INTERVIEWS

If what they say is true, and a picture is worth a thousand words, Thibaut Grevet wants his images to speak for themselves. Each houses its own universe, adrift between our lived reality and somewhere more sublime. Long-exposured bodies cascade in tight ribbons; stares on closely cropped faces cut through fields of grain, while others dissolve and bleed softly into themselves. In letting the frame slip he makes paradoxically precise the feeling of living inside a moment rather than simply observing it.Born in the French countryside and now based in Paris, the director-photographer came into the camera on his own, looking to instinct and pure interest as his teachers. As a child, he picked up the family VHS to shoot motocross rides and skate clips. In college, he took up graphic design, whe...

Maya Man creates with the screen-fed close to heart. The internet is the medium and message for the New York-based artist, whose practice unpacks the strange choreography of life online and the algorithms that make us.“The idea of ‘being yourself’ was always difficult for me to grasp,” she tells us. Effervescent and coquettish in appearance, Man’s work critiques the demand for self-curation and optimization through its very tools: Depop surfing, aspirational texts, TikTok dances, “day in my life” vlogs. Rather than trying to close the gaps between performance and authenticity, she proposes a way to live within them.Her desktop, despite working primarily in code, takes up only a modest corner of her sunny SoHo studio. Also home to her curatorial project, Heart, the rest of the space brims w...

As long as art has told us a story of beauty, it’s told us one of power. Egyptian artist Mohamed Monaiseer anchors itself in this duality in his series “I, the Pet Lion” recently presented with Cairo-based Gypsum Gallery at Art Basel Qatar, exploring how colonial history makes its way into “seductive yet insidious” objects of play. While glittering, regal and whimsical, Monaiseer’s works don’t aim to soften power’s edges, but expose how aesthetics of domination disguise themselves in even our most unassuming rituals.Monaiseer traces how the language of conflict embeds itself in what we know play to be — if war is a game, then people are its pawns. Chessboards and Ludo sets hang beside shields and banners clad with mythical creatures, recalling childhood relics while collapsing the lines be...

Jana Frost builds immersive, symbolic worlds through collage, animation and set design, moving between physical and digital space. Now based in London after years of relocating, her practice reflects that sense of movement and impermanence. She studied fine art at Tallinn University in Estonia, but her education has remained ongoing, shaped by continued research into symbolism, philosophy and psychology, which inform the layered visual narratives running through her work.Originally trained in ceramics and sculpture, Frost gradually shifted away from material-heavy processes as frequent moving made traditional studio practice difficult to sustain. Collage emerged as both a practical solution and a conceptual fit. Principles central to sculpture such as composition, balance and storytelling ...

After hallyu hit the global stage, South Korea’s creative imprint is ever-present. From the boom of Korean cinema and K-pop to the Gwangju Biennale if you lean more art connoisseur, the so-called soft powerhouse has proven a finesse on all cultural fronts. At the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, a new exhibition is turning back the clock to chart the artistic evolution that made this moment possible.Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared marks the first major of US exhibition of works hailing from the renowned collection of Lee Kun-Hee, the 23,000-piece strong trove assembled by the late Samsung chairman over seven decades. With over 200 works, including 14 designated National Treasures, on view, the showcase offers a rare look into one of Asia's most significant private...

Asspizza, born Austin Babbitt, has a reputation that precedes him. Like any name plucked from the fashion mythology of 2010s SoHo, it’s one that braces you for chaos.I sit opposite Babbitt at a West Village office in the hours leading up to his new art show, and, to my surprise, catch him in a serene state: putting finishing touches on a canvas, dousing it in loose, free-handed doodles. He bumps soft country music and hums back. Splayed across his all-new art car are thick Steve Jobs and Bruce Lee biographies he’s ready to open once the show wraps, he says.Next after his 2024 debut with Amanda Bynes, last week the artist-designer unveiled his second exhibition with Larry Warsh’s CART Department at its new space in lower Manhattan. On view through January 28, the show takes over Free Parkin...

Japanese contemporary artist TIDE has officially debuted EDIT, his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong, bringing his signature monochromatic world to the city for the first time. Spanning two key creative hubs - a main showcase at WKM Gallery and an exclusive takeover of BELOWGROUND - the exhibition marks a new chapter for an artist whose round-eyed cat character has become a recognizable icon of domestic life and childhood wonder.EDIT signals a shift in TIDE's practice, moving toward a more deliberate process of patience and revision. By revisiting canvases over extended periods to erase and overdraw, the artist builds a "hidden history" within each piece, adding a layer of atmospheric depth to his work.Hypebeast sat down with TIDE and William Kayne Mukai, the owner and director of WKM Gal...

Joshua Evans moves with the quiet certainty of someone who understands that growth happens over time. There is no rush in his practice and no interest in spectacle. When Hypeart visited Evans in his Brooklyn studio, where he is currently based, that mindset was easy to feel. The room was active but measured, paintings loosely leaning on corners with surfaces marked by revision. “This is the studio area. I have to keep it clean,” he says. “I cannot work in a Francis Bacon-esque studio.”Evans grew up in Mobile, Alabama, where drawing was just part of life. It was never framed as a career or an escape plan. It was simply something that felt natural. As a quiet kid, art gave him a way to stay focused and process things internally. That relationship shifted in college, when a period of depressi...