Nan Goldin: Why The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is So Important

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Gagosian London is hosting an exhibition of all 126 photographs from Nan Goldin’s seminal work, "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency," to mark the 40th anniversary of the photobook's publication. The exhibition traces the evolution of the project from its origins as a DIY slideshow performance in New York nightclubs to its status as a cornerstone of contemporary photography, featuring intimate portraits of Goldin’s inner circle across New York, Berlin, and beyond.

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The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam has opened "Erwin Olaf—Freedom," a major retrospective of the late Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf, who died in 2023 at age 64. The exhibition spans over a dozen rooms, showcasing his diverse output from subcultural documentation and commercial work to staged tableaux, self-portraits, and club ephemera, alongside video and sculpture. It juxtaposes formally refined portraits, such as Queen Máxima, with provocative early works like "Joy" (1985), refusing to impose a single narrative on his career.

Exhibition | OSGEMEOS, 'The Open Window' at Lehmann Maupin, 501 West 24th Street, New York, United States

Lehmann Maupin is set to present "The Open Window," an exhibition of new works by the renowned Brazilian twin artist duo OSGEMEOS, running from April 23 to June 6, 2026, in New York. The showcase features five new paintings that continue the artists' exploration of their surreal "Tritrez" universe, characterized by their signature yellow-skinned figures and intricate patterns. These works operate at a more intimate scale than their well-known large-format murals, focusing on material sensitivity and detailed narratives inspired by hip-hop culture and Brazilian folklore.

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Paul Slocum, artist and gallerist, celebrated the 20th anniversary of his Dallas-based And/Or gallery, a pioneering space dedicated to new media and digital art. The gallery, founded in 2006, has championed early internet and computer-based artists like Cory Arcangel and Petra Cortright, operating from a DIY ethos largely independent of the traditional art market.

Martin Wong “Popeye” at P·P·O·W, New York

P·P·O·W gallery in New York is presenting "Martin Wong: Popeye," the gallery's sixth solo exhibition of the artist's work and his first solo show in New York in over a decade. Co-curated by Mark Dean Johnson and Anneliis Beadnell, the exhibition explores Wong's lifelong fascination with artistic subcultures, particularly comic book illustration and early tattoo imagery.

From YBAs to McQueen: Tate Britain’s New Exhibition Reframes the Creative Explosion of the 1990s

Tate Britain has announced a major new exhibition, *The 90s: Art and Fashion*, opening in autumn 2026, which will be the first to examine the intersection of contemporary art, photography, and fashion during the 1990s in Britain. Featuring over 100 works by nearly 70 artists, photographers, and designers—including Sarah Lucas, Alexander McQueen, Tracey Emin, and Steve McQueen—the show explores the decade's raw experimentation, anti-establishment energy, and the rise of the Young British Artists. Curated with input from Edward Enninful, the exhibition also highlights subcultures, nightlife, and the work of figures who challenged dominant narratives around race, identity, and class.

NEXT in the Gallery: July art is a ‘time capsule of medieval Pittsburgh’

NEXTpittsburgh's July gallery guide highlights a range of new exhibitions and events across Pittsburgh. Featured shows include Nathan Van Patter's 'Medieval Pittsburgh' at Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, which reimagines the city's modern figures and landmarks in a medieval fantasy style; 'Five on Five' at Spinning Plate Gallery presenting new works by five local painters; Ben Schonberger's 'Hi-NRG' at 707 Penn Gallery, drawing from gay underground visual culture and disco music; and Ashley Andrykovitch's 'LAN Party' at UnSmoke Systems Artspace, inspired by 1990s local area network gaming gatherings.

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Amalia Ulman's new film *Magic Farm* follows an American documentary crew that arrives in a rural Argentine town with a mandate to cover "crazy subcultures," only to find none. Led by a harried producer (Alex Wolff) and an anchor (Chloë Sevigny), the crew fabricates a zany trend while completely missing an environmental crisis affecting the village—no drinking water and widespread illness. Ulman describes the film as a critique of media bureaucracy, where content demands override actual news. The film continues her exploration of image-making and fiction, themes she previously investigated in her 2014 Instagram performance *Excellences & Perfections* and her 2021 debut feature *El Planeta*.

The Guide #237: Fab 5 Freddy, the street artist at the heart of New York’s creative zenith

A new memoir by Fred Brathwaite, known as Fab 5 Freddy, chronicles his life as a pivotal figure connecting the emerging hip-hop and graffiti scenes of 1970s and 80s Brooklyn with the downtown Manhattan art world. The book, "Everybody's Fly: A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture," serves as an all-access pass to a transformative era, featuring encounters with icons like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and Debbie Harry.

Tony Cokes “SM BNGR2” at FELIX GAUDLITZ, Vienna

Tony Cokes' solo exhibition "SM BNGR2" at FELIX GAUDLITZ in Vienna centers on club culture as a space for celebrating life through love, desire, queerness, music, art, aesthetics, and moving bodies. The show de-marginalizes club culture by examining its significance for subcultures, activist movements, and political resistance through the lens of writers and academics.

