#art Stories

ART
A Disused School Becomes an Upstate Art Destination

Six Tribeca galleries—Andrew Kreps, Bortolami, James Cohan, Kurimanzutto, Anton Kern, and...

ARTIST STATEMENT
Pauline Rintsch Drifts Into the Knotty Depths of Feminine Interiority

In an anguished diptych that mimics an open book, the German painter summons a smudgy, Balthus-like

ART
In Her First Museum Show, Nadya Tolokonnikova Turns Up the Volume

Given the lengths the Pussy Riot founder has gone over the past decade to use her art to speak out...

ARTIST STATEMENT
Szabolcs Bozó’s Frolicking Scenes of Hungarian Folk Festivities

Inspired by his puppet-maker grandmothers who never had a chance to show their work, the...

ARTIST STATEMENT
Phil Davis Questions the Origin Stories You Think You Know

The artist and landscape designer’s solo show at Fernberger turns ephemeral references on their...

CULTURE CLUB
Marco Brambilla Debuts a Times Square Utopia

On June 18, film artist Marco Brambilla took over more than 95 of Times Square’s LED billboards...

ART
A Breezy Art Basel Brushes Off the Gloomy Market

“Doom porn” was nowhere to be found at Art Basel, where strong sales were buoyed by manifold...

ART
Sara Fitzmaurice Shares Her Art Basel Highlights

The seasoned arts strategist reveals what she’s most excited to see at this year’s fair.

ART
Art Basel Director Maike Cruse on What to Expect in Switzerland

The flagship Swiss art fair will bring 285 blue-chip galleries to Messe Basel, but the newly minted

CULTURE CLUB
The Broad Toasts a First for Mickalene Thomas

On May 23, the Broad Museum helped Mickalene Thomas ring in a career first with the opening...

CULTURE CLUB
Public Art Fund Brings the Art to Its Spring Party

On May 15, a crowd of 350 turned out to raise more than $1 million for Public Art Fund’s annual...

ARTIST STATEMENT
Anastasia Komar Prods at Science’s “God Complex” Question

Cutting-edge biotech, the Garden of Eden, and profound meditations on the future of civilization...

CULTURE CLUB
New York’s Culturati Partied for Amref with Kehinde Wiley

On May 4, Amref Health Africa’s annual ArtBall drew luminaries of the culture and entertainment...

ARTIST STATEMENT
Jérôme Lagarrigue Walks the Line Between the Tangible and Intangible

In his first solo exhibition with Fridman Gallery—and on the heels of his feature in the Brooklyn

ARTIST STATEMENT
 Beneath ‘Colors of Gray,’ a Toxic Undercurrent

Even on first glance, Thu-Van Tran’s ‘Colors of Grey’ is rife with a sense of loss. Its...

BOOK
The Museum-Quality Art in the New York City Subway

More than 100 artworks large and small throughout the country’s busiest transit system star...

CULTURE CLUB
MOCA’s Gala Offers a Glimpse Inside a “World Without End”

On April 13, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles celebrated its 2024 gala at The Geffen...

CULTURE CLUB
SculptureCenter Honors Thaddeus Mosley At Its Annual Gala

On April 11, the Long Island City-based destination for sculpture drew New Yorkers from the other...

ART
Mary Miss Fights Back Against Her Work’s Demolition

After the Des Moines Art Center revealed plans to demolish a key Land Art installation by Mary...

ART
Rose B. Simpson’s Sentinels Are Standing Guard

The Santa Clara Pueblo sculptor brings her sentinel figurines to two parks in Manhattan.

ART
Ibrahim Mahama Gives the Barbican Centre a Facelift

The museum’s concrete facade has been covered in a billowing bright pink fabric woven with...

ART
“Mode Et Sport” Treads New Ground in Fashion and Art History

As the Paris 2024 Olympics near, a pivotal show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs about...

PHOTOGRAPHY
For Daniel Arsham, Photography Is More Instinctual Than Art

The artist is most well-known for eroded casts of objects and his serial collaborations with luxury

CULTURE
Christeene Summons the Spirit of Sinéad O’Connor

For two days at New York’s City Winery, the filth hero will perform the late singer’s debut...

