Remembering Geles Cabrera, Helch, and Jay Maisel
This week, we honor a sculptor who explored the body, a street artist who upset Queen Elizabeth, and a commercial photographer who shaped the medium.
In Memoriam is published every Wednesday afternoon and honors those we recently lost in the art world.
Geles Cabrera (1926–2026)
Mexican sculptor who explored the expressiveness of the human body
She explored the expressive potential of the body when muralism dominated Mexican art, moving fluently between figuration and abstraction, gesture and sensuality. In 1966, she founded Museo Escultórico, an exhibition space in Coyoacán, where she showed her work for decades. In 2024, she received the Bellas Artes Medal in Visual Arts, Mexico's highest artistic honor.
Helch (c. 1991–2026)
British street artist
The anonymous British street artist painted his tag, "HELCH," across public infrastructure in London. He famously upset Queen Elizabeth when he tagged a railway viaduct in view of Windsor Castle, the royal residence.
Yayoi Kusama (1929–2026)
Japanese artist who channeled infinity
The irreverent Japanese artist channeled hallucinations and other psychological phenomena into kaleidoscopic, polka-dotted paintings and sculptures that transfixed millions around the world. Her influence can be seen in key art historical moments from Minimalism and Pop Art to experiential art. Revelations about racist comments she made in her 2002 autobiography have tarnished her image in recent years.
Christina Gascoigne (1939–2026)
British ceramicist, photographer, and philanthropist
She made and sold ceramics from a studio on the Thames, and her photography appears in multiple television series, including one on British castles. In 2014, she and her husband, the author and television presenter Bamber Gascoigne, transformed a home they inherited into the 700-seat Grange Park Opera in West Horsley, England.
Jay Maisel (1931–2026)
Photographer who reshaped commercial photography
Across a seven-decade career in magazines, advertising, and cultural institutions, the influential photographer is perhaps best known for the cover of Miles Davis's 1959 classic album Kind of Blue. He has been honored by the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, American Society of Media Photographers, and the International Center of Photography.
Laura Spector (1954–2026)
Artist of invasive species
Using Asian bittersweet, an invasive species, as her medium, she crafted artworks, furniture, lighting, and more, making pieces for luminaries like Joan Baez and Sting. In recent years, she began making Photoshop collages called her Identity Series, featuring a recurring red-haired figure she called "Laura dolls."
David Thauberger (1948–2026)
Canadian painter and sculptor
He shaped the way the art world perceived the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, depicting many of its modernist and brutalist buildings in his paintings. He was inducted into the Order of Canada, one of the nation's highest honors, in 2008, and received the Lieutenant Governor's Saskatchewan Artist Award the year after and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2012.
Ally Van Tillo (d. 2026)
Founder of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt
Inspired by the American Names Project Memorial Quilt, he coordinated the making of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt by grieving friends, lovers, and families, honoring more than 600 lost to the disease. This month, the quilt will go on full display in Tramway, Glasgow.
