A group of researchers are claiming they have created a shade of white said to be the “whitest on record.”  (more…)

Arghavan Khosravi, On Being a Woman (2021), via Rachel Uffner

Curently on at Rachel Uffner in New York, artist Arghavan Khosravi’s marks her first solo exhibition at the gallery with an impressive selection of new works building upon previous explorations of techniques taken from historical painting genres — such the use of stacked perspective in Persian miniature painting — while also incorporating new sculptural and three-dimensional elements that further emphasize qualities of illusion and artifice. Titled In Between Places, the show is a striking introduction to the artist’s work. (more…)

Rirkrit Tiravanija has joined David Zwirner, the gallery has announced, and will open a show in Hong Kong in 2022. “Rirkrit Tiravanija is a longtime friend,” Zwirner says. “I have known him as long as I have had a gallery, and have been collecting his work since the early 1990s. Rirkrit is a transformational artist.” (more…)

A Claude Monet work, Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, estimated at $40 million, will close out Sotheby’s New York Impressionist and modern art evening sale May 12. (more…)

Senior Curator Mia Locks is out at MOCA LA after reporting resistance over diversity initiatives at the museum. “MOCA’s leadership is not yet ready to fully embrace IDEA,” she said in an email, referring to a new initiative designed to promote inclusion and diversity. (more…)

Peter Hujar, Ray Johnson (1975), via David Zwirner

Marking an ambitious exploration into the work of the enigmatic and expansive practice of Ray Johnson, David Zwirner has opened a show focused in particular on the artist’s collages and drawings from the the 1950s through the 1990s, focusing on Johnson as a seminal and influentially queer artist as well as on his recurring fandoms and obsessions. Showcasing the artist’s work within an array of archival materials from his friends and collaborators, the show presents Johnson’s work as part of a broader constellation of artists working during the post-war contemporary movement. (more…)

Giuseppe Penone, Leaves of Grass (2013), via Marian Goodman

Artist Giuseppe Penone returns to Marian Goodman this month, presenting a new body of works that draw on his long fascination with breath, meditative gesture and poetry, turning his attention here in earnest towards the work of Walt Whitman’ particularly the writer’s early editions and his physical connections to his work.  (more…)

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Artist Sam Durant has installed a predator drone on the High Line, an attempt to make visible the United States’ secret drone bombing policies. “I was very concerned with using unmanned aircraft to essentially assassinate people,” he says. “It was seen as popular in the United States because U.S. soldiers didn’t have to go to the battlefield. But what about the casualties in the countries that were attacked by our drones? The idea was to bring this conversation home to America.” (more…)

Marking its 13th gallery worldwide, Hauser & Wirth have opened in Monaco. “In former times, Monaco was a destination for artists, writers, and filmmakers who were as captivated as we have been by the Côte d’Azur,” says Iwan Wirth. (more…)

A new studies shows that 43% of museum workers have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As we recover and rebuild, we must focus on equity, empathetic leadership and actions that support the people who make museums possible,” Laura Lott, president and chief executive of the American Alliance of Museums says. “The resiliency and future vitality of our field relies on them.” (more…)

Ann Craven, Woodpecker (and the Moon), 2021, 2021, via Karma

Currently at Karma’s East Side space in New York, the gallery has brought forth a series of new works by painter Ann Craven, titled Animals Birds Flowers Moons. Working between paint and watercolor, the artist’s new series of pieces bring together the titular bodies in a series of varying arrangements, displaying bear cubs, peacocks, woodpeckers, and horses as an exploration of graphical nostalgia and its expressive capacity. (more…)

A piece in the Wall Street Journal notes that da Vinci‘s Salvator Mundi was stored on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s 439-foot yacht Serene until late last year, following a dispute that kept it out of The Louvre’s landmark show. A source who saw the work was “very surprised it was not in Switzerland as others believe.”  (more…)

A string of American fairs have been cancelled this week, with Expo Chicago joining the list of events postponed for the near future. “We gauged the global re-emergence of fairs, gatherings, and exhibitions and felt strongly that our commitment to April of 2022 allows us a strong chance to open where we left off after the 2019 exposition, respecting the impact and numerous considerations that dealers and collectors are making in 2021,” says founder and director Tony Karman. (more…)

Cairo’s Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum has reopened after a ten year closure, which followed the theft of a Van Gogh from the museum. (more…)

Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas is planning a major expansion that will add almost 100,000 square feet to its footprint. “With the number of visitors we welcome annually, it’s timely to enlarge our building and make sure more people can access these offerings,” says founder Alice Walton. (more…)

Yayoi Kusama, Cosmic Nature (Installation view), via Art Observed

After several delays caused by the Covid-19 virus, the long-awaited exhibition of Yayoi Kusama’s work at the New York Botanical Garden has finally opened. Planned for exclusive exhibition at NYBG, the show sees Kusama reveling in a lifelong fascination with the natural world, beginning with her childhood spent in the greenhouses and fields of her family’s seed nursery. Giving her voice and works ample space to evolve and envelop the lush grounds of the Botanical Garden’s diverse selection of plants, the show is a fascinating embellishment of both artist and nature, speaking, and working, in unison.   (more…)

Pace Gallery is expanding its footprint in South Korea, as it moves to a larger space in the Hannam-dong neighborhood of Seoul. “We’re growing, but I like to think we grow very carefully and thoughtfully,” says Marc Glimcher. “We start really small in a city and see if it’s successful. It’s about the people first, not the space. We are really interested in going to cities where we really add to the equation and that city can have an interesting impact on us.” (more…)

Art Basel Hong Kong will return next month, and has just announced its exhibitor list for the next edition of the fair, welcoming 104 exhibitors to the space.  (more…)

The Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI has received $30 million by Jennifer and Dan Gilbert to promote diversity in students and faculty. “Our ultimate goal is to drive lasting financial stability while creating a more diverse and equitable community,” Jennifer Gilbert said in a statement. “We know it’s not a silver bullet, but a step in the right direction. Dan and I hope that the gift grants the Academy space to develop long-term solutions, and that it encourages others to join us in giving.”

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James Lee Byars, The Milky Way (Installation View), via Michael Werner

Currently on view at Michael Werner Gallery in New York, artist James Lee Byars’s nuanced and minimalist sculptural project The Milky Way goes back on public view, showcasing one of the artist’s more intriguing and ambitious two-dimensional works. This will be the first time the work is on view to the public.  (more…)

Alex Da Corte gives the NYT a tour of his studio this week, as he prepares to complete a large-scale sculpture of Big Bird for his coming Met Rooftop Installation. “There’s something beautiful about wondering what Big Bird is looking for,” Da Corte says. “Maybe the sunset.” (more…)

A new rule in Venice will block temporary and pop-up exhibitions from running the full length of the Venice Biennale, Art Newspaper reports. (more…)

A Boston man has admitted to stealing several Andy Warhol works and selling fake versions online. “The buyer removed the paintings’ frames and found no Warhol Foundation authentication stamps and noticed that the canvasses and staples looked new,” prosecutors said. (more…)