Art

Saatchi Gallery is set to debut ADAPTATION, the first major survey of contemporary photographer Anastasia Samoylova. The exhibition chronicles the trajectory of the rising star, presenting works from her most celebrated series spanning the 2010s through today.Born in Russia and now based in Florida, Samoylova finds inspiration in the many meanings of “adaptation" to summon a suite of images that feel of the moment and timeless at once. Dancing between observational photography and studio practice, the artist confronts a rapidly changing planet with tender captures of life as it is lived.Thick with provocation, Samoylova’s work exhibits a critical understanding of both aesthetics and social critique. Guiding audiences through the “seductive tropical palette” of Miami, sharp and stark landsc...

Walk down the street in any metropolitan city and you'll likely find someone, many in fact, who are talking into their phones, abruptly breaking in-and-out of character as if their digital lives take precedent over reality. This premise serves as one of the central focuses of American artist and writer Jibade-Khalil Huffman. Born in Detroit and currently based in Los Angeles, Huffman is currently exhibiting a new solo exhibition entitled Control at Anat Ebgi gallery, revealing a new series of film installations, inkjet collages and his first-ever screen-printed works. Huffman has long been fascinated with doppelgängers and reinvention in the face of trauma. Using today's social and political climate as his subject matter, IRL features two performers, who over the course of three hours, act...

British artist Nigel Howlett reunites with Case Studyo in a wooden edition entitled Silence. Based in London, Howlett is known for creating haunting paintings and sculptures depicting featureless subjects that probe into presence and absence.Silence is currently on view as part of Ojiri Gallery's group exhibition, Not Invited!, a surreal showcase that explores the contradictory natures of the human experience. Visually akin to The Ring's (2002) eerie antagonist, Samara Morgan, Howlett's ghostly figures tempt audiences to reexamine their surroundings, both domestic and urban, to reflect on stillness, solitude and "the balance between isolation and connection in a fast-paced world," explains Case Studyo. "I like to get in close on the subject and often have a movie lens in mind," Howlett pre...

Argentine-Spanish artist Felipe Pantone and his team have launched a relief initiative to aid communities by the devastating floods that ravaged Valencia, Spain. After a year’s worth of rain hit the city in just one day, killing at least 217 people, artists from around the globe have come together to raise relief funds.The idea behind Auction for Action came to Pantone after his own studio was wrecked by the DANA storm, however, none of the donations will go toward restoring the studio. Instead, the artist and his team are working directly with local organizations and recovery efforts, like the Coloring the World Foundation, to ensure that the donations reach the most affected areas.Ranging from just €300 EUR ($323 USD) to tens of thousands, the auction’s current gamut features works by ar...

The 20th century was filled with artistic movements that continue to shape the world today. Amongst them, Pop Art heralded a paradigm shift on both sides of the Atlantic, replacing religious, mythological and historical themes with widespread iconography, from advertisements and merchandise to celebrities and everyday commercial branding as the central topics of discourse.On view at Paris' Fondation Louis Vuitton is a new group exhibition that celebrates the confluence of art and pop culture, surveying the origins of Pop Art and how the movement persists with today's cultural luminaries. Central to the show is the work of Tom Wesselmann, who for over 60 years explored the sensuality and eroticism of American life, such as in The Great American Nude Series (1961-1973). "With no manifesto an...

In Rome, Villa Medici is playing host to a new elemental exploration. The exhibition, titled THE SIREN SONG, examines the ever-shifting essence of water through the lens of around 30 contemporary artists from around the globe. In a storm of seas, clouds, dew and tears, the show embarks on water’s profound beauty and urges reflection on its place in our lives.At the heart of the exhibition is the mythical siren, first appearing in ancient Greek mythology and having since become the focal point of nautical literature and art across cultures. While they bear a haunting beauty, these creatures' deceptive tunes symbolize entrance and temptation, guiding sailors to their demise.Akin to the allure of the siren, water is an omen of humanity’s fascination with the dangerous unknown. Across the exhi...

Fresh off a new print release with The-Art-Form, Japanese artist En Iwamura is showcasing his latest solo exhibition at Almine Rech. Housed at the gallery's Shanghai location, Glances and Echoes presents a series of works that are partly inspired by Iwamura recently becoming a father, imbuing a sense of childlike wonder in each of his ceramic vessels and ink-based drawings. A student of history, Iwamura revisits artistic tropes from years past to create totemic handmade busts that reference ancient Japanese craftsmanship, from the Jomon era (14,000 to 300 BCE) to the terra cotta haniwa figures from the Kofun period (300 to 538 CE). In particular, the Japanese philosophy of Ma, or the space between things, is a central pillar to Iwamura's practice — emphasizing peacefulness and curiosity th...

Skateboarder and contemporary artist Ed Templeton makes his return to Tim Van Laere with The Sprawl, his first solo exhibition at the gallery in over a decade. In a suite of photographs, paintings, drawings and sculptures, Templeton wides an affectionate eye toward everyday beauty.Born in Huntington Beach, California, Templeton takes thematic inspiration from his punk rock-infused upbringing, reflecting the raw, vulnerable moments that have come to define his life. A pioneering figure in the 90s street scene, his artistic practice developed naturally and helped situate skateboarding within a broader creative discourse, building new bridges between sport, art and culture while tackling social ideas that go overlooked within the subculture.Embracing the pretty and the ugly in equal measure, ...

Los Angeles-based artist Matt McCormick will release a new book chronicling his Into the Distance series. Entitled Out Of The Great Wide Open, the publication revisits the myth of the American West through a contemporary lens, exploring themes of freedom, nostalgia and isolation.Created between LA and New York City, McCormick started Into the Distance in 2017, conflating punk rock influences, such as using a faulty printer to transmit grainy landscape textures that he would overlay with cowboy figures, as an embracing of imperfection that is often erased in the picture-perfect capabilities of the social media age today. In the years since, McCormick's scope has expanded to depict his lone subjects drifting in-and-out of the composition like a scene from a movie — mirroring the blurring of ...

Contemporary American artists, Futura and Kenny Scharf have linked up to co-create a limited-edition sculpture set with AllRightsReserved.The two artists go way back. They held their first joint exhibition in New York’s Tony Shafrazi Gallery back in 1984, which served as the starting point for both their artistic careers and journies. With the latest collaboration, Futura and Kenny Scharf perfectly expressed their chemistry and creative visions in a playful, yet dynamic manner.Dubbed “Untitled,” the new set of stainless steel sculptures showcases two pairs of characters, each onboard a distinct UFO. Futura’s emblematic FL-001 “Pointman” takes on a passenger role on the metallic purple spaceship, which appears to be piloted by ESPACIO, Kenny Scharf’s quirky character. The shape of the space...

While ART X Lagos unfolds in Nigeria, London’s Autograph is set to unveil a powerful solo exhibition showcasing the work of Lagos-born photographer Rotimi Fani-Kayode. In a magnetic display of black and white portraits, The Studio – Staging Desire honors the sanctuary of the artist’s Brixton studio, which served as a creative haven for Black queer self-expression.Through a series of archival photographs and never-before-seen works, the exhibition follows Fani-Kayode as he ventured into spiritual worlds of intimacy, pain and fantasy. From 1983 until his death in 1989, the studio became a home for love and freedom amidst the racial and cultural bustle of London. Coded within sharp gestures, poses and a haunting sense of longing, his work captures a language of complex desire and difference.A...