Summary

'State of Art' is a new HypeArt series inviting artists, curators, collectors and other leading voices to weigh in on the ideas, debates and cultural shifts shaping contemporary art. Through intimate questions and personal recommendations, the series offers a closer look at what is exciting the art world, what needs to change and where things may be heading next.

Dr. Margarita Lila Rosa approaches contemporary art as both a historian and an active participant in the cultural conversations shaping it. Based in Harlem, the public scholar, independent curator and art critic specializes in Afro-Latinx, Latinx and Black Atlantic history, tracing the ways migration, memory, identity and diasporic experience continue to reverberate through contemporary art.

That perspective also makes Rosa less interested in simply following what the art world has deemed important. She looks for the works and exhibitions that linger emotionally, challenge familiar narratives or offer new ways of understanding the present. Sometimes that means finding surreal beauty in Bony Ramirez’s sculptural world, and other times it means wandering through the Venice Biennale with a dead phone and unexpectedly finding comfort in the recorded apologies of complete strangers.

For the latest installment of Hypeart’s State of Art, Rosa reflects on the art that has stayed with her in 2026, from Ramirez’s El Cielo Del Mar to the late Koyo Kouoh’s Venice Biennale. She talks about why the latter felt less like an exhibition than a “praise dance,” calls for more poetry and less noise in contemporary art and explains why she’s giving the art world an A+ despite the increasingly difficult world surrounding it.

What’s the one show from the first half of this year that you can't stop thinking about?
Bony Ramirez’s "El Cielo Del Mar" still has a grip on me. It was an installation of large-scale sculptural works at the Historic Chapel of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, curated by the incredible Anne-Laure Saives and scored by Elvin Tavarez. My mind is both puzzled and reassembled by Ramirez’s sculptural practice–his modular wooden pieces, often geometric or circular, are meant to mimic the simple wooden slabs that countryside houses are made of. I am absolutely in awe of his practice. While Ramirez is known for his beautiful portraits of stylized doe-eyed countryside people, he manages to create sculptural “portraits” from baby blue slabs of wood. There is a surrealism to Ramirez’s figurations that helps me digest how we are all a gorgeously-imperfect assemblage of parts.

Did any artwork actually make you feel something real this year, or has everything felt a little flat? If yes, what’s the artwork and tell us about your experience, first encounter with it.
It was my last day in Venice and I had gotten lost somewhere in the Arsenale, but I didn’t care. I was enjoying being lost–disconnected. My phone was completely dead by the time I heard the whispers of human voices buzzing in a cacophony of sounds. I opened the curtain and tumbled into a room of 52 hanging black prisms, each one a speaker that, when you held up to your ear, read out an apology message. “I am sorry I haven’t gotten back to you, I’ve been dealing with the weight of motherhood.” Taus Makhacheva “Dear R., R., K., S., M., A., C., S., K., I., G., L., A., A., L., P., G., E., J., D., M., C., B., O., F., F., R., D., M., E., L., I., F., L., A., M., T., K., K., L., P., F., V., A., L., L. (2018/2026).” I dizzily went from speaker to speaker, listening to every message. It was calming, almost regulating, to know that all humans were just as exhausted; that we were all dealing with the effects of war, of loss, of parenthood; that all us needed more alone time in a hyper-connected world. And there I was, alone, with my phone dead, listening to other people’s apologies, and that’s when I realized that I didn’t have to apologize for being here—lost and disconnected.

"In tomorrow’s art world, I want to see poetry. Poetry like Lindsay Adams poetry."

What's a show you have marked on your calendar for the rest of the year and why?
The Venice Biennale of 2026, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, could very well be the very last art show there ever was, and I don’t think I would mind. I am not sure that any art show will ever grip me again like the walls of the Arsenale and Giardini. That’s because it wasn’t an art show–It was a praise dance. It was an offering, a best and final offering. Across Venice, I was enwrapped by both a deep sense of Black Internationalism and a deeply felt solidarity with South African and Palestinian artists. And I felt something–I felt something everywhere in my body. With what work did I feel it the most? Was it with BigChief’s beaded garments in the Giardini? Or was it Kennedy Yankyo’s massive sculpture hangings from the beams of the Giardini? Or was it Taus Makhacheva’s dizzying room of voice messages emptying out into the room from hanging phones? Or was it Rose Solane’s film Mercurial New York (2026)? I am not sure when I felt it most. It was all one thing. It was a praise dance.

If you had to give the 2026 art world a report card grade right now, what is it and why?
A+. We are all doing our best considering the rise of facism.

What’s one trend in the art scene you want to see go away and what’s one you want to see more of?
I think Damien Davis’ essay “Manufacturing “Black Fatigue” in the Art World,” published in Hyperallergic put an end to the unnecessary noise around Black art. So, tsuh! That’s out. In tomorrow’s art world, I want to see poetry. Poetry like Lindsay Adams poetry.

If you can sum up the art world right now in exactly three words what would they be?
Non-Commercial Realness.

If you could grab a drink or meal with any artist tonight (living or dead), who would it be and what’s the first thing you’re asking them?
I guess lots of people would say Basquiat. But I am gonna say Jean-Michel. He was Haitian and Puerto Rican, and he was pretty awkward and nerdy– I think we would get along. I guess I would ask him to paint a map of the world. I wonder what signs he would choose.