ART
Belkis Ayón’s Prolific Legacy Is Not for Sale

In Ayón’s first posthumous gallery exhibition at Miami’s David Castillo Gallery, the dealer...

ART
Finding “The Flesh of the Earth” at the Edge of Manhattan

In a new group exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, breakout curator Enuma Okoro makes sense of...

ART
Revisiting David Seidner’s Life in Haunting Photos

The International Photography Center's new survey of the work of boundary-breaking writer and...

ARTIST STATEMENT
Stan Squirewell’s “Remixed” 19th– and 20th–Century Portraits

As a self-described child of the hip hop era, the collage artist re-fashions historical photography

DESIGN
Can Olympic Poster Art Dispel Paris’s Reputation for Cultural Snobbery?

Six French artists and two Americans created a collection of posters to celebrate next year’s...

ARTIST STATEMENT
For Gio Swaby, Love is Liberation

The textile artist celebrates the multifaceted power of her chosen medium, finding softness and...

ARTIST STATEMENT
ClownVamp Imagines a Cannon of Overtly Queer Impressionist Painting

The digital artist, whose recent exhibition, “Chester Charles: the Lost Grand Master,” was...

Partnership
The Power of Storytelling in Multigenerational Art Collecting

Experts from PURE Insurance, Christie’s, and UBS Private Wealth Management on possible...

Culture Club
The Cultivist Toasts Leslie Hewitt at Dia Bridgehampton

On July 23, the Cultivist celebrated the recent opening of Leslie Hewitt’s new exhibition at Dia...

Art
Bettina Huang’s Guide to Buying Art

The brainchild behind Platform, the David Zwirner–backed digital marketplace for contemporary...

EVENTS
Surface, 4AM Gallery, and Gregory Siff Bring “CRZY CHMSTRY” to Miami

On view at Surface Area, Los Angeles–based artist Gregory Siff's latest collection of pop art...

Travel
Aspen Winter Hotspot Snow Lodge Ups its Art Game

With Incubus front man Brandon Boyd curating the art program, Surf Lodge's snowy satellite adds...

Art
Home Alone 2: Lost in Miami

A preview of Home Alone 2: Lost in Miami, a two-week-long exhibit on showcase at Surface Area...

social
A London Artist Who Uses Tarot Cards to Draw Essence

Cartomancer Lucia Dami depicts inner divine femininity in her ethereal illustrations.

Art
Curator Alison Gingeras on Revisiting One of the 20th Century’s Key Art Shows

Inspired by a MoMA classic, “New Images of Man” at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles shows dozens of...

Art
Noah Davis, Influential Artist Who Died as His Star Was Rising, Comes Into Full View in New York

A David Zwirner gallery show charts his life as a preternaturally talented painter and a founder of

Art
Filmmaker Shirin Neshat Probes the Iran-U.S. Divide in Surreal New Satire

“I think that it's even more important that artists are vocal," the artist says in an interview...

Master Plan
Art Dealer Jessica Silverman’s Tip Sheet for FOG Design+Art Week, from Key Shows to Classic Restaurants

In need of a cocktail or a bookstore in San Francisco during FOG week? The revered gallery owner...

Art
At the End of the World, Infrastructure Will Save Us, This Artist Believes

Tiril Hasselknippe’s architectural sculptures see an opportunity for community in the midst of...

MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
Benjamin Shine Sculpts Feminine Faces Out of Tulle

Cosseting ballerinas and society swans, tulle has long been admired for its ineffable delicacy....

The Boundaries Issue
David Lynch’s Universe Knows No Bounds

With a new gallery exhibition at Sperone Westwater in November, director and artist David Lynch...

The Boundaries Issue
State of Clay

These six fine artists add new energy to California’s celebrated ceramics tradition.

EXHIBITION
A Career Retrospective of Nam June Paik, The Father of Video Art, Arrives at London’s Tate Modern Right on Time

As we find ourselves locked to the screen and drowning in its contents, there's perhaps no better...

RETAIL
Fashion Label or Arts Patron? With COS, It Can Be Hard to Tell

In its first dozen years, the brand has become just as well known for supporting art and design as...

On View
Pace Chelsea Reopens With an Exhibition That Casts a Rare Light

Fred Wilson's "Chandeliers" graces the gallery's return with not only beauty, but a challenge to...

