Hublot and Jeff Koons unveil a watch inspired by his Balloon Dog sculptures
Hublot and Jeff Koons have unveiled the Classic Fusion Balloon Dog, a new timepiece translating the artist’s mirrored balloon sculptures into watchmaking. Available in three editions, each limited to 200 pieces, the collaboration reimagines the Classic Fusion’s traditionally sleek 42mm case as a composition of inflated geometries, convex lines, and domed surfaces. Instead of applying Koons’s imagery onto an existing design, Hublot reengineered the watch’s architecture from the ground up. Koons tells Surface, “I think that the colors show a sense of optimism to a certain degree. What I wanted to add to the surface and at the core of somebody’s timepiece is a feeling of connection, back through time, and through biological memory.” Both Hublot and Koons describe the collaboration as a shared discipline in transforming tension into form and excess into precision, emphasizing engineering and craftsmanship over surface-level branding.
Uzbekistan’s first permanent contemporary art museum opens in a restored tram depot.
The Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s first permanent institution devoted to contemporary art, is officially open to the public. The museum is housed in a restored 1912 tram depot and diesel station originally designed by Wilhelm Heinzelmann, reimagined by Paris-based firm Studio KO to include exhibition galleries alongside a library, workshops, and artist residency spaces. Curator Sara Raza, named artistic director and chief curator last year, organized the museum’s inaugural exhibition, “Hikmah,” Arabic for “wisdom”, which pairs contemporary work with historic Uzbek and Karakalpak art drawn from the State Museum of Arts of Karakalpakstan.
JR’s 230-foot wave installation debuts at the Vatican Apostolic Library.
Pope Leo XIV marked his 71st birthday by opening “AQVA. Catastrophe and Wonder,” a new exhibition at the Vatican Apostolic Library featuring a monumental installation by French artist JR. Titled Diluvium, the work depicts a towering black-and-white wave adapted from Gustave Doré’s 1866 engraving of the biblical flood, marking the first site-specific artwork ever commissioned for the library’s 16th-century exterior. The exhibition, on view through May 14, 2027, examines historical threats to the written word as allegories for civilization’s fears and hopes. It pairs Diluvium with JR’s video installation Undae, a typography series by Bill Moran, and rare Vatican holdings including Ippolito Salviani’s 1557 fish treatise.
IFPDA expands its 2027 fair following its pivot to include drawings.
The International Fine Prints & Drawings Association’s 2027 fair will feature 76 exhibitors, a jump of more than 20 percent from its 2024 edition. Fourteen exhibitors are new to the fair or association, including White Cube, Gladstone, Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, and Jill Newhouse Gallery. Drawings will make up roughly a quarter of the fair, running April 8–11, with at least 19 exhibitors presenting them. According to IFPDA executive director Jenny Gibbs, every booth was booked almost immediately after applications opened in May, a sharp reversal from 2024, when the fair returned to the Armory with space to spare. “Ten years ago, prints were mostly considered as the entry point you graduated out of,” Gibbs said. Highlights include Jill Newhouse Gallery’s all-drawings booth spanning Delacroix to Matisse, and Sikkema Malloy Jenkins’ solo presentation of Louis Fratino editions.
Three New York City museum unions vote to authorize strikes ahead of October shows.
Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) have voted to authorize strike action if their institutions fail to offer fair contract terms. The three groups, organized with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110, also voted to set a strike deadline if needed, noting that each museum has a major exhibition opening in early October. No strike dates have been announced. The vote follows a similar strike authorization by the Guggenheim Museum union this June after six months of stalled negotiations.
Attractive Distractions:
American street photographer Vivian Maier’s “Unseen Work” opens at Fotografiska Tallinn.
Aboard the AmaMelodia, a new ship connecting artisans and travelers on a journey down Colombia’s Magdalena River.
Brad Walls’ aerial photography finds abstract beauty in everyday life.
Eurostar’s new Celestia trains will feature a two-story cocktail bar.