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Summary

On view through August 29 at NYC's Nunu Fine Art gallery, the show gathers emerging artists from Asia, Latin America and their diasporas, drawing from rich astronomical mythologies of both regions.Drawing parallels between traditional Chinese astronomy and pre-Hispanic Latin American understandings of the cosmos, the show considers technology, mythology and collective memory as vessels for survival. The exhibition ultimately asks what humanity would carry with it if forced to begin again.

What happens when the world we know is no longer sustainable? The Cataclysm of Binary Star Systems, the inaugural exhibition from the 603 Arts Foundation, takes that question beyond Earth, imagining a future where humanity is forced to abandon the familiar and search for a new beginning among the stars.

On view at Nunu Fine Art in New York, the group show gathers emerging artists from Asia, Latin America and their diasporas, drawing from rich astronomical mythologies of both regions. The premise begins with catastrophe: a smaller star slowly siphons away the sun’s atmosphere, eventually rendering Earth uninhabitable and sending its remaining survivors into the unknown. But the cosmic narrative is less about science fiction than our present moment, using interstellar travel as a metaphor for displacement, uncertainty and the possibility of starting over.

Throughout the show, organic materials and otherworldly forms blur distinctions between what feels ancient and what might belong to some distant future. Danni Huang’s Bonsai root and Tail stone combine natural ephemera with sculpted resin, resulting in alien-like objects that appear simultaneously excavated and newly formed. María-Elena Pombo’s Unweaving the Starches of Abya Yala (Starches of Anya Yala) suspends strands made from cassava starch, corn, potato and brown algae extract from a metal structure, while Rithika Merchant’s intricate embroidery depicts a surreal tree growing from two figures beneath a constellation of watchful eyes, among many others.

The exhibition ultimately asks what humanity would carry with it if forced to begin again. Drawing parallels between traditional Chinese astronomy and pre-Hispanic Latin American understandings of the cosmos, The Cataclysm of Binary Star Systems considers technology, mythology and collective memory as vessels for survival.

The show "is a portal into the fate of humankind resting on the curiosity and promise of a life beyond what we know, in spite of the fears of the unexplained and unexplored," said the gallery in a statement. The Cataclysm of Binary Star Systems is on view at Nunu Fine Art New York through August 29.

Nunu Fine Art
381 Broome St.
New York, NY 10013

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Summary

Andy Medina’s 'MEX I CAN' at John Doe Gallery reworks familiar public symbols to explore Mexican identity and heritage.The exhibition blends pre-Columbian references with street signage, streetwear and pop culture through Medina’s signature cultural remixing.Works from his 'Superarme' project and tributes to Mexican motorsport icons highlight a vision of Mexico that is adaptive, global and constantly evolving.

Hailing from Oaxaca, Mexico, contemporary artist Andy Medina has built a practice around reexamining the symbols and visual language associated with Mexican identity. Working across signage, installation, printmaking, textiles and more, Medina dismantles familiar cultural codes and rebuilds them through his own lens. His latest exhibition, MEX I CAN, at Los Angeles’ John Doe Gallery pushes that approach further, hijacking public symbols and Western iconography to reaffirm the visual traditions of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.

Step inside John Doe and the gallery immediately feels like a brightly lit intersection, filled with road signs, reflective surfaces and fragments of public street ephemera. Look closer, however, and those familiar symbols begin to shift. A conventional hazard sign, for example, has been reworked to resemble the silhouette of a Mesoamerican pyramid, one of several instances of Medina’s cultural jamming throughout the show.

The exhibition’s title serves as both wordplay and affirmation. “MEX I CAN” speaks to the plurality of Mexican identity and its ability to continually adapt, particularly within Mexican-American communities navigating political and cultural pressures in the United States. “Today more than ever, MEX I CAN takes on relevance as a critical-political statement in a struggle where the identity of many is denied, as is the case with the Mexican-American community. Adaptability and resilience prevail,” Medina said in a statement.

Also featured are works from Medina’s Superarme project, which appropriates the unmistakable visual identity of streetwear giant Supreme. But the gesture is less about parodying a recognizable logo than using its familiarity as an entry point. Medina replaces the branding with his own wordplay, drawing attention to a version of Mexico shaped by overlapping cultures, histories and aesthetics.

Several works pay tribute to Mexican Formula 1 drivers Sergio “Checo” Pérez and Pedro Rodríguez, extending Medina’s exploration of national identity into the world of motorsport. “The objective is to update the scope of Mexican culture and its profile in the world of competition,” Medina explained.

Across MEX I CAN, Medina reframes Mexican identity as something fluid rather than fixed. By remixing everything from traffic signs and streetwear logos to racing culture and ancient visual traditions, he presents a Mexico that is constantly evolving, absorbing global influences while remaining firmly rooted in its own history.

John Doe Gallery
107 E 11th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015

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The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., will officially reopen its revitalized 1.3-acre outdoor sculpture garden on October 31, 2026, following a major four-year, $68 million USD transformation.

Spearheaded by renowned Japanese artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto, who previously redesigned the museum’s lobby, the project marks the most comprehensive overhaul of the campus since its 1974 debut. Sugimoto’s design thoughtfully honors the original modernist vision of architect Gordon Bunshaft while addressing critical infrastructural needs, expanding public accessibility, and creating a seamless physical connection between the museum building, its central plaza, and the garden via a reopened underground tunnel that had been closed for half a century.

