum Cardiff on October 29, where it hung for several hours before staff removed it. The framed digital print depicts a Welsh schoolboy holding a book and a blank plate, which Marrow says represents the state of Wales in 2025 and references Victorian charity propaganda. He described the act as 'participation without permission' rather than vandalism, and noted he used AI as part of the natural evolution of artistic tools.

‘There’s a bead connection to every place’: Wendy Red Star on exploring the real and symbolic currency of beads

Artist Wendy Red Star has launched a site-specific solo exhibition titled 'One Blue Bead' at Sargent’s Daughters in Tribeca, exploring the historical and symbolic weight of trade beads. The exhibition transforms the gallery into a simulated trading floor featuring monumental glass beads, over 100 watercolors, and Hudson’s Bay point blankets. The project originated from the artist's residencies at the Pilchuck School of Glass and the Tacoma Museum of Glass, where she researched the global circulation of glass beads from Europe to Africa and the Americas.

filmmaker amos poe dies at 76 red white and blue british museum ball invites controversy and morning links for december 26 2026 1234768167

Filmmaker Amos Poe, a key figure in New York's No Wave cinema movement, died on December 25 at age 76 after a battle with cancer. His seminal DIY films such as 'The Blank Generation' (1975), 'Unmade Beds' (1976), and 'Subway Riders' (1979–80) helped define the punk scene of 1970s New York, breaking from earlier formalist traditions with gritty, energetic works made on minimal budgets with amateur actors. Separately, the British Museum faces internal controversy after director Nicholas Cullinan proposed a 2026 fundraising ball with a 'red, white, and blue' theme to celebrate a planned loan of the Bayeux Tapestry from France, with some staff criticizing the color scheme as being in poor taste amid a rise in far-right activity in the UK.

consuelo jimenez underwood icons 2025 1234751557

Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, a textile artist born in 1949 in Sacramento, has spent decades creating works that confront the US-Mexico border. In 2009, she was invited to participate in the group exhibition “Xicana: Spiritual Reflections/Reflexiones Espirituales” at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California. Faced with a blank museum wall, she decided to “blow up the border,” creating her first large-scale installation, *Undocumented Border Flowers* (2010), which features a red gash representing the border surrounded by paper flowers of the four border states. This work launched her ongoing “BORDERLINES” series, which she has produced some 15 times across the country, often collaborating with schoolchildren or recently incarcerated women. Her practice is deeply personal: her father was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico of Huichol ancestry, and she spent her childhood as a migrant farmworker, following harvests along Highway 99. Her first woven artwork, *C.C. Huelga* (1974), was inspired by the United Farm Workers flag and leader César Chávez.

us supreme court strikes down trumps tariffs art market 1234774032

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a series of sweeping tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, ruling in a 6-3 decision that the executive branch exceeded its authority. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, stated that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not grant the president the power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited scope and duration. While tariffs on steel and aluminum remain, the ruling removes the 10 percent global blanket tariff and the 25 percent reciprocal tariffs previously levied against Canada, China, and Mexico.

Gerda Scheepers at blank projects

Gerda Scheepers presents "Mallarmé’s Pillow" at blank projects in Cape Town, running from March 26 to May 9, 2026. The exhibition includes 27 images documenting the show, with a press release and checklist available.

Impressively harmonious artistic manifesto propels Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation exhibition at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is hosting "Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation," an exhibition running through June 21. It features over 60 works by Marie Watt, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation's Turtle Clan, including prints, monumental blanket stacks, hanging textiles, and small-scale sculptures. The show is drawn from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer, a top 200 collector recognized by ARTNews, whose foundation has supported more than 180 exhibitions and loaned works to over 130 museums at no cost.

Jan Staller Photographs the Nuts and Bolts of Manhattan's Urban Symphony

Photographer Jan Staller has released a new book titled "Manhattan Project," featuring photographs of construction materials—pipes, beams, rebar, and drill bits—suspended midair against white skies. The book marks a shift from his earlier moody night photography to a hard-edged focus on utilitarian objects, transforming New York City's construction sites into otherworldly, readymade-like visions. The book includes a foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson and an essay by curator Brett Littman, with images spanning locations across the Upper West Side.

saudi arabia commission mural domingo zapata 1234773760

Saudi Arabia has commissioned New York-based artist Domingo Zapata to create what is being billed as the world's largest mural, spanning 540,000 square feet. The project, part of the $63 billion Diriyah cultural zone development in Riyadh, is backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and will involve a team of about 100 artists working over four to six years, with Zapata describing it as having "a blank check" for creative freedom.

Gregory Olympio at blank projects

Gregory Olympio has opened a new solo exhibition titled "Vaisseaux" at blank projects in Cape Town. The show, which runs from January 29 through March 14, 2026, features a substantial body of new work, documented by 27 installation images. This marks a significant presentation for the artist at the prominent South African gallery.

