photographs by The Cobrasnake
The Cobrasnake Shoots Autre's "Desire" Issue Launch and Signing At Hotel Grand Amour In Paris
Autre SS25 "Desire" Issue Launch at Hotel Grand Amour In Paris
photographs by Summer Bowie
Telfar Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary Not With Spectacle But With Substance
Two decades after its quiet beginnings in Queens, Telfar turned the streets of New York into a runway and the community into the main event. This was not just a fashion show; it was a reminder that independence, creativity, and cultural impact are what fashion is all about.
Courtesy of Jason Nocito
What began twenty years ago in a Queens apartment by a teenage Telfar Clemens has evolved into the largest Black-owned fashion brand in the world, and likely the longest-running genderless brand in history. The brand has charted its own path entirely, remaining 100% independent, without investors and little entanglement with the fashion industry. Yet, with its captivating DNA, Telfar managed to build a loyal following of over three million customers along the way.
Telfar has long stood out as a brand that simply gets it right. Itโs visionary, equitable, and deeply in tune with its audience. From the beginning, it gained a loyal community drawn to its commitment to cultural storytelling, accessible pricing, and customer-first values. This integrity helped elevate the iconic โTโ bag into one of the most sought-after accessories of the past decade, carried by A-listers and aspirational shoppers alike.
Over the weekend, following a five-year hiatus, Clemens took to the streets of New York City to make his return to the runway.
Courtesy of Telfar
At the show, the support and love were undeniable. Fans, friends, family, and industry insiders all came crowding to the street behind the Telfar store, fittingly on Juneteenth weekend. Among them were familiar faces like Luarโs Raul Lopez and Solange Knowles, whoโs often cited as the one who promoted the brand in its early years. Her sister, Beyoncรฉ echoed that same support in her 2022 Renaisssance album, closing it with a shoutout to the brand: โThis Telfar bag imported, Birkins them shitโs in storage,โ encapsulating everything the brand is all about.
As always, Telfar did things their own way. Instead of a traditional runway cast, the show featured people directly from the brandโs community. Through a series of open castings at the Telfar store called New Models, anyone could take part. The final lineup was chosen not by insiders but by the public, who voted live during the first episode of New Models, streamed on Telfarโs own platform on June 19. Friends, family, and longtime collaborators all walked the show, making it a true celebration of the people who have shaped the brand.
Telfarโs Spring/Summer 2025 collection was a bold celebration of community and creativity, and every look was met with cheers and applause. It opened with reimagined suiting and shirting, crafted from deconstructed jersey T-shirts that honored the brandโs twenty-year history. Loose-fitting jackets, flared trousers, and relaxed silhouettes offered a fresh take on fashion staples; easy streetwear, and polished tailoringโechoing the brandโs ability to capture New Yorkโs forward-looking vibe. The collection continued with khaki in tones of beige, black, and camo as a foundation, denim spanning vintage to futuristic rib knit dresses, and logo jelly sandals in various colors, just in time for the minimalist footwear wave.
Courtesy of Jason Nocito
Accessories took center stage as much as the clothing did, proving once more why Telfar changed the way the industry thinks about โitโ bags. The debut of the Tie Bagโan evolution of the Telfar shopper as a slouchy hobo toteโis available in three colors and one perfect size. Of course, the legendary Shopping Bag was also present in spirit, reminding everyone just how Telfar became the brand known as Bushwick Birkin. Together, these pieces underscored Telfarโs core message that quality design and cultural resonance need not break the bank.
Twenty years in, Telfar has proven that good things are worth the wait. The fashion industry constantly demands speed and instant reinvention, often leaving creatives forced to accumulate. But Telfar Clemens has built an empire that allows him to listen to a slower, more authentic rhythm, and he understands the value of risk in fashion. As he celebrates the brandโs platinum anniversary, itโs never been more clear that Clemens is still winning the game, with rules he made himself.
The Cobrasnake Shoots Autre's "Desire" Issue Launch and Signing At Dover Street Market With Mia Khalifa and Nick Sethi
photography by The Cobrasnake
Autre "Desire" Issue Launch and Signing With Mia Khalifa and Nick Sethi At Dover Street Market Paris
A queue snaked around Rei Kawakuboโs transportive forest installation all the way to the streets of Le Marais for Mia Khalifa and Nick Sethi at Dover Street Market Parisโ Rose Bakery. Photographs by Oliver Kupper
Read Our Interview of Matthieu Humery, Curator of Diane Arbus' Constellation @ The Armory →
Diane Arbus, Constellation, 2023โ2024, The Tower, Main Gallery, LUMA Arles, France. All artworks ยฉ The Estate of Diane Arbus Collection Maja Hoffmann/LUMA Foundation. Installation Photo ยฉ Adrian Deweerdt
Diane Arbusโs photography has long unsettled and fascinated viewers, defying easy interpretation. In Constellation, the newly opened exhibition at The Armory, curator Matthieu Humery brings a second life to her work; not to explain or categorize, but to invite quiet, intimate dialogue between the viewer and the photographs. Featuring 454 photographs from the artistโs archive, including many rarely seen, the exhibition defers any chronological or thematic structure, favoring a layout without linear direction, making every encounter entirely unique and unpredictable. The experience is haunting, dissociating the viewer from the fact that theyโre in an art show, and instead allowing them to sink into provoked emotions, completely immersed in an entirely human experience, dissolving the distance between audience and the subjects.
In our conversation, Humery shares what it means to curate with restraint, how working with a posthumous body of work introduces both freedom and distance and what it felt like to place each image by hand in the space, listening for their rhythm. Read more
Read Our Interview of Chef Walid Sahed and Designer Josรฉ Lamali of BARBARE, A Multidisciplinary Artistic Project @ the Hรดtel Grand Amour in Paris →
From June 26 to 28, 2025, chef Walid Sahed and fashion designer Josรฉ Lamali present BARBARE, a multidisciplinary artistic project at the Book Bar in the Hรดtel Grand Amour in Paris. Blending fashion, food, and storytelling, BARBARE is a three-night celebration of the duoโs shared Amazigh heritageโan intimate encounter between tradition and contemporary expression. The project was born from a dialogue between two creative practices: the kitchen and the atelier. For Walid Sahed, cooking is a deeply human act, shaped by memory, migration, and material. Born in Algiers and raised in Pantin, Sahed is the founder of the beloved neighborhood restaurant Les Pantins. His journey has taken him from the kitchens of the Stafford Hotel in London and Le Bristol in Paris to far-flung kitchens in Melbourne and Delhi, experiences that inform his generous, worldly, and emotionally resonant cuisine. Grounded in French culinary craft and open to global influences, Sahed creates food that speaks of belonging and transformation. Josรฉ Lamali, co-founder of the fashion-art label รtudes Studio and current artistic director of Aigle, brings a parallel sensitivity to material, memory, and reinvention. A Franco-Moroccan designer whose practice began with secondhand clothing, Lamaliโs work blends urban aesthetics with minimal structure and conceptual depth. Over the past decade, he has redefined French fashion through more than 20 Paris Fashion Week shows and, more recently, through his leadership at Aigleโwhere he has reimagined the brandโs outdoor heritage with a focus on sustainability and transmission. A recent foray into culinary studies marks his growing interest in the sensorial and ritual aspects of creation. Together, Sahed and Lamali have imagined BARBARE as a living installationโwhere traditional Berber flavors, garments, gestures, and stories unfold in a contemporary setting. The evenings will feature a menu inspired by North African cuisine, including mechouia salad, a light chicken tajine, and other seasonal dishes. Guests are invited to share in an immersive experience that honors the past while celebrating transformation, hybridity, and cultural resilience. BARBARE is not only a tribute to Amazigh identityโit is a space of exchange, warmth, and creation where roots become routes, and where tradition and modernity meet at the table. Read more.