When the gates open, the redesigned landscape will feature 60 sculptures, nearly double its previous capacity, alongside rotating exhibitions. The curatorial arrangement will bridge classic modernism with contemporary practice, spanning iconic works from founding donor Joseph Hirshhorn's collection by masters like Auguste Rodin, Alberto Giacometti, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, which will be showcased alongside dynamic new acquisitions by artists such as KAWS, Izumi Kato, Lauren Halsey and Raven Halfmoon. Additionally, the space introduces a flexible, enlarged central reflecting pool that can be drained to function as a performance amphitheater, as well as dedicated exhibition zones - beginning with Yoshitomo Nara: Sentinels of Stillness - reinforcing the Hirshhorn’s commitment to dynamic, accessible public art on the National Mall.

Hirshhorn Museum
Independence Ave SW &, 7th St SW,
Washington, DC 20560, United States

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Summary

Photographer No. 223 (Lin Zhipeng) has opened a new exhibition at Saint Laurent Rive Droite in BeijingCurated by Anthony Vaccarello, the show culls a collection from the artist's extensive archive to focus on intimacy, desire, and romance in time for QixiThe exhibition is now on view until September 11

Love is in the air at Beijing’s Saint Laurent Rive Droite. With summer hitting its stride in the run-up to Qixi, considered Chinese Valentine’s Day on August 19, photographer No. 223 echoes the mood of the season: dreamy, fleeting, and flirty.

Curated by Anthony Vaccarello, the show spotlights a quieter side of romance through a constellation of intimate scenes. Plump stone fruits sit beside sun-lit blossoms. Warm shots of bodies folded atop one another are in dialogue with those of cherry stems held tight between teeth. “I would describe the atmosphere of these photographs as tranquil and unrushed, imbued with understated sensuality,” the artist, born Lin Zhipeng, told Dazed in a recent interview.

Like the Chungking Express character from which his moniker stems from, 223’s practice centers moments that carve the contours of young life, love, and loneliness, softened and layered in depictions of desire, innocence, and play. Be it two people locked in a kiss or grapefruit slices, pulp ripe and tender, each piece in the collection holds tight to its beauty, even if just for a second, before it slips away forever.

The exhibition is now on view in Beijing until September 11.

Saint Laurent Rive Droite Beijing
19 Sanlitun Road,
Chaoyang District,
Beijing, China

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Summary

RANSHOU presents 'FUTURE HISTORY: Lineage and Form of Onnagata' at Tokyo's National Theatre, September 12–13, 2026.The exhibition specially opens the closed Grand Theatre Stage for visitors to walk across.Features 100+ historical works, costumes and contemporary collaborations by Ranshou Fujima.

Independent art organization RANSHOU will present a landmark exhibition titled FUTURE HISTORY: Lineage and Form of Onnagata this fall. Set to be hosted at Tokyo's National Theatre, the showcase will take over the Grand Theatre stage for a truly special two-day event celebrating one of the country's most renowned and respected art forms: Kabuki.

Completed in 1966 as a postwar architectural icon modeled after traditional azekura-zukuri storehouse architecture, the theatre has been officially closed for a major reconstruction project, rendering its dark stage an evocative backdrop for a project exploring memory, history and physical form. For this brief presentation, the venue will be specially opened to allow audiences to physically walk across the very stage where generations of legendary master actors once performed.

Curated by dancer, choreographer and RANSHOU director Ranshou Fujima, Kyōkanoko Musume Dōjōji (The Maiden at Dojoji Temple) serves as the central performance of the exhibition. This title is not only the oldest surviving Noh-based Kabuki dance drama, but it's also a highly-regarded repertoire that demonstrates the pinnacle of the onnagata (male actors performing female roles).

Fujima, who trained extensively in classical Kabuki techniques as a woman outside of a traditional hereditary kabuki lineage, has long viewed the classics as living presences rather than distant relics. Her multidisciplinary practice - spanning dance, choreography, film and archival research - anchors the exhibition in both embodied tradition and contemporary inquiry. She seeks to untangle the historical erasure of women in traditional performance narratives, thus recontextualizing three centuries of onnagata practice through a contemporary feminine lens.

Spanning five thematic sections, the presentation brings together more than 100 historical works and archival documents from the RANSHOU Archives & Collection alongside contemporary creative collaborations. Visitors will navigate through early printed texts such as the 1689 woodblock edition of Ōjōyōshū and Heike Monogatari, rare ukiyo-e prints by masters of the Torii, Katsukawa and Utagawa schools, 1753 nagauta librettos, as well as original stage costumes lent by Shochiku Costume Co., Ltd. These historical artifacts directly dialogue with contemporary projects, including acrylic geta footwear produced with architect Shigeru Ban's office, new washi paper photography by RK and Fujima’s single-channel film de(i)fied.

Crucially, the exhibition’s narrative addresses the broader cultural context of post-Meiji Japan, where the modern institutionalization of art often categorized Kabuki and ukiyo-e as mere vernacular entertainment while compartmentalizing their interconnected ties to literature, religion and social life. By mapping the evolution of onnagata across themes of sacredness, theatrical architecture, the boundary between life and death, and the forgotten Edo-period tradition of full-scale female kabuki performances within the Ōoku (the women's quarters of Edo Castle), FUTURE HISTORY constructs a holistic bridge between past tradition and contemporary practice.