Knockin’ on Halcyon’s door: Bob Dylan's latest artworks on show in London gallery

Bob Dylan is presenting 97 new paintings at London's Halcyon Gallery in a show titled "Point Blank," running until July 6. The works, created between 2021 and 2022, began as sketches that the musician later painted over, depicting subjects like Zurich, a piano player, and breakfast scenes. The gallery describes the pieces as masterful expressions of a dynamic imagination, noting that some monochromatic studies draw inspiration from Picasso's Blue Period.

Review: “Mark Me, Too: Five Artists” at Hyde Park Art Center

The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago presents “Mark Me, Too: Five Artists,” a group exhibition curated by Dr. Rikki Byrd, the center’s inaugural Radicle Curatorial Resident. The show features works by Lisa DeAbreu, Lex Marie, Natasha Moustache, Lola Ayisha Ogbara, and Ciarra K. Walters, each exploring mark-making as a conceptual and material practice. Highlights include Walters’ video “Eileen’s Daughters,” which uses fragile eggshell-covered suits to evoke familial intimacy and vulnerability; DeAbreu’s textile works that transform household items into visual heirlooms; Ogbara’s sculptural piece “Hopscotch (A Safe Space to Land),” combining bronze and soil to address Black beauty and West African heritage; and Marie’s reimagined American flags made from hospital blankets and beads, critiquing the nation’s relationship with Black maternity and childhood.

The tiniest event can tear a hole. Sara MacKillop by Margaret Kross

Sara MacKillop's exhibition "The Cutaway View" at Good Weather in Chicago presents sculptures made from humble analog materials like blank wall calendars, empty shopping bags, and gift wrapping. The London-based artist alters these objects with minimal interventions—such as surgically cut holes in shopping bags to accommodate vinyl records—drawing attention to the ephemera and texture of retail culture. Her series "Calendar Houses" (2021–ongoing) uses archive boxes and wall calendars to create miniature modernist dwellings that critique systems of order and self-optimization.

The artist who blocked an Ice projectile with her drawing board during protests

Artist Isabelle “Izzy” Brourman narrowly escaped serious injury while documenting protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis. While sketching the scene for her project Starring America News, a masked federal agent fired pepper balls at her at point-blank range; Brourman managed to block the projectile with her wooden drawing board, which was left with a jagged hole. The incident, captured on video by her collaborators Peter Hambrecht and Jeannette Berlin, occurred on the same day a nurse was killed by federal agents during the unrest.

Nikyle Begay Resurrects Century-Old Diné Weavings

Nikyle Begay, a Diné shepherd and weaver based in the Navajo Nation, is revitalizing ancestral weaving techniques that were historically marginalized by the colonial trading-post economy. By breeding Navajo Churro sheep and mastering complex twill patterns once used for functional saddle blankets, Begay bridges the gap between traditional agricultural practice and contemporary fine art. Their work involves the entire lifecycle of the medium, from shearing and processing wool to reconstructing intricate designs that fell out of favor when commercial markets prioritized specific regional styles for non-Native buyers.

audit irregularities baltimore lewis museum 1234768649

An August 15 audit by the Maryland Department of Legislative Services uncovered serious financial irregularities at Baltimore’s Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture. The audit found corporate credit card charges without a clear business purpose, payments made to an employee’s PayPal account, a former employee pocketing parking fees, and a practice of pre-signing blank checks stored in an unsecured office. Though only $10,115 was unaccounted for between April 2021 and January 2025, the museum’s annual budget is $6.3 million, and it receives up to half its funding from taxpayers. The museum’s president Terri L. Freeman and board chairman Drew Hawkins have since destroyed all pre-signed checks and implemented 12 of 18 audit recommendations, with four more in progress. The employees involved are no longer at the museum, and findings were referred to the Maryland Attorney General.

w david marx blanks space 2734880

W. David Marx joins Artnet News senior editor Kate Brown on the podcast 'The Art Angle' to discuss his new book, *Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century*. The book argues that creativity across art, media, and popular culture has stagnated over the past 25 years, driven by commercialization, rapid technology shifts, and a preference for profit-driven formulas over experimentation. Marx identifies a 'conspicuous blank space where art and creativity used to be' and proposes five strategies to revive cultural inventiveness.

Kickpigeon Kids

The Grackle Art Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas, will host "BLANK," the fourth curated installation by the Kickpigeon Kids, from May 2 to May 31, 2026. The exhibition explores the concept of blankness as a prerequisite for new beginnings and limitless potential, inviting selected artists to submit work interpreting the theme, often starting from the idea of a "blank canvas."