Art

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum has launched “Studio Hirshhorn,” a video series offering a behind-the-scenes look at how exhibitions are made. The first series features Brazilian artists OSGEMEOS as they prepare for ‘Endless Story,’ their largest U.S. exhibition, opening September 29.Nine short videos show OSGEMEOS in their São Paulo studio, revealing key aspects of their work, including music, graffiti, and cosmic themes. These videos will be part of the exhibition and shared across the museum’s social media. Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu notes that the series aims to reveal the often-hidden process of exhibition planning and creation. The project builds on the museum’s tradition of public engagement, following initiatives like the “Artists in Quarantine” series.‘Endless Story’ is cu...

'Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere' at Hayward Gallery is a multifaceted exploration of overlooked histories, particularly those of unsung Black pioneers. Strachan’s work spans immersive installations, sculptures, collages, and neon pieces, blending playfulness with profound themes.The exhibition features the 14-meter-long 'Black Star Liner' on the flooded gallery roof, the 'Intergalactic Palace' sound-and-light show, and 'The Encyclopedia of Invisibility'—a 2,550-page book highlighting those erased from history. Sculptures of human figures submerged in mineral oil further the theme of invisibility.Strachan highlights historical bias, as seen in works like 'Henson' (2012), depicting Black explorer Matthew Henson, and neon works referencing Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first Blac...

Anish Kapoor returns to Liverpool after 40 years with ‘Monadic Singularity,’ a free exhibition celebrating Liverpool Cathedral’s centenary. Spanning 25 years of Kapoor’s work, the show includes the U.K. debut of his monumental sculpture ‘Sectional Body Preparing for Monadic Singularity’ (2015).While not the oldest, Liverpool Cathedral is the U.K.'s largest and eighth-largest worldwide. The cathedral has recently embraced art exhibitions, but "Monadic Singularity," supported by Culture Liverpool and Lisson Gallery, is its most ambitious. Paul Smith, Director of Enterprise, sees this as a way to elevate the cathedral’s cultural offerings and thank its visitors. Kapoor’s works explore the intersection of the physical and the immaterial, reflecting the cathedral's Gothic architecture and spiri...

Raymond Pettibon fans have a rare chance to grab some of his iconic punk-era designs at a fraction of the cost. "Raymond Pettibon: The Punk Years," an auction happening on August 22 at Wright in Chicago, features over 300 items from the collection of former MoMA curator David Platzker, as per Artnet. These include flyers, posters, and other ephemera that rarely hit the market.Platzker, who curated several Pettibon shows at his gallery, Specific Object, started collecting these items while in high school in L.A. during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Pettibon, known for his dark, sardonic style, became the visual force behind California’s punk movement, creating the artwork for bands like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys.The auction offers a range of items, from top lots like a skate deck for...

Estevan Oriol's Panama Prison photography book offers an unflinching look at life inside one of the world's most overcrowded prison systems. Known for capturing the gritty realities of unseen worlds, Oriol turns his lens on Panama's prisons, revealing the harsh conditions and complex humanity within.Oriol’s photography is stark, raw, and deeply humanizing. His black-and-white images strip away sentimentality, presenting inmates with an intensity that challenges viewers to confront the broader issues of incarceration, justice, and inequality. The photos originated from a documentary project on a prison library initiative, but the documentary was never completed. Instead, the images stand alone, capturing the resilience, pride, and danger that define the lives of those behind bars.Panama Pri...

Powder Mountain, a 12,100-acre ski resort in Eden, Utah, now under the ownership of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, is launching an ambitious public art program. The initiative will integrate large-scale sculptures and land art across the mountain’s vast terrain, blending art with its natural surroundings.The first round of installations includes renowned artists like James Turrell, who will place his Ganzfeld Apani light installation in a trailside pavilion, and Nancy Holt, whose significant 1980s work will be permanently installed in collaboration with the Holt/Smithson Foundation. Jenny Holzer will create text-based rock engravings, while Utah native Paul McCarthy plans an immersive piece inspired by the mythology of the American West. Other featured artists include EJ Hill, Arthur Ja...