RANSHOU's FUTURE HISTORY: Lineage and Form of Onnagata will take place at Tokyo's National Theatre between September 12 and 13, 2026.

National Theatre of Japan
4-1 Hayabusacho, Chiyoda City,
Tokyo 102-8656, Japan

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Summary

teamLab unveils new interactive sunflower artwork at Osaka Botanical Garden.Sunflowers glow and emit tones, responding to visitor presence and movement.Installation fosters connection, awareness and meditative engagement with nature through digital art.

International art collective teamLab has unveiled its latest seasonal interactive installation, Life is the Small Sun Flickering in the Dark, at the permanent nighttime open-air museum teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka inside Nagai Park. Featuring a soundscape created by composer Hideaki Takahashi, the 2026 installation transforms a field of roughly 20,000 white sunflowers into an ethereal, glowing landscape where living flora, technology, and human presence merge into a single interactive ecosystem. Operating on view through August 16, 2026 - subject to the seasonal blooming period of the flowers - the exhibition turns the botanical garden into a dynamic sensory environment after dusk.

The artwork comes to life through human and animal interaction across the darkness. When visitors or local wildlife approach and stand near the sunflowers, the individual plants respond by illuminating more intensely and emitting a distinct resonant audio tone. This initial pulse of light and sound rapidly ripples outward to adjacent sunflowers, creating a continuous wave that radiates through the entire field. If a secondary wave of light approaches from across the meadow, it alerts guests to the presence of another person or creature moving on the far side, transforming the physical behaviors of those in the space into a collective visual and auditory dialogue.

Rooted in teamLab’s conceptual exploration of how existence is continuous with its surrounding environment, Life is the Small Sun Flickering in the Dark frames each sunflower not as an isolated entity, but as part of an interconnected web of relationships. Rather than treating art as a static object with rigid physical boundaries, the collective uses flow, light, and sound to establish an evolving ecological field where audience participation actively shapes the structure of the piece

teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka
Nagai Botanical Garden at 1-23 Nagaikoen,
Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 546-0034, Japan

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Summary

Tokyo Jazz Club debuts in November during Art Week Tokyo.Located in Jimbocho, it transforms an eight-story former capsule hotel into a hybrid exhibition and music venue.Inspired by the Basel Social Club, it merges art, jazz, dining and nightlife.

The Tokyo Jazz Club is set to make its debut in November, launching as a major new cultural event in partnership with Art Week Tokyo. Located near the Jimbocho district, the innovative project will take over all eight floors of a former capsule hotel, transforming the unconventional venue into a dynamic, multi-level hybrid space.

Designed to blur the boundaries between a contemporary art exhibition, a socialization hub and a marketplace, the Tokyo Jazz Club will bring together a diverse array of artists, galleries, and musicians under one roof. Supported by Arts Council Tokyo, the inaugural edition promises to be a premier destination for cultural exchange during the city's vibrant autumn arts calendar.

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Summary

Geoff McFetridge unveils a new collection of paintings for a show titled 'Grasslands' at Toronto's Cooper Cole Gallery.The exhibition features rolling landscapes inspired by the Canadian prairies where the artist was raised.

There’s a quiet power lingering throughout Geoff McFetridge’s latest body of work at Toronto’s Cooper Cole Gallery. Channeling the charged stillness of the late Alex Colville’s photorealistic paintings, McFetridge brings a similar sense of motionlessness to the rural scenes and tranquil environments of Grasslands. The exhibition features rolling landscapes inspired by the Canadian prairies where the artist was raised.

It's easy to slip into a dreamlike state while looking at "Afloat," an oil and gesso painting depicting a figure lying in a soft field of grass, perhaps taking an afternoon nap or simply gazing blissfully at the sky. Another work, titled "Sleepers," shows pickup trucks and boxy SUVs forming a traffic circle in the middle of an expansive field. Have the vehicles been abandoned, or are their drivers endlessly circling without any clear destination?

The surrealism running through the works is understated but deliberate, tapping into a nostalgia for life’s simpler, smaller moments. Spending time with these scenes offers viewers a brief sense of solace from the relentless noise of the present.

“This new body of work extends McFetridge’s ongoing investigation into perception, memory, and the spaces between observation and imagination. Figures, animals, architecture, and landscape elements occupy scenes that feel at once recognizable and elusive, suspended between lived experience and dream,” the gallery said in a statement.

Grasslands is on view at Cooper Cole Gallery through September 5.

Cooper Cole Gallery
1134 Dupont Street
Toronto, ON M6H 2A2
Canada

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Summary

LA-based photographer Darren Vargas releases his new photo book, 'Moretón' with publisher FRIENDS EDITIONSThe book captures life at the Lee Espinoza Coachella Valley Boxing Club in a portrait of legacy, community, and resilience that goes beyond the sportPriced at $60, the release is limited to an edition of 200

The space between a ring’s ropes contains a world. In his new book, Los Angeles-based photographer Darren Vargas captures life at the Lee Espinoza Coachella Valley Boxing Club, a community-led non-profit in Southern California. Moretón, ‘bruise’ in Spanish, chronicles not just sport but the legacy, resilience, and people who make a place a home.

