Contemporary art

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

If we want more artists like Khadija Saye, we need to give young BAME people the help they need

Would-be artists from ethnic minorities have it harder than most—which is why a new programme will continue Saye’s inspiring work, says the artist Nicola Green

Signed, sealed, delivered: new monument honours couriers on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic

Unveiled in a business centre in Moscow, the statue by contemporary artist Alexey Garikovich was commissioned by top Russian e-commerce and foodtech companies

Russianews

Forty protestors detained for defending Russian activist facing prison for posting art with LGBTQ message

Russia's arts community rallying behind Yulia Tsvetkova whose trial starts in July

See what a bustling Canaletto scene would look like emptied of people

José Manuel Ballester, the Spanish artist behind a series of reimagined Old Master paintings shared widely online during the coronavirus pandemic, has created a new work to help raise funds for Italy’s Pinacoteca de Brera

Booksreview

Alexander Calder, master of time and space: erudite biography captures artist's full ambition

Second volume of a wide-ranging biography gives us the fun-loving, sophisticated man, as his work developed from delicate mobiles to firmly grounded ‘stabiles’

Russianews

Culture crackdown ahead of Putin's referendum

Artist Pyotr Verzilov was sentenced to 15 days in prison for "petty hooliganism" in latest clampdown on the arts in Russia

Kentucky philanthropist launches ambitious arts hub and 'incubator' in the Appalachian mountains

Entrepreneur and contemporary art collector Brook Smith plans to turn former coal-mining region into a "cultural destination"

Investigative artists Forensic Architecture uncover new evidence in 2011 police killing of Mark Duggan

Independent Office for Police Conduct says it is now assessing whether to reopen the official investigation into the shooting that triggered the London riots

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s greatest hits

The artist duo made some of the most important and popular works of the 20th and early 21st century—here are their most memorable

Christointerview

In one of his last interviews, Christo speaks about life in lockdown and wrapping the Arc de Triomphe

The late artist revealed he was too frightened to go out during the pandemic and was "a bit relieved" that his latest project in Paris was delayed

'A healing machine meant to bring people together': art world figures pay tribute to Christo's vision

Pamm director says Miami island project brought the community together after 1980s race riots

Saudi Arabiaanalysis

Are Saudi Arabia's big culture plans turning to dust?

As oil prices slump and the pandemic continues to spread, the kingdom's ambitious initiatives are being scaled back

Some of the best places to buy art for a good cause

During the pandemic, buying art delivers the double whammy of donating to charity and owning a work by artists including Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and Chantal Joffe

Barbara Hepworth's studio in St Ives gains Grade II listing

Former dance hall was bequeathed to the Tate by the sculptor's family

Africanews

Artist Amadou Sanogo plans Bamako arts centre to mentor young talent

Expected to open in 2022, Makoro will house studios for Malian artists under 30, workshops for school children and exhibitions

Berlinnews

As one private collector shuts down Berlin space, Julia Stoschek threatens to follow

Closure of Thomas Olbricht’s Me Collectors Room comes after collector Friedrich Christian Flick’s announcement he is ending his museum loan

Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s fortune cookie piece to pop up in 1,000 locations worldwide

“Writers, curators, artists and friends of Felix’s” will be asked to take part in participatory work

Digital artinterview

Eva and Franco Mattes: ‘Technology does not create the social problems we so often criticise’

As the lockdown forces the art world to migrate online, the Italian duo, who embraced the internet in its infancy, are moving in the opposite direction

Pandemic art: how artists have depicted disease

As the coronavirus forces us to endure an unprecedented time of distant social contact, art can remind us, assure us, of our interconnectedness

Mark Wallinger unveils new photographs of London’s deserted streets

The British artist, who captured the images on his daily walks, has also written a new poem

Prizesnews

Citing Covid-19, Canada's Sobey Art Award increases prize to almost $500,000 and shares it among 25 longlisted artists

The Canadian "Turner Prize" made the one-off decision to reflect the "profound impact" that the pandemic is having on artists' livelihoods

Was Duchamp’s Fountain a misogynist vaginal pun?

Waldemar Januszczak gives a taste of a forthcoming BBC programme in which he focuses on a little-explored aspect of the artist's controversial work