Mid-Market Figurative Painting: Why Do Collectors Return to the Face?
Analyzing 2026 art market reports: why collectors are shifting capital toward mid-career figurative painting and recognizable iconographies.
How the "Zombie Formalism" Label Thrust the Figure Forward
Tracing Walter Robinson's 'Zombie Formalism' coinage through the exhaustion of decorative abstraction and the subsequent decade-long ascent of figurative painting.
Working Notes: Macromania, Twenty Years Later
Revisiting the macro photography series from 2005 and what close looking still teaches me about scale.
Hybrid Figures: The Human Body Between Siren, Sphinx, and Tree Roots
Hybrid figures at the 61st Venice Biennale: dissolving boundaries between human, beast, and flora in contemporary figurative painting.
"In Minor Keys": The Figure Speaks in Whispers at the Venice Biennale
An appraisal of portraiture, mourning, and figuration within 'In Minor Keys', the main exhibition of the 61st Venice Biennale conceived by the late Koyo Kouoh.
Archibald Prize 2026: Whose Story Does a Portrait Tell?
Richard Lewer's 2026 Archibald Prize win with a portrait of Pitjantjatjara artist Iluwanti Ken: examining ethics of representation and cross-cultural portraiture.
On Installation and the Dinner Table
Why Happy Family Dinner is built around an ordinary table, and how visitors complete the work by sitting down.
A Biennale Whose Jury Resigned: Venice 2026 and Institutional Authority
Analyzing the resignation of three international jurors at Venice Biennale 2026: institutional authority, political boycotts, and the ethics of cultural governance.
Georg Baselitz (1938–2026): Inverting the Figure, Keeping Painting Upright
Reflecting on Georg Baselitz (1938–2026): the strategy of the inverted figure, German Neo-Expressionism, and the enduring tension between representation and abstraction.
The Myth of Aniconism in Islamic Art and the Contemporary Painter
Art historical critique of the monolithic 'aniconism myth' in Islamic art: Persian, Mughal, and Ottoman figural painting traditions and their modern relevance.