Lee Espinoza, locally known as the “godfather of boxing,” founded the gym in the 1980s and, decades later, continues to operate it for the public free of charge. It’s a testament to Espinoza’s dedication to his community, as seen through the generations that have gone on to succeed both in and out of the ring.

“This place does not just hold meaning for me; it holds legacy. One of the immigrants is building something for themselves, for their community, and their families,” Vargas wrote. “To me, Coachella Valley is a representation of what it is to make it from nothing and still build everything around you.”

The series was inspired by the death of the artist’s grandfather, Esmael, in 2020. Growing up, Vargas and his brothers spent their summers with their grandparents in the Coachella Valley, and, in many ways, he saw Esmael in Espinoza. With much left unsaid after his grandfather’s passing, the artist found solace in the sport — how it brings kids together from all over the desert to build one another up, reconciling and finding forgiveness with each other and themselves.

“[The project] is a response to struggle and hardship but finding ways to still give back. Lee has sacrificed to make something for the youth in Coachella Valley,” he continued. “A haven in a special place.”

Published by FRIEND EDITIONS, Moretón, limited to an edition of 200, is now available to purchase for $60 USD. A percentage of sales will benefit the Lee Espinoza Coachella Valley Boxing Club. Alongside the box, a companion exhibition is now on view at Authorized Dealer in Los Angeles until August 10.

Authorized Dealer
1741 Silver Lake Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90026

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Summary

State of Art is a new HypeArt series inviting artists, curators, collectors and other leading voices to weigh in on the ideas, debates and cultural shifts shaping contemporary art. Through intimate questions and personal recommendations, the series offers a closer look at what is exciting the art world, what needs to change and where things may be heading next.

For the first spotlight, we spoke with Eli Scheinman, a curator and digital art strategist working across art, technology and collecting. Scheinman was the inaugural curator of Art Basel’s ZERO 10, the fair’s platform dedicated to art of the digital era, where he helps shape programming and brings together artists, galleries and interdisciplinary practices exploring how technology is changing the way art is created, experienced and collected.

Below, Scheinman reflects on Beeple’s kinetic sculptures, Sougwen Chung’s collaborative performances with robots and the art world’s continued reliance on tired digital formats. He also looks ahead to Trevor Paglen’s latest work in Venice, calls for more unexpected collisions across art and culture and explains why the current moment feels like "barbarians at the gates."

What’s the one show from the first half of this year that you can’t stop thinking about?
Beeple’s mid-career retrospective, Infinite Loop, at NODE in Palo Alto. For me, Beeple is one of the most incisive and important contemporary artists working today, and most people don’t realize it yet.

This was the first time his kinetic sculptures were exhibited together and the debut of a new work, "Machine Memory." The show was chaotic, compelling and beautiful.

Did any artwork actually make you feel something real this year, or has everything felt a little flat? What was the work, and what was your first encounter with it like?
Sougwen Chung’s Recursions, shown at Art Basel Hong Kong in ZERO 10. It was one of my favorite individual works of the year. Her intimate performances, where she joins her robots in the coordinated gestural painting of a monumental ancient scroll, expose the critical tensions within human-machine collaboration. Very special.

What’s the one upcoming show you have marked on your calendar for the rest of the year, and why?

Strange Rules in Venice. I missed it during the opening but heard great reports. I need to see Trevor Paglen’s new work in person. I’m also a massive fan of co-curators Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst.

"Please, no more PDF catalogues. Find new ways to show work in digital environments"

If you had to give the 2026 art world a report card grade right now, what would it be and why?

B. I’m seeing small openings for emergent scenes and new ideas, but as usual, there’s still a lot of entrenched dogma throttling creativity in the art world that needs to be sanded away.

What’s one trend in the art scene you want to see disappear, and what’s one you want to see more of?

Fewer galleries presenting work in tired, predictable online formats. Please, no more PDF catalogues. Find new ways to show work in digital environments. It’s okay to have a point of view. I want to see more unexpected juxtapositions and collisions of work, ideas and experiences. Loïc Gouzer’s Fair Warning auction platform and New York events come to mind.

If you could sum up the art world right now in exactly three words, what would they be?

I need four: “Barbarians at the gates.”

If you could grab a drink or meal with any artist tonight, living or dead, who would it be, and what’s the first thing you would ask them?

My grandfather. He had the mind of an artist, even if he didn’t think of himself as one. He was a sociologist by training. I’d ask him what he thinks about creative work being externalized from the mind to models and machines.

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Summary

Sable Elyse Smith’s Clockwork brings sculpture, video, neon and photography to The FLAG Art Foundation.The exhibition examines policing, incarceration, media and the systems shaping everyday life.Clockwork runs from September 24, 2026 through February 13, 2027.

Sable Elyse Smith’s Clockwork is heading to The FLAG Art Foundation this fall, following its presentation at The Contemporary Austin. Opening September 24, the exhibition brings together new and recent sculpture, video, neon and photography by the 2026 recipient of the Suzanne Deal Booth / FLAG Art Foundation Prize.

For its New York presentation, FLAG expands the show’s cinematic qualities into an immersive, stage-like environment. Across the exhibition, Smith looks closely at the systems that shape everyday life, particularly policing, incarceration, entertainment and language, and how those forces often overlap.

