Joo had joined the museum in 2017 as its first contemporary art curator and most recently organised an ambitious project by Kara Walker
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Category: Art
Latest art news from the Middle East and around the world
Cuban documentary about government censorship of the arts wins top film festival prize
Miguel Coyula’s “Chronicles of the Absurd” provides a rare inside view of artist interactions with an oppressive government
A bibliophile invites New Yorkers to engage with books that do not exist
A unique and artful exhibition of imaginary books is now on view at the Grolier Club
The artist dealers call on to get works to and from Miami
Liz Nielsen, who showed a piece of her own at the Untitled Art fair, drove from New York to Miami and back with a van full of other artists’ work
Stonehenge Possibly Erected to Unite Ancient Farming Communities, Study Finds
This post was originally published on artnews.com This has been a monumental year for further insight about Stonehenge’s creation. Researchers are now positing that the iconic stone circle may have been erected in an effort to unite ancient farming communities, CNN reported. Earlier this year, experts discovered that Stonehenge’s central six-ton altar stone may have… Continue reading Stonehenge Possibly Erected to Unite Ancient Farming Communities, Study Finds
Authenticity of Indian works in university exhibition questioned
Paintings attributed to major Modernists in a recent show at the gallery of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) are facing scrutiny
The Most Discussed Art World Lawsuits of 2024
This post was originally published on artnews.com Like most years in the art world, 2024 saw a slew of lawsuits wind their way through the courts. There were, of course, the professional relationships that went sour and the family drama that spilled into open court. But there were also stranger disputes, like a discrimination battle… Continue reading The Most Discussed Art World Lawsuits of 2024
Diriyah Art Futures, MENA Region’s First Hub for New Media Arts, Opens to the Public
This post was originally published on artnews.com Diriyah Art Futures, the first institution in the Middle East and North Africa dedicated to new media arts, has officially opened its doors to the public. Situated in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh, Diriyah Art Futures is an international hub,… Continue reading Diriyah Art Futures, MENA Region’s First Hub for New Media Arts, Opens to the Public
Year in Review: The World’s Heritage Sites Faced Destruction in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan
This post was originally published on artnews.com World heritage is rarely exempt from war, as 2024 proved in the cases of Israel and its enemies in the Middle East, and Ukraine and Russia. Amid each clash, monuments, religious landmarks, and ancient ruins—cultural property defined by the Hague as “immovable” sites with immense value to history—were… Continue reading Year in Review: The World’s Heritage Sites Faced Destruction in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan
Zilia Sánchez, Cuban artist renowned for shaped, abstract canvases, has died, aged 98
Sánchez, who fled Cuba and ultimately settled in Puerto Rico, only achieved widespread critical acclaim late in her career
Gordon Matta-Clark’s caged rosebush, hidden in plain sight for 52 years, is marked and restored
Unlike his best-known, monumental and ephemeral works, the artist’s newly restored Rosebush is firmly embedded in the environment
SFMOMA Head Curator Eungie Joo Fired for Alleged Workplace Misconduct
This post was originally published on artnews.com Eungie Joo, head curator of contemporary art at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art since 2017, has been fired amid claims of workplace conduct. The news was first reported by the San Francisco Standard. “In accordance with institutional policy on workplace conduct, Eungie Joo was separated from… Continue reading SFMOMA Head Curator Eungie Joo Fired for Alleged Workplace Misconduct
Once the most expensive painting ever auctioned, has a long hidden Van Gogh portrait been rediscovered?
Our review of 2024: record sales, exhibitions, fakes—and tracking down Dr Gachet
2024 in review: the biggest stories and the best shows – podcast
From the devastating war in Gaza to art attacks in museums, our editors analyse the year’s biggest stories
Seeing is believing: Gérôme and Pakistan shows mark 20 years of museum building in Qatar
Exhibitions offer fresh looks at a once globally famous French 19th-century Orientalist artist and Pakistan’s embrace of modernity
New perspectives: Annabelle Selldorf brings a fresh angle to the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing
A tour of the remodelled building, five months before its reopening, shows the New York architect has created a spectacular main entrance closely integrated with the rest of the London institution and with the public space of Trafalgar Square
George Washington Carver Exhibition Looks at How a Scientific Genius Still Influences Artists Today
This post was originally published on artnews.com Historically, the relationship between Black Americans and the American South—in both the art world and the world writ large—is reduced to that of oppression and enslavement, with little attention paid to the creative and scientific innovations that both preceded and followed emancipation. The California African American Museum in… Continue reading George Washington Carver Exhibition Looks at How a Scientific Genius Still Influences Artists Today
How Amsterdam’s Drift Museum is working to create more energy than it uses
Sustainability features at heritage-listed former railway factory will include heating system that stores summer warmth for use in the winter months
Liliane Lijn’s Magical Mechanisms Span Science and Surrealism
This post was originally published on artnews.com When Liliane Lijn moved to Paris in 1958, she found herself at the tables of the storied Surrealist cafés. By then, she remembered years later, they had become “kind of boring.” André Breton, whose 1924 manifesto had launched the movement, had since “banished all the most interesting people.”… Continue reading Liliane Lijn’s Magical Mechanisms Span Science and Surrealism
French Painter Claire Tabouret Chosen to Create New Stained Glass Windows for Notre-Dame Cathedral
This post was originally published on artnews.com French figurative painter Claire Tabouret has been chosen to create new stained glass windows for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which reopened on December 7 after a six-year-long renovation. Tabouret was selected by French president Emmanuel Macron and the Paris archbishop, Laurent Ulrich, and said in a statement… Continue reading French Painter Claire Tabouret Chosen to Create New Stained Glass Windows for Notre-Dame Cathedral
The Oldest-Known Ten Commandments Tablet Sells at Sotheby’s for $5 M.
