the urban conga transforms concrete bleacher into playscape
 
At the Morris Houses in the Bronx, an underutilized concrete bleacher has been transformed into a vibrant hub of activity known as the Common Corner. Co-designed by multidisciplinary studio The Urban Conga in collaboration with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and, most importantly, the residents themselves, the project breathes new life into a space that had fallen into disuse over decades. This community-led revitalization serves as a flexible gathering place designed to foster multigenerational connection and open-ended play. the installation encourages social connection within the space
 
 
community-led design process in the...

Sandro Botticelli, "The Mystical Nativity" (1500), oil on canvas, held at the National Gallery, London (photo via Wikimedia Commons)The Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola had been martyred less than two years when the early Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli completed his strange painting “The Mystical Nativity” around 1500. Eschewing the wooden panels on which he normally rendered his compositions, Botticelli’s latest painting was on canvas — the better to roll it up, should its incendiary message anger Florence’s rulers. Indeed, just a few years before he completed the painting, Savonarola, then powerful in the city-state, had been sentenced to death in part for his thunderous edict that...

Banksy has struck again, revealing a new mural on a quiet cobblestoned street in the London neighborhood of Bayswater just days before Christmas. Depicting two bundled-up children lying down and stargazing, the stenciled street art that appeared over a row of garages could be a reference to the estimated 102,000 unhoused children residing in temporary accommodations in the capital city. Though the anonymous artist claimed responsibility for the street art along Queen's Mews in Bayswater in an Instagram post, the same motif also appeared on a concrete divider outside the Centre Point tower in Central London. Banksy has not indicated that he is responsible for the identical work by the tower; however, its...

New York City Mayoral-Elect Zohran Mamdani has signed an open letter in support of roughly 1,000 workers of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York who filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board in November to approve a bargaining unit. The vote is scheduled to take place on January 13 and 15, 2026, and if it passes, the Met would become the largest unionized museum in the country. The letter was released on December 18 by the United Auto Workers (UAW), which represents the Met workers. It was signed by an assembly of current and incoming New York City and State officials, including Comptroller Elect Mark Levine and Manhattan Borough President Elect Brad Hoylman-Sigal. “The Metropolitan...

When I was seven years old, there was only one book release I cared about: Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris (2004). A scrapbook journal from a lost expedition, the bestselling children’s book nestled interactive envelopes and postcards within its illustrated pages, including a piece of “mummy cloth” and a guide to decoding hieroglyphics. I was entranced — by the textured gold and plastic gemstone cover, but also by the conceit that at least part of this history was real. I thought there truly was a missing archaeologist named Emily Sands who traveled to Cairo in 1926, and that her journals had only just been discovered for me, a girl in Seattle, Washington, to devour. Divine Egypt, the...

Nicolas Grospierre renders sunlight visible in Heliograms  
Polish-French artist Nicolas Grospierre presents Heliograms, a photography-adjacent series currently on show in the Salle de Salomon at the Royal Łazienki Palace in Warsaw, on view until December 31, 2026. The project centers on a singular technique: images formed not by camera, lens, or chemical development, but through the direct, months-long exposure of velvet to sunlight. Created both in the countryside of northern Poland and, for this exhibition, directly on site at the historic palace, the works reveal how the sun itself becomes a recording instrument.
Heliograms in the Salle de Salomon, Royal Łazienki Palace, Warsaw, 2025 (exhibition...

In a new letter, the Trump White House has reignited its threat to pull funding from the Smithsonian Institution amid a probe of the federally funded organization's programming, budgets, and forthcoming commemorations for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. Dated December 18, the letter addressed to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III underscored that the institution has yet to provide the majority of the documents requested in August, including “current exhibition descriptions, draft plans for upcoming shows, upcoming programming materials, and internal guidelines used in exhibition development.” Vince Haley, president of the Domestic Policy Council, and Russell Vought,...