Two video installations anchor the show. "LAUGH TRACK, OR WHO’S THAT PEEKING IN MY WINDOW" (2021) appears alongside "skin suit" (2026), a new work created for the Prize. Mixing found and original footage, both videos borrow from police chase and bodycam imagery popularized by reality television, shifting between suspense, humor and discomfort to expose the biases built into those images.

Smith’s sculptures similarly transform familiar objects into something harder to read. Prison waiting-room stools are reworked into star-like forms resembling children’s jacks, while others extend from the wall in cruciform shapes, blurring associations of punishment, play and belief.

Her neon works turn language into another site of tension, borrowing the visual language of commercial and institutional signage to explore how words can reinforce prejudice, but also be redirected toward something more freeing.

Clockwork will be on view at The FLAG Art Foundation from September 24, 2026 through February 13, 2027.

The FLAG Art Foundation
545 W 25th St 9th Floor
New York, NY 10001

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Summary

Spike Lee and Clara Wu Tsai are teaming up to launch ‘Playback,’ a film festival in New York celebrating the spirit of BrooklynThe festival will be open at Brooklyn Academy of Music on November 6 and 7The event will feature film screenings, a block party, live performances, community activations, and talks from a number of artists and guest speakers

You don't have to be a die-hard Spike Lee fan to know that his hometown ties run deep. From his debut film shot on Super 8 to this video of him being paraded around “like the pope” in Fort Greene post-Knicks win, it's no wonder a 2025 documentary on him was dubbed The Last King of Brooklyn.

This fall, Lee is teaming up with Clara Wu Tsai, the co-owner of the New York Liberty and Brooklyn Nets, for the inaugural edition of Playback, a new film festival all about the borough.

Set to take over the Brooklyn Academy of Music on November 6 and 7, from what we know so far, the festival's programming slate will include screenings of repertory films, curated by Lee and producer Nicholas Ma, alongside live music, community activations, food vendors, poetry readings, a block party, and conversations between some of the most influential artists and filmmakers hailing from Brooklyn and beyond.

“With Playback, we are setting out to create a new kind of film festival — one that brings together people who share a love of storytelling through film,” said Wu Tsai, who co-owns the New York Liberty and the Brooklyn Nets. Outside of her role, she’s also an avid collector and patron of the arts, having enlisted Sarah Sze, Rashid Johnson, Mark Bradford, and LaToya Ruby Frazier for art installations at Barclays Center.

“There is nowhere else like Brooklyn, nothing like the energy of this borough, and this festival will highlight all that makes our community unique,” she continued.

Further programming, alongside guest speakers and curators have yet to be unveiled, and will be unveiled in the months leading up to the festival. For more information on Playback: The Brooklyn Watch Party and how to cop tickets, head to the event’s website to sign up for the mailing list.

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A gallerist tries to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami. Such is the premise of Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, starring Natalie Portman, Charli xcx, and Jenna Ortega. It premiered at January’s Sundance Film Festival, and while it’s yet to land a wider release, the film, and its gloriously absurd premise, seemed to set off a chain across the theaters and festival circuit: a sudden appetite for art world mystique.

Cinephiles are particularly well-fed this season. Between Obsession and Backrooms, horror is having another scorching summer, but so too is contemporary art. Before the Venice Film Festival opens the gates for September’s stacked calendar — from Frieze London and Seoul to The Armory Show in New York — consider these releases your fall warm-up.

I Want Your Sex dir. Gregg Araki

Sex, crime, and art are the big three in Gregg Araki’s silver-screen homecoming, I Want Your Sex, which premiered at the top of 2026 at the Sundance Film Festival. Olivia Wilde plays Erika Tracy, an art star and provocateur, opposite Cooper Hoffman as Elliot, her apathetic Gen Z assistant, alongside more than several notable names, like Charli, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, and Margaret Cho. The film is now showing in U.S. theaters nationwide.

Joie de Vivre dir. Luca Guadagnino

Clocking in at seven hours, Joie de Vivre is Luca Guadagnino’s odyssey of a documentary dedicated to the legendary Italian artist and filmmaker, Bernardo Bertolucci. This is Guadagnino’s second cinematic project surrounding his artistic mentor after Bertolucci on Bertolucci (2013), which he dubs his “most personal” film, and is set to premiere Out of Competition at the upcoming Venice Film Festival later this month.

Barrio Triste dir. Stillz

Barrio Triste isn’t about the art world, per se, but with Bad Bunny collaborator Stillz as director, EDGLRD on production, and a soundtrack by Arca, the stacked team makes it a natural next-up on our list. The found-footage work, which premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, follows four teenagers in a hauntingly tender portrait of late '80s Medellín, Colombia. The film is currently showing in select theaters across the U.S.

Avedon dir. Ron Howard

After a standout Cannes premiere, Ron Howard’s Richard Avedon documentary is coming to Netflix later this year. The film traces Avedon’s life and legacy, “whose work continues to resonate not only because of the extraordinary images he created, but because of the humanity and curiosity behind them,” as the director put it. Drawing on personal archives, never-before-seen photos, and new interviews with collaborators, Avedon promises an unprecedented look at the photographer that changed American fashion forever.

