Duck Dynasty at the Frick
The duckling family found waddling at the Manhattan museum, Art Basel impressions, and Kim Dacres’s rubber art.
Found auto rubber; bicycle pedals and chains: You may not see it at first glance, but these are the building blocks of Kim Dacres's dazzlingly meticulous sculptures. The New York native braids bike tire inner tubes and douses her assemblages in industrial spray paint, creating art that “smells like home, like the city, like places I’m going.” On the occasion of Dacres's current solo exhibition at Charles Moffet Gallery, writer Daria Simone Harper talks to the artist about her practice of material and metaphorical reclamation.
Breaking news: A mama duck and her brood of ducklings were found waddling sweetly in the reflective pool at the Frick Collection in Manhattan, whose staffers even built a little ramp for the family to safely relocate to Central Park. No quackery, folks, just a feel-good story that’s much-needed these days.
Plus, impressions from Art Basel and 10 shows to see in Washington, DC
—Valentina Di Liscia, senior editor
Kim Dacres Sculpts Resilience in Rubber
For Kim Dacres, every Tuesday morning unfolds in the same way. Each week, the native New Yorker and West Harlem resident journeys through her beloved neighborhood, scavenging for the materials that form the bedrock of her artistic practice: tires and bicycle parts. Last month, I joined the artist for what she calls “Tire Tuesday,” a ritual of collecting rubber that she transforms into busts and sculptures in tribute to her community.
Dacres’s current exhibition at Charles Moffett, Lost on a Two Way Street, exemplifies her distinct method of transforming her choice material into striking commentary on the United States’ ongoing oppression of marginalized groups, particularly women and queer and immigrant communities. | Daria Simone Harper
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Fred Tomaselli: Blooms Disrupted at James Cohan’s 48 Walker Street Gallery
James Cohan presents an exhibition by Fred Tomaselli, on view through June 27. In Blooms Disrupted, the garden is Tomaselli’s primary subject, which he uses to consider the natural world as a counterweight to the urgent rush of news and media that so often interrupts our private realities.
News
- Russian political dissident and artist Robert Kuzovkov, better known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, has been killed in Poland, according to local prosecutors. He was 44 years old.
- A darling mother duck and her 11 precious ducklings stole hearts at the Frick Collection after they were spotted paddling around in the reflective pool at the institution’s 70th Street garden last weekend.
Guides
10 Art Shows to See in DC This Summer
As the nation marks 250 years, exhibitions explore artists’ interpretations of the American flag, Joan Miró’s printmaking, collage as critique, Black design, Pueblo pottery, and more. | Emma Cieslik
Read MoreFeatures
In a Volatile Market, Art Basel Galleries Bet on Our Attention
For most exhibitors at the Swiss art fair this year, the answer is not spectacle, but rather laser focus. | Ela Bittencourt
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Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969
Featuring live presentations, this exhibition grounds performance as the foundation of contemporary Native Art. On view at SITE Santa Fe June 5–September 7, 2026.
Community
Remembering David Hockney, Duane Michals, and Danny Simmons
This week, we honor a painter who made the everyday otherworldly, a poet-photographer, and a champion of Black artists.
Read MoreMember Comment
Daniel Gottlieb on "Processing the Unbearable, Imagining the Radical"
From the Archive
The Badass Punk Life of Kay Turner
Instead of “elder,” the 75-year-old artist, scholar, and bandleader prefers the moniker “magnificent hag.” | Elaine Velie
Read MoreRemuseum and the Doris Duke Foundation – The Vanguard Award/Accelerator for Innovative Arts Leaders
The $100,000 annual award will recognize up to 10 leaders who are exploring innovative ways to strengthen arts institutions, and a year-long accelerator (in partnership with MIT) will help them refine, implement, and evaluate those ideas. Deadline: June 22, 2026 | remuseum.org/the-vanguard
See more in this month’s list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers!
