Art News. Vasari Codex

museum exhibitions schedule Jun 24, 2025 visibility 18 link 10 artists

obama portrait national portrait gallery

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, unveiled the official portraits of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama on February 12, 2018. The portraits were painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively, marking the first time the museum has commissioned African American artists to paint a presidential couple. The ceremony was attended by notable figures including former Vice President Joe Biden, director Steven Spielberg, and actor Tom Hanks. Wiley depicted Obama seated in a chair surrounded by botanicals symbolizing his heritage, while Sherald painted Michelle Obama in her signature grayscale palette wearing a geometric dress inspired by Piet Mondrian and Gee's Bend quilts.

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museum exhibitions schedule May 12, 2026 visibility 14 link 1 artist

‘Drift’ Invites Reverie at the Parrish

Sanford Biggers's first major solo exhibition on the East End, "Drift," opens at the Parrish Art Museum on Sunday and runs through September 13. The show features new works and site-responsive installations, including the monumental "Unsui (Cloud Forest)" (2025), a series of illuminated cloud sculptures suspended from the museum's arched ceiling. Co-curated by Corinne Erni and Scout Hutchinson, the exhibition spans Biggers's multidisciplinary practice—painting, sculpture, video, performance, and textile works—drawing on influences from Buddhism to graffiti culture and Gee's Bend quilts. Highlights include examples from his "Codex" series, made from repurposed antique quilts with spray-painted cloud forms, and a new sand installation inspired by prayer rugs and Japanese Buddhist mandalas.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 25, 2025 visibility 17 link 4 artists

Lillian Blades' first solo exhibition sparkles and shines at Sarasota Art Museum

Lillian Blades' first solo exhibition, "Through the Veil," is on view at the Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) through October 26. The Bahamian-born artist presents large, quilt-like mixed-media installations made from found objects such as toys, jewelry, utensils, and mirrors, wired together and hung from PVC piping. Her work is displayed on the museum's third floor, while a concurrent exhibition of Gee's Bend quilts occupies the second floor, creating a thematic dialogue between the two shows.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 10, 2025 visibility 14 link 3 artists

Exhibit Explores the Stories Behind the Quilts in the UWS American Folk Art Museum's Collection

The American Folk Art Museum in New York is presenting "An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles," an exhibition of 30 quilts from its collection of over 600 pieces. Co-curators Austin Losada and Emelie Gevalt highlight the materials and labor behind the quilts, including indigo dye and cotton, while featuring works by Malissia Pettway of Gee's Bend and Japanese artist Tomie Nagano, the only living artist in the show.

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