Art

Human connection is at the core of JR's multi-disciplinary practice. Through massive photographic displays, he looks to transform the places ingrained in collective memory by superimposing the images of everyday people amongst historical sites, such as the Pyramids of Giza and Milano Centrale, to form new dialogues and spark social change. Over the years, the French artist has also created moving documentaries, most recently with Robert de Niro spotlighting the story of the actor's late father, as well as a film on Tehachapi, one of California's most dangerous maximum security prisons.The latter film debuted last year at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado and showcases 48 prisoners serving life sentences without parole. Shot in 2019, JR sat down with each inmate to learn their stories...

The artist collective Troika presents Terminal Beach an immersive installation at the MAK in Vienna, as part of the Klima Biennale Wien 2024. This exhibition, Troika's first solo show in Austria, explores non-human intelligence, climate change adaptation, and the digital afterlife of human culture and myths.Central to the installation is a four-minute video loop on a giant LED wall, showing a black fur-covered robot arm chopping down the last tree on Earth. This scene unfolds in a desolate, flooded landscape filled with 3D-printed digital twins of museum objects, dubbed "Grenzgänger" or "crossers."Eva Rucki, Conny Freyer, and Sebastien Noel of Troika aim to explore the liminal spaces between artificial and natural, living and non-living, digital and physical realms. The installation featur...

Michael Kagan is a Brooklyn-based artist who explores the limits of human potential. His dynamic paintings are meticulously layered with rapid strokes of paint as he visualizes the emotional journeys experienced by those who live life on the edge, from Formula 1 drivers zipping by a narrow motorway to astronauts traversing the final frontier. On view at Almine Rech's Monaco location is a new solo exhibition in which Kagan explore's the city-state's connection to motorsports. Emblematic of its title, Victory Lap features various paintings that capture the sensations of the final stretch of a race. "The subjects of his spectacular paintings and sculptures are superhumans who brave all obstacles and fears in their obsessive and passionate pursuit of records, speed, excellence, and victory," w...

"Travel changes you," Anthony Bourdain once said. "As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you”. French artist JR is well-travelled, maybe not quite to the level of the late chef, writer and documentarian. But like Bourdain's musings on travel, JR looks to leave a mark on the places he visits, whether it be a warehouses in Miami's Wynwood District, at the steps of the Vatican Church to the Pyramids of Giza. Phaidon has teased an upcoming monograph documenting JR's collaborative projects from around the world. The book is being billed as the most comprehensive publication on his work to date and includes recent work with the New York City Ballet, film director Agnès Var...

Hauser & Wirth London is playing host to the second installment in Harmony Korine's AGGRESSIVE DR1FTER series of exhibitions. Fresh off a show in Los Angeles, a slew of DJ sets and a world tour presenting his Aggro Dr1ft (2023) film, the latest paintings join Korine's Florida-based collective EDGLRD, as they embark on changing the face of technology, filmmaking, video games and art.Like the accompanying film, Korine's acid-hued paintings transport viewers through the lens of an infrared scope, where meaning is replaced by the feeling an image can impart. "I wanted to make paintings that feel like they’re basically alive," Korine remarked. "I wondered if one can make works and imagery that look like nothing has preceded them? This project is almost closer to a futurist take on visuals, ...

When it comes to the threshold between street and fine art, few artists have shown the rise in recent times than British-Nigerian artist Olaolu Slawn. The Motherlan co-founder and self-proclaimed 'scam artist' has dipped his toes in a variety of projects over the years, including one-off projects with rapper Big Zuu and Corteiz to taking over London's Piccadilly Circus with CIRCA. Roughly a year ago, Slawn took to X to tease a sculpture he was creating in his own image. Modeled after various characters he's created in the past, such as his 2023 Brit Award statue, the figure depicts a hunched over man with a mischievous grin on its face. "You guys inspired me to make a sculpture in my image, this is the Ugly Bastard, say hello," Slawn previously said in the post. Entitled Ugly Bastard (2024...

