Art News. Vasari Codex

person people schedule Sep 10, 2025 visibility 18 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

ralph rugoff leaves hayward gallery

Ralph Rugoff, curator of the 2019 Venice Biennale, is leaving his post as director of the Hayward Gallery after 20 years. The Southbank Centre announced his departure for spring 2026, after which he will work as an independent curator and writer. During his tenure, the Hayward staged acclaimed shows like “Kiss My Genders!,” surveys for Kader Attia and Tracey Emin, and Rugoff was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2019. He previously led the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art in San Francisco.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 16, 2025 visibility 16 link 4 artists, 3 galleries

meet augustas serapinas the youngest artist in the venice biennale

Augustas Serapinas, a 28-year-old Lithuanian artist, is the youngest participant in the main exhibition of the 2019 Venice Biennale, curated by Ralph Rugoff. Known for site-specific, interactive works that blur public and private space, Serapinas creates installations like a functioning sauna and snowmen rescued from playgrounds. He famously hosts studio visits inside a drainage pipe along the Vilnia River, a practice that impressed Rugoff and other curators. Serapinas's work challenges traditional studio and exhibition formats, engaging audiences beyond the gallery.

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candle obituary schedule Dec 9, 2025 visibility 19 link 10 artists

napoleon jones henderson africobra artist dead

Napoleon Jones-Henderson, a key member of the AfriCOBRA collective known for creating art during the Black Power era, died in Boston on December 6 at age 82 after battling cancer. Jones-Henderson was part of the Chicago-based group founded in 1968 by artists including Jeff Donaldson, Wadsworth Jarrell, and Barbara Jones-Hogu, which synthesized African styles with Black American expressions. Despite the group's historical significance, their work was largely overlooked by major museums until recent years, with Jones-Henderson receiving his first major survey at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston in 2022.

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rate_review review schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 28 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

Alma Allen’s US Pavilion Is One of the Emptiest Shows at the Venice Biennale

Alma Allen represents the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale with a subdued, apolitical exhibition inside the US Pavilion. The show features roughly 25 sculptures—mostly in bronze, wood, and stone—many titled "Not Yet Titled," and deliberately avoids overt political messaging. This marks a stark departure from the previous two US pavilions, curated by Simone Leigh (2022) and Jeffrey Gibson (2024), which directly confronted colonialism and empire. The Trump administration’s call for proposals explicitly asked for work that "reflects and promotes American values," and Allen’s presentation has been criticized as safe, unremarkable, and lacking the incisive edge of contemporary American art.

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candle obituary schedule Apr 29, 2025 visibility 16 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

suki seokyeong kang dead

Suki Seokyeong Kang, a South Korean artist known for blending traditional Korean heritage with contemporary abstract forms, died on Sunday at age 47 (48 in Korean reckoning) after a battle with cancer. Her New York representative, Tina Kim Gallery, confirmed the cause. Kang's work spanned painting, textiles, sculpture, and installation, often incorporating postminimalist structures, craft techniques, and industrial materials. Notable series include her precarious "Grandmother Tower" sculptures and "Mountain" pieces made from curved steel and thread. She was born in Seoul in 1977, studied at Ewha Womans University and the Royal College of Art in London, and later became a professor of painting.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

article news schedule Mar 24, 2026 source 5 sources visibility 20 link 2 artists

Artist Ibrahim Mahama Says Police Attack in Ghana Put His ‘Entire Life On Hold’

Ghanaian contemporary artist Ibrahim Mahama announced plans to file charges against the Ghana Police Service after allegedly being violently attacked by officers from a unit called the Black Maria. Mahama states he was accosted on a bus in Tamale, sustaining severe facial injuries including broken teeth and bruising that forced him to cancel an international lecture and work tour. The police have denied the claims, stating the unit in question was not in the region at the time.

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person people schedule Sep 10, 2025 visibility 19 link 5 artists, 1 gallery

London’s Hayward Gallery director Ralph Rugoff to step down after 20 years in role

Ralph Rugoff, director of London's Hayward Gallery for nearly 20 years, will step down in spring 2026. The gallery declined to provide a reason for his departure, but Rugoff, 68, plans to continue working as an independent curator and writer. During his tenure, he curated 23 major exhibitions, commissioned public works by artists including Tracey Emin, Yinka Shonibare, and Phyllida Barlow, and oversaw the Hayward Gallery Touring program, which produced exhibitions like the British Art Show across the UK. He also served as artistic director of the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 and received an OBE for services to the arts.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Jan 18, 2026 visibility 16 link 2 artists

lithuanian pavilion

Lithuania's pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale presents "Sun & Sea (Marina)," an opera about a day at the beach that serves as a subtle, chilling commentary on climate change. Viewers observe performers lounging on a sandy tableau from a balcony, as they sing about mundane inconveniences and environmental apathy. The work, created by theater director Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, playwright Vaiva Grainytė, and composer Lina Lapelytė, was adapted into English for the biennale and organized by Lucia Pietroiusti of London's Serpentine Galleries.

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trending_up market schedule Oct 3, 2025 visibility 24 link 19 artists, 3 galleries

Anna Schwartz Gallery, beacon of Australia’s contemporary art world, to close and rebrand

Anna Schwartz Gallery, a cornerstone of Australia’s contemporary art scene, will close in December after 40 years in Melbourne. It will be replaced by a new venture, Anna Schwartz Projects, which will focus on occasional, project-based exhibitions, conversations, and events across installation, performance, publishing, and music. The gallery’s stable has included artists such as Shaun Gladwell, Angelica Mesiti, and Marco Fusinato, each of whom represented Australia at the Venice Biennale.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 18 link 6 artists

A Theatre Group of Exiled Belarusian Artists Arrive in Venice, With an Exhibition That Shows What Repression Feels Like

The Belarus Free Theatre, an exiled underground theater group, will stage its first official collateral exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled “Official. Unofficial. Belarus.” The show, held in the historic La Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia, features site-specific paintings, a sound installation, and large-scale sculptures that aim to immerse visitors in the experience of repression under authoritarian rule. This marks only the fifth time Belarus has been present at the Biennale, and the first time it appears not as a state but as a self-governing cultural body, challenging the official narratives of nations like Russia.

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article news schedule Oct 16, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

india venice biennale pavilion 2026 seven years

India has announced that emerging artists from its Indigenous tribes will represent the country at the 2026 Venice Biennale, marking the nation's first national pavilion since 2019. The news was delivered by Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at a conference on conservation and tribal arts, highlighting a renewed government focus on Indigenous artistic heritage.

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article news schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 24 link 5 artists

Venice Biennale jury resigns amid row over Russian entry

The international jury of the Venice Biennale resigned en masse just nine days before the opening of the world's oldest contemporary art fair, amid a dispute over Russia's participation and the panel's decision to bar prizes for countries accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. The jury, comprising president Solange Farkas and members Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, stepped down without explanation, following tensions that also involved Italy's Culture Ministry cutting €2 million in EU funding over Russia's presence and sending inspectors to the Russian Pavilion.

newspaper SMH.com.au open_in_new Read original