Listen to Four Exclusive Playlists From A.G. Cook, Bar Italia, and More, Inspired by Alexander McQueen
The iconic brand convened a whoโs-who of modern British music in four cozy listening sessions at their flagship London store.
Image courtesy of Alexander McQueen
text by Maisie McDermid
From โ80s godparents of goth rock Siouxsie and the Banshees to electroclash feminist Peaches to mercurial IBM auteur Aphex Twin, Alexander McQueenโs runway shows have always been soundtracked by music on the cutting edge. Just as Lee McQueen knew how to build a whole world from a collection of garments, a set, and a soundtrack, contemporary fashion labels are no longer content with simply being looked at or purchased; they want to be experienced.
Last Thursday, Alexander McQueen hosted four listening sessions over eight days with A.G. Cook, Bar Italia, John Glacier, and Nilรผfer Yanya at their flagship location in London, the latest in a growing trend of high fashion labels merging music and style in intimate settings. Curated by creative director Seรกn McGirr, the musicians chatted about their influences and style with four influential musickers: editor of EPOCH Francesca Gavin, indie label founder Cyrus Goberville, NTS Radio founder Femi Adeyemi, and creative strategist Cynthia Igbokwe.
These listening spaces mine a common line between music and fashion: inspiration. Within the room walled by mirrors, some of Londonโs most innovative young musicians explored why and how they create. โWe made music together because there was nothing else to do,โ said vocalist Jehzmi Femi about the bandโs beginning in 2019. โSo youโre a lockdown band,โ joked Cyrus Goberville.
Notorious genre blender A.G. Cookโwhose mega-sized solo albums 7G, Apple, and Brit Pop draw on everything from โ90s Europop to garage rock to nightcore to hushed acoustic songwritingโhad a typically omnivorous take: โThatโs the thing that I like about music in general: not just the layers, but the slight sense of time travel I get hearing this. The details of it, unnecessarily going that extra stepโฆ. Itโs what weโre gonna do now, not in terms of genre, but in terms of extra effort and weirdness,โ Cook said, rocking an oversized, baby blue Alexander McQueen button down.
Between musings, artists played out their own personal soundtracks from classic love songs like โIn My Lifeโ by the Beatles to post-punk freak-outs like โHypnotizeโ by Scritti Polliti. Check out playlists from Cook, Bar Italia, and more below.
Autre Desire Issue Dinner Celebrating Vaginal Davis at The Golden Phoenix Inside The Provocateur Hotel In Berlin
Following a signing event at Voo Store to celebrate Autre magazineโs SS25 Desire issue, a private dinner was held for Vaginal Davis at The Golden Phoenix, located inside the Provocateur Hotel in Berlin. The dinner was organized by Autre magazine and brought together a small group of invited guests, including artists, writers, curators, and members of Berlinโs queer creative community. The atmosphere was informal and intimate. photographs by Oliver Kupper
Vaginal Davis and Matt Lambert Autre SS25 Desire Issue Cover Signing At Voo Store In Berlin
Vaginal Davis and Matt Lambert held a signing at Voo Store for Autreโs Desire issue. Berlinโs creative scene showed up, with guests sipping CALOW spritzes, which were served throughout the evening. photographs by Oliver Kupper
Read our Interview of Phoebe Bor and Sam Macer: A Conversation between Two Young British Designers →
Phoebe and Sam, 2025. Photographed by Luke Soteriou in London.
Despite the oh-so-competitive fashion industry and the unpredictable nature of the creative job market, young designers Sam Macer and Phoebe Bor demonstrate that there are many different ways to achieve results in this turbulent world. Both designers, who have been friends for several years, have forged their own way and achieved great success. Bor, who has recently graduated from Central Saint Martins (CSM) and is currently experiencing all the attention that comes from an outstanding degree collection, discusses her experience of university, her inspirations, and how she feels about the industry that awaits her.
Sam Macer, who completed the Central Saint Martins foundation course alongside Phoebe, was not accepted into the undergraduate degree program. However, before finishing his year of studying, his final project, which was a beautiful performance piece involving setting a skirt on fire and letting it burn, received a lot of online attention, giving him the platform to grow on his own. Five years down the line, Macer has dressed stars such as Rosalรญa, Julia Fox, and SZA.
Both artists discuss their experiences in a way that only friends can. They have a very candid conversation concerning the pros and cons of the type of environment somewhere like CSM creates, their different ways of working and how they have, and continue to remain inspired and authentic. They provide great insight into what itโs like being a young designer; whether youโre just entering the industry or already fully immersed. Read more.
Indian Fashion Is Rising As A Global Force: Diverse, Expressive, And Impossible To Ignore
From new-age designers reinventing fashion to centuries-old handlooms, textiles, and design systems, it's an epicenter for everything.
Image courtesy of Swadesh Online
text by Parrie Chhajed
The Western fashion industry is increasingly recognizing the importance of sustainability, inclusivity, and individuality, values that India has prioritized for centuries. Here, each region has a fabric, a drape, and an aesthetic of its own. It is through the balance of this diversity that we establish harmony.
India has been one of the origins of the slow fashion movement, where every household has sarees and garments that are decades old but still worn with pride. There are over 2,000 documented craft clusters, and 70% of Indiaโs textile production is handwoven or artisanal. India isnโt adapting to sustainability; itโs returning to its roots.
โIndia never needed to be taught sustainability. It was always our way of life. We just need to remember what we already know.โ โ Bandana Tewari (Editor of Vogue India).
In recent years, Indian voices have not just entered but are actively shaping the global fashion dialogue.
With global ambassadors like Alia Bhatt for Gucci, Priyanka Chopra for Bulgari, Deepika Padukone for Cartier and Louis Vuitton, Sonam Kapoor for Dior, Ananya Panday for Chanel, Gauravi Kumari for Jimmy Choo, and recently KL Rahul, one of India's top cricketers, named brand ambassador for Paul & Shark are helping spotlight India on world stages.
Indian celebrities with growing online platforms are expanding Indiaโs visibility as a cultural capital. The film and fashion narrative has been shaped exclusively by the West, and this signals a long-overdue dismantling of Western-centric fashion hierarchies, making space for Eastern and Global South narratives.
In addition, Indian designers like Rahul Mishra at the Paris Haute Couture Week (the first Indian designer), Gaurav Guptaโs sculptural gowns on international red carpets, Falguni Shane Peacockโs edgy fusion shown at New York Fashion Week, as well as Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra, Anita Dongre, and Tarun Tahiliani, are representing Indiaโs style narrative on runways worldwide.
These designers are doing an exceptional job of showcasing fashion heritage from back home while seamlessly blending it with contemporary silhouettes. They have pulled out textiles and techniques from India's intense fashion archive, like brocade, aari, cording, and combined them with international garment construction techniques.