American artist Roe Ethridge is presenting the next chapter in his Happy Birthday Louise Parker exhibition. A selection of works will be shown at Gagosian's Gstaad location, as part II continues Ethridge's interrogation into the circulation of images, conflating the worlds of commercial photography and fine art to understand the visual vernacular that dictate consumer behavior. Researchers estimate that social media users are exposed to up to 10,000 ads per day — a dizzying number of logos, settings and people carefully positioned to sell you a product or idea. Ethridge dismantles how these widely replicated images shape perceptions and experiences by mixing his graphic portraiture and still lifes with sublimation dying processes, resulting in cinematic photographs and abstracted product ...

'Mickalene Thomas: All About Love' is now on view at The Broad in Los Angeles, California. The exhibition showcases over 90 works spanning two decades of the artist's career, highlighting Thomas's dynamic practice across various mediums, from mixed-media painting to photography. The exhibition draws its title and themes from Bell Hooks’ pivotal text, focusing on love as a transformative, liberating force. Thomas demands that Black women be seen and understood, urging viewers to embrace what hooks calls "practitioners of love."The Broad’s exhibition includes early works like the photographic triptych 'Lounging, Standing, Looking' (2003), featuring the artist’s mother, and 'Portrait of Maya No. 10' (2017), an eight-foot-tall rhinestone piece that commands attention. The exhibition is accompa...

Artists often revert to unconventional methods for their paints, some having famously used blood, coffee or even urine to form both the literal and conceptual basis of their work. For Japanese artist Kotaro Abe, fish farming has always played a fundamental role for his family and he sought to instill a penchant of the sea in his own practice, by mixing fish feed — such as black sesame seeds and tapioca flour — with paints to create his mythological canvas paintings. On view at NANZUKA 2G in Tokyo, Abe presents EFFIGY, a series of new wall works that resemble imaginary creatures from the ocean. Abe's process is intuitive, as he sketches his thoughts directly on whiteboards, sourcing from the many things he's touched or experienced throughout his life. From DODOMEKI, a multi-eyed alien akin ...

Time and again, Mark Zuckerberg will make headlines for something entirely unexpected, like the time he was photographed hydrofoiling with his face dripping of sunscreen or the now viral meme of the Meta CEO's relaxed hairstyle — which in reality was retouched to exaggerated levels. Next on the list is, well, a statue that Zuckerberg had crafted by Daniel Arsham of his wife Priscilla Chan. The seven-foot artwork appears like a work of antiquity — a stylistic preference for Arsham, who amongst other things, is know for creating fossilized relics of contemporary objects. Chan's likeness is cast in a weathered and oxidized copper that is finished in a dark teal coating. Encased around her is a shiny himation wrapped around the body of the sculpture.“The more of me the better?” said Chan in an...

Political activism has always been a core pillar to Shepard Fairey’s over three-decade career. Amongst his many posters and building-sized murals, Fairey’s HOPE (2008) artwork became one of the campaign symbols for then-U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama, as well as another stylized work the LA-based artist created following the terrorist attacks across France in 2016, entitled Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.As the race for the White House intensifies, Fairey is back on the campaign trail to reveal a new poster dubbed FORWARD (2024). “We have a very real opportunity to move forward,” said Fairey via Instagram. “If we act we can move forward our desire for a healthy planet, for corporate accountability, toward equality and away from racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia, for equitabl...

Ralph Steadman, the godfather of gonzo art, is back on U.S. soil with a new exhibition. Known for his explosive, chaotic style that captured the raw, untamed spirit of the counterculture movement, Steadman’s work has left an indelible mark on art and journalism.. His last show, a retrospective, was cut short by COVID, forcing a retreat to the United Kingdom before it could complete its tour. But thanks to United Therapeutics, Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing is making its way across cities in America.The tour kicks off at the American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center in D.C., running from September 7 to December 8, 2024. This exhibition dives into the blurred lines between reality and fiction in Steadman’s work, where the two often collide with interesting results. From his earl...