Retail
These are the Best New Stores and Retail Spaces of 2019

The best new shops of the year include a sophisticated CBD boutique, an epic antiques purveyor in...

Fashion
Takashi Murakami x Porter TZ BS-06 Sneaker Release Date

The collaboration between the artist and Porter, first announced in 2018, is finally headed to...

Art
Artist Nick Cave Spreads a Little Joy in Boston

A collaboration between the contemporary artist and Now + There brings ornaments, a parade, and...

Design
The Biggest Design Breakups of the Decade

From Sagmeister and Walsh to Apple and Ive to Marc and Louis, these are the splits that have marked

Art
Magdalene Odundo Teams Up With David Adjaye to Stunning Effect

The ceramicist and the architect have turned the Norman Foster-designed Sainsbury Centre for Visual

Art
With [AR]T, Apple Plants Itself Firmly in Augmented Reality

The tech giant teamed up with the New Museum to help curate its new AR project series.

Architecture
Kanye West Is Building ‘Star Wars’-Style Houses for the Homeless: Report

In an interview with Forbes, the inescapable multihypenate revealed his prototypes for low-income...

Art
Seven in Custody for Vandalizing “The Bean” in Chicago

The reflective monumental work by Anish Kapoor was tagged with silver spray paint in the early...

Architecture
This House is a $5.25 Million Ai Weiwei Artwork

The Chinese artist collaborated with firm HHF on this 3-bedroom, 3-bath vacation home—the only Ai

Itinerary
London Calling: Five Must See Art Exhibitions This Summer

From Van Gogh to Cindy Sherman, the work of many pioneering artists will be on display in top...

The Legacy Issue
Your Field Guide to Celebrating 100 Years of the Bauhaus

It was many things: a movement, a school, a style, a mixed-up social set. As an actual institution,

The Legacy Issue
Mining the Surface Archives: Gone, But Not Forgotten

A deep-dive into Surface’s history reveals 26 years of art, design, and fashion at the bleeding...

Art
Banksy Bashes Brexit With New Installation at The Royal Academy of Arts

The street artist has used an EU customs gate as a canvas for his most recent work.

Art
Lehmann Maupin Takes Shelter at the Peninsula New York

The art gallery partners with the famed hotel on an art exhibition of contemporary works.

Surface Shops
Six New Coffee Table-Worthy Books We’re Obsessed With Right Now

With a new season upon us, it's time to update your rotation.

Art
This Weekend, Let Artist Anne Imhof Push All Your Buttons

The opening performances attached to her "Sex" exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago are sure...

Architecture
Talking to Jill Magid, Director of the Most Shocking Architecture Documentary, Ever

In "The Proposal," the artist goes to audacious ends in pursuit of access to Luis Barragán's...

Architecture
Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Changed How We Process War

How a piece of public art helped us confront and embrace the human cost of national action.

Creative Collaborations
Delvaux Takes a Surrealist Spin with Its New Collection

The Belgian brand partners with the Magritte Foundation on series of whimsical accessories.

SURFACE X MOMA DESIGN STORE
How MoMA Design Store Is Inspiring Tomorrow’s Littlest Artists

Through the Making with MoMA collection and pop-up, the museum’s shop is giving art-loving kids...

THE UTOPIA ISSUE
Jorge Pardo Continues to Redefine What It Means to Live With Art

The artist's exploration into the intersections among design, painting, sculpture, and everyday...

EVENTS
Charity Auction to Celebrate Mexican Textile Traditions

The nonprofit sale, Anonimo, in which all of the works on offer are anonymous, will present an...

THE ART ISSUE
Feminism, Fine Art, and Beyoncé: The Guerrilla Girls Sound Off

In a cultural moment defined by unconscionable treatment of women, we host a round-table discussion

News
Announcing the Guerrilla Girls on the Cover of Surface Issue No. 150

This year, our annual Art Issue features the Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous collective of masked...

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Callidus Guild’s Yolande Batteau Reveals Her Site-Specific Installation for The Salon 

On view at Park Avenue Armory Nov. 8–12.

Partnership
Studio Visit: Fernando Mastrangelo

Fernando Mastrangelo’s latest project? Using a suitcase as a blank canvas.

