Remembering Iris Cantor, Ulysses Jenkins, and Rena Bransten
This week, we honor an arts patron, a video artist, and a San Francisco gallerist.
In Memoriam is published every Wednesday afternoon and honors those we recently lost in the art world.
Iris Cantor (1931–2026)
Arts patron
The chairwoman of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, she gave hundreds of millions to arts, medical, and educational instiuttions. She held one of the largest private collections of sculptures by Auguste Rodin in the world.
Rena Bransten (1933–2026)
San Francisco gallerist
She helped shape the art scene in San Francisco for more than half a century with her eponymous gallery. She focused on California-based practitioners, particularly artists of color, women, and those who identified as LGBTQ+.
Mario Buhagiar (1945–2026)
Maltese art historian and educator
He founded the art history department at the University of Malta. He wrote books and papers on Maltese early Christian art and archaeology, medieval art and antiquities, the Catholic military order the Knights of St. John, and more.
Jacopo Camagni (1977–2026)
Italian comic artist
He created or co-created a number of notable comics, including Lupin II Millennium (2001–5) and Nomen Omen (2019–21). He was also an artist for Marvel, working on titles such as Hawkeye vs. Deadpool (2014) and X-Men Red (2023).
Paul Conroy (1964–2026)
British war photographer
He worked in combat zones in the Balkans, Syria, Ukraine, Libya, and more. He was perhaps best known for his coverage of the siege of Homs in Syria between 2011 and 2014, which was depicted in the film A Private War (2018).
Zach Horn (d. 2026)
Interdisciplinary artist and educator
He portrayed labor unions and everyday objects in his studio practice, and exhibited in galleries and museums across the continental United States as well as Finland, South Korea, and more. He was a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he taught painting.
Hwang Jae-hyung (1952–2026)
Korean "miner painter"
He was a leading artist in Korean realism, famed for his depictions of coal mining sites. He received a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul in 2021.
Ulysses Jenkins (1946–2026)
Avant-garde video artist and educator
His practice was inspired by West African oral historians, as seen in documentaries like The Nomadics (1991). He studied under printmaker and painter Charles White at Otis College, where he also became an instructor, and held a major retrospective at the Hammer Museum in 2022.
Stephen Koch (1941–2026)
Author who preserved the legacy of Peter Hujar
A protégé of Susan Sontag, he wrote several books, including a study on Andy Warhol. He was the executor of photographer Peter Hujar's estate and helped cement his reputation in American art.
Fenwick Lawson (1932–2026)
British sculptor and educator
He was a lecturer in sculpture at colleges in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, and showed at galleries in the region, as well as various churches and cathedrals. He was associated with neo-brutalism for his use of scrap metal, and also made figurative wood carvings of famous saints.
Jasmine Little (1984–2026)
Ceramic artist
The Los Angeles-based painter and ceramic artist was known for large-scale works that mixed graphic patterns, text, and imagery. She exhibited in spaces like Night Gallery, Tif Sigfrids gallery, Marianne Boesky Gallery, and more.
Satoshi Mori (1984–2026)
Japanese animator
He was the president of animation studio Gift-o’-Animation, and directed or contributed to series such as Cardfight!! Vanguard, Sword Art Online 2, and One-Punch Man.
Giancarlo Politi (1937–2026)
Italian art critic and founder of Flash Art
Over more than half a century, he shaped contemporary art, establishing an eponymous publishing house, the now-defunct Trevi Flash Art Museum, various biennials, and the Italian art publication Flash Art.
Asher Remy-Toledo (1963–2026)
Transdisciplinary arts worker
The Colombian-born cultural producer developed a wide range of transdisciplinary projects in visual art, sound, performance, and more. He was a former mentor for NEW INC, the New Museum's tech and design incubator, and was also director and curator at spaces like Hyphen Hub, No Longer Empty, and more.
G.G. Santiago (1943–2026)
Rainbow Brite creator
The Latvian-born artist created the colorful animated television show and feature film Rainbow Brite.
Jean Widmer (1939–2026)
French-Swiss graphic artist
He immortalized France's monuments and major buildings through road signs and logos. He is perhaps best known for designing the Pompidou Center's logo, as well as its signage.
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