Inspiration

I would never have proposed this exhibition in her lifetime. This is, after all, a writer who said in an interview, “Don’t shove me into your damn pigeonhole, where I don’t fit, because I’m all over.” PORTLAND — Under an acrylic case in an exhibition I curated about my mother, the writer Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018), sits the first typewriter she purchased. Compact and impossibly heavy, the machine comes from an era of word production so distant as to feel alien. The keyboard has no exclamation point. To create the favorite punctuation of tyrants and optimists, one must type an apostrophe, then backspace and type a period. One visitor’s letter wondered how Ursula would feel knowing that her writing and cultural presence are no longer her own after death. The question is apt for me as curator and literary executor. Even a very private writer, while she is alive, exercises a restraining influence on people’s ability to misinterpret her words or life story. I can take comfort in my mother’s respect for the agency and necessity of readers in creating literature. For many years, her stock fan mail reply was a thank-you note, in her handwriting, acknowledging that “a [...]

We tell young artists never to pay for the privilege of being considered. Then we send them into an art world that invoices them for the opportunity. Ten dollars here, $40 there, “just a SlideRoom fee,” “just to cover jurors.” Small line items with significant consequences. The logic is tidy: it weeds out the unserious, funds the review, and keeps the lights on. The reality is messier. Fees are a paywall on opportunity, and paywalls do not measure merit. They measure means. When a field built on ideals of access and expression charges for the act of showing up, the rhetoric of equity collapses into the economics of endurance. Some fees are merely annoying. Others are outright predatory. A former student once described an exhibition call in which the gallery charged an application fee, with the promise that it would be refunded if the artist was not selected. The catch was that everyone was selected. The gallery then required artists to deliver the work at their own expense. Anyone who could not afford shipping forfeited the fee. The gallery always kept the money. It looked like inclusivity but operated like a trap, a guaranteed revenue stream disguised as opportunity. If [...]

Mindy Seu’s A Sexual History of the Internet is part performance, part artist book, and part financial experiment. In A Sexual History of the Internet (2025), artist and researcher Mindy Seu proposes a different kind of archive: one that maps how bodies, desires, technologies, and systems of power have been entangled since the earliest days of our beloved web. Rather than frame this research through a traditional academic text or media theory, Seu retools the publishing format entirely, intentionally delivering the project as part performance, part artist book, and part financial experiment. Taken together, these components challenge the sanitized, teleological narratives that have long defined internet history. In their place, Seu offers a parallel record drawn from theorists, net artists, cyberfeminists, and sex workers — those who shaped the internet from the margins, often through websites, chat systems, forums, and cam networks used to advertise their services. These figures, whose contributions to online culture remain widely overlooked, become central to Seu’s retelling. Part of what makes Seu’s work so resonant is her approach to narrative hierarchy. The book draws attentio

Mapplethorpe had by then earned a public reputation as a queer bad boy, best known for photographs depicting hardcore BDSM gay sex in a solemn studio setting. His forays into mass culture had been limited to photographing album covers (for the rock band Television and avant-garde composer Philip Glass, as well as his best friend and roommate, Patti Smith). For his entry into the homeware market, though, he chose his most palatable image series, flowers, which he had started photographing as early as 1977. In the face of death, why the sudden turn to merchandising—this altogether different way for an artist to leave his mark on the world? Coincidentally or otherwise, it was gay American men who largely mapped the merchandising of late 1980s contemporary art. Joining Mapplethorpe in the highest tier of this booming economy were Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, all three of whom died within the span of three years (Haring of AIDS, Warhol from surgical complications), between 1987 and 1990. The origin of Mapplethorpe’s partnership with Swid Powell remains shrouded in considerable uncertainty, with some provenance citing 1984 as the actual year of first manufacture. Swid Powell itself ceas

At the 12th edition of Uruguay’s Este Arte, held last week in the resort town of José Ignacio, a white gallery wall appeared to have sprung a silver leak. But no clean up was required as it was a metal installation by Brazilian artist Vanderlei Lopes.  In a first for his sculptural practice, Lopes molded aluminum into a petrified torrent, pouring from a hole punched in the wall of Almeida & Dale’s booth so it pooled on the fair’s concrete floor. Small sculptures—painted to resemble Coca-Cola cans, Styrofoam cups, and crumpled paper—seemed to float within the molten flow.  The event attracted 5,000 people over its four-day run, where there was productive friction between the fair’s idyllic setting, the gentle camaraderie sustaining its miniature art ecosystem, and the work on view, much of which skewed toward technical precision and conceptual irony. At Aninat Galeria, which has spaces in Chile and London, Chilean artist Germán Tagle presented a new series of liquid-looking landscapes rendered through stencils, in which rivers, foliage, and wetlands collapsed into a single, mutating organism. Without moralizing, the paintings evoked the region’s history of environmental intervention