Art
The Best of Expo Chicago 2018

The seventh edition of Expo Chicago opens today with 135 galleries from 27 countries. Highlights...

Partnership
Visit This Modular System of Revolving Mirrored Columns

On view at Brooklyn creative space A/D/O by MINI, “Spirit of the City” is a poetic...

Events
Design Dialogues No. 43 With Marchesi Antinori

Surface magazine’s digital director William Hanley spoke with Alessia Antinori, Stefano Arienti,...

ART
Solange Knowles Is Not a Pop Star

As Solange Knowles charts the course of her career, the Grammy winning singer-songwriter trades pop

Surface x MoMA Design Store
Don’t Judge This Book by Its Cover

British artist Richard Woods puts his signature spin on a delightfully deceptive hardcover.

Surface x MoMA Design Store
How to Digitize Your Drawings in Real Time, Using Actual Paper and Pens

The Slate 2+ operates just like a traditional sketchpad, and incorporates digital tools.

ART
At His Latest Exhibition, Misha Kahn Talks Trash

The Brooklyn artist used found and noble materials to create the objects in “Midden Heap,” his...

ART
This Prolific Craft Collective Puts the Werk in Gesamtkunstwerk

Neue Galerie’s latest exhibition explores the staggering skill and output of the Wiener...

Design
Designer of the Day: Kenneth Cobonpue

The humanitarian designer on classic sports cars, his forthcoming boutique hotel, and raising...

Design
Designer of the Day: Alireza Razavi

The architect discusses creating design value, the key moment in a project, and why he collects art

Design
A Reclusive Artist Shows in Paris

Daniel Brush, who prefers spinning gold to leaving his home, appears at L’Ecole Des Arts...

Design
Designer of the Day: Heidi Lee

The Brooklyn milliner on her offbeat Endless Echo Hat, futuristic fashion, and her show at next...

Design
Designer of the Day: Ian McDonald

The studio ceramist on shooting hoops, a forthcoming show in Japan, and his aversion to clutter.

Art
Inside Istanbul’s First-Ever Art Week

Our report from on the ground during the city’s 15th Biennial, the 12th Contemporary Istanbul,...

Design
Flynn Talbot Morphs a V&A Gallery into a Vibrant Hall of Light

On view throughout the London Design Festival, the Australian designer’s immersive installation...

Design
Designer of the Day: Pierre Renart

On the eve of his U.S. debut, the French designer talks about the appeal of custom furniture,...

Book
An Abstract Art Book (or a Print Installation?)

In "40 x 40," Swiss artist Claudia Comte translates her sculptures into a two-dimensional...

Exhibition
Katja Novitskova’s New York Landing

Public Art Fund’s latest commission materializes sci-fi and the internet.

Art
Musician Esperanza Spalding Curates Cooper Hewitt Exhibition

The four-time Grammy Award–winner fêted her curatorial debut with a new exhibition and live...

Partnership
Art and Commerce Come Together at the Seattle Art Fair

Seattle Art Fair director Max Fishko talks supporting up-and-comers, cultivating an art market, and

Art
Making Misfits

A British artist expands her drawing practice, joins a band, and sounds off about Brexit.

Art
Robert Therrien’s Lens

The artist’s show at Gagosian gallery casts everyday objects in a new light.

Art
The 2017 Venice Biennale in 20 Instagram Posts

The 57th edition of the Venice Art Biennale, titled “Viva Arte Viva” and organized by...

NYCxDesign
Salon 94 and Maccarone Present “Midtown” at Lever House

An exhibition blurring the lines of art and design provokes questions related to how we determine...

NYCXDESIGN
Best of TEFAF New York Spring 2017

Our editors’ 10 favorite things at the groundbreaking fair’s debut spring edition in New York.

PARTNERSHIP
Oui Design’s Cultural Exchange

A collaborative program called Oui Design sparks innovative work by American and French designers...

Know Now
Angie Kim’s Cultural Capital

An investment program aims to shake up traditional funding models in the arts.



Art
Justin Adian Gets the Joke

The native Texan’s artwork comes in many shapes and sizes, but, in any case, it’s never short...

