Contemporary art

Exhibitionsinterview

Cecily Brown: ‘I’m trying to understand what England means to me’

With her delayed show now open at Blenheim Palace, the British-born painter explains that she is as likely to be inspired by childhood comics as historic battle scenes

Deutsche Bank to auction Kandinsky and Schiele works from collection

Three works are to be sold at Christie’s in Paris this month; further sales to follow

Under the influence: three artists on how Bruce Nauman continues to be an inspiration

As a retrospective opens at Tate Modern, we speak to Rashid Johnson, Jacolby Satterwhite and Adham Faramawy about the enduring appeal of the 78-year-old artist's work

Protestanalysis

Student flash mobs in Thailand target ‘art scene run by elite old men’

Recent demonstrations break a long-held taboo–criticism of the Thai monarchy, an institution which protesters believe is the main obstruction to democracy

Artist transforms Gilded Age pool house into an atmospheric soundscape

To evoke a watershed moment in society, Jorge Otero-Pailos has filled an abandoned natatorium with sounds recorded from bodies of water in New York State

Erich Marx, Berlin collector and patron, dies age 99

His collection of works by Warhol, Twombly, Beuys and Kiefer is on long-term loan to the Berlin museums

Podcastspodcast

Berlin: still a magnet for artists?

Plus, Jadé Fadojutimi on Laura Owens. Sponsored by Christie's

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by Julia Michalska, David. Clack and Aimee Dawson

Belarusian opposition leader and arts promoter Maria Kolesnikova charged with organising a coup d'état

Aleksandr Lukashenko regime continues to crackdown on Belarus’s contemporary arts community

Magnum photographer Alec Soth defends similarities with work by Chicago artist Tonika Johnson

On commission for the New York Times, Soth says he had "no knowledge" of the long-term project by the Chicago resident and documentary photographer

Saatchi Gallery exhibits London’s graduate artists deprived of degree shows

The exhibition forms part of the education programme at the collector’s gallery which has now ‘transitioned into a charity’

Berlin Art Week: shows in disused airports and nightclubs defy gloomy predictions

From Berghain's lockdown exhibition to the Brücke Museum's Vivian Suter display, here's what to see in the reigning contemporary art hub this week

Artistsfeature

What songs do contemporary artists listen to while they work? Tune in to our Spotify playlist to find out

From Joni Mitchell to Radiohead and Sun Ra, Michael Armitage, Jenny Saville, Chantal Joffe and Rashid Johnson reveal their favourite tracks

Podcastspodcast

Cancelled: should good artists pay for bad behaviour?

Plus, Tavares Strachan on Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty. Sponsored by Christie's

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by Julia Michalska, David. Clack and Aimee Dawson
Prizesgallery

Prozac nation: Russian photographer’s images of depression win 2020 Wellcome Photo Prize

Arseniy Neskhodimov’s photographs raise awareness of mental health in the age of coronavirus

Artistscomment

Remembering the beautiful melancholy of Matthew Wong

The astronomical increase in the value of works by the Canadian artist, who died by suicide last year, is driven by morose opportunism

LGBTQnews

Shanghai Pride announces suspension of operations shortly after opening exhibition

Move comes amidst increased official scrutiny of civil society in China

CoroNation: Ai Weiwei releases lockdown documentary about Wuhan

Film aims to show “surveillance, ideological brainwashing, and brute determination used to control every aspect of society” by China’s leaders

Alison Jacques 'removes all trace' of late photographer Saul Fletcher—and calls on art world to follow lead

Respected London gallerist says “it's not ok to continue to promote his work” in wake of Fletcher’s killing of the curator Rebeccah Blum prior to his own suicide

Belarus protest work—painted with a police baton—sells for three million rubles

Contemporary artists in the country are reacting to the crisis after allegations of election fraud and police brutality

Berghain—Berlin’s exclusive nightclub—to transform into huge art venue during pandemic

“Studio Berlin” offers a way to circumvent the toughest door policy in the world and see works by Olafur Eliasson, Wolfgang Tillmans and Anne Imhof

Native American artist Brent Learned collaborates on first official music video for Redbone's 1970s pop-rock hit

The "Come and Get Your Love" short film is the first release in a new Sony Legacy project that will tap contemporary artists to create videos for classic tunes

Superblue experiential art centre to launch in Miami this December

New commercial venture aims to capitalise on the rise of immersive artworks by selling tickets rather than objects

Monumentsanalysis

So we’re bringing down statues—but what kind of monuments would we like to see instead?

Perhaps the time has come to remove the plinth and stop celebrating individual heroes

Four billboards outside Hull, England: art project commemorates sex workers who have died

Collective of former sex workers and the artist duo Henry/Bragg are behind the installation

German curator kidnapped in central Baghdad

Hella Mewis, who works to promote young Iraqi artists, was abducted yesterday by unidentified men in the centre of the city

Marc Quinn's Black Lives Matter sculpture removed by Bristol council

Statue that replaced toppled monument to slave trader Edward Colston has polarised opinion

Marc Quinn sculpture of Black Lives Matter activist replaces statue to slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol

Installed overnight, the work depicts local resident Jen Reid who was photographed on the site when the monument was toppled last month

Book Clubreview

Sex, Soho, cocksure snappers and cigarette money: the making of London’s 1960s art world

A new book by Lisa Tickner, called London's New Scene, focuses on a cast of glamorous characters and gritty drama, with much that resonates today