Alexandre de Betak lands first solo show at Salon 94.
Alexandre de Betak, founder of runway production firm Bureau Betak, will mount his first solo gallery exhibition in New York this November, opening at Salon 94 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The show, “Truss Lights Sculptures 01,” features two series of sculptural light works. The pieces combine raw aluminum, bronze, and prismatic glass into reactive light sequences, built from two staples of fashion show production: trusses and stage lights. The exhibition follows de Betak’s move last year to establish a London atelier dedicated to his fine art practice, operating separately from Bureau Betak’s production business. The agency has staged runway shows and brand events for major fashion houses, and de Betak is widely credited with some of the industry’s most memorable set designs in recent years.
Paris receives a new non-profit art center on the site of Renault’s old factory.
Le Large, a new non-profit contemporary art center opened on the Île Séguin in Boulogne-Billancourt, on the western edge of Greater Paris. Backed by real estate group Emerige, the center anchors the Pointe des Arts development, designed by Spanish firm RCR Arquitectes with Paris agency CALQ. Unlike private foundations such as Cartier and Louis Vuitton, Le Large has no permanent collection. Director Paula Aisemberg said its mission is to champion artists working in France, regardless of nationality, for both international and local audiences. The six-story building holds 2,500 square meters of exhibition space, within a complex that also includes an eight-screen cinema, retail, and offices. The opening show, “Imaginary Engine,” curated by Cecilia Alemani, draws on the island’s past as Renault’s main factory from 1919 to 1992. It pairs works from the carmaker’s art collection with 17 new commissions.
Amsterdam’s Rembrandt House opens a working tattoo studio.
The Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam has opened a tattoo studio on its premises, offering visitors tattoos based on Rembrandt’s etchings and drawings through November 7. The pop-up, “The Poor Man’s Rembrandt Project,” is a collaboration with tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher and his studio, Schiffmacher & Veldhoen. The project’s name comes from an old tattoo-world phrase describing the craft as art more affordable than an old master painting but made with equal care. The museum presents it as a link between two printmaking traditions, since etchings and tattoos both start as drawings transferred with ink and needle. The studio is located in the museum’s modern wing on Jodenbreestraat, where Rembrandt once worked with his pupils.
Comcast cofounder gives $20 million for Philadelphia Museum of Art education center.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has received a $20 million gift to build a new education center, one of the largest donations in the institution’s history. The gift comes from Comcast cofounder Julian Brodsky and his wife, Lois G. Brodsky, longtime supporters of the museum. The new space will be named the Brodsky Center. Located in the museum’s north wing, the center will more than triple the roughly 6,000 square feet the PMA currently devotes to art education. Plans include a family learning center, art studios, a visitor orientation area and a multipurpose community hub. The museum also plans to expand its education staff, which now numbers 16 and serves about 36,000 students a year. Philadelphia firm MGA Partners is designing the project. The design is expected to be finalized by summer 2027, with construction wrapping a few years later.
Chanel signs a three-year deal as lead partner of Hong Kong’s M+.
Chanel has become a lead partner of M+ in Hong Kong, renewing its collaboration with the museum for three years and expanding it to cover exhibitions, public programs, and collection-based projects. The extension launches “Pioneering Visions,” a series centered on artists from Hong Kong, Greater China, and wider Asia, as well as practices tied to the region. It will include gallery presentations, talks, screenings, and workshops, plus a new digital hub on artists and works in the M+ collection. The program opens February 5, 2027, with Sarah Sze’s Centrifuge (2017), an installation of bamboo framework, torn paper screens, and projected video. Originally commissioned by Okwui Enwezor for Munich’s Haus der Kunst, the work hasn’t been shown since 2017. Sze will also create a new piece for the M+ Facade. Chanel first partnered with M+ in 2023, funding a curatorial post, film restoration, and the museum’s moving image collection. That support has backed the restoration of nine Hong Kong feature films, all screening at the M+ Restored Festival this November. The brand also supports Chinese art through partnerships with Shanghai’s Power Station of Art and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Attractive Distractions:
Listening rooms with six-figure speakers are becoming Hollywood’s must-have amenity.
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc celebrates 150 years with a limited-edition Monopoly.
From London to New York, Peggy Guggenheim’s galleries changed modern art.
Audemars Piguet launches a certified pre-owned marketplace in Europe.