Beyond household names, Indiaโs rising crop of indie labelsโlike Bodiceโs minimalism, Dhruv Kapoorโs futuristic tailoring, or NorBlack NorWhiteโs color-forward storytellingโare quietly redefining what global fashion can look like.
They are reinterpreting homegrown fashion aesthetics and styles to bring them to mainstream global fashion consumers. The stylistic identities are resonating deeply through the diaspora as more people are opting for sustainable fashion initiatives, slow fashion, and unique designs that help represent individuality and personality. Not a trend, but traditions reimagined.
In addition, online fashion platforms like Aza, Pernia's, and Ensemble are curating Indian designers for global discoverability and access.
We have also seen international celebrities adorning Indian designersโlike Zendaya in Rahul Mishraโs moonlit sari gown at NMACC, which marked a defining moment in the mainstreaming of Indian couture; Naomi Campbell walking the ramp for designers like Manish Malhotra; Paris Hilton vocalizing her love for the subcontinentโs sartorial scene and wearing sarees by designers like Tarun Tahiliani and Papa Donโt Preach on numerous occasions; Beyoncรฉ at Ambaniโs Holi party; and the Kardashians at the Ambani wedding.
Weโve also seen Indian-inspired styles in Western pop cultureโin Eat Pray Love, 27 Dresses, Sex and the City 2, and more.
This recent gain in media recognition marks a historic repositioning of Indian fashion as not only an anchor in current trend cycles, but a noteworthy innovator in contemporary couture. couture-worthy
Adding to this global momentum, India Weekend at Lincoln Center in New York this September, will be hosted by the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), aiming to spotlight India's cultural and fashion prowess on a world stage. Featuring runway shows, textile exhibits, and performances, the event will not just be a celebration, but a statement of Indiaโs influence on the global creative map.
India is not just an emerging marketโitโs a global contender, a vibrant and rapidly growing sector, experiencing significant shifts in consumer behavior and technological advancements. With a surge in Gen Z and aspiring luxury buyers, the market has exponential potential.
It's a mix of traditional and modern fashion, influenced by both domestic and international trends.
With a projected growth from $102.8 billion in 2022 to $146.3 billion by 2032, Indiaโs fashion market isnโt just expandingโitโs exploding with potential, driven by Gen Z consumers and conscious luxury buyers.
Western Luxury houses and premium prรชt-ร -porter brands are not just launching new stores in India; they are releasing their first original Indian collections.
India's handmade textiles are embedded in every aspect of its identity. The history of these fabrics dates back at least 6,000 years. Courtly splendor was proclaimed by sumptuous fabrics, while religious worship still finds expression through sacred cloths. Centuries of cross-continental trade have been shaped by the export of Indian textiles and patterns, from the Romans obsessing over cotton muslin to Chinese traders exchanging silks.
Furthermore, Indian textiles like Kutch embroidery and Banarasi are also recognized as UNESCO crafts. A fashion legacy woven in resistance, resilience, and reinvention.
With textiles like Kanchipuram, Madras checks, ikat, and Mysore silk in the South; to thicker wool and Mughal-inspired textiles like pashmina, phulkari, and kinnauri in the North; the West, being home to royals and the rich, has a lot of printed and embroidered textiles like leheriya, bandhani, gota patti, aari, ajrak, and paithani. In the East, intricate weaves like Baluchari from Bengal, Eri and Muga silk from Assam, and vibrant motifs from Odisha form the soul of indigenous luxury.
Indiaโs fashion story is a living, breathing archive of its culture. This diversity serves as a platter of inspiration for not just Indian designers, but for all designers working within the legacy fashion capitals.
โIndia is the only country where they still make clothes by hand, and not only the embroidery. Everything is handmade: the weaving, the dyeing, the stitching.โ โ Karl Lagerfeld
Global designers have for years taken inspiration from India for their collectionsโlike Jean Paul Gaultierโs SS2013 Haute Couture collection, often referred to as his โLove Letter to India collection,โ Diorโs 2023 India show at the Gateway of India, and Schiaparelliโs use of Indian embroidery techniques. These collaborations werenโt merely symbolic, but true partnerships with Indian artisans.
Today, India is also creating, exporting, and developing collections for many of these couture brands.
In this ever-evolving landscape, the pulse of Indian fashion beats to the rhythm of change, giving rise to myriad trends and innovations that are set to redefine the very essence of style. Indian fashion today is not just being seenโitโs being celebrated. In every drape, dye, and design, India is claiming its rightful space in global fashion historyโnot as an influence, but as an origin point.
A Preview of the Creative Incubator Inside the New Museumโs Expansion
DEMO 2025 offers a glimpse inside the work of NEW INC, which helps tech savvy creatives craft immersive VR art, community hubs, and everything in between.
Image courtesy of Nathalie Basoski
text by Karly Quadros
Now Iโve been known to get down to some strange tunes, but itโs not every day that I find myself strapped into a pair of headphones listening intently to a rock.
Iโm seated at one of four wooden desks arranged in a square around a sapling in the atrium of WSA at 180 Maiden Lane. The building is all elbows, intricate metal scaffolding from floor to ceiling and a tangle of indoor foliage overhead. To my left, Iโm flanked by an enormous man with an enormous coffee with his eyes closed, communing with a craggy chunk of ore thatโs over 2 billion years old. To my right is a little girl with a black ponytail, scribbling intently in a notebook, headphones twice the size of her head.
The sonic installation is from Bay Area and New York City musician and technologist Dan Gorelick. Rocks are the product of hundreds of millions of years of eruption, erosion, compression, and transformationโwith his technological interventions, Gorelick has managed to squeeze all that time into just a few seconds of sound.
He is one of 115 creatives who presented work and spoke as part of NEW INCโs DEMO 2025 festival, running now until June 22. Beginning in 2014, NEW INC has served as the New Museumโs โcreative incubatorโ for everything from immersive art to innovative proposals for third spaces, providing around eighty artists and entrepreneurs working with new media each year with creative and professional mentorship. Now, with a permanent space on the way in the New Museumโs futuristic new digs on the Bowery, designed by OMA and Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, DEMO 2025 was a peek inside NEW INCโs next chapter.
Things these days are fraught for emerging artists and creatives working at the porous boundary between art, design, and technologyโand heaven forbid the work have any components that are socially, environmentally, or politically-oriented. As the Trump administration takes ruthless aim at the curatorial independence of museums and other cultural institutions, opportunities for exhibition, funding, or mentorship have diminished, whether out of actual lack of resources or fear of retaliation. Meanwhile, the future roles of museums as more than white rooms full of aging paintings has been called into question.
โItโs core to the ethos that artists are thinking about the real world impact of what theyโre making, and theyโre thinking from the onset about the audience in the reach of their projects,โ said Salome Asega, director of NEW INC and DEMO 2025.
Asega, herself an artist, was a NEW INC fellow in 2016 where she received mentorship for her collective nonprofit PWRPLNT, a space for young creatives engaging digital tools, social justice, and innovative storytelling. Her team received mentorship and the assistance they needed to formalize the project including help developing a fundraising strategy and mentors to join the advisory board.
Other artists found a home in NEW INC with work that was too unconventional for traditional art world channels.
