Arts

Arts

Our friend just opened a new solo show, KOM INTE OCH KNACKA PÅ (Don't Come and Knock) at Galleri Thomassen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The show consists of many new works on paper "Isolation and fear were recurring thoughts during the work. I often get stuck on a single word or sentence, this should not be mistaken for a theme or an explanation. Rather, the process itself should lead the works in the direction they wish." - Daniel Götesson 2025

The year began with the art world-like much of the rest of the world-holding its breath, waiting to see what America's newly re-elected president, Donald J. Trump, had on his Washington to-do list. Meanwhile, on America's other coast, a series of wildfires in and around Los Angeles burned up around 60,000 acres, killing hundreds of people, displacing thousands more, and consuming architectural landmarks as well as untold works of art.

The tree in question can be found in the Shoreditch office of ad agency Mother. It's not one big tree, rather 70 individual trees entwined together and spiralling all the way up the building's staircase, decked out with light-up stars. It measures nearly 100ft (equivalent to the height of around seven double deckers), dwarfing Trafalgar Square's 66ft Norwegian spruce and the 67ft Eastern City Tree at Pan Pacific London.

Sheila Berenson is an educator, writer, and visual artist based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her professional journey spans decades of teaching, writing, and creating art, all guided by one consistent principle: curiosity fuels understanding. Art has always been a part of Sheila's life, shaping her approach to learning and inspiring her to connect with the world in meaningful ways. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee,

This is Drama Masks, a Bay Area performing arts column from a born San Franciscan and longtime theatre artist in an N95 mask. I talk venue safety and dramatic substance, or the lack thereof. As I write this, I have SomaFM's "Jolly Ol' Soul" channel playing in the background. The local indie radio network starts broadcasting its Christmas channels soon after Halloween, because why wait 'til Black Friday when the entire economy is already geared up for the big day beyond it?

The MA and MFA programs at the Texas Christian University (TCU) School of Art invite applications for fall 2026 enrollment. TCU provides an exceptional environment for art historical research, studio practice, and professional development. MA and MFA graduate students receive full tuition funding, competitive stipends, and 85% health insurance coverage, regardless of background or citizenship status. Generous financial support for research and travel enriches the graduate experience.

In one installation in Massachusetts, Mary and an infant Jesus are absent, replaced by a sign that reads, "ICE was here." In another one in Chicago, a sign declares, "Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding." More such nativity scenes are popping up across the country as people of conscience protest against Homeland Security's persecution of helpless individuals, sending the message: not in our name.

Visiting the exhibitions, installations and performances of Accra Cultural Week, I saw how the finest art nourishes and constructs a country's history and identity. The centrepiece was no doubt Serge Attukwei Clottey's exquisite [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which put his pioneering afrogallonism on full display: a concept that transforms yellow jerrycans into illusory art pieces, mosaics of yellow, brass and gold.

The exhibition centres on the deep, irrevocable relationship between Palestinian people and their homeland and features the work of eight image makers: Adam Rouhana, Maen Hammad, Jenna Masoud, Samar Hazboun, Kholood Eid, Sakir Khader, Zach Hussein and Dean Majd. The exhibition has been curated by the British-Iraqi writer and editor Dalia Al-Dujaili, who was invited by Gola Gallery to work on the show as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Federico Babina's Musealis illustration series reimagines seventeen of the world's most iconic as an imaginary black-and-white atlas, a visual journey. Each architectural illustration arises from the encounter between content and container. The architecture, with its geometries, both embraces and allows itself to be traversed by words, the titles of the most emblematic works housed within. No longer captions, but building blocks: the artworks transform into a plastic language, into lines, squares, curves, solids, and voids that construct the very image of the museum.

The morning after the Turner prize ceremony, the winner of the UK's most prestigious art award, Nnena Kalu, is eating toast and drinking a strong cup of tea. Everyone around her is beaming only a little the worse for wear after dancing their feet off at the previous night's party in Bradford, and sinking a couple of brandies back at the hotel bar. I say hello to Kalu, offer my congratulations, and admire the 59-year-old's beautifully manicured creamy pink nails.

Enter Anika Jade Levy's slim and sharp debut Flat Earth, which shares its title with a film made by a woman whom Avery, the narrator, identifies as her best friend. Frances is a rich and beautiful twentysomething who becomes a reluctant celebrity in certain circles after her film, an experimental documentary about rural isolation and rightwing conspiracy theories in the modern-day United States, premieres to critical acclaim at a gallery in New York.