Art
Jonathan Anderson’s Sculptural Silhouettes

The designer behind JW Anderson curates an exhibition with playfully defiant takes on the human...

Design
The Design World’s Most Influential Person (You’ve Probably Never Heard Of)

Rossana Orlandi’s Milan space is a bastion of groundbreaking contemporary design.

Art
Eric Shiner is Going Rogue

From his new post at Sotheby’s to a stint at The Armory Show, the versatile curator has proved...

Art
Sterling Ruby: Stretching the Canvas

Sterling Ruby combines art and fashion with his close friend Raf Simons.

Art
Ann Hamilton’s Enlightened Touch

The artist’s widely varied installations have a common aim: to draw out the human element.

Art
Awol Erizku’s Evolving Skill Set

Not content with the limits of a single medium, the Ethiopian-born artist is expanding his horizons.

Art
Found in Translation

A new art fair in Brussels brings American art to European collectors—and has some fun along the...

Travel
21c Hotels Brings Contemporary Art to the Heartland

Ten years after its conception, the irreverent hotel group has become an important ambassador for...

Destination
San Francisco

Design heft and art world gravitas are giving the City by the Bay a new patina.

Fashion
Rosita Missoni

The woman behind one of Italy's most iconic fashion brands started with nothing but passion and...

Art
Cui Jie in Perspective

The young Chinese artist prefers the comfort of her Beijing studio, while her work is making its...

Art
Spencer Finch’s Miniature Woods

The artist brings a scaled-down Redwood Forest to New York City.

Fashion
Surface and Azzedine Alaïa Celebrate the Fall Fashion Issue

The magazine and design legend threw an intimate dinner party during Fall Fashion Week.

Art
Claire Danes Finds Space to Think

The actress and current host of Art21 considers the relationship between location and creativity.

art
Social: Cleo Wade

Cleo Wade (@cleowade) can be classified as many things: a poet, an artist, a speaker, an activist....

Fashion
When Japanese Fashion Took Paris

Nearly three decades after the fashion capital welcomed an influx of Japanese designers, a new show

art
Simon Denny Decodes Bitcoin

Following a trail of research-intensive projects, the multimedia artist decided to tackle the...

art
The Art of the Metropolis

A group show of contemporary artists at Dio Horia in Mykonos, Greece, draws a connection between...

Fashion
The Art of Azzedine Alaïa

The lauded designer is famously secretive about his life in fashion. Ask about his gallery,...

Power List
Jack Shainman

The seasoned Chelsea art dealer talks super PACs, Hank Willis Thomas, and his love affair with his...

art
Seattle’s New Art Fair Isn’t Holding Back

Heading into its second year, Seattle Art Fair promises creative diversity and dynamism thanks to...

2016 Edition
Power 100

Our third annual list of influential figures in art, architecture, fashion, real estate, design,...

art
Making the Art Museum of the Future

Leaders at three standout New York institutions are embracing digital media and new technologies to

art
Moholy-Nagy: Future Present Opens at the Guggenheim

The New York City museum hosts the first U.S. retrospective of the Hungarian artist and designer in

events
Event Recap: Surface + Phillips, The Exchange Edition II

Talking identity politics, dangerous art, and the social obligations of museums with Hank Willis...

art
Lisson Gallery Opens in New York City

The gallery's fourth location kicks things off with a show from 100-year-old Cuban-American artist...

Art
Tippet Rise: Givers Run Through It

Tippet Rise is bringing large-scale art and live music to a massive expanse in Big Sky Country.

Art
Daniel Boulud on His Love of Art

The chef's friendship with Brazilian artist Vik Muniz inspires him in and out of the kitchen.

Art
Simon Birch Goes All In With &lquou;The 14th Factory &lquou;

The artist's ambitious anti-capitalist exhibition sets up shop in capitalism's epicenter.

Art
Cao Fei at MoMA PS1

The Chinese multimedia artist gets her first American museum solo show and a chance to win over new

Critic
The New Age of The Celebrity Art Collector

In time for Art Basel Miami Beach, writer M.H. Miller reflects on pop stars like Katy Perry and...

PARTNERSHIP
Robert Stadler at The Noguchi Museum

Unveiling “Solid Doubts,” a new exhibition that juxtaposes the late modernist icon’s works...