โ[My brother and I] were raised in and culturally came up in the art world. We speak the same vocabulary and look at similar references,โ said Sam Rolfes of Team Rolfes, a DEMO 2025 presenter. โBut because that ground was largely infertile for the kind of things we were trying to do, we had to find and create new spaces.โ
Five years later, in a full circle moment, Asega became the director of NEW INC. She grew the incubatorโs showcase from a small day in which fellows would display their work for a select group of curators, investors, and philanthropists into a three-day festival with installations for the public lasting the entire month. And, of course, admission is free.
โThere were never really wide funding opportunities for some of the ideas in our programs,โ said Asega. โThis has always been us creative problem solving with our members. Even in this moment weโll continue to do that. Weโll continue to think and dream up new opportunities for sustainability.โ
Other presenters from the festival include a kinetic sculpture from MORKANA, a rice cooker symphony by Trevor Van De Velde, plans for an innovative relief hub for NYC gig workers by architect Elsa Ponce, an augmented reality app documenting Black life in Pittsburgh by Adrian Jones, and radical screenprinting from Secret Riso Project. In between interactive installations, viewers were able to catch Collina Strada creator Hillary Taymour talking with writer Kimberly Drew about integrating environmental advocacy and brand strategy or cultural critic Whitney Mallett discussing digital brainrot aesthetics with David Lisbon, curatorial assistant at the Whitney Museum, and Bri Griffin, community designer at Rhizome.
โWeโve always been a program that has embraced the new, the unknown, the not yet named,โ said Asega.
NEW INCโs DEMO 2025 showcase installations are on display at WSA at 180 Maiden Lane now until June 22.
Pradaโs Architectural Meditation in Osaka
Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada
text by Andrea Riano
At a time when fashionโs cultural events are so often reduced to surface-level branding, Prada Modeโs second edition in Japan is a serious meditation on how architecture can reimagine the ecosystem of an island. In the heart of Osaka, the brand collaborates with architect Kazuyo Sejima, inviting guests to participate in a critical dialogue, exclusive performances, and an immersive exhibition.
Open to the public through June 15th, Prada Mode Osaka takes place in Umekita Park, a rare oasis nestled between Osakaโs glass towers and directly connected to the countryโs busiest train station. This is the twelfth edition of the brandโs cultural journey, which has landed everywhere from Miami to Hong Kong and now, for the second time, in Japan. This particular edition is curated by Pritzker Prize-winning architect and head of SANAA, Kazuyo Sejima, a frequent collaborator of Prada.
Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada
In 2008, the Fukutake Foundation, which manages the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, invited Sejima to reimagine and shape the built environment of the small Seto island of Inujima. At Prada Mode, the architect shares this ongoing work through models, videos, and other materials at a SANAA-designed pavilion in the park. In the days leading up to Prada Mode Osaka, Inujima Project offered a private preview of Inujima, introducing the history of the island, Sejimaโs projects there over the past 17 years, and her vision for its future. During the Inujima Project, Prada and the architect unveiled a permanent pavilion at Inujima Life Garden, designed by Sejima and donated to the island by Prada.
โOn Inujima, a tiny island rich in nature, visitors will encounter and experience symbiosis - a landscape that combines history, architecture, art, and daily life. In Osaka, a city with historical ties to Inujima, this experience will be shared and expanded to reach a wider audience. At this edition of Prada Mode, Symbiosis will take shape through conversations and discoveries, creating a new landscape that continues to grow with the participation of all,โ says Kazuyo Sejima.
Kazuyo Sejima at Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada
The programming reflects that same ethos. The week-long schedule is a soft collision of art, intellect, and experimental sound curated by Craig Richards, featuring performances by Nik Bรคrtsch, Reggie Watts, and C.A.R. (Choosing Acronyms Randomly), the latter being an incredible post-punk performance. Guests lounged on floor cushions, sipped Prada-branded negronis and olives, while watching film screenings by Bรชka & Lemoine and a dance piece by choreographer Wayne McGregor, joined by composer Keiichiro Shibuya. Shibuya also presented โANDROID MARIA,โ a newly created android developed with a team of leading developers, produced and presented by ATAK.
โItโs not about promotion here. Itโs about architecture, music, ideas. The curation is unique. Prada genuinely wants to support culture.โ says Shibuya, who is known for challenging the boundaries between humans and technology through his compositions and collaborations with artists and scientists, such as his Android Orchestra.
Indeed, Prada Mode has never really been about fashion, instead, it's about the contexts that shape it: cities, people, materials, and memory. In Osaka, that vision reaches a new level of clarity.
Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada
Prada Mode is on view through June 15th at Umekita Park, Ofukacho, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0011
Is Diskokina VR Theater? A Rave? Fine Art? Team Rolfes Says All of the Above.
The art world got a dose of hyper-digital club theater from the minds behind Team Rolfes and Club Cringe.
text by Karly Quadros
images by Janice Chung
Thereโs no getting around it: thereโs a lot going on in Diskokina.
Drawing from the โmore is moreโ digital aesthetics that have mostly closely come to be associated with hyperpop โ cyberpunk slickness, glitchy heaven-or-hell graphics, a sweet chirpy virtual companion named Kina โ the show is one part club night, one part live theater, and one part mo-cap freak out. The brainchild of Team Rolfes and Club Cringe, the show โ which features a rotating cast of musical guests and has previously included GFOTY, Frost Children, and umru โ found its home in late night clubs and experimental music festivals across Europe, but last Wednesday at 8 pm the collective found themselves not in an industrial nightclub or a warehouse rave but the glittering glass atrium of WSA at 180 Maiden Lane in the heart of New Yorkโs Financial District.
On June 4 and 5, Diskokina performed two nights of their immersive club theater for a mix of club kids and fine art lovers as the closing programming of a showcase for talent nurtured by the New Museumโs art and technology incubator NEW INC. The night was hosted by upbeat โAIโ avatar Kina (voiced and performed by Maya Filmeridis whose facial expressions were captured in real time) and comedian Lauren Servideo. The show was a triptych of shorter narratives performed by 321 Rule featuring Team Rolfes and rapper Lil Mariko; Passage Live A/V by Kevin Parker He and DJ Bobby Beethoven; and Club Cringe featuring godmother of 2010s electroclash Uffie, Mother Cell, DJ Wallh4x, DJ Trick, and 502 Bad Gateway Studio.
โWe had historically always been doing our work outside the art world, working in music or fashion, doing what we could because the art world in the US is fraught,โ said Sam Rolfes, co-founder of Team Rolfes. โThe stuff we wanted to do, working with musicians and combining all these different things, there wasnโt a support network for that. I think that this New Museum showcase is an important inflection point where that is starting to change.โ
Rolfes, along with his brother and creative partner Andy, has been active in the music and fashion world for years, designing the album packaging for Lady Gagaโs Dawn of Chromatica and directing music videos for Gaga, PC Music OG Danny L Harle, cyborg pop producer Arca, and new wave innovator Danny Elfman. Theyโve collaborated with brands like Nike, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Kenzo, but their style is unmistakable. Thereโs an element of the digital uncanny and distortion, nods to early PlayStation graphics and gauche social media overdrive, but also a carnivalesque playfulness that hints at the queer potentiality of digital spaces.
