2025-12-30 22:17:52
Blurring the boundaries between architecture, social space, and sculpture, a new bar has arrived on the scene in Rome. Bar Far reimagines a traditional gallery, which happens to be the new location of Villa Lontana, into a visually mesmerizing meeting spot. The name of the show and temporary libations pop-up is a play on the name of Villa Lontana itself, which translates to “faraway villa,” and it’s the latest from artists Clementine Keith-Roach and Christopher Page.
From the neon sign on the facade to tables held up by legs and sconces in the form of hands holding candles, the exhibition celebrates the legacy of illustrious art bars like Cabaret Voltaire—the birthplace of Dada in Zurich—or the storied 18th-century Caffè Greco in Rome, where the likes of Giorgio di Chirico and numerous literary greats would hang out. Bar Far is also an extension of Keith-Roach and Page’s previous collaborations, including an art bar installation called Bar Moi.
Keith-Roach is known for her sculpted figurative forms, often using plaster and terracotta to create reliefs and life-size body parts that intertwine, twist, and merge with large vessels redolent of ancient pots. Feet, hands, and other anatomical parts or artifacts are sometimes displayed as if they have been recently excavated from the earth, arranged on shelves or in plastic.
In Bar Far, Keith-Roach hybridizes her anatomical sculptures into tables, benches, and frames. Merging with the architecture, arms and legs bend around corners and lead viewers toward a rear arcade filled with moody, red-orange paintings by Page. Glowing from beyond a series of arches, echoing Renaissance arcades, his skies give the impression that the room floats in the air, or that someone could simply step out into the atmosphere.
In his practice, Page’s trompe l’œil works often serve as portals, sometimes framed like windows or looking uncannily like mirrors reflecting sunlit corners. In Bar Far, these luminous, otherworldly thresholds add a metaphysical—even paradoxical—layer to the interior. “Echoes of ancient Roman and Baroque lavishness mingle with contemporary architectural austerity and flashes of colour that seem to come from the future,” the gallery says. “The effect is an environment that is at once church and tomb, prophecy and ruin, heaven and hell.”
Bar Far continues through March 14 in Rome. Find more on the gallery’s website.
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2025-12-29 23:52:51
As we reflect on 2025, we’re taking a peek into our archive to spotlight some of the stories we’re still thinking about. It’s a joy and a privilege to share so much creativity with you each day, and we’re grateful to know you’re out there reading.
In case you missed it, check out our favorite art books of the year.
—Christopher, Grace, Kate, and Jackie
Uncanny Papier-Mâché Creatures by Roberto Benavidez Mingle in ‘Bosch Beasts’
For Los Angeles-based artist Roberto Benavidez, the art of the piñata is a central tenet of a practice exploring intersecting themes of race, sexuality, humor, sin, and beauty. He draws upon the paper art form’s early religious significance in Mexico, when Spanish missionaries used a seven-pointed version as a tool for converting Indigenous people to Christianity. This motif, which appears in some of Benavidez’s distinctive sculptures, nods to its past colonial use.
Marcel Heijnen Captures Loving Portraits of Feisty, Feral Felines in ‘City Cats of Istanbul’
In some parts of the world, stray animals are nearly as beloved as pets. Thousands of dogs roam the streets of Cusco, Peru, for example, and cats pretty much rule the night in places like Athens, Valletta, and Japan’s “cat islands.” Residents often feed and provide shelter for these roving colonies, and for Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen, this human-animal connection provides endless opportunities to experience urban centers.
Enjoy the Brilliant Ballet that Brought Dance to the Bauhaus Movement
Given the emphasis on functionality and design for industrial production, the Bauhaus movement is rarely associated with disciplines like dance. But for Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943), translating its principles into movement and performance was as compelling as a well-conceived chair or building.
Among Newly Discovered Ocean Species, a Baby Colossal Squid Is Filmed for the First Time
An archipelago in the South Atlantic known as the South Sandwich Islands is home to some of the most remote landmasses in the world. Uninhabited except for occasional scientific research, their volcanic makeup highlights the geological and ecological diversity of this part of the world, and we still have much to learn. In 2025, Schmidt Ocean Institute completed a 35-day trek on the Falkor (too) to the remote island chain and discovered new hydrothermal vents, coral gardens, and what researchers suspect to be entirely new species. During this expedition, the team also confirmed the sighting of a juvenile colossal squid, capturing one on film for the first time.
