Art
Hailun Ma Documents Youth Culture in Kashgar
Photographer Hailun Ma’s new series, "Kashi Youth," focuses on a generation of young people in Kashgar, a historic city in China’s Xinjiang region. The project captures how local youth channel identity through fashion and cultural heritage.Ma, who was born in Xinjiang and is now based in Shanghai, uses portraiture to explore the contrasts between traditional and contemporary issues. Her subjects are photographed in everyday settings, dressed in localized ensembles that highlight the blend between local customs and contemporary aesthetics.The series is part of Ma’s broader effort to challenge dominant narratives about Xinjiang. Rather than presenting the region as isolated or static, she positions it as a place where change is visible and youth play an active role in shaping cultural identi...
Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr’s New Book is an Ode to ’90s Essex
SummaryBritish photographers Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr drop Julie Bullard photobook published by IDEA.Featuring over 100 photographs, Cohen plays the semi-fictional Julie, her childhood babysitter whom the book is named after.The book launches on May 15, and is available via IDEA and Dover Street Market.Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr are coming together for a quintessentially British collaboration. Published by IDEA, the artists’ latest photobook braids Parr’s photojournalistic knack with Cohen’s romantic worldbuilding, offering a hard-edged slice of small-town Essex.Titled Julie Bullard, the book takes its name after Cohen’s childhood babysitter of the same name, cited as her “first encounter with glamour.” We get a rare glimpse of the photographer in the frame, bringing to mind He...
Step Into the Meditative Mindscapes of Jang Koal’s ‘Solitary Inn’
SummarySouth Korean artist Jang Koal will present her solo exhibition, Solitary Inn, at Nanzuka Underground from May 16 through June 21.The showcase will debut 15 new paintings, staged as "rooms," that explore introspective moments of the everyday.For Seoul-based artist Jang Koal, a window is a portal into something close to magic. Much of her work takes cues from views from her studio – cityscapes and bursts of greenery below, pulsing with shifting emotions, rich narratives and flecks of hope.In Solitary Inn, her upcoming solo showcase at Nanzuka Underground, the painter invites viewers into her inner worlds. The exhibition features 15 new works that explore quiet, introspective moments that welcome the memory to the forefront.Staged in a series of room-like vignettes, each painting is an...
Hiroki Muraoka’s First Solo Exhibition Focuses on ‘Bright Moments’
SummaryHiroki Muraoka is a professional skateboarder who launched his first solo exhibition at Taipei's Little HutThe show will go on view from May 17 through June 1Bright Moments focuses on the happiness found in everyday lifeHiroki Muraoka is an emerging contemporary painter based in Tokyo, Japan who paints vivid, flat-based figurative scenes that capture his experiences as a professional skateboarder. Having been repped by big brands such as adidas and Traffic for his skateboarding talents, Muraoka has spent most of his daily life on four tiny polyurethane wheels, but would reserve his down time working on sketches, drawings and paintings. Taiwan's Little Hut has recognized Muraoka's creative skills beyond the action sport and is gearing up to launch a solo exhibition called Bright Mome...
Basquiat’s Earliest Known ‘Head’ Drawing to Hit Sotheby’s Auction
SummaryThe earliest known example of Basquiat’s iconic "Head" motifOffered on Sotheby's with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 USDAcquired directly from Basquiat and remained in same private collectionThere's no shortage of Basquiats making a big market splash with one of the late artist's paintings, "Saturday Night," having nabbed a mighty healthy $14.5 million USD during Christie's Hong Kong auction in March. But now, a much more rare and never-before-auctioned drawing by Jean-Michel Basquiat will soon be up for auction at Sotheby’s. Titled "Untitled (1978)," the work is described to be the earliest known example of Basquiat’s iconic "Head" motif which he created at 18 years old. Basquiat's "Head" figuration is considered to be a cornerstone of his visual language that would later spur...
Sky High Farm to Launch First-Ever Art Biennial
SummarySky High Farm, an artist-founded nonprofit working to combat food injustice, has announced its inaugural art biennial.The exhibition will be on view from June 28 through October 2025 in Germantown, New York.Among the 50 featured artists are Anne Imhof, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tschabalala Self, Félix González-Torres and more.Sky High Farm is launching its first art biennial, TREES NEVER END AND HOUSES NEVER END. In the last several years, the non-profit has made major waves, teaming up with fashion heavyweights like Dover Street Market and Balenciaga to join the fight against food insecurity. Now, the organization ringing in a new era with this significant milestone, as it expands to a new 560-acre, riverside site.Curated by founder and Gagosian-backed artist Dan Colen, the site-specific...