Diskokinaโs onstage vibe falls somewhere between a sweaty Gen Z club night and a competitive gaming tournament. The stage is flanked by computers and wires, exposing the hardware that goes into the cutting edge projections onscreen, which are generated in real-time from musical performers that are strapped into motion capture suits. Ultimately, the audience is seeing performers twice: once onstage and again in the world of the screen where coders manipulate their avatars in an act of VR puppetry. The onscreen narratives are, of course, dystopian: a far flung future where memories are the most valuable currency sought after by ruthless bounty hunters or maybe a suspiciously contemporary moment where AI aesthetics are everywhere and corporations are tracking your every move.
โTheater, narrative, music โthe tech unites it. Itโs very front and center because itโs experimental and wild, but what weโre really aiming for is the story, the sound, or the emotion,โ said Rolfes.
Mixed reality performances shot into the public consciousness during Covid when lockdown orders threw the live music and theater worlds into a tailspin. Travis Scott held a record breaking mixed reality performance in Fortnight with over 27 million views, while Billie Eilish mounted similar largely digital performances. At the time, Meta was going all-in on virtual reality, but it was smaller artists like Panther Modern (aka Brady Keehn of Sextile) and Reggie Watts who were experimenting with the artistic potential of virtual club spaces. Even after in-person concerts and dancing resumed and the publicโs interest turned elsewhere, the idea of AR and live performance has lingered whether itโs Rosalรญaโs heavily mediated Motomami stage show or Magdalena Bayโs live show promoting Mercurial World in which they and the audience teach an AI named Chaeri how to be human.
Rolfes points to even older inspirations though. Max Headroom, the โdigitalโ news anchor from a British sci-fi TV film who satirized the commercialization of everyday life, seems to be an obvious inspiration. The fact that the character leapt out of the world of fiction and into commercials as an official spokesman for Coke only added to the reality warp (as did the first successful TV hack in late 1987 in which a full minute of a Chicago Dr. Who broadcast was interrupted by someone sporting a Max Headroom mask.) Rolfes said he hopes to bring the same kind of mischievously satirical energy to the NEW INC showcase.
After all, tech is a tool, neither positive nor negative, although itโs often caught up in the same whirlwinds of speculative capital that Diskokina so sharply satirizes. For Rolfes, itโs all about finding new ways to use it.
โItโs not just tech demos. Thereโs a real need to hack it, to do something beyond what Microsoft or whatever company designed the tool mightโve intended,โ Rolfes said. For now, he and the rest of the Diskokina team will be jamming the signal, one show at a time.
A Defining Moment in Luxury Fashion: Jonathan Anderson Appointed Sole Creative Director at Dior
One of the most undeniable visionary designers in history, Jonathan Anderson was just tapped as the first sole creative director at Dior since Christian Dior himself. To understand this new era for the designer and this iconic luxury house, weโre looking back at Anderson's origins, tracing his artistic growth, and exploring his key influences.
Photo by Oliver Kupper
text by Kim Shveka
The fashion world in 2025 looks increasingly like an elaborate game of musical chairs, with creative directors joining, defining, and leaving major fashion houses at breakneck speed. While few truly new faces have emerged (Julian Klausnerโs appointment at Dries Van Noten in January being a notable exception), the same familiar faces are leaping from house to house, most recently with Demna Gvsalia departing Balenciaga for Gucci and Glenn Martins taking over for John Galliano at Maison Margiela. This reluctance to introduce fresh talent, though disappointing to those hoping for a more dynamic industry, isnโt surprising given brandsโ desire to protect profits by relying on familiar names. However, seeing tenured creative directors adapt their aesthetics to new brands is rather engaging, hinting at potential revivals for houses in need of revision.
One exception to the rule is Jonathan Anderson, whose distinctive vision and forward-thinking approach to design turned Loewe into a critical and commercial darling. Now as he departs the Spanish-brand after more than a decade to take over at Dior, weโll delve into his journey: from his early life to launching his own label, his pivotal role in Loeweโs revival, and his upcoming tenure at Dior, exploring what his time with the luxury house might bring.
Jonathan Anderson was raised just outside of Magherafelt, a small town in Northern Ireland, during the final decades of the Troubles, a time when conflict seeped into everyday life. Although his family home was not directly exposed to violence, the weight of tension, fear, and division was always present. Armored vehicles in the streets, news of bombings, segregated communities, and a sense of uncertainty shaped the backdrop of his childhood. Living through such a politically charged and emotionally fraught environment gave the young designer a heightened sensitivity to contrast, conflict, and identity.
As a child, Anderson turned inward, developing an early fascination with objects, theater, and the power of imagination used as tools of escapism from a reality that felt brittle and divided. He has spoken about feeling like an outsider, not only because of the surrounding political unrest but also because of his own queer identity in a conservative landscape, feelings that later translated into his designs.
In his adult work, we see this reflected not in political statements, but in his aesthetic of disruption and fluidity: clothing that refuses fixed categories, silhouettes that question proportion, and a deep love for craft and heritage. Anderson tried to reassemble something fragile and broken into something beautiful and whole.
Jonathan Andersonโs love for fashion started was initially triggered by an obsession with James Dean, dressing like him, even taking up smoking to better resemble Hollywoodโs original bad boy. Later on, while Hedi Slimane was in his prime at Dior with his signature skinny suit, Anderson worked at a department store that put everything which was too small to sell on the discount rack. Now with affordable access to the aesthetic, in lieu of donning the โreal thing,โ the aspiring young designer started going out regularly to gay nightclubs in Dublin. After notoriously being rejected from Central Saint Martins, he went to the only university that accepted himโLondon College of Fashion, joining a menswear course.
Struggling to launch his menswear brand, JW Anderson, Jonathan felt like an outsider, due mostly to the fact that he wasnโt considered a real craftsman like McQueen or Galliano, and by not qualifying for a top art school. Recognizing his own talent and potential, Anderson persisted in a system that wasnโt for him, he kept full confidence in his ideas, knowing even from the ripe age of twenty that one day heโd be one of the greatest in the industry.
Founded in 2008, JW Anderson quickly stood out for its bold, gender-fluid designs and intellectual approach to fashion, but it was still considered a niche market and was known mostly in fashion circles in London. The true turning point came in 2013, when Jonathan Andersonโs breakthrough womenswear collections led to a minority investment by LVMH and his appointment as creative director of Loewe, a moment that catapulted him into a global spotlight overnight.
Jonathan Andersonโs first collection for Loewe in 2014 made a big splash in the fashion industry and was widely discussed by many fashion critics who were struck by his decision to completely reset the brandโs aesthetic while still honoring its heritage. Quickly, young and relatively unknown Anderson, was considered a groundbreaking designer, praised for his modern, playful, intellectual vision grounded in minimalism, craft, and originality. Anderson positioned Loewe as a leader in artistic luxury and for the following eleven years he kept confirming his status as one of the most distinct and intelligent designers ever.
With each season at Loewe, Anderson continued producing visionary clothing and accessories that became signature, viral pieces, while enhancing Loeweโs market presence and financial performance with each collection.