“My decision is for very personal reasons,” said Chouakri in an email to ARTnews. “As you know the traditional primary market model requires more and more time and energy, and I want to dedicate more of my time to the people close to me.” The gallery may mount another exhibition as soon as this fall, he said.  Chouakri says that sales in recent years have been “solid,” though he has noted “some hesitation and slower decision-making from collectors,” adding that an exhibition of Bernd Ribbeck’s at the Berlin home of Rudolf Zwirner “was nearly sold out,” while an exhibition of gallery artist Saâdane Afif at the Hamburger Bahnhof “was very well received, and we were able to place several works, with others reserved by two museums.” He notes that several artists have museum exhibitions underway, which he will continue to support, including John M Armleder at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva, N. Dash at the Hill Art Foundation in New York, and Fredrik Værslev at Chicago’s Neubauer Collegium and the Oldenburger Kunstverein. The pause comes after a bruising year for art galleries in 2025, with dealers closing up their shops including Tim Blum (Los Angeles, New York, and [...]

It is difficult to think of an artist more iconic than Frida Kahlo, a figure whose artwork is as instantly recognizable as her personal style. An upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, organized by Mari Carmen Ramírez, the MFA’s curator of Latin American art, looks at the posthumous transformation of Frida (as she is widely known) from Diego Rivera’s partner to being recognized for her artistic achievements to the global celebrity she is today. “‘Frida: The Making of an Icon’ attempts to separate Frida Kahlo the artist from Frida Kahlo the phenomenon,” said Ramírez in a statement. The show is not simply a retrospective of Kahlo’s work; it includes pieces by nearly 80 other artists across five generations who were inspired by Kahlo, among them Laura Aguilar, Judith F. Baca, Judy Chicago, Catherine Opie, Carrie Mae Weems, and many others. The Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico City also lent archival materials like photographs, documents, clothing, and jewelry. Some of the most high-profile Kahlo paintings in the show are the 1949 self portrait Diego and I, which sold for a then-record $35 million at Sotheby’s in 2021, and My Dress Hands There, 1933, which ARTnews identifi

Mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth and a now-liquidated art shipping company are facing trial over allegations of dodging UK sanctions. The gallery is accused of making George Condo’s 2021 work on paper, Escape from Humanity, available in 2022 to a person connected to Russia. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) filed the charge in November, with shipping firm Artay Rauchwerger Solomons facing a parallel allegation.In a December hearing, a judge set a 10-day trial for January 2028, likely before a High Court judge at London’s Southwark Crown Court. The next hearing, on May 5, 2026, will see the defendants formally arraigned and their pleas entered.Related ArticlesTime for a Right-Size Art Market, National Museum of Libya Reopens, Somerset's Cultural Awakening: Morning Links for December 16, 2025Somerset's Unlikely Contemporary Art Scene is a Welcome Departure from the UK's London-Centric Thinking The charges appear to relate to Regulation 46B of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The UK government made it illegal to offer luxury goods, including jewelry, art, cars, and antiques valued over £250 ($330), to individuals connected to Russia in April 2022. Breaches carry unlimit

The UK’s National Trust—an enterprise whose mission statement focuses on work to “tackle climate change, protect historic sites and help people and nature thrive”—received the biggest donation in its 131-year history when private-equity investor and philanthropist Humphrey Battcock gave £10 million (around $13.4 million). The gift is unconditional, meaning it can be used for whatever purposes the organization sees fit.As reported by the Art Newspaper, Battock said of the gift, “I will have no say over how the charity spends it—and that is because I trust the National Trust to know how best this money can be used.”Related ArticlesUruguay's Este Arte Fair Highlights Ecology, Consumerism, and Wondrously Ugly Art That Reflects the PresentArt History Teacher Removed for Charlie Kirk Posts Cleared By Investigation--But School Refuses to Reinstate Her Making special mention of the National Trust’s heritage and conservation work, Battock said in a release, “It was during a visit to Osterley Park and House that I witnessed first-hand the efforts the Trust has put in to ensuring people from all parts of our society have access to its attractions, where it cares for our history, nurtures our

