Lifestyle

'Mickalene Thomas: All About Love' is now on view at The Broad in Los Angeles, California. The exhibition showcases over 90 works spanning two decades of the artist's career, highlighting Thomas's dynamic practice across various mediums, from mixed-media painting to photography. The exhibition draws its title and themes from Bell Hooks’ pivotal text, focusing on love as a transformative, liberating force. Thomas demands that Black women be seen and understood, urging viewers to embrace what hooks calls "practitioners of love."The Broad’s exhibition includes early works like the photographic triptych 'Lounging, Standing, Looking' (2003), featuring the artist’s mother, and 'Portrait of Maya No. 10' (2017), an eight-foot-tall rhinestone piece that commands attention. The exhibition is accompa...

Artists often revert to unconventional methods for their paints, some having famously used blood, coffee or even urine to form both the literal and conceptual basis of their work. For Japanese artist Kotaro Abe, fish farming has always played a fundamental role for his family and he sought to instill a penchant of the sea in his own practice, by mixing fish feed — such as black sesame seeds and tapioca flour — with paints to create his mythological canvas paintings. On view at NANZUKA 2G in Tokyo, Abe presents EFFIGY, a series of new wall works that resemble imaginary creatures from the ocean. Abe's process is intuitive, as he sketches his thoughts directly on whiteboards, sourcing from the many things he's touched or experienced throughout his life. From DODOMEKI, a multi-eyed alien akin ...

Time and again, Mark Zuckerberg will make headlines for something entirely unexpected, like the time he was photographed hydrofoiling with his face dripping of sunscreen or the now viral meme of the Meta CEO's relaxed hairstyle — which in reality was retouched to exaggerated levels. Next on the list is, well, a statue that Zuckerberg had crafted by Daniel Arsham of his wife Priscilla Chan. The seven-foot artwork appears like a work of antiquity — a stylistic preference for Arsham, who amongst other things, is know for creating fossilized relics of contemporary objects. Chan's likeness is cast in a weathered and oxidized copper that is finished in a dark teal coating. Encased around her is a shiny himation wrapped around the body of the sculpture.“The more of me the better?” said Chan in an...

Political activism has always been a core pillar to Shepard Fairey’s over three-decade career. Amongst his many posters and building-sized murals, Fairey’s HOPE (2008) artwork became one of the campaign symbols for then-U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama, as well as another stylized work the LA-based artist created following the terrorist attacks across France in 2016, entitled Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.As the race for the White House intensifies, Fairey is back on the campaign trail to reveal a new poster dubbed FORWARD (2024). “We have a very real opportunity to move forward,” said Fairey via Instagram. “If we act we can move forward our desire for a healthy planet, for corporate accountability, toward equality and away from racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia, for equitabl...

Ralph Steadman, the godfather of gonzo art, is back on U.S. soil with a new exhibition. Known for his explosive, chaotic style that captured the raw, untamed spirit of the counterculture movement, Steadman’s work has left an indelible mark on art and journalism.. His last show, a retrospective, was cut short by COVID, forcing a retreat to the United Kingdom before it could complete its tour. But thanks to United Therapeutics, Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing is making its way across cities in America.The tour kicks off at the American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center in D.C., running from September 7 to December 8, 2024. This exhibition dives into the blurred lines between reality and fiction in Steadman’s work, where the two often collide with interesting results. From his earl...

It was a somewhat tumultuous weekend for Austrian-based Taylor Swift fans, as the pop star's slate of Eras Tour concerts were cancelled in Vienna due to security threats. To alleviate the pain, a number of art museums granted free entry to Swifties, including the MAK Vienna, MAK Geymüllerschlössel, The ALBERTINA and Mozarthaus Vienna. Little did the institutions know the influx of fans that would actually show up from their kind gesture. ARTnews reported that thousands of Swifties flocked into the halls of various museums, clad in the pop star's merch, trading friendship beaded bracelets with staff as they were guided on English-speaking tours. According to the Albertina, a typical day would draw in about 1,200 visitors. But the Swifties brought in a whopping 20,000 eager guests — droves o...