Arts news

• ‘Painting’s dangerous work!’ The artist whose tools are brushes and power sanders

  09-06-2025 09:00
  Megan Rooney painstakingly creates works with layer upon layer of paint – and attacks them with agrinder in between. Ahead of a beguiling new show, our writer braves a studio tour‘I’m just trying to get one step ahead of my paintings,” says Megan Rooney, who is surrounded by the vibrant, gestural abstract works in her studio. She moves through the space restlessly as we chat, rocking on to her tiptoes and arching her arms through the air in an echo of the curving strokes
  
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• Minne Fry obituary

  16-11-2025 17:27
  My friend Minne Fry, who has died aged 91, was an abstract artist who emerged in early 1960s London at the New Vision Gallery in Marble Arch, where the director, Denis Bowen, encouraged his exhibitors to be distinct and expressive. He also wanted to counter the then prevalent notion of abstract art as “throwing a pot of paint in the public’s face”.One of the foremost art critics of the day, Eric Newton, singled out Minne’s work for special commendation, and in 1965 he bou
  
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• Kaneza Schaal talks about the America 250 season at Detroit Opera

  15-11-2025 19:47 via artsjournal.com
  Kaneza Schaal, Theater & Opera Artist & Director, talks about the extraordinary upcoming America at 250 season at Detroit Opera and its impact for audiences and community.
  
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• Plastic paradise: on the frontlines of the fight to clean up pollution in Bali – in pictures

  15-11-2025 15:00
  In January the island’s beaches were inundated with waves of plastic pollution, a phenomenon that has been getting worse by the year. Photographer and film-maker Sean Gallagher travelled to Bali to document the increasing tide of rubbish washing up on beaches and riverbanks, and the people facing the monumental challenge of cleaning up. His portraits are on show as part of the 2025 Head On photo festival at Bondi Beach promenade until 30 November Continue reading...
  
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• ‘The speeding car created the perfect, eclectic scene’: Demétrio Jereissati’s best phone picture

  15-11-2025 12:00
  Initially drawn by the distinctive architecture, the Brazilian photographer struck lucky on a morning run in CubaAs a marathon runner and amateur photographer, Demétrio Jereissati has taken to the streets of his home town of Fortaleza, Brazil almost daily for the past two decades. “Each morning I head out early for a run – observing and storing the city in my memory,” Jereissati says. “Every day reveals new angles and unexpected scenes. For me, these early hours ar
  
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• ‘He was quite a private person’: expansive auction shows Gene Hackman as actor and artist

  15-11-2025 11:02
  Bonhams is selling over 400 items from the estate of the late Oscar-winning actor, from a draft script of The Silence of the Lambs to his own unique artworkHe was Lex Luthor to Christopher Reeve’s Superman. But could he have been Hannibal Lecter to Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling?The intriguing prospect is raised by an unlikely 33-page draft script for The Silence of the Lambs lurking in a collection of the late actor Gene Hackman’s possessions that goes up for auction later th
  
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• The Running Man to David Hockney: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

  15-11-2025 07:00
  Stephen King’s dystopian novel gets an Edgar Wright reboot with Glen Powell, while the prolific British master is back with new paintingsThe Running Man
  Out now
  Edgar Wright directs this reimagining of the 1987 sci-fi cult classic based on Stephen King’s 1982 novel, which envisioned a fictional America of 2025 sliding into totalitarianism. Glen Powell stars as the contestant attempting to survive a deadly televised game. Continue reading...
  
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• Can Paris’s Iconic Zinc Rooftops Be Adapted To An Ever-Hotter Climate?

