In a two-person exhibition at Soft Opening in London and PPOW in New York, artists Dean Sameshima and Felix Reynolds present works that reflect on the HIV/AIDS epidemic's impact on queer sexuality. Sameshima's "Anonymous Illness" critiques the Reagan administration's silence on the issue by using large font to emphasize the term "illness" over "anonymous". In contrast, Reynolds' work explicitly names AIDS victims in a photo tapestry of AIDS memorial quilts, drawing from his experience as an early member of ACT UP. The exhibition navigates between particular and universal experiences of queerness, often blurring the lines between biographical reading and emotional truth.
https://hyperallergic.com/980038/hunter-reynolds-and-dean-sameshima-memorials-to-queer-loss/The DF Art Agency marked the end of a notable year with an art exhibition featuring trompe l'oeil artworks by Padua, showcasing their signature technique that blends deception and emotional candor.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/01/03/tmt-newswire/df-art-agency-ends-international-projects-with-paduas-succes/2029469The digital art market is expanding to include cryptocurrencies, with the use of Bitcoin as a form of payment becoming increasingly popular. The artist known as "Plastikman" has sold his artwork for $1 million in cryptocurrency, specifically in Bitcoin. This sale marks one of the first times that an artwork has been sold for such a high price using digital currency.
https://reason.com/2025/01/02/photo-the-disappearing-satoshi-nakamoto-statue/The Museum of Prague is hosting two exhibitions from January 10-February 10 and January 15-February 9, respectively. The first exhibition features works by master swordsman Matsuba Ichiro, a "Living National Treasure," and Japanese artist Mari Kučera's calligraphy demonstrations at the Calab Hall in Clam-Gallas Palace. The second exhibition, "Mark Florian: Sagrada Familia – Architecture of Light", showcases photographs by Mark Florian that explore the concept of light in Antoni Gaudí's architecture, specifically the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona.
https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/10-art-exhibitions-you-won-t-want-to-miss-in-prague-this-yearThe National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) is hosting its sixth edition of the Mumbai Dance Season 2025 from January 9th to February 2nd in multiple venues across Mumbai. The month-long celebration features over 32 events and more than 100 artists showcasing India's diverse dance traditions. The festival begins on January 9th with a tribute to Maharashtra's folk heritage, curated by Nivedita Mukherjee and Manisha Jeet.
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/culture-and-society/ncpa-mumbai-dance-season-2025-a-month-long-celebration-of-indias-dance-heritage-1851431Italian fashion designer Ottavio Missoni died peacefully on Wednesday, according to a joint statement from his company, Missoni SpA, and his family. Local officials offered condolences the following day, highlighting Missoni's connection to Gallarate, a small city in northern Italy where the Missoni brand was founded in 1953 by an artisan.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/rosita-missoni-matriarch-of-italian-fashion-house-that-made-zigzag-knitwear-iconic-dies-at-age-93-1.7163194In defiance of the Taliban's ban on music in Afghanistan, musicians are continuing to play behind closed doors and craftsmen like Sakhi are still making traditional instruments such as the rubab. Despite the risks, Sakhi has been crafting two rubabs a month for decades at his workshop in Herat, citing the cultural value of his work as more important than financial gain.
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3292892/afghans-making-music-and-musical-instruments-defiance-ban-taliban?module=top_story&pgtype=sectionThe "Back to the Future" art exhibition at the Seoul branch drew a record-breaking 50,000 foreign visitors between June 2023 and May 2024, making it the most-visited by international attendees during its run.
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-01-02/culture/artsDesign/MMCA-breaks-record-with-most-foreign-visitors-in-2024/2213925Researchers Adhi Agus Oktaviana and colleagues have discovered the world's oldest figurative cave art, a painting of a wild pig and human-like figures in Leang Karampuang cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia, which is at least 51,200 years old. This finding suggests that visual storytelling with anthropomorphic figures and animals dates back to an earlier point in human evolution than previously thought.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/from-chimps-eating-medicinal-plants-to-footprints-tracking-our-early-relatives-here-are-the-most-significant-human-evolution-discoveries-of-2024-180985756/