This post was originally published on artnews.com The world’s oldest-known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments surpassed expectations at a Sotheby’s auction on Wednesday. Expected to sell for an estimated $1 to $2 million, the tablet fetched a whopping $5 million. “The result reflects the unparalleled importance of this artifact,” Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global… Continue reading The Oldest-Known Ten Commandments Tablet Sells at Sotheby’s for $5 M.
The Ramallah Art Fair Returns with a Theme of Resilience
This post was originally published on artnews.com Zawyeh Art Gallery, the organizer and sole venue of the Ramallah Art Fair, wants it known that the name of the event is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, the works in its newly opened fourth edition are for sale—and at purposefully affordable prices—but here the market comes… Continue reading The Ramallah Art Fair Returns with a Theme of Resilience
Indigenous Alaskan artist Nicholas Galanin receives $200,000 prize from Crystal Bridges Museum
The biennial award is named for the late collector and food company president Don Tyson
New report chronicles challenges in making visible the sites of historic US protests
The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s latest “Landslide” report marks a shift from the annual initiative’s usual focus on threatened landscapes
Workers at the Noguchi Museum push to form a union
After months of protests in solidarity with Palestine and against a new dress code banning workers from wearing keffiyehs, the Queens institution’s staff are organising for “better conditions”
Brafa turns 70, plus new fairs in Cyprus and Texas—a quick look at art fairs in 2025
Vima, the first international contemporary art fair in Cyprus, opens in the spring, while Untitled Art expands to Houston
Sotheby's does a U-turn on new fees structure
Less than a year ago, the auction house reduced buyer’s premium and tried to introduce a flat 10% vendor’s commission to avoid bartering. It did not prove popular with sellers
Our pick of the shows to see in the world's great art cities in 2025
The exhibitions to visit in London, New York, Tokyo, Paris and São Paulo
Santa Fe, Bukhara and Liverpool: the most interesting biennials to visit in 2025
Plus, full listings of the biennials, triennials and festivals taking place throughout the year
The most exciting art museum openings and expansions of 2025
The construction of Saadiyat Cultural District is due to be completed, while the Studio Museum in Harlem will unveil its new 82,000 sq. ft building
The must-see exhibitions in 2025: from Leigh Bowery in London to Michaelina Wautier in Vienna
We round-up the biggest shows opening each month
The Groucho Club to reopen in January following rape accusation
The London private members club, owned by the founders of Hauser & Wirth gallery, was shut down by police in November following a “serious crime” at the Soho venue
Figurative painter Claire Tabouret chosen to design contemporary stained-glass windows for Notre-Dame
Heritage organisations remain opposed to President Macron’s plans to replace chapel windows at the newly reopened cathedral
London-based Studio Weave wins competition to revamp British Museum entrance
New welcome pavilions and a landscaped forecourt are scheduled for completion early 2026
Could Israel’s shuttered embassy in Dublin become a gallery for Palestinian art?
