Art

The Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai has announced Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy, the first museum exhibition in China by the internationally acclaimed artist Marina Abramović. Running from October 10, 2024, to February 28, 2025, the exhibition is inspired by Abramović's iconic 1988 performance of walking the Great Wall of China with German artist Ulay, marking them as the first international artists to traverse the Wall.Curated by MAM Shanghai’s Artistic Director Shai Baitel, in collaboration with Abramović, the exhibition will feature over 1,000 images from her Great Wall walk and a series of new artworks. Spanning three floors, the exhibition invites audience participation with artworks and objects, particularly those infused with crystals, believed to offer transformative energ...

Pharrell Williams has a vision: bringing arts competitions back to the Olympics, a tradition lost for nearly 80 years. According to a report by the Associated Press, Williams is picturing a world where the biggest sports stage also celebrates the finest in sculpture, architecture, and visual arts. Pharrell argued for the arts to be reintroduced in the Olympics by 2028 during his star-studded Louis Vuitton event in Paris last week. Speaking passionately before the event, he said, “The Olympics once had arts competitions. Sculpture, architecture, visual arts. Let’s remind everyone of that legacy and seize this moment to bring awareness.” The arts were first part of the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, where medals were awarded for architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. This conti...

Throughout history, red has been a marker of many things: it's the color of blood and the hue our ancient ancestors chose to typically scribble against cave walls. Millennia later, the Romans are noted to have favored red as the color to decorate military attire and in modern times, red is one of the most popular primary hues for sports teams, as is for many country flags. On view at the North Carolina Museum of Art is a new exhibition that explores the history of the color red.Seeing Red is mapped out across generations, linking disparate periods, such as the Ancient Incas and the Renaissance, bridging the gap in how civilization as a whole has collectively viewed various shades of the rosy hue. The institution has described it as "arguably the most important color to human beings," becau...

A massive pigeon has perched onto the High Line in Downtown Manhattan. Well, a sculptural pigeon that is. The 16-foot-tall artwork is the brainchild of Columbian artist and filmmaker Iván Argote, whose dubbed the pudgy feathered bird Dinosaur. Pigeons aren't the most glorified bird in the animal kingdom, not like its distant cousins in the eagle and hawk. However, Argote's totemic iteration will be hard to take your eyes off of as it makes its presence felt at one of New York City's most frequented intersections. He just hopes it doesn't cause any accidents as busy New Yorkers rush past Tenth Avenue at 30th Street. As the unofficial mascot of New York, Argote sought to recontextualize the image of the pigeon, reflecting in an interview that he saw the bird as "something that people would r...

The Museum of London has unveiled a new logo as part of its rebranding effort, but it hasn’t been met with universal approval. The institution, soon to be renamed London Museum, will relocate to Smithfield Market in 2026 after significant delays and budget overruns.The new logo features a white clay pigeon with a glittery golden excrement, a design intended to symbolize the city’s mix of "grit and glitter," according to museum director Sharon Ament as per Artnet. Senior curator Francis Marshall emphasized that pigeons have been a part of London’s landscape for over a millennium, thus becoming a symbol of the city.However, the logo has not won over all Londoners. Maxwell Blowfield, who writes for the museum industry newsletter maxwell museums, criticized the choice. “In 15 years of living h...

Objects speak, according to Danish visual artist Nina Beier. Regardless of its social or intended status, to Beier, a fake designer bag is both real in the physical sense and a representation of another, similar to a readymade sculpture. Trained initially in photography, it's through this lens that Beier observes the various objects, whether extravagant or mundane, that inundate the world. On view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, Beier presents Parts, a new solo exhibition exploring the stories embedded in (literally) every thing — be it a ceramic work of art, a Land Rover or a plastic container. Showcasing new and existing works, Beier explores the hidden biographies of everyday items, such as in China (2015): a series of purposefully broken fine china ceramic vessel...