  14-11-2025 20:50 via smithsonianmag.com
  Some four-fifths of the city’s roofs are covered in the lightweight, malleable, low-maintenance metal. Many of them now need replacing — to prevent leaks in more intense rainstorms and because high summer temperatures turn the rooms below them into ovens. Parisian artisans are finding ways to address these problems. – Smithsonian Magazine
  
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• African Publishers And “The Wakanda Problem”

  14-11-2025 20:31 via publishersweekly.com
  “When we listen to audiobooks produced in the West, they have a Wakandan accent,” said Eghosa Imasuen, executive director of Narrative Landscape Press in Lagos, Nigeria.“Nobody talks like that on the continent.” – Publishers Weekly
  
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• Mali’s Capital City, Beset By Jihadi Militants, Cheers Itself Up With Marionettes

  14-11-2025 20:03 via apnews.com
  Bamako, a city of 3 million, is being squeezed by an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militia which has blocked fuel imports and made travel beyond the capital dangerous. Yet Bamakoans recently raised their spirits with a three-day festival celebrating puppetry, which has deep roots in Mali. – AP
  
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• Creator Of The AI Actress Tilly Speaks Out

  14-11-2025 19:44 via variety.com
  “As a creative, I have really enjoyed creating her,” she says. “It’s been just like a writer creating characters. You fall in love with your characters when you’re writing them. It’s a wonderful process. It wasn’t like I just made her in a second, and that was it. You know, it took a long time.” – Variety
  
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• What Nigeria’s New Museum of West African Art Is Attempting To Do

  14-11-2025 19:27 via msn.com
  Nigeria’s stunning new Museum of West African Art (Mowaa) has found itself in the crosshairs of local power politics on the week it was supposed to – but failed – to open its doors to the public for the first time. – BBC (MSN)
  
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• Man who stole Banksy print to pay off drug debt given 13-month sentence

  14-11-2025 19:27
  Larry Fraser, 49, burgled Grove gallery in London, stealing limited edition print from Girl With Balloon seriesA man who stole a Banksy print from an art gallery to pay off a drug debt has been given a 13-month prison sentence.Larry Fraser, 49, stole the limited edition print from the street artist’s Girl With Balloon series after breaking into the Grove gallery in Fitzrovia, central London, last September. Continue reading...
  
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• The BBC’s Impact On World History

  14-11-2025 19:15 via historytoday.com
  The BBC’s founding father, John Reith, set out what he saw as broadcasting’s true purpose. In the wake of a destructive global conflict, he believed it was radio that could draw out ‘everything that is best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement’.  – History Today
  
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• Margaret Atwood On Being A “Feminist”

  14-11-2025 19:02 via apnews.com
  “So we have to be a bit careful with that word, right? Because I do think words are important. And that word has been overused and applied to all sorts of things.” Q: “Which type of feminist are you?” “The kind that’s interested in equality under the law.” – AP
  
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• How Did The Muppets Fail So Spectacularly On Broadway?

  14-11-2025 18:44 via thedailybeast.com
  The Muppets’ long-overdue Broadway debut is over almost as soon as it began, the show now closing this Sunday. It was originally scheduled to run until Jan. 18, 2026; instead, at the time of its closing, Playbill reports, it will have played just 20 preview performances and four regular ones. – The Daily Beast
  
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• Federal Museums Reopen And Count Up The Losses

  14-11-2025 18:31 via npr.org
  In addition to staff furloughs and suspended or canceled programs, the 2018-2019 shutdown resulted in a loss of some $5 billion, according to the American Alliance of Museums. – NPR
  
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• New Study: Listening To Music Significantly Reduces Risk Of Dementia

  14-11-2025 18:16 via washingtonpost.com
  Researchers looked at data spanning a decade and involving more than 10,000 relatively healthy people, aged 70 and older, in Australia. People who listened to music most days slashed their risk of developing dementia by 39 percent compared with those who did not regularly listen to music, the study found. – Washington Post
  
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• Five Takeaways From The Dallas Black Dance Theatre Fiasco, Now That It’s Over

  14-11-2025 18:04 via keranews.org
  Bad publicity, funding lost and regained, a change in leadership, “community trust,” and so on. – KERA (Dalllas)
  
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• Five Art Gallery Apps To Help You Explore

  14-11-2025 17:44 via nytimes.com
  For a decade, See Saw has reigned as the app for art world denizens, but the last year has seen the arrival of new apps and influencers — curator types, reviewers and spirit guides whose mission is to get you to discover art shows, exhibitions and events in New York, even internationally. – The New York Times
  
