BEST?

Vantablack Building Deserves a Gold Medal – The “darkest building on earth” was unveiled at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, thanks to walls painted with the light-obliterating super-black paint, Vantablack.

Illuminating Leonardo da Vinci – Set to open next year across the UK, a new show will reveal hidden secrets behind the Renaissance master’s drawings, brought to viewers courtesy of infrared lightbeams.

Brooklyn’s Radiant Child – Ben Davis explains what makes Basquiat’s single-painting show at the Brooklyn Museum a worthwhile visit—and why the art world is still experiencing the Basquiat craze.

Merci, France – France’s Culture Ministry is earning praise for its support of refugees through the collaboration with the Agency for Artists in Exile, which is currently staging a show at the Palais Royal in Paris.

Picasso’s Painting Won’t Leave the Met – A court ruling decided that The Actor (1904) will remain at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ruling against a family who claimed the Picasso was sold by relatives fleeing the Nazis.

Meanwhile, the Striped One Surfeits the Sud – A staggering 2,000 Picasso artworks—the largest collection of his art—will be on display in the South of France, thanks to the Spanish artist’s stepdaughter.

From Hollywood to Brooklyn – Former actress Leelee Sobieski, now known as Leelee Kimmel, once starred alongside Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed, but has left the big screen to make her artistic debut at Journal Gallery.

WORST?

Sick, Tired, and Not Surprised – Once again, Artforum is the target of the increasingly incensed feminist group We Are Not Surprised, who claim that the magazine is paying lip service to quell public outcry surrounding the lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct against co-owner Knight Landesman.

Remembering an Artist Who Finally Got Her Due – On February 1, Abstract Expressionist Sonia Gechtoff, who was long overshadowed by her male-counterparts, passed away at age 91. Gechtoff was finally acknowledged in last year’s travelling exhibition “Women of Abstract Expressionism.”

Keeping It Controversial – The Gerrit Rietveld Academie is awash with drama stemming from an invitation to the inflammatory duo known as KIRAC (Keeping It Real Art Critics)—accused by many art students of actually Keeping It Racist and Misogynistic—to hold a debate with provocative art dealer Bert Kreuk.

The “Art Bastard” Suing the Art World – Robert Cenedella, star of the 2015 documentary Art Bastard is demanding $100 million from five museums in New York City who he claims are conspiring not to sell his artwork.

Dealer Steps Down Amid Allegations – Following multiple claims of sexual misconduct, LA gallerist Aaron Bondaroff has resigned from his jointly-owned gallery, Moran Bondaroff (once known as OHWOW), as well as his popular Know Wave radio show.

Mark Grotjahn’s LA MOCA Snub – The famed contemporary artist declined an invitation to headline this year’s gala at Los Angeles’s Museum of Contemporary Art, calling out the institution for failing to honor artists who are not straight white men.

Art dealer Anatole Shagalov Will Get His Day in Court – The Sotheby’s auction house is after Shagalov, who purportedly made a winning bid for a Keith Haring artwork—and never followed up on the payment.