Federal authorities, journalists, and Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers have spent years scrutinizing the financier’s properties and possessions, piecing together an aesthetic world that often seemed to mirror the abuses he committed. Reporting by ARTnews, the New York Times, Artnet, and other publications has detailed Epstein’s fixation on sexually charged imagery, the theatrical displays inside his properties, and the objects that blurred the line between décor and surveillance. Despite being heavily redacted, the first tranche of documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act now add a new layer to that picture. These newly surfaced details expand the record with visual evidence from inside...

“There’s a before and after Este Arte,” Uruguay’s first and only art fair, according to its founder, Laura Bardier.  The professionalization of Uruguay’s art market could read as Bardier’s biography—the curator who, through sheer insistence, converted a quixotic dream into a promising market machine—but that would misinterpret the ambition of Este Arte. The fair has a handful of exhibitors, few of whom are well-known in the United States or Europe, and its setting can’t yet rival its continental peers. Still, the fair has reshaped expectations, positioning a country long defined by the ebb and flow of seasonal capital as a rising stage for international galleries, collectors, and cultural...

A year-end post highlighting our favourite pieces from every art feature this year. This compilations represents the wide array of talent and perspectives that have come to make Booooooom the community that it is.
We want to thank everyone who took the time to share their work with us this year! Whether you’ve been following us for a while or participated in your first open call with us, you’re presence here means a lot to us.
You can also check out our year-end posts of photography/photographers here, if you haven’t already!
Which artwork was your favourite discovery this year?

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Imagine your car is stolen. Overnight, you lose your ability to get to work, visit loved ones, or reach a hospital in an emergency. Years later, your car turns up in a different neighborhood. The new “owner” drives it daily. They even landed a better job, with a pay rise, thanks to their new, stolen ride. So, you contact the police and demand its return. But the current driver has conditions. They will only give your car back if you wash it regularly, drive it frequently, and build a secure garage with modern locks. Alternatively, they suggest you can borrow your own car for three years — but then must give it back to them. After all, they argue, they have more money, time, and expertise to take care of...

For the third time this year, Banksy has created a new work of street art. The new piece has been confirmed in the anonymous British artist’s customary fashion, with an Instagram post.  The artwork shows two children lying on their backs and looking toward the heavens, with one pointing a finger skyward. It was spotted Monday outside the Tottenham Court Road Tube station in London, near the landmark Brutalist Centre Point skyscraper.  As Christmas approaches, the work could be read as two children hopefully looking for signs of Santa Claus in the sky, which would be an uncommonly sweet statement from the often sardonic artist.  But its location points to a more critical dimension, owing to the symbolism...

In its largest edition yet, the biennial frames art as an “arboreal metaphor” for exchange, resistance and resilience

From inexpensive, ubiquitous, and utilitarian materials, virtually endless forms and narratives can be created with a bit of imagination. That’s exactly what the show Cardboard: Infinite Possibilities, opening next month at Wönzimer Gallery, aims to highlight. The group exhibition is curated by Ann Weber, whose work Colossal readers may recognize, along with that of Narsiso Martinez and Shigeru Ban. The show also highlights an iconic chair design by Frank Gehry, who died this month at the age of 96, plus contributions from Jodi Hays, Edgar Ramirez, Leonie Weber, Samuelle Richardson, Jabila Okongwu, and more. Frank Gehry, “Easy Edges Wiggle Chair” (1972), corrugated cardboard and hardboard, 34 x 24 x 17...

“I never imagined being a ceramic artist when I was a kid,” Iwamura admits. “I had no interest.” But today, he is a ceramicist living and working in Shigaraki—a small town east of Kyoto and home to one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns. Read the full article on the artist by clicking above.
The post Using Ancient Kilns En Iwamura Builds His Ceramics One Coil At a Time first appeared on Hi-Fructose Magazine.