The financially ailing California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco will close in 2027. Founded in 1907 in Berkeley, the school will sell its campus to Vanderbilt University. CCA is the only nonprofit, standalone art school in the city. “Under this agreement, CCA will wind down its current operations and will close by the end of the 2026-2027 academic year. Vanderbilt will then become the owner of the campus and will establish undergraduate and graduate programming, including art and design programs, at the campus. Vanderbilt also plans to operate a CCA Institute at Vanderbilt which will include, among other things, the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts, will maintain CCA archival materials, and will serve as a vehicle for CCA alumni engagement. Through these activities, Vanderbilt will honor CCA’s longstanding creative mission and maintain a strong presence for art and design education in the Bay Area.” The city also lost another century-old school when the San Francisco Art Institute, founded in 1871, filed for bankruptcy in 2023. It was the nation’s first art school west of the Mississippi.  CCA and SFAI are just the latest art schools to close. In 2024, the 150-yea

The Art Institute of Chicago acquired some eye-catching artworks in 2025, among them a striking portrait of the 20th century Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer by New Objectivity painter Christian Schad (his first portrait owned by a U.S. museum), Kay WalkingStick’s painting of Glacier National Park, and a self-portrait by the Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert. The Spilliaert drawing was purchased at the European Fine Art Foundation’s (TEFAF) spring art fair in Maastricht. Jay A. Clarke, curator of prints and drawings at the AIC, told ARTnews that the museum had been on the hunt for a work by Spilliaert for a decade. “We have passed on several drawings over the years, waiting for a great work from 1907 or 1908, and this haunting and powerful self-portrait was certainly worth the wait.”

Hope McMath, an artist and art history teacher who until recently taught at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida, was removed from the classroom in September in connection with social media posts she made following the assassination of Charlie Kirk that month. Although an investigation by Duval County Public Schools has since concluded, McMath told local public radio station WJCT on Monday that the district has refused to reinstate her.

Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has announced that it will open a new sculpture garden in the fall of 2026. The endeavor will be funded by a donation of nearly $70 million from the Don Quixote Foundation. According to Dutch News, the foundation is financed by Dutch billionaire Rolly van Rappard, who founded venture capital company CVC. The site of the new garden will be in Carel Willinkplantsoen, a small park just across the Boerenwetering canal from the Rijksmuseum. The park will be merged with three adjacent pavilions built in the “Amsterdam School” style. The Rijksmuseum has engaged the London architecture firm Foster + Partners to renovate the pavilions, which will soon be open to the public for the first time. Piet Blanckaert, a Belgian landscape architect, will oversee the design of the gardens. The Rijksmuseum’s general director, Taco Dibbits, said in a statement that the new garden will “give modern sculpture the visibility it deserves. It also marks an unprecedented enhancement of the Rijksmuseum’s collection of 20th-century art.” The museum plans to showcase works by artists like Alberto Giacometti, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Jean Arp, Roni Horn and Henry Moore in the ne

Good’s death—captured on video—has made global headlines and added fuel to the ongoing mobilization of Minneapolis’s civilian population against ICE. Her last reported words, uttered moments before the agent opened fire into her SUV, have appeared at protests in Los Angeles, Washington, and Chicago—cities where President Donald Trump has ordered a crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Beginning at sunrise on Tuesday in New York City, another “sanctuary city” now beset by federal troops, an artist began repeating Good’s words outside the local ICE field office as an act of dissent. “I stand with innocent people living under systemic violence. By speaking these words aloud in public, I invite passersby to reckon with what is too often unseen, unheard, or ignored,” reads a statement from Maria De Victoria, a performance artist who immigrated to the United States from Peru. (She is represented by Desnivel Gallery in New York’s East Village.) Wearing a coat emblazoned with Good’s words, De Victoria has been chanting with near-constant focus in front of the heavily barricaded Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in downtown Manhattan, just a few blocks from the New York Supreme Court. The ar

In its role as “the state’s only institution exclusively dedicated to contemporary art,” per a release, the Aldrich has decided to focus its decennial on artists living and working in Connecticut. Additionally, selected artists will not have exhibited in Connecticut previously, and the work on view will have been made within the last decade.Related ArticlesDouble Take: "52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone" at the Aldrich Contemporary Art MuseumFrom the Archives: Sexual Politics, Art Style Running June 27, 2026, to January 10, 2027, the first iteration of the decennial will take the title “I am what is around me” and is organized by chief curator Amy Smith-Stewart and publications manager Caitlin Monachino, who conducted over 100 studio visits as part of their research. The curators have pared that down to an international group of 40 artists, including some high-profile names like Dominic Chambers, Tammy Nguyen, Em Rooney, Aki Sasamoto, and Julia Wachtel. The oldest artist in the exhibition is Lucy Sallick, who was born in 1937, while the show’s youngest is Remy Sosa, who is nearly six decades younger than Sallick, having been born in 1995. The first decennial will span the entirety o

