Lifestyle

The Venice Biennale, the world’s longest running contemporary art exhibition, returns for its 60th edition this week. The nearly seven month event will be curated by Adriano Pedrosa, the first individual chosen for the honor from South America, and will include 331 artists exhibiting around the theme “Stranieri Ovunque — Foreigners Everywhere.”Conceptually framed around migration, identity and displacement, Pedrosa believes this year’s edition has multiple meanings: “wherever you go, and wherever you are, you will always encounter foreigners. They—we—are everywhere. Secondly, no matter where you find yourself, you are always truly and deep down inside a foreigner. …Yet, one may also think of the expression as a motto, a slogan, a call to action, a cry of excitement, joy, or fear: ‘Foreigne...

Faith Ringgold, the fearless artist, activist and children's book writer best known for her expressive quilts that commented on the African American experience, has passed away at age 93. Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Barbara Wallace, as well as ACA Galleries, who represented the artist since 1995.Classically trained as a painter and sculptor, Ringgold first created politically charged compositions that explored issues of race and gender inequality in the 1960s. Flag For the Moon: Die N***** (1967) appears aesthetically similar to Jasper Johns' Flag (1954-55) painting of the previous decade, but hidden between the former's jagged red stripes are the words 'Die N*****' — Ringgold's "way of saying that too many American people go to bed hungry," she previously said, "while the gov...

Every club has its own set of matchday rituals. Some spawn from quirky one-off results that superstitiously stick with fans as a lucky charm over the decades; others arise from sheer lunacy. In Buffalo, the Bills Mafia are known for body-slamming each other through tables, while in Detroit, Redwings fans throw dead octopuses on the rink during playoff home games. For artist and Tottenham Hotspur supporter, Jack Hirons, visiting the chicken shop before a game is just as integral as watching the match. In his first solo show, Hirons has unveiled a new body of work at OOF Gallery inside the Tottenham Hotspur stadium entitled Fowl Play. Emblematic of the title, the show comprises of monochromatic paintings and stained glass window artwork centered at the intersection of his love for chicken an...

In the run up to next week's Salone del Mobile, French visual artist JR has unveiled a new site specific installation at Milan's Stazione Centrale, entitled La Nascita (The Birth). JR is known for creating colossal graphic interventions that have appeared across the world, from Paris' Palais Garnier to the doorsteps of the Pyramids of Giza.His latest installation features an illusionary trompe l’oeil effect, as a monochromatic depiction of a mountainous terrain forks through the entrance to the train station. “In spaces that have social issues, my work is about bringing people together,” JR told The Art Newspaper. “In a place like this, a huge range of people come to catch the train. When they find themselves in front of an exhibition, they will suddenly have a different kind of interactio...