Beeple’s anarchic entry into Art Basel Miami Beach doubled down on cult of personality at the expense of artistic substance

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The same work has appeared in west London and under the Centre Point tower in the city centre

The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) and its managing director have parted ways after just over a year, marking a continuing high rate of turnover in the post. Dominique Savelkoul was the fifth managing director in four years. When the Belgian arts administrator took up her post in September 2024, she had never run an art fair before, and was new to a job that touched the commercial arts sector. TEFAF runs a renowned fair that takes place in Maastricht, the Netherlands, every March and showcases 7,000 years of art history; this year’s was the 38th edition. TEFAF inaugurated a New York edition, focused on modern and contemporary art and design, in 2016. TEFAF and Savelkoul “have parted ways because of...

BIG unveils Ulsan Performing Arts Venue proposal
 
Renowned architecture firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) reveals a new proposal for the Ulsan Performing Arts Venue in South Korea. Submitted as part of the second phase of an international design competition, the concept presents a ribbon-like structure, envisioning a cultural landmark that bridges the past, present, and future of Ulsan.
BIG reveals a new proposal for the Ulsan Performing Arts Venue in South Korea | all images via @big_builds
 
 
two architectural ribbons connect city, river, and public life
 
The concept by BIG is defined by two sweeping ribbons that extend from opposite directions: one reaching into the urban fabric, the other stretching...

In São Paolo, a midcentury interior is reimagined into a “hybrid habitat” by architect Guto Requena. The project, called “Apartamento Varanda,” reimagines a modernist residence, originally constructed in 1962, with contemporary details that nod to its decades-old spirit while incorporating a particularly organic element in the form of lots and lots of plants. Draped from rafters or bespoke frameworks, Brazilian botanicals create a green oasis indoors. What Requena describes as a “true urban forest” is then complemented by a range of iconic furnishings from both modernist and contemporary eras. See more on the studio’s website. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal...

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Le opere di Marina Rheingantz, esposte in occasione della mostra Rodamoinho curata da Alberto Salvadori, sono panorami viscosi, opalescenti e impalpabili. I quadri alludono a una figuratività estremamente sintetica, frutto di una personale elaborazione della pittura di paesaggio. Nei suoi lavori la natura risulta parzialmente celata all’occhio. I luoghi dell’infanzia e gli spazi pianeggianti di Araraquara, regione natale di Rheingantz, sono sottoposti a un processo di decantazione nella retina e nella memoria dell’artista.
Marina Rheingantz, “Afresco”, 2025, oil on canvas, 210 x 300 cm, courtesy the artist and ICA Milano
Nel contrasto tra velature atmosferiche e isole dense di materia sono rivelate...

Welcome to our annual year-end photography post highlighting our favourites! Going back through every feature from the past year we’ve compiled our top picks of this year’s roundup. As in previous years this collection represents a wide range of talent and approaches.
We want to thank everyone who took the time to share their work with us and participate in our open calls this year. Whether you’ve been following us for a while or are brand new to our membership, you’re an integral part of what makes the Booooooom community what it is.
If you haven’t seen our previous A Year in Photos posts you can check them all out here: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011,...

Juan Diego Flórez and Damiano Michieletto concoct an absinthe-fueled fever dream in a new DVD from The Royal Ballet and Opera and Opusarte.

Surveying the final round of 2025 shows in New York

This year, Aesthetica Magazine has interviewed some of the world’s leading artists, photographers and architects. These conversations reveal insights into how, and why, contemporary art is made, raising awareness about today’s most pressing socio-political issues. Here are some of our favourite quotes:   Kazuaki Koseki, on photographing fireflies in Japanese landscapes: “After a while, my eyes became accustomed to the darkness and countless lights started to glow. it was light a starry sky. The forest, which had seemed so terrifying, spread out before my eyes and became the most beautiful I had ever seen – thanks to the Himebotaru [fireflies].” Gleeson Paulino, on capturing the decisive moment:...

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DESIGNART TOKYO 2025 TURNS THE CITY INTO AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM
 
DESIGNART TOKYO, one of Japan‘s largest design and art festivals, returned for 10 days, transforming Tokyo into an expansive exhibition space. Operating across 91 venues throughout Omotesando, Shibuya, Roppongi, Ginza, and other key areas, the festival showcased a diverse collection of international works. Under the theme ‘Brave: Pursuing Instinctive Beauty,’ the 2025 edition celebrated creators who demonstrated the courage to trust their intuition and instincts, challenging the conventional markets. This vibrant display gathered approximately 300 creators and brands and captivated an estimated 250,000 visitors eager to experience the diverse...