Blink and You’d Miss the Moments Topping This Year’s Pure Street Photography Awards
Coincidence is around every corner, and immortalizing a split second of fleeting chaos takes a special eye. Since 2020, Pure Street Photography—an initiative focused on connecting international photographers—has commended visual storytellers through an annual competition.
Nick Cave’s Nearly 26-Foot Bronze Stands for Resistance Amid Oppression
Whether weaving plastic pony beads into a monumental sculpture, adorning figures with mother-of-pearl buttons, or mosaicing ceramic tile across a New York subway station, Nick Cave has continually returned to one question: how does this material help bring people into the work?
More than 7,500 Prints and Negatives by Trailblazing Photographer Alice Austen Return Home
With its panoramic views of New York Harbor, the house that trailblazing photographer Alice Austen (1866-1952) called home for most of her life is a sprawling, two-story, elegant Victorian Gothic waterfront property known as Clear Comfort. From here, she captured thousands of incredible photographs throughout her lifetime. In 2025, the entire archive of Austen’s photos returned to Clear Comfort after being held by a local historical society, thanks to a landmark acquisition.
Through Ceramics, Stephanie Shih Considers the Disillusioning Price of Domestic Bliss
Nothing says true love like arguing about who left the cap off the toothpaste, right? From a darkly comedic perspective, Stephanie Shih explores the multiple meanings of “domestic bliss” in a social landscape fraught with consumerism and clashing politics.
Yuji Agematsu Arranges Street Debris into Tiny Daily Sculptures
Each day, Yuji Agematsu takes a walk for the explicit purpose of scouring the streets. The dried leaf, lost toy, and even the wad of gum discarded on a park bench are his treasures, which he retrieves and places in the clear cellophane that wraps a pack of cigarettes. Although Agematsu no longer smokes, this habit of wandering and collecting has been harder to break: he’s been committed to it since 1996.
Near Liverpool, a One-of-a-Kind Art Environment by Ron Gittins Is Saved
Behind the unassuming red brick facade of a gable-roofed flat in Birkenhead, England, sits a home like no other. The only clue passersby would have had, until recently, was a pair of hand-sculpted figurative columns that flanked the wooden front door. But to step inside this corner flat near Liverpool is to be transported into the imaginative world of Ron Gittins.
Across 92 Screens in Times Square, Yuge Zhou’s ‘Trampoline Color Exercise’ Celebrates Global Unity
Spanning a gridded background of rectangular, pink trampolines, hundreds of gymnasts mesmerizingly flip and twist, shapeshifting as they tuck and tumble. “Trampoline Color Exercise,” a monumental digital video collage installation by Chicago-based artist Yuge Zhou, takes a bird’s-eye view of athletes at peak form while abstracting their bodies and movements into undulating ripples of color.
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2025-12-23 23:57:45
What is the value of knowledge? A coffee shop latte easily costs six dollars or more these days, but peruse any used book sale and you’ll find classics of literature and science for mere cents—published works that have had an indelible impact on culture.
In many cases, mass production has rendered the value of books—as objects—at pennies. Used bookstores with buy-back policies often play a vital role in simply being able to properly recycle or dispose of volumes that are no longer salable. Hundreds of millions of books are tossed each year, whether due to overstock, age, or damage, which is an ongoing problem for the publishing industry.
While some genres have fallen out of widespread use in our digital age, such as encyclopedia sets, what happens to them after they’re no longer needed is an ongoing sustainability challenge. For artists like Brian Dettmer, an out-of-date reference book isn’t a useless item but a trove of imagery and formal possibilities.
In the artist’s solo exhibition, In·Formation at Riverside Arts Center, work made over the past few years explores collage and sculpture through the medium of books. From cut-up elements interwoven into wall reliefs to freestanding forms made from carving directly into thick tomes, Dettmer highlights the afterlife of hardcover publications like dictionaries, atlases, guides, and other reference titles. He often meticulously splices elements together to create layered, stacked, and diorama-stuffed assemblages.
“There is a randomness to what is revealed, followed by the thoughtfulness of what should remain,” the gallery says. “With each incision, Dettmer strips away layers to expose previously hidden texts and images, often editing the material and assembling it with his own vernacular that suggests new information.” What the artist chooses to reveal, conceal, or even redact—such as the titles on the spines of selected copies used in “Great Houses of Gardening Corners,” for example—nods to our increasingly tenuous relationship with how information is conveyed to us.