After many speculations and rumors, in March it was finally announced that Anderson would be leaving Loewe stating: โWhile my chapter draws to a close, Loeweโs story will continue for many years to come, and I will look on with pride, watching it continue to grow, the amazing Spanish brand I once called home.โ
Sidney Toledano, adviser to LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault considers Anderson โto be amongst the very best,โ stating, โWhat he has contributed to Loewe goes beyond creativity. He has built a rich and eclectic world with strong foundations in craft which will enable the house to thrive long after his departure.โ
Leaving Loewe on a high note, Jonathan Andersonโs next move quickly became a speculation amongst the fashion crowd. Following Kim Jonesโs departure from Dior in January and persistent rumors surrounding Maria Grazia Chiuriโs potential exit after nine years, many began to suspect that Anderson would soon take the reins at the French house. In fashion, rumors often become reality, and by mid-April, it was confirmed that Anderson would indeed be joining Dior, though initially only as the creative director of menswear. Many considered this role to belittle Andersonโs ability to make womenswear and a missed opportunity for his talent to be translated into Haute Couture. However, just three days ago, Dior officially announced that Jonathan Anderson would become the sole creative director of the entire house.
Andersonโs appointment marks the first time a sole creative director has been employed at Dior since Christian Dior himself. A decision so rare that it makes Jonathan Anderson the first non-founder designer in history to control all creative fronts in the history of fashion. For LVMH, itโs a major risk and privilegeโdemanding not just fashion talent, but a deep understanding of cultural storytelling, stamina, and longevity.
This leads us to consider why such an unprecedented opportunity was given specifically to Jonathan Anderson. By now, we know his talent is undeniable: he managed to produce sixteen collections a year across his label, a collaboration with Uniqlo, and his work at Loewe. He was critically acclaimed for honoring Loeweโs heritage while elevating the brandโs relevancy and commercial success through his strong artistic vision. He is also known for his professionalism and humanity in the workplace, a vital quality in todayโs fashion industry. But when a role of this significance is given to a single designer, with so much at stake, weโre left to think; perhaps thereโs something deeper at play?
Perhaps itโs his ability to not just design clothes but to shape the cultural and emotional language of a house as iconic as Dior.
Jonathan grew up in the shadow of conflict, and while the influence may not be overt, the butterfly effect of those early experiences can be felt in the tension, nuance, and depth that define his work today. Christian Dior grew up during World War I and later witnessed the devastation of World War II, which directly preceded the launch of his legendary โNew Lookโ in 1947. Diorโs signature designs, such as soft shoulders, cinched waists, and full skirts were more than elegance, but a response to the austerity he had experienced. He was expressing his desire to escape and dive into a world of harmony and balance. Dior designed so he could restore beauty from the ruins, he created a sense of femininity, dignity, and hope for a world that longed to be renewed. Despite their differing origins of both history and location, Andersonโs and Diorโs creative aspirations might be driven by the same place of grief and devastation; a consummate aptitude for sartorially sublimating humanityโs darkest moments.
For the future of Dior with Anderson, we can safely predict that the brand is poised for a bold new chapter; a yet-to-be-seen approach to design through the lens of modern artistry.
Although the demand for a designer to produce eighteen collections per year, two of them being haute couture is controversial, the prospect of the Dior house operating under a cohesive artistic vision is intriguing. Anderson is unlikely to continue his signature gender-neutral approach, and his interplay between menswear and womenswear will definitely be highly anticipated in the coming fashion weeks. What remains to be seen is whether Anderson will opt to steer Dior away from romanticism, suiting, and streetwear, leaning potentially into a more radical direction that aims not only to sell but to change the fashion landscape.
Watch Jonathan Andersonโs final collection as Creative Director at Loewe, via Vogue Runway
Cartier Champions Women Entrepreneurs at Expo 2025
courtesy of Cartier
At Expo 2025 Osaka, Cartier made a bold and enduring statement about the futureโnot through products, but through purpose. The Maisonโs long-standing commitment to empowering women found tangible expression in two landmark moments: the inauguration of the Womenโs Pavilion and the 2025 edition of the Cartier Womenโs Initiative (CWI) Impact Awards. Together, these initiatives underscore Cartierโs belief that when women thrive, humanity thrives.
The Womenโs Pavilion, co-created by Cartier with the Japanese government and Expo 2025 organizers, is more than an architectural featโitโs a cultural and social force. Designed by architect Yuko Nagayama and envisioned as a space of global dialogue, the Pavilion serves as a living platform for discussing gender equality, showcasing innovation, and amplifying womenโs contributions across sectors. Events like the WA Dialogues brought together leaders from UN Women, grassroots organizations, and the private sector to explore systemic change, while art performances and ceremonial design wove together tradition and contemporary thought.
A centerpiece of the Pavilionโs launch was the message from Cartierโs leadership. โWomenโs empowerment is the beating heart of our collective future,โ declared Cyrille Vigneron, Chairman of Cartier Culture and Philanthropy. This ethos permeated every facet of the Pavilionโfrom the cymatics-inspired stage, to the reuse of its materials in future environmental projects, ensuring that its legacy continues beyond the Expo.
The spirit of the Pavilion found its most poignant expression in the 2025 Impact Awards, a celebration of nine extraordinary women entrepreneurs whose businesses are improving lives, preserving the planet, and creating economic opportunities around the world. Selected from a pool of over 330 past fellows, these women represent the power of scaling local solutions into global movements.
Each awardee received $100,000 in funding and joined a year-long fellowship designed to support impact measurement, leadership development, and strategic growth. But beyond the numbers lies a powerful narrative of resilience and innovation. From Ireland to Rwanda, India to Jordan, these women are solving critical challengesโfrom menstrual health to clean energy, emergency response systems to education for refugee children.
courtesy of Cartier
For example, Kristin Kagetsuโs Saathi produces biodegradable sanitary pads from banana fiber, reaching over 114,000 women and cutting down plastic waste. In East Africa, Caitlin Dolkartโs Flare has reduced ambulance wait times from hours to minutes. And in Armenia, Mariam Torosyanโs Safe YOU app now supports survivors of gender-based violence in five countries with AI-powered emergency services and financial empowerment tools.
These arenโt isolated successes; theyโre proof points in Cartierโs larger vision of business as a vehicle for social transformation.
The Impact Awards Week, set against the backdrop of the Womenโs Pavilion and the broader Expo, brought together 180 global changemakers for panels, workshops, performances, and shared meals. The week was as much about forging new connections as it was about celebrating achievement.
Events like the emotionally resonant โLetter to Our Younger Selvesโ video, or the keynote by Sandi Toksvig OBE, reminded audiences that leadership is not only a matter of innovation but of courage. June Miyachi, President & CEO of Cartier Japan, underscored this in her opening remarks: โThe Womenโs Pavilion is a space for the elevation of voices, of ideas, of perspectivesโand a reminder that lasting equality is within our reach when we choose to build it together.โ
The week closed with a performance choreographed to the theme โForces for Goodโโa fitting end to a program that wove together cultural celebration and civic urgency.
The Cartier Womenโs Initiative continues to evolve. Applications for the 2026 edition are already underway, with plans to spotlight 30 entrepreneurs across ten award categories, including a new Science & Technology Pioneer Award. As the Initiative grows, so does Cartierโs investment in fostering a global network of visionary women.