Naoto Fukasawa designs limited-edition portable paper lamp
 
Naoto Fukasawa uses the simplicity of everyday paper as the starting point for SIWA A4 Light, a limited-edition portable lamp for SIWA, the washi-based brand developed by longtime manufacturer Onao. Limited to 100 units and releasing in late January 2026, the piece turns the familiar geometry of a standard A4 stack into an illuminated object, a play on material perception, scale, and the cultural intimacy of Japanese paper. ‘The appeal of a light object wrapped in paper is that the paper itself is the element,’ Fukasawa describes.
images courtesy of SIWA
 
 
SIWA A4 Light: From Desktop Staple to Luminous Companion
 
Rather than treating paper...

Surreal Salon, the annual international exhibition celebrating the Pop-surrealism/Lowbrow movement, is returning to Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (BRG) for its 18th year. Held in partnership with Louisiana State University (LSU)’s School of Art, the show will be open to all at no cost from January 2 to 25, 2026, in Louisiana’s capital city.  This year’s multimedia edition features more than 60 artists from the U.S. and abroad, with pieces hand-picked by the show’s Special Guest Juror, Swoon, from a pool of nearly 800 works via a blind jurying process.  Every year, Surreal Salon celebrates the ever-evolving Pop-surrealist/Lowbrow art movement by inviting artists across the globe...

A beautiful Christmas album is Pavarotti‘s ‘Oh, Holy Night” conducted by Kurt Herbert Adler.

Exhibition next autumn marks return of the artist’s work to the city where she was born

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The Baden-born artist, known for addressing the trauma of the Holocaust, was a founding member of the influential Galerie nächst St Stephan

At the start of 2025, we recommended twelve UK exhibitions – one for each month – to look forward to for the year ahead. Now, we’re looking back, adding 10 more global shows to that list. From architecture to photography, these additional selections stand out for their resonance: for amplifying voices marginalised within the canon, honouring posthumous legacies, and telling powerful life stories through sculpture. Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real, Various Locations Wish This Was Real kicked off at C/O Berlin in 2024, but made its way across Europe in 2025, stopping at the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, Lausanne’s Photo Élysée and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris. It was...

Théâtre de l'Athénée Louis-Jouvet mounts a raucous production of Hervé’s Le petit Faust. 

In the midst of a busy season, we’ve selected five exhibitions that offer a welcome change of pace. Spanning Europe and Asia, they invite viewers to reflect on themes of ecology, endurance, history — or simply the passage of time. From retrospectives of Marina Abramović to new work by John Akomfrah, this list is a testament to the power of art to help us slow down, engage with key issues and enjoy the present moment. Monira Al Qadiri: ChameleonArken, Ishøj | Until 6 April “Oil is everywhere: in your phone and your cosmetics, in the fuel tank of a jet, in the children’s plastic lunch box, in your new shoes − even in your chewing gum. Petrochemicals, converted from oil, saturate our contemporary life...

Da qualche tempo, a Venezia, si accende (letteralmente) un evento interessante: Murano illumina il mondo, che quest’anno ritorna per la sua terza edizione, e la città finge sorpresa, come fa sempre, ma in realtà sembra sapere da tempo che quando dodici artisti e designer internazionali decidono di unirsi alle fornaci più celebri dell’isola, qualcosa di irrimediabile succede. È il vetro, materia antica e capricciosa, che torna a parlare con voce nuova sotto le Procuratie Vecchie: non più lampadari, o non solo, ma creature sospese che trasformano l’aria stessa. Il Comitato Scientifico ha selezionato dodici artisti per prendere l’idea di lampadario, stringerla fino a farla scricchiolare e portarla a...

