Author: Brenna Caldwell

In his third year of college, the artist Yang Fudong decided to stop speaking. For what became Otherwhere: Not Speaking for Three Months (1993), he communicated largely by writing on his hand or signage. Sometimes he even traced his finger on a cold window and breathed to reveal the words outlined by condensation. Near the end of his period of silence, he wanted his first words to be something profound. He took a bus to the Tiantong Temple on the outskirts of the southern Chinese city Ningbo and stayed in its guesthouse overnight. In the morning, a monk asked who he was looking for.…

The relationship between science and art has fascinated thinkers for centuries. Although these disciplines are often viewed as separate pursuits, both are driven by curiosity, observation, creativity, and the desire to better understand the world. AJW embodies this connection through a unique dual career. As a research scientist specializing in marine biogeochemistry with a Ph.D. in Sustainable Environmental Science, he spends his professional life investigating the complex processes that shape our oceans and environment. Beyond the laboratory, however, he embraces another passion—painting. Through acrylic landscapes, impressionistic scenes, and abstract compositions, AJW transforms scientific curiosity into creative expression, demonstrating that analytical…

East Tennessee State University has cancelled an annual juried exhibition of politically themed art at the school’s Reece Museum. The show, “The Fletcher Exhibit of Social and Politically Engaged Art,” was first held in 2013 in honor of ETSU art student Fletcher Dyer, who died in a motorcycle accident in Johnson City in 2009, when he was a senior at the university. As reported in Hyperallergic, the cancellation of the 2025 iteration of “The Fletcher Exhibit” is the result of ongoing backlash from the ETSU chapter of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth movement founded by Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept.…

For many artists, painting begins as a childhood pastime before gradually becoming a lifelong calling. For Dewa Rai, however, art was never simply a hobby—it was a natural part of who he was. From his earliest years in Bali, he felt an instinctive connection to painting, long before he fully understood what it meant to become an artist. Today, his expressive works reflect a profound fascination with color, spirituality, and the cultural philosophy of his homeland, creating paintings that celebrate the emotional and symbolic power of visual expression. Born on November 12, 1980, in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Dewa Rai grew…

Nearly 100 artworks and related ephemera by Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro are expected to go on view as part of the exhibition “The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism” at the Denver Art Museum (DAM) next month. DAM is the only institution in the United States to host the artist’s first major show in 40 years. The show was coorganized with the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany, which is the only other planned venue for the exhibition. Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro was born in 1830 to French and Portuguese Sephardic Jewish parents on the island of St. Thomas, which was then…

The Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar is showing works by Samia Halaby that were meant to appear in a canceled survey to be held last year at Indiana University. In December 2023, the school’s Eskenazi Museum of Art called off the Palestinian artist’s show, citing “safety reasons.” The show was scrapped just a month before it was to open at the university’s Eskenazi Museum of Art; Halaby, 87 at the time of the cancellation, had earned a master’s degree at the university and later taught there. Halaby noted at the time that the cancelation came “at a time when Palestinian civilians are…

There’s something to be said about an artist committed to an everyday practice: On Kawara, for example, recording the date in white blocky letters and numbers over a black background, or Ann Craven painting the birds and moons in her tender canvases. Mike Winkelmann, the artist known to the world as Beeple, is also one of those artists. Since 2007, long before NFTs had entered the zeitgeist, Beeple created a new work daily, resulting in some 6,420 works the majority of them digitally, aside from the first year when he did physical drawings and counting. His NFT Everydays: The First 5000 Days,…

Bali has long been recognized as one of the world’s most inspiring artistic landscapes, where tradition, spirituality, and creativity are deeply woven into everyday life. For many Balinese artists, painting is not only a means of personal expression but also a way of preserving cultural identity while embracing contemporary ideas. Wayan Sukarsa exemplifies this approach through a body of work that combines abstract expression, vibrant color, and rich textures with the enduring influence of Balinese heritage. His paintings celebrate the harmony between humanity and nature while offering a modern interpretation of the island’s spiritual traditions. Born in Batubulan, Bali, Indonesia,…

St. John’s College unveils two captivating exhibitions: “Polly Apfelbaum: Sampling a Sampler Sampling,” a critique of judgment through fabric art, and “Librería Donceles,” an interactive Spanish-language bookstore fostering community. St. John’s College is pleased to announce the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum’s latest exhibition, “Polly Apfelbaum: Sampling a Sampler Sampling,” consisting of a single new artwork made by the renowned New York-based artist specifically for the museum. The unique fabric artwork will be created directly on the museum floor from unaltered, commercially printed fabric samples and remnants the artist purchased in New York’s Garment District. Also on view is the…

Painter Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming solo exhibition, titled “American Sublime,” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery after the museum considered removing her painting of a Black transgender Statue of Liberty, The New York Times reported today. The show was slated to open in September. “I entered into this collaboration in good faith, believing that the institution shared a commitment to presenting work that reflects the full, complex truth of American life,” the artist wrote to Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, who runs the Portrait Gallery. “Unfortunately, it has become clear that the conditions no longer support the integrity of…