Art

Power couple Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) are well celebrated for their impact in music, but lesser-known to fans is their interest in the world of art. A new book by Phaidon will chronicle their 20 years of collecting, including interviews with prominent artists discussing their at-home curation. The release coincides with an upcoming exhibition spotlighting Keys and Dean's collection, going on view at the Brooklyn Museum from February 10 to July 7, 2024.Entitled GIANTS: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, the 250-page book features 100 works by 40 multigenerational Black American, African, and African diasporic artist, including Jamel Shabazz and Kehinde Wiley. As patrons, Dean and Keys have forged a fruitful bond with each of the artists they colle...

The Natural History Museum has announced the winner of its annual People's Choice Award for Wildlife Photography. The competition saw over 50,000 entries submitted, which was narrowed down to 25 shortlisted for the top honors. British photographer Nima Sarikhani made headlines for what's being hailed as the marquee entry, as she captured a lonely polar bear perched asleep against an iceberg. The image was taken while on a three-day tour of Norway's Svalbard archipelago, where Sarikhani noted that the photo "stirred strong emotions in many of those who have seen it," adding that, "Whilst climate change is the biggest challenge we face, I hope that this photograph also inspires hope; there is still time to fix the mess we have caused.”Entitled Ice Bed, the image was described as "poignant" b...

The oasis art event known as Desert X AlUla returns for its third edition in the ancient Arabian Peninsula. The annual exhibition brings together a collection of ethereal site-responsive artworks made by celebrated and emerging creative figures from around the world. Curated by Maya El Khalil and Marcello Dantas, this year's iteration is dubbed “In the Presence of Absence,” which invites artists and audiences to contemplate empty, "invisible" spaces and how the works on view offer new dialogues with the surrounding desert.The latest Desert X AlUla will be mapped across three locations for the first time, Wadi AlFann, Harrat Uwayrid, and the alManshiyah Plaza, each area challenging its participants "to adjust their perspective to encounter the unseen aspects of the place with reverence, att...

VILLAZAN is excited to announce the debut solo exhibition in New York by American artist Jared Brook, titled Glimpses of Infatuation. Featuring a collection of new paintings, the exhibition will be showcased at VILLAZAN’s New York gallery starting from February 8 until February 28.Brook's exhibition introduces ten acrylic paintings on wood that delicately yet powerfully explore stages of passionate love. Through Brook's unique perspective and diverse compositional techniques, each observer is confronted with figures grappling with palpable emotions of solitude, desire, yearning, and introspection. Acting as voyeurs to these personal scenes, viewers can easily immerse themselves in the inner thoughts of the depicted characters. The paintings exude intimacy, both through the depicted actions...

Hip hop history and the world of comics collide in the artwork of Alejandro Torrecilla. Based in Madrid, scrolling through his Instagram feed is like entering the vaults of Marvel and DC Comics, but instead of Batman, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man, celebrated emcees Nas and Joey Bada$$ are reimagined as dramatic cartoon characters living out the fantasies in their lyrics.The two disparate art forms have always shared subtle and sometimes striking similarities. On one end, many characters in comic lore disguise themselves under an alias, just like rappers — from the Wu-Tang Clan to MF DOOM — the latter of which based his entire persona on Marvel’s Doctor Doom. Fans will also note that the same pitfalls that have historically befallen comics, in regards to the genre being dismissed as an artfo...

Ai Weiwei is ringing in the Chinese New Year with a new print release with Avant Arte. Entitled Guardian, the artwork makes reference to the myriad symbols and motifs that the Chinese dissident artist has employed throughout his over 30-year career, but done so in a way that is, characteristic to Weiwei's practice, a satirical commentary on global affairs.Described by the artist as "a divine self portrait", the character prominent at the center alludes to the Chinese Menshen (Door Gods), which are placed at an entrance to protect those within its barriers. Weiwei recognizes that artists are sometimes viewed as gatekeepers and harbingers of cultural change. "This self portrait serves as a visualization of my ongoing struggle within the realm of reality," noted the artist in a statement. Vie...

Xin Liu, a trailblazer in the convergence of art and engineering, defies disciplinary boundaries with her interdisciplinary approach. Transitioning from engineering to art, Xin found liberation in exploring themes such as introspection, nomadic life experiences, and the interconnectedness of knowledge systems. Through her immersive narratives, she seamlessly weaves together science, technology, politics, and spirituality, resonating deeply with audiences globally.Collaborating with biologists at Ginkgo Bioworks and delving into AI-centric events like Rhizome's recent Seven on Seven (7x7) event at the New Museum in NYC with Hyundai Artlab, Xin sparked candid conversations about the ethical implications of technological advancements. Her recent exhibition, 'Gleaming Bodies', challenge percep...

Despite being largely associated to New York City, Jean-Michel Basquiat's time in Los Angeles also proved to be a pivotal period during the artist's prolific career. A forthcoming exhibition at Gagosian exclusively spotlights the work he created while posted in Venice between November 1982 and May 1984.Housed at the gallery's Beverly Hills location, Made on Market Street is curated by Fred Hoffman with Larry Gagosian and consists of 30 of the over 100 works Basquiat created while in LA, including several of his most important paintings. “Los Angeles has always been a great city for artists and Jean-Michel seemed to find it a refreshing change from New York," noted Larry Gagosian in a statement. "While the immensity of his talent was immediately apparent, it was nonetheless a highlight of m...

A major retrospective exhibition on Willem de Kooning will open this April to coincide with the 60th Venice Biennale. Held in the Temporary Exhibitions Halls at the Gallerie dell’Accademia, the forthcoming show will spotlight the Dutch-American artist's time in Italy, between 1959 and 1960, including several of his “Black and White Rome” drawings. Curated by Gary Garrels and Mario Codognato, the show will comprise of roughly 75 works, offering audiences a comprehensive survey of de Kooning's most expressive period, and the largest such exhibition on his work to date in Italy. The exhibition curators wanted to emphasize de Kooning's "special connections with Italy," wrote a release. Interestingly enough, his works were rarely shown in Italy following his death, the last exhibition being nea...

Robin Velghe – a.k.a. Rhymezlikedimez – has unleashed his first print of 2024. In classic dimez fashion, the artist has drawn inspiration from a prominent musician from the hip-hop zeitgeist to inspire his latest creation. Dubbed "Heaven To Me," Velghe looks to Tyler, The Creator's CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: The Estate Sale track of the same name to craft his euphoria in the form of a striking new print."The song 'HEAVEN TO ME' is another example of Tyler’s ability to paint a specific and beautiful picture through his music. Not only with words but also through chords, he delivers a piece of music that represents a delightful future that you can almost walk into," Velghe explained in an official statement. "This piece triggered me to create a work depicting my ideal world – a picnic on an It...

Bahamian artist Tavares Strachan worked with London's Royal Academy of Arts to unveil a new public sculpture entitled The First Supper (Galaxy Black) (2023). The artwork is part of the ongoing exhibition, Entangled Pasts, 1768-now, featuring over 100 contemporary and historical works that spark dialogues about how art has been used to shape colonial narratives and how it can be utilized to change the future. Clearly inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper (1495–1498), Strachan casts 12 Black historical figures in bronze — from the abolitionist Harriet Tubman and explorer Matthew Henson, the first Black US congresswoman Shirley Chisholm to gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, as well as placing former Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, in place of Jesus Christ in the center. View...