America's own Faust gets a compelling operatic treatment, courtesy of DC's IN Series

This has been my favorite Christmas song since I first heard this performance, the opening track of Malena Ernman's first Christmas album.

Ben Cullen Williams (b. 1988) is a London-based artist working across sculpture, installation, photography and video. His practice explores the relationship between space, technology and landscape, drawing on both physical and digital processes to interrogate how material systems are shaped, mediated and transformed. In 2021, Williams was longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize for Living Archive: An AI Performance Experiment, a collaboration with Google Arts & Culture and choreographer Wayne McGregor. His latest project, Self Portrait, was developed in collaboration with Google and DeepMind Research Scientist Jason Baldridge. For the work, Williams prompted a generative AI to describe itself before training...

Ivan Pili è tornato alla pittura dopo un quarto di secolo dedicato alla musica. La svolta è arrivata nel 2014, quasi per caso, durante un concerto in Germania. Da allora, in appena un decennio, si è fatto notare nel panorama dell’arte contemporanea internazionale, esponendo in prestigiose sedi istituzionali, come Palazzo Zenobio a Venezia, Palazzo Sant’Agostino a Salerno e la Reggia di Caserta, oltre a importanti fiere internazionali, tra cui Art Basel Miami, Artexpo New York, Carrousel du Louvre, Frieze Los Angeles, Art Dubai. Il suo lavoro si colloca nell’ambito del genere figurativo iperrealista, ma l’artista sardo rifiuta l’idea che la sua pittura sia un’asettica imitazione del reale. Nei...

The US Senate on December 19 confirmed Mary Anne Carter as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. Carter occupied the role during the first Trump presidency. During her first term, she expanded Creative Forces (a creative arts therapy program for US service members and veterans recovering from psychological health conditions) and elevated initiatives […]

The Las Vegas Museum of Art on December 17 released updated renderings of its future home, designed by the office of Pritzker Prize–winning Burkinabé architect Diébédo Francis Kéré. New York–based architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is serving as the architect of record on the project. Influenced by southwestern Nevada’s Mojave Desert, the African savanna’s […]

When considering Miguel Arzabe’s bold, woven works, it’s unsurprising that he begins by painting two abstract pieces. Vibrant fields of acrylic spread across his canvases before they’re sliced into long strips and reconfigured. Resulting are dynamic compositions that meld art historical traditions with Arzabe’s Bolivian heritage, drawing on longstanding Andean imagery and weaving practices. Next month at Johansson Projects, the Oakland-based artist presents a collection of new wall works and suspended sculptures in Sin Contar Cincuenta. Arzabe refers to his practice as offering a “productive confrontation” of distinct cultures, approaches, and periods, and these new compositions continue his...

Lincolnshire-based artist Anthony Theakston continues his explorations of common birds like barn owls and herons, sculpting their likeness in sleek bronze and ceramic. Smooth wings and bodies contrast the fluffy feathers typical of fowl, as they hunch over or curl up as if taking a nap. Elegant and seemingly primed for flight, the avians perch between abstract and realistic representations. Theakston has several exhibitions and fairs planned for 2026, including Naarden Art Fair and Brussels Affordable Art Fair with DeKunst Salon and the Washington Winter Show and Art Palm Beach with Gladwell and Patterson. He’s also represented by Gallery Bartoux, and you can find more of his work on Instagram. Do stories...

A photographic collaboration between photographer Samuel Pasquie and artist Olivier Charland. It began as an observation of a particular pattern or “quiet repetition” amongst their respective archives. Despite the photographs being taken independently, they nonetheless shared a kind of visual logic. In exploring how individual acts of image-making could converge so often, they look beyond their close, fifteen-year friendship and shared home base, to reflect on “emergence” and the ways in which large-scale patterns can arise from small interactions. As their friend, Samuel Bonneau, writes in the intro text for the book:
“If a resemblance appears, what does it mean? The human mind, primed to detect...

