BEST?
Improve Your Art IQ – The second edition of artnet News’s Intelligence Report is here, with features on KAWS, auction hits and misses, and a cheat sheet for the Venice Biennale.
Best of the Booths – Despite the drama that marred this year’s Armory Show before it even opened, there was an embarrassment of riches on view for the 25th edition. artnet News’s Andrew Goldstein selects six works he can’t stop thinking about.
Spring Fling – At the always irreverent SPRING/BREAK art fair, we picked seven booths that were delightfully deranged and Instagram-tastic.
Interesting Times Up Ahead – Who’s on the final list of artists for Ralph Rugoff’s central exhibition at the Venice Biennale? We found out.
A Treasure Trove Reveals New Insights – A major discovery is sending shock waves through the archaeological world, as Mexican researchers discovered an untouched cache of artifacts and objects dating back more than 1,000 years, and possibly re-writing our understanding of the Mayan civilization.
Ocasio-Cortez, Super-Politician – The freshman phenom Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the hero of a new comic book that casts her as a justice-seeking, conservative-flaying, warrior princess.
A Starchitect Is Born – The Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel of the architecture world, went to Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, who designed the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
Blake Gopnik Talks Basquiat – Critic Blake Gopnik breaks down the new exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work on view at the Brant Foundation, and makes the case for a new way of looking at his famous paintings.
The Fairest Fair? – Yet another art fair is joining the landscape (already packed to the gills), but this one has a new angle: the MFA Fair will shine a spotlight on emerging artists on their way out of graduate school and into the marketplace.
WORST?
Enfant Terrible, or Just Boring? – The much anticipated new show of Matthew Barney’s work is basically a flop. Despite his reputation for mind-bending, visually lush cinematic works, Barney’s latest leaves something to be desired.
Remembering a Feminist Icon – The American artist Carolee Schneemann died at 79, leaving behind a legacy of pioneering feminist artwork that struck a chord with the feminist movement.
Koons in Court – Mega-collectors Joel Silver and Steve Tananbaum are individually suing Gagosian for failing to deliver artworks they bought by Jeff Koons.
Sluggish Sales, With One Standout – Christie’s postwar and contemporary auction in London was decidedly less impressive than last year’s, though the sale of wunderkind Jordan Casteel’s painting set a world auction record for the young artist.