The Hole’s summer show, 'Tone Poem,' in Los Angeles, features works within a tight tonal range. This exhibition explores the evocative potential of limited palettes, showcasing monochromes and reduced palette paintings across a greyscale gallery.'Tone Poem' serves as a crash course in color theory. Aiste Stancikaite’s pieces glow with added white tints, Paul Riedmüeller’s works mix hues with pure gray, and Charline Tyberghein’s paintings darken hues with black shades. For many artists, tone, tint, and shade are second nature, shaping their expressive, minimalist styles.Abstract artists like Daniel Byrd weave three colors together, while Matt Phillips and Russell Tyler make bold statements with restrained palettes. Playful tones emerge in Peter Mohall’s color theory mockery and Felipe Pant...

As the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics kick off, there's more than athletic prowess on display in Paris. At the Palais de Tokyo, athletes reveal another side of their talents in the Olympian Artists Programme exhibition, running through August 11. Among them is French fencing champion Enzo Lefort, showcasing his stylized portraits of fellow Olympians and Paralympians.Lefort, a three-time Olympic fencer from French Guiana with gold and silver medals from Tokyo and Rio, turned to photography in 2017. His series, Olympic Faces: One French Team, captures the diverse athletes united in their pursuit of gold for France. This latest series builds on his 2020 photo book, "Behind the Mask," created during the pandemic's Olympic postponement. Lefort’s lens focuses on the rich cultural and geographic dive...

For nearly 20 years, NANZUKA has served as a premier destination for contemporary art in Tokyo. Founded by Shinji Nanzuka, the gallery has nestled several locations across the Japanese capital, showcasing prominent and emerging artists, including Hajime Sorayama and Keiichi Tanaami, as well as joining forces with Aisho Miura Arts in 2013 to form AISHONANZUKA gallery in Hong Kong.NANZUKA has now added a new curatorial platform to its programming aptly titled PUBLC. The initiative will feature two-to-three artworks per year, enlisting the gallery's growing list of international artists to form new dialogues in the buzzy city streets. For the inaugural entry, French artist Jean Jullien has unveiled a new installation entitled The Tank. On view in front of the new Shibuya AXSH building, the ar...

Copenhagen's Kunsthal Charlottenborg is showcasing a comprehensive survey into the work of Danish conceptual artist Simon Dybbroe Møller. Bypassing categorization, Møller explores existential questions through metaphoric installations, films, photographs and teachings, probing into the physicality and materiality of things, along with the ubiquitousness of representation.The title of the show, Thick & Thin, relates to the ups-and-downs experienced throughout life and the musings between sculpture (thick) and a photograph (thin). At the entrance of the gallery lies Bags and Boulders, which consists of unassuming school backpacks on the floor, each filled with a boulder within its central compartment. The bags are slightly ripped to reveal a sliver of the rocky object within, giving a se...

As Paris readies up for a packed schedule of 2024 Olympics games, which start today, the city is not just buzzing with the anticipation of athletic feats. It is also alive with the rich interplay of art, history, and culture. This summer, Paris offers a gang of exhibitions that delve into the profound connections between sport and art.From the storied halls of the Louvre to the cutting-edge displays at Gagosian, each exhibition presents a distinct narrative, inviting viewers on a journey through time, creativity, and the raw human spirit. Check out our list below and add them to your Paris 2024 Olympics calendar.Musée Marmottan Monet: 'En Jeu! Artists and Sport'Through September 1Step into the Musée Marmottan Monet for 'En Jeu! Artists and Sport.' This isn’t just an art exhibit; it’s a tim...

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are officially underway and American artist Hank Willis Thomas is releasing a special limited-edition print for the occasion. Produced in collaboration with Avant Arte, The only bond worth anything between human beings is their humanness. depicts legendary American track and field star Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, despite the racial discrimination set out by the Third Reich during both the tournament and in the years to follow.Based on an original work Thomas is exhibiting in Paris, Owens is depicted racing towards the finish line in a black halftone effect, clad in a red and doily patterned white uniform amidst a collaged blue background — together representing the American flag. At the time, Owens shattered the re...