In a luxury industry too often focused on surface, Cartierโs alignment with structural change feels not only authentic but necessary. The Maisonโs efforts remind us that the future of luxury lies in long-term thinking, cross-sector collaboration, and a profound respect for human potential.
At Expo 2025, Cartier didnโt just stage an eventโit illuminated a movement. And in doing so, it offered a blueprint for how heritage brands can lead with meaning, beauty, and impact.
David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition @ Louis Vuitton Foundation
A truly unmissable exhibition that offers a rare personal experience in a dynamic dialogue between the artist, his art, and the admirer.
David Hockney
"Bigger Trees near Warter or/ou Peinture sur le Motif pour le Nouvel Age
Post-Photographique" 2007
Oil on 50 canvases (36 x 48" each)
457.2 x 1219.2 cm (180 x 480 Inches)
ยฉ David Hockney
Photo Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates
Tate, U.K
text by Kim Shveka
In the largest exhibition of one of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries to date, David Hockney takes over the entirety of the Louis Vuitton Foundation building. This truly monumental exhibit encompasses over 400 works, including a wide variety of media, from traditional oil and acrylic paintings, ink, pencil, and charcoal drawings, as well as digital works on photographic, computer, iPhone, and iPad devices, alongside immersive photo and video installations. Hockney himself curated and was deeply involved in every aspect of the exhibition's design, personally overseeing the sequencing of each room. With the artist creating his own retrospective, visitors get to have a rare, intimate insight into Hockneyโs creative universe and process, revealing the evolution of his art over the past three-quarters of a century. The exhibition is an explosion of vibrant, relatable, joyful, and deeply immersive works, radiating the artistโs characteristic joie de vivre and effortlessly infecting viewers with a ray of emotions.
The exhibition unfolds across eleven rooms within the foundation, each thoughtfully organized by theme, period, and medium. This thematic progression aims to provide viewers with a profound and multifaceted understanding of Hockneyโs diverse artistic universe. The journey commences with an impactful introduction, showcasing Hockneyโs most iconic pieces, including A Bigger Splash (1967), Portrait of an Artist (1972), and Portrait of My Father (1955). This deliberate choice to open the exhibition with such emblematic and grand works strongly establishes Hockneyโs primal artistic direction throughout his extensive and prolific career.
David Hockney
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972
Acrylic on canvas
213.36 x 304.8 cm (84 x 120 Inches)
ยฉ David Hockney
Photo Credit: Art Gallery of New South Wales / Jenni Carter
The following room features four large paintings that mirror one another, all interconnected by a profound theme exploring human communicationโboth with others and with oneself. Two almost identical paintings face each other: Pictured Gathering with Mirror (2018) and Pictures at an Exhibition from the same year. Both depict an exact replica of twenty-five figures seated and standing in various positions. In the former, they face a mirror, while in the latter, they face a vibrant exhibition. This visual dialogue creates a compelling interplay of reflection and perception, drawing viewers into Hockneyโs intricate world and capturing their attention at the start of the journey.
Installation views David Hockney 25, galerie 4
ยฉ David Hockney ยฉ Fondation Louis Vuitton / Marc Domage
The foundationโs first floor is entirely dedicated to David Hockneyโs time spent in Normandy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, he completed 220 works solely on his iPad in 2020, all under the sentimental title Do Remember, They Canโt Cancel the Spring. Overflowing with hope and a renewed admiration for life, Hockney discovered an infinite number of subjects in his surroundings, celebrating the subtle nuances of change, the shifting seasons, the mundane, painting plants in all their varied states. By embracing the iPad, he allowed himself to revisit the same motifs, continually and rapidly renewing his artistic output, while also being able to document his entire creative progression from a blank screen to a finished work of art. While the medium of art painted on an iPad is often subject to criticism, the preceding display of Hockneyโs previous works affirms his skill and clear artistic vision. This daring embrace of new technology, particularly at the age of eighty-two at the time, is truly admirable, indicating his fearless willingness to experiment with practices often associated with younger artists.
David Hockney
"27th March 2020, No. 1"
iPad painting printed on paper, mounted on 5 panels
Exhibition Proof 2
364.09 x 521.4 cm (143.343 x 205.276 Inches)
ยฉ David Hockney
The next section transitions to showcase Hockneyโs dialogue with other painters, displaying his respect for those who inspired him. He pays homage to artists such as Fra Angelico, Cรฉzanne, Picasso, and Van Gogh, reinterpreting their works with his own vision and aesthetic. As seen in A Bigger Card Players (2015), where he directly references Cรฉzanneโs Card Players (1890-1895), Hockney creates a powerful mise en abyme by incorporating the same work in the background, alongside Pearblossom Hwy, which is positioned in the same room. The interior wall depicted in the image echoes the very room we are in, creating yet another mise en abyme, this time for the viewer themselves. The understanding of the painters who preceded him, and their contributions to the art world and to Hockney himself, allows us not only to admire Hockney for his deep respect for these grand artists but to perceive art in its totality from a much broader perspective.
As we approach the end of the exhibition, we discover Hockneyโs passion and love for opera. In 1975, the artist was commissioned by the Glyndebourne Festival to design the sets and costumes for Igor Stravinskyโs The Rakeโs Progress, and since then, opera and set design have remained deeply close to his heart. In this installation, we discovered his latest creation, Hockney Paints the Stage, a musical and visual reinterpretation of his drawings and sets for various operas. This room truly adds another dimension to the exhibition, not only through the overflowing operatic scores of Mozart, Wagner, and Stravinsky, but also by firmly establishing Hockneyโs comprehensive artistic background. Within this 360-degree, light-filled room, one truly realizes the depth and sustaining love for life that Hockney has and can communicate, and by this point, you can feel it too.
Installation views "David Hockney 25", galerie 10
Hockney Paints the Stage, 2025
Creation of David Hockney & Lightroom
Conception 59 Productions
Installation views "David Hockney 25", galerie 10
ยฉ David Hockney ยฉ Fondation Louis Vuitton / Marc Domage
Leaving the opera room, filled with emotion, the exhibition climaxes in a more intimate space that unveils David Hockneyโs most recent works, painted in London, where the artist has resided since July 2023. These particularly enigmatic paintings draw inspiration from Edvard Munch and William Blake, exemplified by After Munch: Less is Known than People Think (2023) and After Blake: Less is Known than People Think (2024), directly inspired by Blakeโs illustrations for Danteโs Divine Comedy. The title appears three times within the painting, feels like a deliberate mantra, beautifully combined with a landscape depicting the abiding cycle of night and day, perfectly aligning with the artistโs profound notion that โit is the now that is eternal.โ
Hockney concludes the exhibition with his latest self-portrait, a deliberate choice that felt like the perfect finale to such a comprehensive, personal exhibition. In this portrait, he portrays himself drawing outdoors, holding a cigarette, adorned in colorful attire and his signature framed glasses, gazing directly at the viewer. It can be viewed like his own personal valediction, a way of saying goodbye and a heartfelt โthank you for being here, and I hope you understood.โ
David Hockney
"May Blossom on the Roman Road" 2009
Oil on 8 canvases (36 x 48" each)
182.88 x 487.7 x 0 cm (72 x 192 x 0 Inches)
ยฉ David Hockney
Photo Credit: Richard Schmidt
David Hockney 25 is on view through August 31 at the Louis Vuitton Foundation 8, Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi Bois de Boulogne, 75116
Read Our Interview of Ireland Wisdom On the Erotic Gaze & the Art of Looking →
Portrait by Austin Sandhaus
In this intimate conversation between gallerist Carlye Packer and painter Ireland Wisdom, what begins as a reflection on their creative partnership unfolds into a meditation on intimacy, eroticism, play, and mortality. Wisdom, whose portraits are painted from live models in prolonged silence are charged with a psychic intensity. She speaks with Packer candidly about her relationship to the body, desire, and the mythic tradition of being seenโand of seeing. As they revisit their early collaborations and look closer at Wisdomโs new Dance Macabre series, the dialogue dances between the sacred and the scandalous, from Goya to Dorian Gray to Georges Bataille. As friends and colleagues, they muse about works that are made like someone chasing the moment before it is lost. Whether you are a sitter or simply a viewer, you are invited to enter that entanglement with her. Read more.