The Thomas Crown Affair dir. Michael B. Jordan

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Summary

Yoshitomo Nara’s first David Zwirner exhibition opens in New York on October 29, 2026.The two-location exhibition features new atmospheric paintings and large-format drawings.The 19th Street location will feature thirteen monumental white bronze head sculptures.

Opening this fall, David Zwirner will present Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara’s inaugural solo exhibition with the gallery, spanning its 533 West 19th Street and 537 West 20th Street locations in New York. Marking the artist's first major solo presentation in the city in nearly a decade, the expansive showcase features new 2026 paintings, large-format drawings, recent sculptures and foundational early works from the 1980s chosen by Nara himself.

The presentation at the 537 West 20th Street space highlights the latest stylistic shifts in Nara's two-dimensional artwork, featuring front-facing portraits with direct gazes rendered in a distinctly muted, highly nuanced color palette. The new paintings reveal intricate, diffused brushwork that builds richly atmospheric depths, alongside a fresh method where compositions are first sketched in colored pencil before receiving translucent washes of acrylic paint. In these works, figures adopt natural poses with tear-filled eyes that evoke a quiet sense of uncertainty. Exhibited in tandem are recent monochrome drawings created with industrial oil-based paint sticks, as well as his "line" paintings —works created by projecting and reanimating bold notebook sketches onto canvas to retain the rapid, fluid impulse of drawing.

Concurrently, the 533 West 19th Street venue houses thirteen monumental bronze head sculptures created in 2024, each representing a ten-fold enlargement of palm-sized clay prototypes hand-molded by the artist. Coated in matte white urethane paint to afford an inviting visual softness, the large-scale works recall the "snow monsters" created by heavy snowfall during Nara's childhood winters. By magnifying the simple facial expressions of these small prototypes to a monumental scale, the installation explores the psychological impact of size, allowing the play of light and shadow across their smooth surfaces to foster an environment of serenity and reflection.

Both showcases will take place across its aforementioned gallery locations starting October 29, 2026.

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Summary

Artist Precious Okoyomon has unveiled an outdoor installation at New York's MoMA PS1The artwork features a wild garden, sound installations, and a giant teddy bear sculptureThe installation, the inaugural Courtyard Commission, will be on view for two years.

For the next two years, the courtyard at MoMA PS1 will play host to Precious Okoyomon’s playground of pleasures. The New York-based artist, known for their lush gardenscapes and cute-creepy stuffed animal sculptures, has planted a living forest in even in the balmiest of New York heat for “Among the Flowers I Learned to Love: A Garden of Decreation,” their largest outdoor piece yet.

Taking place on a plush bed of 1,500 perennials and plants, the installation is a sensorial blend of blooms, sculpture, and sound, co-cultivated with Rhode Island nursery issima. Oppositional species — native and invasive plants — grow beside one another, with pollinators and butterflies abound, creating a scene that challenges ideas of what can cultivate together.

Okoyomon’s garden envisions life eternally in flux, inspired by philosopher Simone Weil’s concept of "decreation" — the constant making and unmaking of the world. As plants shift, seasons change, the space hones in on environmental and social realities of adaptation, resilience, and the unpredictable future of urban nature in shifting climates.

At the heart of the installation is “The Pleasure Principle,” a 25-foot-long sculpture. Visitors can climb into a teddy bear and listen to Okoyomon reading their poetry as they ride down a blood-red slide before exiting through its mouth. The adorable character is a recurring motif for the artist, often tied to idea(l)s of pleasure, while embodying the space between inner and outer worlds, à la Winnicott.

“Among the Flowers I Learned to Love: A Garden of Decreation” (2026) is now on view for free in New York, and marks the inaugural piece of the museum’s experimental Courtyard Commissions series. Check out PS1’s website for more details.

MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave,
Queens, NY 11101

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Summary

Sotheby's Salon in Hong Kong presents a major exhibition celebrating the seven-decade career of artist Yayoi KusamaThe curated showcase features rare works spanning the 1950s to 2010s across three thematic sectionsThe exhibition is currently open at Sotheby's Maison through August 20, 2026

Sotheby’s Salon has officially opened a major exhibition celebrating legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama at 1/F, Sotheby’s Maison in Hong Kong's The Landmark. Tracing seven decades of influential output, the retrospective highlights paintings, works on paper, and screenprints spanning from the 1950s to the 2010s.

Organized into three distinct thematic sections—Nature and Nurture, Fauna and Flora, and The Urban and Pop—the exhibition charts Kusama's artistic evolution from her formative years in Japan through her groundbreaking period in the United States and her return home. Key early highlights include The Pacific Ocean No. A.B.X. (1959), a rare ink, pastel, and gouache work executed shortly after her arrival in New York.

The showcase also features canvas pieces such as Sunset Grapes (1988), which transforms organic forms into vibrant patterns of repetition, and the rarely seen Handbag (1984), demonstrating her engagement with consumer culture, fashion, and everyday objects. Together with examples of her celebrated Infinity Nets, pumpkins, and floral imagery, the selection offers a comprehensive view of the artist's enduring visual universe.

The Yayoi Kusama exhibition is currently open to the public at 1/F, Sotheby’s Maison, running through August 20, 2026.

