Our Favorite Art Books of 2025
This year, we read too many incredible books to count — here are a few that stuck with us, including tomes on Marsha P. Johnson, Mary Cassatt in Paris, and Ruth Asawa and mothering.
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Victorian-Era Mourning Objects From the V&A’s Collection
From the archives of London’s V&A Museum, a selection of items that were used by Victorian-era mourners to remember and pay tribute to loved ones who had died, including jewelry with human hair, black dresses, jet black jewelry, mourning cards, and postmortem photography.
Remembering Frank Gehry, Martin Parr, and Mel Leipzig
This week, we honor a sculptor of buildings, a photographer of the absurd, and the “Chekhov of Trenton.”
Luminous Paintings Conjure Change in Shuo Hao’s Antique Furniture Assemblages
For Shuo Hao, finding the proper place is at the heart of her practice. The Chinese artist, who is currently based in Paris, has long been interested in the ancient text Yijing and how it offers a system of understanding for a world perpetually in flux. The cosmological book
The 10 Best Paris Art Shows of 2025
Olga de Amaral’s sculptural tapestries, Otobong Nkanga’s multi-media oeuvre, Meriem Bennani’s footwear-as-soundscape, and more.
The trailer for It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, a documentary film about...
The trailer for It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley , a documentary film about the late singer/songwriter. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
In Maureen McCabe's Art, the Medium Is the Message
The artist takes a mystical, magical journey through America's supernatural past in a retrospective at the Benton Museum of Art.
Timothy Snyder: “What comes next? For the Nazis, the deportation and the...
Timothy Snyder : “What comes next? For the Nazis, the deportation and the pogrom of autumn 1938 were steps towards creating a centralised national police agency. In the US, something similar is unfolding with ICE.”
Size of Life, a visual comparison of living things from DNA to...
Size of Life , a visual comparison of living things from DNA to a quaking aspen clone. Lovely illustrations. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Liz Collins Explodes Cliches About Crafts
In her textile-based practice, she calls attention to what holds a piece together or the ways some works seem ready to come apart.
TCU School of Art Offers Fully Funded Graduate Study
MA and MFA students at this university in Fort Worth, Texas, are trained for impactful careers in contemporary art, museums, and the broader arts field.
Stacy Gillian Abe’s Vivid Paintings Nod to Memory, Craft, and Lineage
In 'Garden of Blue Whispers, Abe reclaims and reinterprets the historical relationship of indigo to the Black body. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article
I hate how good this is: Radiohead sings Santa Claus Is Coming...
I hate how good this is: Radiohead sings Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (There I Ruined It). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
2000 Words for Japanese Rain
From artist Miya Ando, Water of the Sky, A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words . Through a collection of 2,000 Japanese words, their English interpretations, and 100 drawings, Ando describes the breadth and diversity of rain’s many expressions: when it falls, how it falls,
Seonna Hong’s Tender Paintings Navigate Contradiction with Care
In 'Cognitive Dissonance,' Seonna Hong depicts tender moments of compassion and community amid desolation. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Seonna
The loose flap of skin around the elbow is called the what...
The loose flap of skin around the elbow is called the what now?? 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
NYC Cultural Institutions Group Taps New Leaders
Stephanie Hill Wilchfort of the Museum of the City of New York and Atiba Edwards of the Brooklyn Children's Museum will lead the coalition of city-funded institutions.
If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books?
"Books are inefficient, and the internet is training us to expect optimized experiences."
Not in Our Name
Nativity scenes as sites of resistance, the best London shows of the year, one of history's most notorious art thieves, and Beer With a Painter is back!
Can Jollibee Beat American Fast Food at Its Own Game?
"The U.S. introduced fast food to the Philippines. Now Jollibee is serving it back to America."
Upgrade available
As soon as we see that notice, the current model gets less good. It was fine yesterday, but simply being told that better is available seems to tarnish something that worked. Perhaps “compared to what” isn’t always the best question.
Was the Baghdad Battery Actually a Battery?: An Archaeologist Demystifies the 2,000-Year-Old Artifact
Image by Ironie, via Wikimedia Commons The average Open Culture reader may well be aware that there is such a thing as Archaeology YouTube. What could come as more of a surprise is how much back-and-forth there is within that world. Below, we have a video from the channel
A Year in Reading: When the Going Gets Tough
These are the stories I couldn't stop thinking about—the ones that ask us to sit with darkness and still find reasons to keep going.
Isaac Asimov Predicts the Future on The David Letterman Show (1980)
In 1980, Newsweek published a cantankerous and sadly on-the-nose diagnosis of the United States’ “cult of ignorance” — written by one Isaac Asimov, “professor of biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine” and “author of 212 books, most of them on various scientific
Artist Nnena Kalu Wins 2025 Turner Prize
She is the first artist with a learning disability to earn the coveted distinction.
The Lighthouse Keeper: A Tender Illustrated Meditation on What Saves Us
“I have always felt that a human being could only be saved by another human being,” James Baldwin wrote in one of his finest essays. “I am aware that we do not save each other very often. But I am also aware that we save each other some of the time.” It happens so rarely