Inside Five Must-See New York Gallery Shows This Spring
Find everything from queer intimacy to infinity rooms to domestic Americana on paper this season in New Yorkโs galleries.
Jim Shaw
Study for โThe Bride Stripped Bareโ (2016)
Pencil on paper
text by Kim Shveka
Jim Shaw, Drawings
Gagosian
On view through June 14
For over thirty years, American artist Jim Shaw has mined the depths of Americana, popular culture, personal memory, and dream logic to create a body of work as chaotic as it is compelling. Now on view at Gagosian, Drawings is an exhibition of works on paper made between 2012 and 2024, showing Shawโs intellectual inspirations in his artistic journey. Known for his ability to weave together the threads of Americaโs subconscious through surreal and symbolic visual language, Shaw here turns to the intimacy of graphite and ink, using sketch-like drawings to offer a direct window into his thinking; raw and unfiltered. These drawings are freely associated with references drawn from the artistโs mind and memory, as he imagines and recalls scenes from his own life and the collective American memory, translating the images in his mindโs eye onto paper. Jim Shawโs โDrawingsโ is a deeply personal and evocative exploration of identity, nostalgia, and American culture.
Sam Moyer
Boca (2025)
Marble, acrylic on plaster-coated canvas
Sam Moyer, Subject to Change
Sean Kelly
On view through June 14
Multidisciplinary artist Sam Moyer is known for her distinctive approach to merging abstraction and materiality, often redefining conventional sculptural forms through her innovative use of natural elements. Her work blurs the lines between painting and sculpture, creating wall-mounted pieces that highlight variations in surface and light.
Now showing at Sean Kelly Gallery, Sam Moyerโs fourth solo exhibition features a dynamic body of new work. The exhibition showcases Moyer's fondness for inconsistency and contradictions across a variety of artworks. Featuring Moyerโs latest stone paintings from 2024, which combine reclaimed stone and painted canvas, alongside oil on panel paintings and handmade paper. In these new works, Moyer meditates on life's inherent dualities; decay and growth, loss and perspective, endings and emergent beginnings; capturing a moment of balance during trying times. The palette draws inspiration from Claude Monetโs late paintings, interpreting his shift towards purity of color and light as an investigation of essential visual language, ultimately reflecting Moyer's continued exploration of color and light as the core building blocks of abstraction.
Salman Toor
Cross Street (2025)
Oil on panel
ยฉ Salman Toor; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York. Photo: Farwad Owrang
Salman Toor, Wish Maker
Luhring Augustine
On view through June 21
Salman Toor is renowned for his evocative figurative works that explore vulnerability within contemporary public and private life, particularly in the context of queer, diasporic identity. His paintings delve into the opportunities, anxieties, and humor inherent in the search for selfhood and the immigrant experience. Now showing at Luhring Augustine, Wish Maker, Toorโs first major New York presentation since his pivotal 2020 Whitney Museum show, spans both gallery locations, featuring paintings at Luhring Augustine Chelsea and a dedicated presentation of works on paper at Luhring Augustine Tribeca. Toor's new paintings, drawings, and etchings place imaginary yet relatable figures in diverse settings, examining the complexities of our paradoxical times. His work vibrates between heartening and harrowing, often employing a distinctive viridescent palette that illuminates both beauty and violence, liberation and entrapment, reflecting how perception shifts with perspective. Toor skillfully fuses art historical references with contemporary concerns, creating a rich compilation of traditions, popular culture, and lived experience.
Installation view, Atsuko Tanaka, Yayoi Kusama, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, May 8 - June 14, 2025.
Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, Photo: Steven Probert.
Atsuko Tanaka and Yayoi Kusama
Paula Cooper Gallery
On view through June 14
Atsuko Tanaka, Yayoi Kusama, is an exhibition that brings together the groundbreaking works of two of Japanโs most innovative and influential artists. The exhibition presents a diverse selection of Tanakaโs works on canvas and paper, alongside early pieces by Kusama in various media, highlighting the parallel yet distinct artistic concerns of these pioneering figures.
Both Atsuko Tanaka (1932-2005) and Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) matured in post-World War II Japan, a period of profound societal transformation that spurred radical shifts in the arts. Tanaka, a key female member of the Gutai movement, is known for vibrant works like her iconic โElectric Dressโ (1956), where circles and lines dynamically interact. Kusama, active in 1960s New York, explored hypnotic repetition, creating immersive works evoking hallucination and boundlessness. Both shared a broadened approach to artmaking, incorporating textiles, sensory environments, and performance, developing personal abstract languages with repeated motifs in large, enveloping scales. The exhibition includes Tanaka's early drawings and paintings, Kusamaโs pioneering โInfinity Nets,โ rare collages, photographs, and historical films.
Dozie Kanu. Chair [ iii ] (Dark), 2022
Poured concrete, steel, rims
35.9 x 16.5 x 20.5 in. 91.4 x 41.9 x 52.1 cm.
Courtesy of anonymous gallery, New York, NY
the chair by the window is an old friend featuring work from Jane Dickson, Kamil Dossar, Nan Goldin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Dozie Kanu, Mike Kelley, Carolyn Lazard, Klara Liden, Elliot Reed, Josef Strau
Anonymous Gallery
On view through June 14
The chair by the window is an old friend explores the emotional layers of domestic space. It focuses on how our homes can feel safe and familiar, but also confining or heavy with memory. The objects we live with become more than decoration, they carry personal meaning, reflecting who we are, who we were, and who we might want to be. Some artworks, such as Nan Goldinโs My Bed, Hotel La Louisiane, seem to capture the trace of a moment that has just passed, preserving an atmosphere of intimacy and lingering presence. Others, like Elliot Reedโs leaning umbrellas, convey a sense of stillness and resistance to functionality, evoking suspension rather than resolution. Across the exhibition, everyday materials such as wires, fabric, and furniture are reimagined as vessels of emotion and meaning. Through these transformations, the works articulate themes of care, closeness, imbalance, and quiet shifts, drawing attention to the subtle psychological states embedded within domestic objects and spaces. In this way, the exhibition invites us to think about what โhomeโ really means. Is it a space where we can rest, or does it sometimes hold us back? As life outside moves faster and becomes more overwhelming, our interiors can become places where comfort and loneliness exist at the same time. They are both a retreat and a mirror of our inner world.