'Steven Shearer' at David Zwirner, London, United Kingdom on From 5 Jun 2026

Canadian artist Steven Shearer will present a major exhibition of new figurative oil paintings, drawings, and significant loans at David Zwirner’s London gallery in June 2026. The showcase marks Shearer’s first solo presentation in the city since 2007, highlighting his unique ability to blend canonical art history with contemporary subcultures. His work frequently explores classical subjects like the artist’s studio and the Rückenfigur through a modern, often visceral lens.

Harmony Korine’s First U.S. Museum Show Is ‘Perfect Nonsense’

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Miami is set to host 'Perfect Nonsense,' the first U.S. museum survey dedicated to the multidisciplinary work of director and artist Harmony Korine. Opening April 15, the exhibition features over 50 works spanning Korine’s career, from early collages and notes following his 1995 film 'Kids' to his recent infrared 'post-cinema' project 'Aggro Dr1ft.' The show includes a diverse array of media, including 'Twitchy' paintings, collaborative works with Rita Ackermann, and a dedicated 'Florida Room' exploring his current home in Miami.

Exhibition | Catherine Opie, 'To Be Seen' at National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom

The National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting "To Be Seen," the first major UK museum exhibition dedicated to the American photographer Catherine Opie. Curated in collaboration with the artist, the show spans over 30 years of work, including her seminal 1991 series "Being and Having" and her Holbein-inspired portraits of the LGBTQ+ community. The exhibition is further expanded through a series of interventions where Opie’s contemporary photographs are placed in direct dialogue with the gallery’s permanent collection.

LGBTQ folks have always engaged with magic, spirituality. Here's why

The Palm Springs Art Museum is launching "A Queer Arcana: Art, Magic, and Spirit," an ambitious exhibition exploring the intersection of LGBTQ+ identities and spiritual practices. Spanning over a century of creative production from 1906 to 2026, the show features 35 artists who have utilized occultism, tarot, and magical traditions to navigate societal oppression and foster community. The collection includes a diverse array of media, ranging from historical occult drawings by Austin Osman Spare to contemporary paintings by Devan Shimoyama and feminist tarot decks.

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British artist Craig Boagey's solo exhibition "Spirit Economy" is on view at Amanita gallery in New York's Lower East Side. The show presents lush, meticulously executed paintings that assemble internet ephemera—memes, diagrams, YouTube stills, and references from online subcultures like nu-spiritualism and Remilia—into compositions that blend cute, feminine, and aspirational imagery with machinic, masculine, and esoteric elements. Works like "The All Thing" (2025) incorporate AlphaGo's famous Move 37, Christian iconography, and a memex, treating disposable digital content as cultural documents.

This Figurative Painter Captures the Intricacies of Detroit Through a Local Tattoo Artist

Chinese figurative painter Liu Xiaodong has opened a solo exhibition titled "Host" at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles, focusing exclusively on a single subject: John Mcintyre, a Detroit-based tattoo artist and member of a medieval reenactment club called Knyaz USA. The show features large-scale oil paintings that follow Mcintyre through his daily life—participating in armored historical battles in snowy forests, working in his tattoo studio, and relaxing at home—offering an intimate portrait of Detroit's subcultural communities.

In ‘I’m Listening,’ Barry McGee Celebrates Positivity Amid Distress and Overwhelm

Barry McGee, a key figure of the Mission School, presents his solo exhibition 'I'm Listening' at Perrotin in Paris, running through May 24. The show features sculptures, paintings, prints, and assemblages that draw from West Coast subcultures like skating and graffiti, incorporating grimacing cartoon faces, optical patterns on surfboards, and repurposed everyday objects. McGee describes the work as addressing global distress while celebrating human resilience and positivity.

art erin calla watson young artist

Cultured magazine profiles Los Angeles-based artist Erin Calla Watson as part of its 2025 Young Artists list. Watson, age 32, gained attention for her 2023 solo exhibition at Foxy Production in New York—the gallery's final show—where she manipulated 15 images from the iconic 1975–76 exhibition "New Topographics" by inserting the likeness of Australian supermodel Jordan Barrett. The project was critically acclaimed and sparked renewed discussion about the gallery's closure. Watson, who now shows with Ehrlich Steinberg in Los Angeles, continues to create ghostly, darkly humorous images that draw from internet subcultures like the "manosphere" to explore suburban gothic aesthetics.

7 unforgettable London events, shows and exhibitions that are ending in March

London’s cultural calendar is reaching a turning point this month as several major exhibitions and festivals prepare to close. Key highlights include the Sony World Photography Awards at Somerset House, a retrospective on the influential Blitz club at the Design Museum, and Min Woo Nam’s solo exhibition at LBF Contemporary. The month also sees the return of The Other Art Fair to the Old Truman Brewery, showcasing independent artists alongside community-driven events like the Telegraph Hill Festival.