Koyo Kouoh, Curator of 2026 Venice Biennale, Dies at 57
SummaryCameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh has passed away after a recent cancer diagnosis.Announcement comes just five months following her appointing and days before presenting of next year's theme.She is leaving a legacy of elevating African voices in a global artistic dialogue.Koyo Kouoh, the renowned curator celebrated for reshaping global perspectives on African contemporary art, has died unexpectedly at the age of 57 following a recent cancer diagnosis.In December 2024, Kouoh was named curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale, poised to become the first African woman to lead the exhibition. Her death comes just months after the historic announcement. “Her passing leaves an immense void in the world of contemporary art,” the Biennale’s organizers said in tribute.Born in Douala, Cameroon in 196...
Ballroom Marfa’s New Group Show Probes Into Everyday Poetics
SummaryLos Encuentros is opening at Ballroom Marfa on July 4.The exhibition features work by Ozzie Juarez, Justin Favela, Antonia Lechuga, Narsiso Martinez and Yvette Mayorga.The works unpack social realities through painting, sculpture and installation.This summer, Ballroom Marfa will lift the veil on Los Encuentros, a group exhibition featuring newly commissioned works from five pioneering Latinx artists – Ozzie Juarez, Justin Favela, Antonio Lechuga, Narsiso Martinez and Yvette Mayorga – bound by the allure of everyday materials.A commitment to community, collaboration and the expression of Latinx culture, threads throughout the showcase of painting, sculpture and installation, with Marfa's proximity to Mexico adding a rich layer of context. Together, the artists confront colonial narra...
Jewels Linked to Buddha Go Under the Hammer
A cache of ancient jewels linked to the remains of Buddha is set to go up for auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on May 7, with estimates reaching $100 million HK (roughly $12.9 million USD).The 334-piece collection, known as the Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha, includes an array of pearls, rubies, topaz, sapphires and patterned gold sheets dating back to the Mauryan Empire (240-200 BCE). Unearthed in 1898 by British engineer William Claxton Peppé at a stupa near present-day Uttar Pradesh, India — near the Buddha’s birthplace — the relics were found alongside bone fragments believed to be the Buddha’s remains.For over a century, the jewels remained largely hidden in the private collection of Peppé and his descendants — until now. The upcoming sale has sparked major criticism from Buddhi...
‘A Poem for Deep Thinkers’ Is Rashid Johnson at His Most Vulnerable
SummaryOver 90 works spanning Rashid Johnson’s three-decade career"Sanguine" installation transforms the Guggenheim’s rotunda into a living archiveThemes of race, identity, mental health and collective expressionNYC's Guggenheim Museum is showing Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers, the artist’s most extensive solo exhibition to date. Curated by Naomi Beckwith and Andrea Karnes, the show takes over the museum’s spiraling rotunda with more than 90 works that examine race, personal history, mental health and cultural inheritance.At the top of the ramp, a new site-specific installation titled "Sanguine" anchors the experience. Steel structures hold live plants, books by Black writers, and an upright piano intended for public performances. The installation was designed to interact with th...
Steven Harrington Debuts at Frieze With a Tech-Powered Ode to LA Cool
Steven Harrington is making his Frieze New York debut with a sunny slice of Los Angeles. Known for his psychedelic-pop aesthetic and his beloved character, Mello, few artists can pull off such chaotic yet composed illustrative acts.Staged at The Shed’s top-floor lounge, Harrington transforms the space into a lush technicolor environment where a moment of meditative play cuts through the clamor of Art Week, inviting viewers to slow down, linger in the now and, as the title suggests, stop to smell the flowers.For his cozy, living room-like immersive installation, Harrington teamed up with LG to bring his vibrant universe into motion on their ultra-thin OLED screens. At the heart of the display, Mello waves from blooming fields on a transparent TV turned digital canvas. Elsewhere, he can be s...
The Rising Stars of Focus Shine at Frieze New York 2025
New York Art Week has arrived and with it comes the much-anticipated 2025 edition of Frieze New York. Staged at The Shed through May 11, the fair brings together 67 galleries from over 25 countries – everything from blue-chip heavyweights to the next wave of contemporary artists.The spotlight shines brightly on the Focus which is turning heads for its most expansive edition yet. Curated for the second year by Lumi Tan — the former curatorial director of Luna Luna’s revival — the section serves as a launchpad for younger galleries and emerging talent, Gwith a notable shift toward international voices, first-time participants and the synergy shared between artists and galleries.Video art makes a welcome return to Focus this year. Tech meets tenderness as Berlin-based Danielle Braithwaithe-Sh...