VILLAZAN recently launched a group exhibition showcasing works by artists Elvira Fustero López, Jason Ho, Jorge Galindo and Ross Taylor. The show features a diverse range of styles from abstract expressionism to abstract landscapes.Elvira Fustero López, born in Zaragoza, Spain, is an acclaimed painter and sculptor with works displayed in prestigious museums and collections worldwide, including the French Institute of Barcelona and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Jason Ho, a British-Chinese architect and artist, is a Cambridge and UCL-trained professional whose works have been featured on the RIBA Journal cover and praised by cultural organizations.Meanwhile, Ross Taylor, based in Central Victoria, Australia, draws inspiration from the wild terrains and expansive forests of the Macedon Ranges....

Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, HVW8 hosted a group exhibition titled City of Quartz, which reflected on the contemporary forces that have come to shape Los Angeles. Inspired by author Mike Davis' book of the same name, the show would coincidentally predate the invisible forces that have irrevocably changed both LA and the world since. On view in Berlin, HVW8 is hosting the sequel to the exhibition, bringing together seven American artists who ruminate on where the 'City of Angels' is heading in the post-pandemic world. Artists include Alfonso Gonzalez Jr. and filmmaker Rikkí Wright, as well as the LA-based artist duo Willbert Olivar and Lalo Avila. "Los Angeles, regarded as the media capital, has long been responsible for authoring and disseminating trends in culture that reverberate...

Los Angeles-based artist Lauren Halsey has revealed the first renderings of an upcoming sculpture park that she will install in her hometown of South Central. The forthcoming project is aesthetically similar to the monumental rooftop installation she presented last year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Entitled "sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles,” the temporary sculpture park is curated by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) co-founder Christine Y. Kim and is supported by the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project. From a distance, the park looks like a trip back to Ancient Egypt, as Halsey casts eight sphinxes and eight totemic columns with the head of the Egyptian goddess of beauty, Hathor. Viewed closer, however, Halsey...

Summer's around the corner and to up your pool game, Spanish-Argentine artist Felipe Pantone and BEYOND THE STREETS have collaborated on a limited edition inflatable lounger.Inspired by his SUBTRACTIVE VARIABILITY series, the floating accessory is meant to transport the kinetic feeling in Pantone's artwork, "transforming any oasis into an artistic haven," according a release. The accessory comes off the heels of a massive mural that Pantone recently painted on the side of a 15,000 square foot building in Jersey City, New Jersey, described by the artist as his "largest painting ever," which his team of four "endured rain, cold, two earthquakes (on the lift), and a solar eclipse!"As for BEYOND THE STREETS, the Los Angeles-based gallery is currently showcasing a solo exhibition of works by na...

Nina Chanel Abney’s 'LIE DOGGO' at Jack Shainman Gallery’s The School in Kinderhook, New York, features new paintings, collages, site-specific murals, an immersive digital installation, and debut large-scale sculptures. Abney's work bridges historical art movements with contemporary issues, drawing on the influences of Matisse, Picasso, Léger, and Harlem Renaissance artists.The exhibition title, 'LIE DOGGO,' reflects themes of strategic invisibility and the tension between observation and action. Abney’s complex works delve into global dynamics, imperialism, and systemic inequalities, inviting viewers to examine the space between spoken and unspoken narratives. Her murals and sculptures use cultural signals and gestures to communicate identity and solidarity, while her digital installation...

Ed Ruscha, the king of the LA art world, is currently experiencing one of his largest retrospectives to date at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). To coincide with the exhibition, The Hole is featuring a group show of its own that pays tribute to Ruscha's impact on generations of creatives, both in the City of Angels and abroad. Aptly titled HOLLYWOOD DREAM BUBBLE: Ed Ruscha’s Influence in Los Angeles and Beyond, the exhibition comprises of paintings, sculptures, works on paper and silkscreened t-shirts inspired by the acclaimed American artist's six decade practice. Curated by Jessica Gallucci and artist Dani Tull, the show maps out a variety of stylistic periods throughout Ruscha's career through the lens and aesthetics sensibilities of those he's left an indelible mark on. Ar...