Producing Cinema Inside and With Video Games: A 30-Year Festival in Milan

Produrre cinema dentro e con i videogiochi. A Milano ci fanno un festival (da 30 anni)

The Milan Machinima Festival recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of machinima, the practice of creating audiovisual works and films within video game environments. The event, curated by scholar Matteo Bittanti at IULM University, explored the medium's dual origins in 1996: the community-driven "vernacular" style seen in the Quake-based 'Diary of a Camper' and the artistic approach pioneered by Miltos Manetas in his work 'Miracle'.

The Art of the Chosen Family

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Mike D, co-founder of the Beastie Boys, has co-curated an exhibition titled "Mishpocha. The Art of Collaboration" at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt. The show explores the concept of family beyond biological ties, featuring works such as Ira Eduardovna's video installation "The Library Room," which depicts a family packing for emigration, and immersive audiovisual spaces evoking techno, hip-hop, punk, and Riot Grrrl subcultures. The exhibition includes contributions from artist Jan Ove Hennig, photographer Jan Zappner, design studio Atelier Markgraph, and hospitality group Ima Clique, with Mike D serving as artistic director and ambassador.

Saad Khan Archives the Detritus of Censored Culture

Saad Khan, a New York-based archivist, has developed Khajistan, an expansive digital and physical archive dedicated to preserving censored and overlooked mass media from South Asia to the Maghreb. The collection features a diverse array of ephemera, including homoerotic imagery, working-class street posters, and banned magazines that are often erased from official cultural records. By documenting everything from WhatsApp forwards to vintage film posters, Khan creates a space where the lived experiences of queer, trans, and working-class individuals in these regions are validated and archived.

Out and About: Richmond Art Gallery premieres new exhibits

The Richmond Art Gallery has launched two new exhibitions, 'I digress' and 'Side Core: under city'. The latter marks the North American debut of a show exploring the intersection of skateboarding culture and contemporary art in Tokyo, featuring work from artists Takasu Sakie, Matsushita Tohru, and Nishihiro Taishi. The former is a group exhibition curated by Zoe Chan, presenting diverse media from artists Simranpreet Anand, Jo-Anne Balcaen, August Klintberg, Anne Koizumi, Lindsay McIntyre, and Gonzalo Reyes Rodriguez.

Skin deep: Museum exhibit showcases body art

The Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire is concluding its run of “Tattoo: Identity Through Ink,” a traveling exhibition exploring the historical and cultural evolution of body art. To bring the history to life, the museum hosted live tattooing sessions where local artists, including Ed Erdmann of Wintership Tattoo, demonstrated their craft. In a notable moment of institutional engagement, the museum’s executive director, Carrie Ronnander, received her first-ever tattoo during the event to highlight the personal significance of the medium.

This New Penang Art Exhibition Brings Together Over 20 Local & International Artists Under One Roof

The group exhibition "Subculture" is set to open in George Town, Penang, featuring over 20 local and international artists. Hosted by the artist-run space Cultprint, the show explores subcultures not as acts of rebellion, but as lived experiences and communal identities. The lineup includes notable figures such as Ernest Zacharevic, Kenji Chai, and Alex Face, showcasing a diverse range of mediums including street art, sculpture, and photography.

Mint Museum exhibit reimagines feminine form as art

The Mint Museum Uptown is set to debut "Mint to Be: The Feminine Body as Costume Art" on May 1, an exhibition that explores the feminine form through the lens of fashion and identity. Curated by Professor Perrine DeShield-Jenkins, the showcase serves as a Met Gala–inspired experience featuring interactive narratives, photo activations, and a high-stakes runway competition where 20 Charlotte-based designers will vie for a $1,000 prize for couture that best reimagines the body as a living canvas.

New exhibition on local cold water swimmers at Bournemouth Hospital gallery

Photographer David Bird has unveiled a new exhibition titled "Cold Water Swimmers" at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s Art Space gallery. The series features before-and-after portraits of local swimming groups, such as Beyond the Blue in Poole, capturing the physical and emotional transformation of participants who brave the sea at sunrise without wetsuits. The project was developed during Bird's recent MA in Photography at Arts University Bournemouth, marking a return to academia after a 30-year career in commercial and press photography.

Calling all creatives: Evolved Gallery opens submissions for seven deadly sins exhibit

Evolved Gallery in Ventura, California, has announced an open call for its upcoming exhibition titled "SE7EN," themed around the seven deadly sins. Founded by Christina Van Ryzin in late 2025, the gallery is seeking traditional and digital paintings or illustrations that explore these vices through modern social or political lenses. The submission deadline is April 15, with the exhibition scheduled to run from April 25 through June 28, 2024.

New Penticton Art Gallery plans to showcase a mix of raw street culture and high-end art

The Penticton Art Gallery in British Columbia is launching a new exhibition program that deliberately blends raw street art and graffiti culture with high-end contemporary art. The initiative aims to break down traditional hierarchies and create a more dynamic, accessible space.