Sotheby's Maison
1/F, LANDMARK CHATER
8 Connaught Road Central
Central, Hong Kong

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Summary

The Royal Photographic Society's International Photography Exhibition returns next month for its 167th edition, open at Saatchi Gallery in London from August 7 to September 11The features 48 international photographers whose work explores themes like environmentalism, culture, identity, conflict, memory, and family American photographer Marcy Palmer and Taiwan-born, London-based photographer Léa Chen will be honored as this year's awardees

Almost as long as the history of the camera is that of the beloved photo exhibition. Serving up some of the world’s finest snaps since 1854, the Royal Photography Society’s International Photography Exhibition (IPE), the oldest of its kind, returns to Saatchi Gallery in London next month for its 167th edition.

Running from August 7 to September 11, this year’s edition stays true to that legacy, bringing together a 48-piece mix of contemporary voices from across the globe, and tracing how the medium and the culture around it continue to evolve.

“The IPE has always reflected the times and this year’s submissions are no exception,” the Society wrote in a recent statement. The upcoming collection focuses on themes such as environmentalism, identity, conflict, memory, community, family, and culture, many of which adopt alternative production processes.

This year’s top prize goes to Dallas-based Marcy Palmer for her series Seeds of Strength and Resilience, which delves into the past, present, and future of reproductive rights. The Under 30s Award was presented to London-based Léa Chen for The Stars That Don’t Look Back, an intimate capturing of shared memories between three generations of women in Taiwan.

Other standouts to look out for include Attilio Fiumarella’s grid of bathhouse Brummies, Alex Huda’s exploration of Hong Kong Voidpunk, and some verdant architectural splendor by Zed Nelson.

“What I find most inspiring about this exhibition is the reminder that, wherever we live and whatever our background, photography helps us communicate ideas, emotions and moments that resonate far beyond ourselves,” says RPS CEO Victoria Humphries.

After its run at Saatchi Gallery, IPE167 will make stops at the Taunton Museum and the Royal Geographical Society during fall 2026 and spring 2027.

Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York's HQ,
King's Rd, London SW3 4RY,
United Kingdom

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Summary

Sabri Sundos’ Chasing Flowers uses floral imagery to explore beauty, escape and political uncertainty.The Palestinian American artist blends painting, textiles and traditional craft to examine heritage, memory and identity.The exhibition is on view at Fisk Gallery in Portland through September 5.

Portland's Fisk Gallery recently opened Chasing Flowers, a new solo exhibition by New York-based Palestinian American artist Sabri Sundos.

The exhibition explores the tension between escape and engagement, using floral imagery as a symbol of beauty, refuge and resilience. Sundos presents flowers as moments of pause within a world shaped by constant demands, noise and political uncertainty. Their familiarity offers a temporary sense of calm, while the realities surrounding them continue to pull the viewer back.

Through this push and pull, beauty bcomes more than decoration. It serves as both a sanctuary and a quiet act of attention, reflecting on the difficulty of fully disengaging from the forces that shape everyday life.

Raised in the Palestinian diaspora, Sundos works across painting and textiles to examine heritage, memory, labor and time. His practice brings traditional craft into dialogue with cultural iconography, emphasizing the agency, tactility and human touch involved in making art.

By drawing on inherited techniques and familiar symbols, Sundos considers how creative practice can preserve cultural memory while opening space for new conversations around identity and belonging. His work ultimately carries an enduring sense of hope, positioning art as a means of reclaiming and sustaining heritage.

Chasing Flowers is open to the public through September 5 at Fisk Gallery, located inside Wieden+Kennedy in Portland.

Wieden+Kennedy
224 NW 13th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

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Summary

BTS’ RM is bringing his personal art collection to SFMOMA.The exhibition pairs Korean modern and contemporary art with works from the museum’s holdings.'Between You and Me' opens October 3, 2026.

RM’s relationship with art is moving from the intimacy of his home and studio into a major museum setting. The BTS leader will present works from his personal collection in RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me, opening at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art this fall.

The show marks the first museum presentation dedicated to artworks collected by RM, born Kim Namjoon. Co-curated by RM alongside SFMOMA’s América Castillo and Hyoeun Kim, the show will bring together 200 works drawn from his collection and the museum’s holdings. Many of the Korean artworks included have never previously been exhibited publicly in the United States.

Although best known as the leader, rapper and songwriter of BTS, RM has become an influential advocate for Korean art. His collection reflects a personal and contemplative approach, connecting foundational figures of Korean modernism with contemporary practices from Korea and abroad.

Artists represented from RM’s collection include Yun Hyong-keun, Park Rehyun, Kwon Okyon, Kim Yun Shin, To Sangbong and Chang Ucchin. Their works will appear alongside selections from SFMOMA’s collection by Kim Whanki, Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe and Paul Klee.

Rather than presenting the collection as a portrait of celebrity ownership, Between You and Me centers the emotional and intellectual connections that develop between a person and an artwork. The exhibition will explore recurring ideas across generations and geographies, moving between Korea and the United States, East and West, and the personal and universal.

“I don’t want to prescribe how these works should be seen,” RM said of the exhibition, describing his hope that it might become a 'small but sturdy bridge' for its visitors.

RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me will be on view exclusively at SFMOMA from October 3, 2026 through February 7, 2027. Tickets will become available to members on August 4 before opening to the general public on August 11.

SFMOMA
151 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

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