All articles tagged with #arts
Jazz giant Sonny Rollins died at 95 in Woodstock, NY, leaving a half‑century of influential work—from the bebop era landmark Saxophone Colossus to adventurous, pianoless and free‑leaning formats—alongside a spiritual journey that included Zen Buddhism and sobriety after addiction, with late‑career Grammy wins and tours well into his 80s before retiring due to pulmonary fibrosis.
Daniel Harding has been named the Los Angeles Philharmonic's next music director, effective for the 2027/28 season on a six-year contract, as Gustavo Dudamel departs in 2026 to lead the New York Philharmonic but will remain connected as artistic laureate. Harding will oversee programming across LAPhil venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and the Ford, alongside YOLA, and will conduct eight weeks in his first season (rising to 12 weeks later). He brings an acclaimed international conducting career and also works as an airline pilot, a parallel life he says informs his artistry; he will conduct as music director designate in late 2026/early 2027.
Jazz legend Sonny Rollins, whose bold, boundary-pushing tenor saxophone helped shape postwar improvisation and defy easy classification, died at 95 at his Woodstock, New York home. A fearless explorer who bridged bebop with calypso, avant-garde flavors, and even rock-backed textures, Rollins produced landmark albums such as Saxophone Colossus and Tenor Madness, endured sustained hiatuses to refine his craft, and remained an influential figure in jazz through decades of recording and performances, earning numerous honors including a lifetime Grammy and Kennedy Center Honor.
Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters uses Shirley Kurata’s bold, thrift‑fueled wardrobe to stage a stylishly chaotic heist that satirizes overconsumption, plagiarism, and workers’ rights in the fashion industry, with vibrant color and character closets underscoring the film’s critique of contemporary fashion culture.
Elim Chan, a 39-year-old Hong Kong–born conductor, was named the San Francisco Symphony’s music director-designate and will assume the post in September 2027, making SF one of the country’s top orchestras to be led by a woman. The appointment follows the tenure of Esa-Pekka Salonen and amid the orchestra’s recent budget and audience challenges; Chan describes it as groundbreaking and plans a bold programming and outreach strategy, including a California tour and a semi-staged Firebird, with a focus on drawing younger audiences and expanding the orchestral canon.
Mehretu teams with choreographer John Jasperse for Wandering, a performance weaving dancers through Mehretu’s translucent TRANSpaintings at Marian Goodman Gallery to make painting and movement influence each other. The project aims to treat both media as interdependent, creating a space where abstraction and representation mingle, using the gallery’s architecture and layered bodies to offer a living, evolving experience rather than a backdrop. Soundscapes on different floors deepen the immersive effect as viewers navigate the intimate, multi-level installation.
Christie’s New York auction hauled in $1.1 billion in one evening, led by Brancusi’s Danaïde at $107.6 million and Pollock’s Number 7A, 1948 at $181.2 million, with Nicole Kidman starring in a promotional video for Danaïde as part of the Newhouse collection push—signaling a rebound in the top tier of the art market, even as buyers and observers note lingering questions about sustainability and the market’s long-term health.
Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948 sold for $181 million at Christie's in New York, setting a new record for the artist and ranking as the fourth-most expensive work ever sold at auction; the sale from SI Newhouse's private collection included a Brancusi sculpture that fetched $107.6 million, the second-highest price for a sculpture at auction. Pollock's drip technique helped define abstract expressionism, and the previous pollock auction record was $61.2 million for Number 17, 1951 in 2021.
Photographer Jon McCormack turned pandemic-era beach walks into a years-long study of nature's patterns, producing the monograph Patterns: Art of the Natural World. From dunes that read as line drawings to micro-organisms seen through a microscope, his images reveal recurring motifs across deserts, glaciers, and wildlife. Using a long telephoto lens and focus stacking, he captures close-ups from remote expeditions and near-home scenes, aiming to make nature feel accessible to everyone and inspire its protection.
Ronald S. Lauder, Estée Lauder heir, will donate the entire Neue Galerie—along with Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I valued at $135 million and 13 additional Klimt works—to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, effectively merging the two institutions by 2028 and expanding the Met’s holdings of early 20th‑century German and Austrian art.
The Library of Congress announced the 2026 class of the National Recording Registry, honoring influential recordings across genres including Beyoncé’s Single Ladies, Taylor Swift’s 1989, Weezer’s Blue Album, Chaka Khan’s I Feel for You, the Go-Go’s Beauty and the Beat, and more, recognizing their cultural, historical, or artistic importance and preserving them for future generations.
A UK study of 3,556 adults links regular participation in arts activities and attending cultural events with a slower pace of biological ageing, as measured by epigenetic clocks. Weekly engagement slowed ageing by up to 4% and was associated with about one year biologically younger compared with infrequent participation; effects are comparable to quitting smoking. The study shows association, not causation or guaranteed longer life, and underscores the potential health benefits of arts engagement.
Chicago’s only nonprofit pinball museum, The Flip, is relocating from Pilsen to Block 37 in the Loop this summer, growing from 550 to 2,900 square feet, with ticketed admission at the new site and more than 30 playable machines plus exhibits on the game’s history.
The 2026 Venice Biennale offers a spectrum of provocative pieces—from Florentina Holzinger’s nude, postapocalyptic pavilion to Lydia Ourahmane’s coin-operated, Venice-inspired installation and Ukraine’s journey of an origami deer—alongside Sanya Kantarovsky’s seance-like paintings and a wave of AI-inspired works in the Arsenale; the mood weaves stark political and personal mourning with bursts of inventive, boundary-pushing art under the In Minor Keys banner.
New York Art Week 2026 stitches together Frieze New York, NADA, TEFAF New York, Independent, gallery openings, museum shows, and auction previews across uptown to downtown (May 13–19), offering three curated routes—Uptown, Chelsea, and Downtown—plus talks, gallery walks, and a Whitney Biennial tie‑in; most gallery openings and auction previews are free, fairs require tickets, and a Google Map helps navigate the stops.