INTERVIEWS

If we’re talking most memorable rooms in New York, Mickalene Thomas’ rhinestone vault takes the crown. Thousands of crystals in just about every color make up the towering shelves in the back corner of her studio, a converted two-storey mechanic’s garage. Just a few steps beyond, her latest collection is mounted in the main room. The sun hangs high over Brooklyn. What a fitting backdrop to welcome in her next chapter.Hot off the Paris stop of her global All About Love tour, the Jersey-born, New York-based artist, it seems, is already looking ahead. By now, the works have touched down and gone up in Detroit for her ongoing show at The Shepherd, presented by the beloved Library Street Collective. But if you ask her, Beneath the Moonlight was a long time coming.An international art star, Thom...

The third edition of the M+ Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival (AAGFF), supported by CHANEL, concluded on May 31st after three days of film, music and performance exploring space as both an artistic principle and a geopolitical subject. Highlights included the world premiere of ‘Lamya Gargash × Vivian Wang: Tracking Nomadism (Live)’, a newly commissioned live cinema collaboration supported by Chanel, alongside Rirkrit Tiravanija’s interactive ping-pong installation and screenings of landmark works by Nam June Paik and Xu Bing.Now in its third year, AAGFF has cemented itself as one of Asia’s most vital platforms for experimental film and moving image art, drawing independent filmmakers, artists and creative communities across the region under one roof. This edition’s theme built on last year’s...

As the World Cup takes over New York City this summer, Hypebeast Cup is bringing its global tour to SoHo for its final stop. Running from June 26 through July 19, the month-long activation will transform the neighborhood into a hub for football culture, creative collaboration and community, hosting a rotating lineup of artists, designers, brands and events that explore the game's influence beyond the pitch.Among those participating is London-based artist Mattia Guarnera, who will present a selection of original artworks painted directly onto football kits throughout the activation. While football serves as a recurring subject throughout his practice, Guarnera's work is rarely about the sport itself. Instead, he uses it as a lens to explore broader themes of identity, masculinity, competiti...

Romero Britto has built a decades-long career around a simple idea: art should make people feel good. The Brazilian-born, Miami-based artist has turned his signature mix of bold colors, graphic patterns and optimism into one of the most recognizable visual languages in contemporary art, bringing his work far beyond gallery walls through public installations, global partnerships and projects that reach audiences around the world.That spirit sits at the center of his latest collaboration with Skechers. Blending Britto's unmistakable imagery with the brand's everyday comfort, the collection transforms familiar silhouettes into wearable works of art. Hearts, vibrant color palettes and hand-drawn motifs pulled directly from the artist's paintings appear across the range, bringing his joyful per...

From the concrete walls of East Dallas to the prestigious halls of contemporary art, Victor “marka27” Quiñonez has spent decades proving that the streets are a sacred archive. For Quiñonez, graffiti and skateboarding were vital survival mechanisms and an escape from an environment imbued with mass incarceration, violence and immigration enforcement. He was raised in a resilient community where neighbors looked out for one another during sudden deportations and street vendors offered free tamales to families struggling to get by. That upbringing instilled an unshakeable ethos into his practice. Those lived experiences serve as the spiritual bedrock of his current work, transforming grit and neighborhood solidarity into monumental, public expressions.What sets Quiñonez apart is his ability t...

The Van Gendt Hallen in Amsterdam, a historic industrial facility where locomotives were previously manufactured, is currently undergoing a major renovation to become the future DRIFT Museum. A small group of attendees recently toured the site, which is in the early stages of construction, as part of a rare experience organized through VIP Cardholder Access from Capital One and The Cultivist.Lonneke Gordijn, co-founder of the artist duo DRIFT, provided a walkthrough of the facility and explained the rationale behind the project. DRIFT is known for large-scale kinetic works, including drone performances and complex light installations. Gordijn stated that the studio identified a need for specialized infrastructure that traditional museums are often unable to accommodate. She explained that ...

In the industrial backdrop of Ridgewood, Brooklyn, Anna Park’s studio is less of a clean white cube and more of a high-pressure lab. At just 29, Park has moved at breakneck pace through the art world. She went from being a star student to a global name whose work now sits in major collections like the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Born in Daegu, South Korea, and raised in Utah, Park spent her childhood constantly adjusting to new environments. That experience of being a first-generation immigrant in the American suburbs gave her exclusive POV to the social "performances" people do just to fit in—a theme that’s embedded in her unruly, charcoal creations. After a stint in California, she landed at the New York Academy of Art, where she was discovered by KAWS during an open studio in 2019. Th...

For this installment of Through the Lens, we explore the practice of multidisciplinary artist Boris Acket through the eyes of his father, Rob Acket.For the past three years, Acket’s father has documented the studio’s inner workings, capturing the long hours of testing and the inevitable technical failures that define his practice. This arrangement carries a profound circularity. After spending his childhood following his father (a sound technician and designer) around various sets, Acket has now seen those roles reversed. His father is the one documenting Boris’s complex installations, filtering the work through a familiar, paternal perspective.This process is most evident in Acket’s latest collaboration for the Fred again.. USB002 tour. The project centered on an adaptation of his work “E...

Purchase the Slawn cover of Hypebeast Magazine #37: The Architects Issue.Ed Worley, better known as Opake, is sitting on a couch in the studio while the sharp hiss of a spray can cuts through. We are talking about the new Hypebeast Magazine #37 cover. Slawn made it clear from the jump that he wasn't doing it unless Opake was part of the process. It was a move born purely from brotherhood. For Slawn, there was no version of this cover that didn't feature the man he calls his twin.Opake started writing graffiti at 13, but his life became a decade-long blur of heavy addiction. He spent eight years living on the streets, consumed by drugs, and was by his own admission unemployable until he hit 30 and stepped in to be a father. That responsibility changed everything. He started working 19-hour ...