Fresh off a pop-up show in Ireland, the director of the Connecticut-based Palestine Museum US hopes the former Israeli Embassy could become a permanent European outpost
Controversial Ontario Place redevelopment and mega-spa could cost taxpayers billions
A long-awaited report from Ontario’s auditor general finds that the redevelopment plan for Toronto’s modernist landscape is “not fair, transparent or accountable”
Phillips auction house executive chairman Ed Dolman resigns
Martin Wilson, the chairman of the British Art Market Federation (Bamf), is joining as chief executive and will oversee global operations
Naomi Beckwith named artistic director of Documenta in 2027
The deputy director and chief curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum says she is “humbled by the breadth of this responsibility”
Jean-Michel Basquiat's love of the Alps celebrated in new exhibition
The show, at Hauser & Wirth St Moritz, looks at the artist’s visits to his Swiss dealer Bruno Bischofberger, when he would go cross-country skiing and visit agricultural shows
Acquisitions round-up: a rediscovered 19th-century self-portrait, Van Gogh’s ‘Mona Lisa of Brabant’ and a painting by a contemporary Tanzanian artist
Our pick of the latest gifts and purchases to enter institutional collections worldwide
‘While there are dictators, no one can feel safe’: projects marking anniversaries of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine emphasise need for global vigilance
Among the initiatives launched to mark both 1,000 days since the invasion and its approaching third anniversary is an exhibition in Kharkiv exploring how the concept of safety “has been profoundly redefined by the war”
Camille Claudel sculpture discovered in abandoned Paris apartment
The bronze is now expected to sell for up to €2m when it is auctioned in Orléans in February
Artist withdraws from Miami-area exhibition over anti-BDS language in contract
“It was disheartening to experience this level of institutional complacency and complicity,” says the artist Les Gomez-Gonzalez
Christie's results are down ‘just’ 6% in 2024, ‘despite challenging environment’
The house’s auction total saw a double-digit decrease for a second year in a row—but private sales are booming
Artist rejects deal with Icelandic company implicated in Fishrot scandal
The artist Odee rejected a proposal by the fishing conglomerate Samherji that would have required him to pay £1 and hand over control of the website; now the company wants £206,000
Robert Smithson’s famed Land art piece Spiral Jetty added to US National Register of Historic Places
The 1,500ft-long, coiling earthwork in Utah’s Great Salt Lake is arguably the best known example of Land art
New Mural by SATR in Réunion Island, France
During the vibrant Réunion Graffiti Festival, artist SATR painted a breathtaking mural that celebrates nature’s raw beauty and energy. Inspired by the crashing waves and striking volcanoes of Réunion Island, this artwork captures the island’s pristine landscape and spirit. The dynamic, smoke-like contours of the mural create a mesmerizing sense of motion, as if the…
Arts Council England to face scrutiny as government announces new review
Former minister of state for culture, creative Industries and tourism Margaret Hodge will lead the process
Gerhard Richter once thought film wasn't for him—in Rome, his latest exhibition proves how wrong he was
The artist’s 36-minute film, ‘Moving Picture (946-3) Kyoto Version (2019–24)’, is currently on show at Gagosian
Strike at Seattle Art Museum ends as visitor services staff ratify first contract
The new contract raises the base hourly wage and reinstates a pre-pandemic retirement programme
Sajan Mani's first solo show in India confronts caste and the history of rubber
At Shrine Empire gallery in New Delhi, the Dalit artist reconsiders the past of his native Kerala
Houston's Rothko Chapel reopens after hurricane damage is repaired
The Texas pilgrimage site for devotees of Abstract Expressionism returns just in time for the holidays
Family of late Marlborough Gallery chairman Pierre Levai sue his lover, claiming she ‘kept him sick, starved’
Max and Rosemary Levai claim Pierre’s “long-time paramour” Marcia Levine is responsible for his death and should not receive any of his inheritance
Banksy posts mysterious mother and child work on Instagram
The meaning of the image has been a subject of debate among the artist’s followers
Fuller picture of Sotheby's mass layoffs emerges
Staff cuts at auction house come as $1bn deal with Abu Dhabi wealth fund closes
Comment | The exhibitions I adored this year—and the one I didn’t
2024 highlights from Ben Luke, The Art Newspaper’s contributing editor
The artist bringing Van Gogh's paintings to life—without the use of AI
Andrey Zakirzyanov’s video animations of famous paintings are drawing in millions of views on across social media
In Alabama, plans to preserve the last transatlantic slave ship are taking shape
The Clotilda shipwreck will remain submerged as a monument to the 110 enslaved people it carried—and in tribute to their descendants in Mobile, Alabama
Dance performance addresses fraught politics around South Asian heritage
Mandeep Raikhy’s touring work, inspired by the prehistoric statue Dancing Girl, considers how the past is wielded in the present
Seeds of hope: artist Anya Gallaccio’s Margate retrospective is a reminder of how life always finds a way
The show at Turner Contemporary features works made from organic materials that rot, wither and stink—but there is new growth being fostered too
A literary homage to Peggy Guggenheim that falls short
Historical fiction on the famed bohemian collector brings her relationships to life but leaves out much of what she actually achieved
Saudi Arabia launches digital art institute as part of $62.2bn Diriyah complex
A vast new digital art institute, Diriyah Art Futures in Riyadh, opened earlier this month with “cutting-edge labs and immersive exhibition spaces”
Lorraine O’Grady, conceptual artist who dissected language and dualities, has died, aged 90
O’Grady, who devoted herself to art in her early forties, spent the ensuing decades making incisive works that spanned photography, collage, performance and more
1,375-year-old pyramid structure found in Hidalgo, Mexico
Highway road work has uncovered an ancient civilisation’s ceremonial centrepiece
New York's Pace African and Oceanic Art gallery closes
The New York gallery first opened in 1971
Remembering Joseph Rykwert, influential writer and teacher on the theory of architecture
Warsaw-born RIBA gold medal winner, who became the professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, changed architectural understanding
Christie's is suing winning bidder of record-breaking Chardin for failure to pay
Italian investor Nanni Bassani Antivari secured the still-life Cut Melon with a €26.7m bid in June, but has yet to send the auction house any money
Polychrome 17th-century statue that was stolen from a church in 2007 is returned to Mexico
The artefact had been recovered from a US gallery in 2017, but since then its status was a mystery
Community mourns historic Franciscan church destroyed by fire in Chile
Plans to rebuild the San Antonio de Padua Church and Franciscan Convent in Iquique are in the early stages
What links Van Gogh, Trump, a golden toilet and Cattelan's $6.2m banana?