London has gained a new Banksy mural for the Christmas season, depicting two children lying on their backs and gazing upward. The work was confirmed by the artist after it appeared above garages in Bayswater. An identical image surfaced near the Centre Point tower, though Banksy has not verified that second work, prompting speculation about its intent and authorship. Commentary links the imagery and location to homelessness, noting Centre Point’s long association with the issue and reading the children’s upward stare as a quiet contrast to the way vulnerable people often go unseen during the holidays. Raf Simons will stage a short-term return of his namesake label through an archive-focused sale at Dover Street Market Ginza, opening December 29 and running through January 18. The installation will offer garments and materials spanning nearly three decades, including pieces from early-2000s collections that shaped his reputation, alongside rare printed matter such as original lookbooks. Simons will appear in person for a signing event on opening night for customers who purchase items. The project frames the brand less as a revival than as a curated release from its own history, time

The renovation preserves the building’s essential architecture—including ornate moldings and dramatic proportions—while contemporary interventions introduce references to Union Square, from graphic black-and-white moments to warmer tones pulled from the park. In guest rooms, the Union Square connection becomes even more evident. Velvet headboards anchor the sleeping areas, while nightstands feature black-and-gold patterns pulled from the Metronome installation at Union Square South. Chessboard tables nod to the park’s lively chess scene. Corridor carpets draw from the Union Square Partnership’s public art program, which commissions seasonal murals throughout the neighborhood. Standout Features: The ground-floor lobby sets the tone with Shantell Martin’s monochromatic line drawings—large-scale works that bring the London-born artist’s signature energy to the entrance. A curved metal stair leads up to the Living Room, where the former ballroom now functions as the W New York–Union Square‘s social hub. White marble columns with Corinthian capitals anchor the double-height space, while velvet seating in jewel tones creates pockets for conversation. Original ceiling rosettes frame a cu

Workers at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art voted overwhelmingly to unionize under AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36, with 96 percent approving the measure in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. The new union, LACMA United, represents roughly 300 employees across departments including curatorial, education, administration, and art handling, after museum leadership declined voluntary recognition earlier this fall. Organizers cited goals that include improved pay, stronger benefits, and clearer institutional processes. The vote comes months ahead of the planned opening of LACMA’s $720 million David Geffen Galleries, a major expansion now unfolding alongside labor negotiations. Christie’s plans to offer a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington during its January Americana Week auctions, presenting the painting that later informed the design of the $1 bill. Commissioned by James Madison in the early 19th century, the work belongs to Stuart’s widely repeated “Athenaeum” format, developed in part to spare Washington lengthy sittings. Christie’s has confirmed the painting’s provenance through period correspondence and set an estimate of $

Soho House currently displays about 11,000 works of art from nearly 4,000 artists across its properties in 17 countries. Since 2016, Kate Bryan, Soho House’s Global Director of Art, has helmed the expansive curation which tends to place local artists, both emerging and established, in houses closest to their practice. Now, for the first time since it opened 15 years ago, Soho Beach House has introduced an entirely new permanent collection with a global perspective but unified by photography as an art form. “We’ve had a year to think about this,” Bryan tells Surface on a tour during Miami Art Week, around which the collection’s debut coincided. With a second location in town, Miami Pool House, that highlights a localized collection, Bryan felt like an opportunity opened to present an international collection, instead. “I really felt this house and its members deserved that, just given the fact that in the 15 years since we’ve been open Miami has become the most extraordinary melting pot for the art world,” she says. When reflecting on the strength of photography in Soho House’s preexisting collection, and the changing perception of photography as an art form, Bryan began to consider

Miami Art Week made for an especially apt setting for Jacqueline Sullivan to explore the power dynamics underlying the act of dressing. There, her eponymous gallery opened “The Semiotics of Dressing,” its latest exhibition and an ode to Martha Rosler’s “The Semiotics of the Kitchen,” in which Rosler depicted kitchen utensils as symbols of domestic labor, oppression, and control.  In “The Semiotics of Dressing,” Sullivan pairs historic and archival furniture and decor with contemporary works by Zoé Mohm, and Marni’s a Prologue collection to emphasize the choreographic nature of the micro-routines associated with the act of dressing. The exhibition, staged at Marni’s Design District boutique, further interrogates the role of the dressing room—commercial or domestic—in the theater of image-making.   Sullivan spoke with Surface about the intersection of Shaker ideas, routines, and the intimate choreography of domestic life inherent in the exhibition and the Milanese label’s ‘a Prologue’ collection.  Like all of our exhibitions, the curatorial concept is explored through the inclusion of both historical and contemporary works. Staging all of these pieces (a German clothing rack from 198