Koyo Kouoh’s Final Show
The Louvre gets a new director, the world’s largest sock monkey, and remembering artists we lost this week.
Nine months after the passing of Koyo Kouoh, the Venice Biennale has named the 111 artists and collectives in the prestigious international exhibition she curated and titled: In Minor Keys. Each artist functions almost as a musical key signature of their own, which together "refuse the orchestral bombast and goose-step military marches and come alive in the quiet tones, the lower frequencies."
That description comes from Rasha Salti, one of the exhibition advisors who spoke at yesterday's announcement of the roster. It's an apt invitation to think of curation as an act of composition, with Kouoh's vision singing at every turn.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
Venice Biennale Names 111 Artists for International Exhibition
The selected artists include Wangechi Mutu, Cauleen Smith, Carolina Caycedo, and Khaled Sabsabi, who made headlines last year when Australia rescinded and then reinstated his selection for its national pavilion. Notably, Kouoh's team announced that the coveted Golden Lion awards will not be given this year, as the curator was unable to make her selections before her death last May at age 57.
Matthew Bogdanos Awarded Marica Vilcek Prize in Art History for Repatriation of Stolen Artifacts
The leader of the Manhattan DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit is acknowledged for his lifelong dedication to recovering and safeguarding looted antiquities.
News
- The Louvre has appointed Christophe Leribault as its new director, just one day after Laurence des Cars's resignation in the wake of jewel-heist backlash and renovation issues at the museum (which she warned of last year).
- Punch isn't the only monkey in the news this week — a 22-year-old artist just set a world record for the longest sock monkey ever made.
From Our Critics
“By Design” Treats Women Like Objects
Juliette Lewis turns into a chair in a film that critiques mass culture’s conflation of femininity with consumerism and envy. | Eileen G'Sell
The Rubin’s Annual Grant Program Funds Himalayan Art and Research
The 2026 grant cycle opens February 16. Submit a letter of intent by March 6.
In Memoriam
Remembering Dóra Maurer, Isaiah Zagar, and Peter Stämpfli
This week, we honor a Hungarian avant-garde artist, a Philadelphia mosaicist, a Swiss pop artist, and others.
Member Comment
Vicki Meek on Ed Simon's "The Marquis de Sade of the Upper East Side":
Commenting privileges are reserved for paid members. Join us today!
ICYMI
The Louvre Heist Was a Colonial Wake-Up Call
The stunning theft reveals more than a failure of security: It lays bare how austerity, neglect, and unresolved colonial legacies continue to haunt the museum. | Emiline Smith