This unlikely grouping is part of an astonishing story involving New York’s Guggenheim Museum
Sacred tunic belonging to Alexander the Great may have been identified
Analysis shows that clothing discovered in royal tombs of Vergina in Greece could be linked to the king rather than his father
Dubai Fine Arts: The Unsung Heroes of the Middle East’s Fine Art Scene
When we think of the art world, our minds often leap to the artists, galleries, and exhibitions that bring creativity to life. But behind every masterpiece hanging in a gallery or traveling the globe for a show, there’s a meticulous process ensuring its safety and presentation. Enter Dubai Fine Arts, the leading art handling company…
Coverage: “Life in the Fast Lane” Tyrrell Winston Solo Exhibition at Volery Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Volery Gallery is currently presenting Life in the Fast Lane, the first solo exhibition in Dubai and the Middle East by celebrated American artist Tyrrell Winston. Opened on November 16, 2024, the exhibition showcases 10 new punishment paintings alongside two of Winston’s signature basketball installations, offering a striking commentary on the intersections of sports culture,…
“Life in the Fast Lane” Solo Exhibition by Tyrrell Winston at Volery Gallery in Dubai, UAE
Street art meets sports culture in Tyrrell Winston’s highly anticipated solo exhibition, Life in the Fast Lane, set to open on November 16, 2024, at Volery Gallery in Dubai. Known for his distinctive style that transforms discarded objects—such as deflated basketballs and vintage sports memorabilia—into powerful artworks, Winston’s pieces invite viewers to reconsider the beauty…
“Tales” by Aleksi Ivanov in Bucharest, Romania
Bulgarian artist Aleksi Ivanov recently brought the streets of Bucharest to life with his mural Tales, as part of the BSBSA (Belgrade Sofia Bucharest Street Art) project. Known for his multidisciplinary approach and public art interventions, Ivanov’s week-long visit was filled with creative workshops, an artist talk, and the development of this expansive mural that…
“ORB” by SpY in Montreal, Canada, After Its Debut in Egypt
SpY’s stunning “ORB” sculpture, which first captivated audiences at the Pyramids of Giza, has found a new home in Montreal’s Place des Arts. This work, blending formal simplicity with deep symbolism, explores the relationship between art, history, and urban space. The transition from the ancient Egyptian site to a modern cultural hub emphasizes its universal…
Snik – Still Life – Manchester UK
SNIK have made a strong return to Manchester’s Northern Quarter, unveiling a new 20-meter mural that promises to become yet another iconic landmark in the city. The artists, whose work last appeared in Manchester in 2018, have made a big move with their latest work, entitled Still Life. The mural aims to create a little…
“Don Quixote” Exhibition by Ai Weiwei in León, Spain
An extensive exhibition titled Ai Weiwei. Don Quixote will open at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León (MUSAC) in León, Spain, on November 9. This ambitious project showcases a variety of works, including large-scale installations, pieces created with toy bricks, and films. Spanning around 1,700 square meters—more than half of the museum’s…
“Animated Perception” Robert Proch Exhibition in Poland
Together with Sainer and the Robert Proch Foundation, a retrospective exhibition, Animowana Percepcja (Animated Perception), has just opened in Robert Proch’s hometown of Bydgoszcz, Poland. Running until October 30, 2024, this heartfelt tribute to one of the most influential Polish artists of his generation showcases the breadth of his creative genius. Curated by Karolina Pikosz…
“La Rivière Golden” by Hopare in Paris, France
In the heart of Argenteuil, street artist Hopare has brought a community-driven mural to life, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Impressionism. With the support of Urban Signature, Hopare’s vibrant mural honors the rich artistic legacy of the region while incorporating the personal stories of the Val Sud neighborhood’s residents. Titled La Rivière Golden, this mural…