In·Formation continues through January 24 in Riverside, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram. You might also enjoy the work of Guy Laramée.
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2025-12-23 02:27:00
From inexpensive, ubiquitous, and utilitarian materials, virtually endless forms and narratives can be created with a bit of imagination. That’s exactly what the show Cardboard: Infinite Possibilities, opening next month at Wönzimer Gallery, aims to highlight.
The group exhibition is curated by Ann Weber, whose work Colossal readers may recognize, along with that of Narsiso Martinez and Shigeru Ban. The show also highlights an iconic chair design by Frank Gehry, who died this month at the age of 96, plus contributions from Jodi Hays, Edgar Ramirez, Leonie Weber, Samuelle Richardson, Jabila Okongwu, and more.
In her own work, Ann Weber has long sought to subvert what we consider a purely functional, disposable medium. Her practice involves meticulously cutting, wrapping, and weaving strips of salvaged cardboard into bulbous, sometimes towering sculptures. Others also embrace this approach, like Martinez, who repurposes discarded produce boxes as a substrate for paintings and drawings, and Leonie Weber, whose painted and crumbled box assemblages appear almost like dyed and felted wool installations at first glance.
Ban’s sustainable approach to architecture using cardboard emphasizes how the medium can be transformed from cheap packaging material to humanitarian design, where tubes can be used as modular units to build rapid-response shelters.
Cardboard: Infinite Possibilities runs from January 2 to 30 in Los Angeles. See more on the gallery’s website.
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2025-12-22 23:56:31
In São Paolo, a midcentury interior is reimagined into a “hybrid habitat” by architect Guto Requena. The project, called “Apartamento Varanda,” reimagines a modernist residence, originally constructed in 1962, with contemporary details that nod to its decades-old spirit while incorporating a particularly organic element in the form of lots and lots of plants.
Draped from rafters or bespoke frameworks, Brazilian botanicals create a green oasis indoors. What Requena describes as a “true urban forest” is then complemented by a range of iconic furnishings from both modernist and contemporary eras. See more on the studio’s website.
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2025-12-22 19:19:00
Surreal Salon, the annual international exhibition celebrating the Pop-surrealism/Lowbrow movement, is returning to Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (BRG) for its 18th year. Held in partnership with Louisiana State University (LSU)’s School of Art, the show will be open to all at no cost from January 2 to 25, 2026, in Louisiana’s capital city.
This year’s multimedia edition features more than 60 artists from the U.S. and abroad, with pieces hand-picked by the show’s Special Guest Juror, Swoon, from a pool of nearly 800 works via a blind jurying process.
Every year, Surreal Salon celebrates the ever-evolving Pop-surrealist/Lowbrow art movement by inviting artists across the globe to submit works for consideration. The resulting selection always features paintings, photography, ceramics, textiles, mixed media works, and more.
Over the years, Surreal Salon has enlisted internationally renowned artists such as Ron English, Camille Rose Garcia, Marco Mazzoni, Beth Cavener, Greg “Craola” Simkins, and many others to serve as jurors and curate engaging, dynamic collections of work for the show. That tradition was renewed in 2026 as Swoon (a.k.a. Caledonia Curry) stepped into this role.
Curry is a Brooklyn-based street artist who, drawing on both realistic and fantastical elements, has created immersive installations, wheatpaste portraits, and community-based social justice projects for two decades. Her work has adorned the walls of institutions like New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and Tate Modern, while also appearing on the façades of built environments around the world.
Swoon will give a talk on Monday, January 26, hosted by LSU’s School of Art in conjunction with Surreal Salon 18. Free and open to all, the talk will touch on her career, her work, and her experience selecting the art for this show.
Before the exhibition’s closure, BRG will welcome hundreds of guests to channel their own pop-surrealist visions into elaborate costumes at The Surreal Salon Soiree on Saturday, January 24. The night will celebrate the show with live music from the band Bon Bon Vivant, two different DJ sets, food trucks, and several surprises. Tickets are on sale now, starting at just $40.
To learn more and to preview the works included in this year’s exhibition, visit batonrougegallery.org.
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