Lifestyle

MCA Chicago is gearing up to host the first comprehensive survey on multidisciplinary artist Gary Simmons. Originally from New York but now based in Los Angeles, Simmons, whose family comes from the West Indies, has spent the past 30 years interrogating the visual lexicon of American culture, in relations to race, class and gender identity. Public Enemy will retrace Simmons' early conceptual strategies of the late 1980s, such as his focus on sculpture, while progressing towards the wall artworks he'd come to be known for during his career. Also on view are a number of site-specific installations that have been specially made for the exhibition.Simmons often taps into pedagogical themes, readymade objects and widely accessible images to probe traditions entrenched in racism, such as Six-X (...

Cai Guo-Qiang, a globally acclaimed contemporary artist, recently presented his expansive solo exhibition titled "Ramble in the Cosmos – From Primeval Fireball Onward" at the National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT). The exhibition, jointly organized by NACT and Saint Laurent, showcases Cai's extraordinary body of work.Just before the exhibition's opening, Cai orchestrated a daytime fireworks spectacle named "When the Sky Blooms with Sakura." This commissioned event by Saint Laurent, in collaboration with the project's Executive Committee, took place above the very coast where Cai's explosive artwork, "The Horizon from the Pan-Pacific: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 14," astonished audiences three decades ago.The involvement of Saint Laurent in curating Cai Guo-Qiang's exhibition aligns with t...

James Jean doesn't typically collaborate with other artists. Haroshi, well-known for his recycled skate deck figures, was a notable exception. The two first got acquainted online as they spotted similar motifs within each other's work, namely, the exploration of traditional Japanese woodworking. The Taiwanese-American artist recently took to Instagram to announce a new collaborative print between the two, entitled Trespassers. Produced by Avant Arte, the artwork prominently features Jean's Woodcutter character in the center as it stands on a felled skate deck and one of Haroshi's GUZO characters in its arms. "It’s uncertain whether he stole or rescued a much coveted GUZO," mused Jean via Instagram, "but what is clear is that he is a trespasser, and he has an expression of defiance as he pu...