In 1972, an influential abstract artist was commissioned to build a sculpture for Lambton College in Sarnia, Ont. But due to what is being called a construction mishap, that longstanding and public connection to mid-century Canadian art history is now gone. The metal sculpture, called Sign No. 9, was created by Walter Yarwood, a founding member of the 1950s Canadian abstract art group Painters Eleven (P11).

The Arts Theatre opened in 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, meaning that the censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's office did not apply. This allowed the theatre to present daring, experimental and controversial productions not available to other venues. Remember, the government could censor theatre plays right up to 1968, when it finally bowed to pressure to abolish the role of official censor in the Theatres Act 1968.

An artwork's position in the museum, both spatially and interpretively, matters. It was this architecture of visibility that fueled critic John Yau's landmark essay " Please wait by the coatroom " (1988), titled after the corridor where the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) once relegated Cuban artist Wifredo Lam's painting "La Jungla(The Jungle)" (1943). For years, the painting hung in the lobby beside the bag-check - technically public, yet outside the main galleries and the art history they conveyed.

The Master of Design in Communication Design (MDes) at the University of Arkansas School of Art, housed in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, is now accepting applications through January 15, 2026. This two-year, terminal degree prepares students for a collaborative, studio-driven, and research-led approach to advanced design study. Located in one of the fastest-growing regions in the US and near the headquarters of three Fortune 500 companies, students gain professional experience in conceptual exploration and hands-on making.

The designs for six new stained-glass windows for the cathedral of Notre Dame will go on show from tomorrow at the Grand Palais in Paris, despite a number of protests against the project. The works by the French artist Claire Tabouret will replace monochrome windows commissioned by the architects Eugene Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus in the 19th century.

The museum's preliminary webpage for the exhibition, titled Palestine Uprooted: Nakba, Past and Present and scheduled to open in June 2026, includes an image from 1948 of Palestinians fleeing their homes and a more recent one of the displaced in Gaza during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. It states that the show will include the personal stories of Palestinian Canadians told through video testimonials and objects.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that London would host some standout exhibitions in 2025. But even with the city's thriving art scene, this year seemed exceptional. It wasn't just eye-catching shows. Museums made conscious attempts to move out of their comfort zones by giving marquee status to those who are often overlooked or marginalized: Indigenous artists, queer pioneers, trailblazing women - the list goes on.

When many people envision a Native blanket, they see a "Southwestern" style rather than blankets like the ones my family-who is Lakota and Dakota from Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe-made from buffalo hides. Those heirlooms were vibrant and varied, embellished with figures and animals, glass beads, porcupine quills, shells, bone, and seeds, all stitched into decorative designs and full-out tableaux.

In the world of Bay Area ballet, Michael Smuin's Christmas Ballet is one of the most sought-after events (and tickets) around. Soloist Myles Thatcher challenges rigid ballet gender norms with an unparalleled exuberance, and the fluidity of this seasonal regional gem changes every season with new works by Julia Adam (Dance Director), and Amy Seiwert (Artistic Director) leading the way.

So you've got a little artist. They love color. They pick out their own clothes. And they love making projects to hang up around the house. If your baby Banksy already has every crayon and marker a kid could want, you may wonder what to get them during the holidays. Rest assured, we put on our creative hats to find you the most unique and engaging gifts for kids.

Infrared pho­tog­ra­phy has even revealed, says the nar­ra­tor of the new Inspi­rag­gio video above, that both paint­ings "share the same changes in the orig­i­nal sketch. For years, it has been known that Leonar­do made small cor­rec­tions to the shape of the Mona Lisa 's hands, adjust­ments to the line of the eyes, and sub­tle mod­i­fi­ca­tions to the curve of the face," the very same cor­rec­tions that were found in the new­ly exam­ined copy.

She thinks it goes beyond duty. It's a step we can take to build new equitable relationships with Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia, she said at the museum's repatriation ceremony on Monday. And it's a really joyful thing to do, as you'll see from the community here and the reception that I'm sure these will get when they reach Thailand.

It seems like the only way the Musée du Louvre can catch a break these days is through its pipes, after a water leak that damaged hundreds of books on-site came to light this weekend. Following the revelation of water damage underscoring the urgent need for the museum's renovation, three culture unions representing staff at the Louvre issued a joint notice today warning of a rolling strike beginning Monday, December 15.