London Art Fair is back for 2026, bringing together a curated selection of leading Modern and Contemporary galleries from the UK and around the world. It’s an event that marks the beginning of the international art calendar, setting the tone for conversations and curation throughout the year. Now in its 38th year, the fair remains an unrivalled destination for collectors and art enthusiasts to discover new work and connect with one another. Visitors can expect the very best mixture of 20th century masters and emerging figures, each one reaffirming London Art Fair’s role as a cornerstone of the UK art market – a place to discover notable pieces, deepen existing connections and kick off the season with...

All’interno della Galleria SECCI, a Milano, NOVO si configura come una piattaforma di ricerca dedicata a pratiche artistiche che lavorano sulle fratture storiche, politiche e simboliche del presente. Il progetto, nato a Firenze e attualmente curato da Marco Scotini, si distingue per una programmazione costruita per affinità concettuali e tensioni condivise, piuttosto che per criteri formali o geografici. In questa intervista, Sara Cirillo, che segue direttamente NOVO, ripercorre la genesi del progetto, approfondisce il lavoro sviluppato con artisti come Doruntina Kastrati e Omar Mismar e anticipa le prossime tappe del programma, che includono José Carlos Martinat, Seba Calfuqueo e Prabhakar Pachute,...

Staffers at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on December 15 and 16 voted to unionize under the auspices of AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36, with 96 percent casting their electronic ballots in favor of doing so. The election was facilitated by the American Arbitration Association and approved by the National Labor […]

Italian Conceptual artist and theorist Franco Vaccari, whose participatory photographic works presaged the logics of social media and helped photography gain recognition as an art form, died on December 12. He was eighty-nine. His death was announced by the Bologna gallery P420, which represents him. Veronica Santi, writing in a 2020 issue of Artforum, characterized […]

"I have a hunch that any successful painting creates work for the viewer,” says the painter Ben Spiers. “I think that's part of the reason why it can be hard to begin the process of looking at paintings seriously..." read the full article on Benjamin Spiers by clicking above!
The post Benjamin Spiers Paints Disconcerting Surrealism For the Modern Age first appeared on Hi-Fructose Magazine.

Mapping decolonial futures through material memory, political imagination, and the art of world-making Installation view of Gondwana la fabrique du futur , by Mansour Ciss Kanakassy, during the 36th Bienal de São Paulo © Natt Fejfar / […]

 
AUTO PHOTO Awards 2025’s Peoples’ Choice Award winner Max Edleston takes us behind the scenes and shares the story behind his award-winning image, Dancing in the Rain, and the rest of the images made during the shoot. 
“I’m incredibly grateful and blown away that the public chose my work for the People’s Choice Award. Seeing the absolutely stunning photography in the top 100 has been inspiring. I want to thank all my fellow photographers on that list; your high-quality of work pushes us all to work harder and smarter to create truly exceptional images. I’m also truly honoured that the judging panel highly commended my image in the motorsport category. As someone still finding their feet in the...

«Perché sono grandi architetti? Perché hanno proiettato una piccola città di provincia nel futuro». Con queste parole l’assessore alla cultura del Comune di Reggio Emilia, Marco Mietto, presenta una mostra davvero coraggiosa. “La costruzione della città moderna. Gli archivi degli architetti del Novecento a Reggio Emilia” è il frutto di una monumentale e certosina ricerca d’archivio che ha toccato studi tecnici, famiglie e soprattutto i fondi d’archivio speciali della Biblioteca Panizzi della città. La mostra, curata da Giordano Gasparini e Andrea Zamboni, è accompagnata da un catalogo davvero stupefacente, pubblicato da thedotcompany edizioni, che nelle sue quattrocento pagine riesce a...

“My art has always tried to illustrate the spiritual world leaking into the material world. Two worlds affect and play off each other..." Read the full article on Justin Lovato by clicking above!
The post Justin Lovato & The Atomic Soup of the Natural Universe first appeared on Hi-Fructose Magazine.

Oluremi C. Onabanjo, The Peter Schub Curator in The Robert B. Menschel Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, reflects on archives, authorship, and Pan-African imagination in Ideas of Africa. Oumar Ka, Untitled (Two […]

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