The Centre Pompidou Hanwha will open in downtown Seoul on June 4.
Centre Pompidou Hanwha, the new Seoul outpost of Paris’ Centre Pompidou, opens on June 4, inside the renovated annex of the landmark 63 Building in Yeouido, marking an expansion of the French institution’s global network during the closure of its Paris headquarters for renovation through 2030. Developed through a partnership between the Centre Pompidou and the Hanwha Foundation of Culture, the four-story, 10,000-square-meter museum was designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte as a luminous “box of light” and will present two annual exhibitions drawn from the Pompidou collection alongside dedicated programming for contemporary Korean artists. Its inaugural exhibition, “The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision,” features more than 90 works by 43 artists, including major pieces by Pablo Picasso and other Cubist pioneers.
Ralph Lauren has become the official lifestyle apparel partner of Pebble Beach.
Ralph Lauren has been named the official lifestyle apparel partner of Pebble Beach, formalizing a collaboration that aligns one of America’s most cherished fashion brands with one of its most storied golf destinations. The partnership will introduce co-branded apparel, accessories, and experiences across Pebble Beach’s hospitality, retail, and golf operations, further extending Ralph Lauren’s longstanding presence within elite sports and luxury lifestyle culture through relationships with Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the Australian Open, and Team USA. The announcement also reinforces Ralph Lauren’s deep personal connection to automotive and golf culture—two worlds closely associated with Pebble Beach through the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and its globally recognized golf course.
The Hague turned into an open-air museum for inflatable art.
The Hague has transformed its city center into an open-air museum for BlowUp Jubilee, a special anniversary edition of the Dutch public art exhibition running from May 22 through June 21, featuring 20–24 large-scale inflatable artworks installed across parks, historic buildings, train stations, waterways, and public squares. Curated by Mary Hessing, the exhibition brings back highlights from the event’s first five years alongside new commissions by artists and designers including Marcel Wanders, Studio Job, Steve Messam, Raw Color, Sigrid Calon, Eugenie Boon, John Körmeling, and Yamuna Forzani, with works ranging from a giant floating stew pot outside the Mauritshuis to monumental inflatable structures wrapped around historic architecture. Originally launched in 2022 during the ongoing renovation of the medieval Binnenhof government complex, BlowUp has grown into one of Europe’s most visible public art initiatives, using playful, air-filled installations to make contemporary art freely accessible throughout The Hague’s Museum Quarter.
There are many industry learnings as full-time art critics disappear.
ARTnews’ reflection on the careers of Christopher Knight, Roberta Smith, and Peter Schjeldahl frames their departures as the end of an era for full-time art criticism at major American publications, highlighting the shrinking institutional support for long-form cultural journalism. The piece notes that Smith retired from The New York Times after more than three decades and roughly 4,500 reviews and essays, while Schjeldahl’s death in 2022 marked the loss of one of The New Yorker’s most influential critical voices; together with Knight’s recent retirement from the Los Angeles Times after 36 years, the exits leave few remaining staff art critics at major U.S. newspapers.
Backrooms sets the record for A24’s biggest weekend.
A24’s horror film Backrooms, directed by 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Parsons, has become the studio’s biggest opening ever, debuting with approximately $81 million domestically and $118 million worldwide during its opening weekend. Based on Parsons’ viral analog-horror web series inspired by the internet creepypasta phenomenon, the film follows a therapist searching for a missing patient inside an eerie, labyrinthine alternate dimension of endless fluorescent-lit rooms, with a cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. Produced on a reported $10 million budget, the film shattered multiple records—including the largest opening in A24 history and the biggest debut for a first-time filmmaker—while cementing Parsons as the youngest director ever to top the box office.
Today’s attractive distractions:
Büro Ziyu Zhuang situated a UFO-shaped gallery within Inner Mongolia’s grassland.
Composed of 100 percent recycled materials, the Bit Stool by Neetica Pande for Normann Copenhagen is visually arresting.
Pharrell has designed a limited-edition bottle of Moët Ice Impérial.
Miu Miu released a Vans-like upcycled canvas skate sneaker.