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• Not One Of Hollywood’s Big Star Movies This Fall Has Become A Hit

  14-11-2025 17:31 via nytimes.com
  Not one of the 25 dramas and comedies that movie companies released in North American theaters over the past three months has become a hit, certainly not in the way that Hollywood has historically kept score. – The New York Times
  
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• Sound System Culture Is Taking Over UK Art And Fashion

  14-11-2025 17:15 via theguardian.com
  There has already been a clear increase in the number of Japanese-style listening bars across the UK, but the visual arts trend is also harnessing sound system culture, which originated in Jamaica in the 1950s and was initially a cheap, democratic way for neighbourhoods to listen to the latest releases. – The Guardian
  
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• Ireland’s Basic Income For Artists Program Proved That It Works. Why Is The Government Tentative About Expanding It?

  14-11-2025 17:01 via novaramedia.com
  The results from the three-year pilot were clear: artists were able to make work and less dependent on other government assistance, and every €1 in cost returned €1.39 in value to the Irish economy. Even so, the government, though it made the program permanent, is keeping it small-scale. – Novara Media (UK)
  
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• Hilary Mantel’s Most Notorious Short Story Is Now Being Staged

  14-11-2025 16:35 via theguardian.com
  “’The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher – August 6th 1983’ was published in The Guardian in 2014 and gave the title to Mantel’s collection of short stories that year. … Billed as a psychological thriller, the adaptation is by Alexandra Wood and will be directed by John Young at (Liverpool’s) Everyman Theatre in May.” – The Guardian
  
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• Almshouse in Dorset discovers its 15th-century Flemish triptych is worth £3.5m

  14-11-2025 16:06
  Artwork that hung for centuries at St John’s Almshouse in Sherborne will be sold to raise funds for social housing“The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and He adds no sorrow with it,” so says the Bible, Proverbs 10:22.On Friday, a church almshouse was counting its blessings after discovering that a triptych painting that has hung in the chapel for centuries is a 15th-century Flemish masterpiece worth £3.5m. Continue reading...
  
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• Brooklyn Public Library Is Now Lending Out Contemporary Art The Same Way It Lends Books

  14-11-2025 16:03 via news.artnet.com
  “The institution has announced an experimental art lending program that coincides with its new exhibition ‘Letters for the Future,’ created in collaboration with the artist-organized group Department of Transformation, which opened earlier this month.”  The effort mirrors an art lending initiative the library had in the 1950s and ‘60s. – Artnet
  
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• China Cracks Down On Gay Male Romance Novels That Young Women Adore

  14-11-2025 15:32 via apnews.com
  “Fans of the popular danmei same-sex romance genre, written and read mainly by straight women, say the Chinese government is carrying out the largest crackdown yet on it, effectively neutering the enjoyment. In the world of fantasy, danmei is relatively straightforward: Two men stand in for idealized relationships, from chaste to erotic.” – AP
  
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• BBC Offers Trump An Apology But Balks At Financial Compensation

  14-11-2025 15:06 via variety.com
  “The BBC says it has apologized to President Donald Trump over an edited interview clip that suggested he encouraged violence ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. The news corporation also said it would not offer compensation in the wake of Trump threatening a $1 billion lawsuit over the edited video.” – Variety
  
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• Disney Co. To Add Yet Another Billion Dollars To Its Content Budget

  14-11-2025 14:34 via hollywoodreporter.com
  The entertainment behemoth is increasing its spending on content to $24 billion for fiscal 2026. Does this mean more work for underemployed creatives? Actually, most of that spending will be on broadcast rights for sports. – The Hollywood Reporter
  
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• International Opera Awards 2025 To Dallas Opera, Glimmerglass, Asmik Grigorian, Nicholas Brownlee, Agnes Baltsa

  14-11-2025 13:58 via gramophone.co.uk
  Grigorian and Brownlee took male and female singer of the year honors; Theater an der Wien is company of the year; Agnes Baltsa was recognized for lifetime achievement. The Dallas Opera’s women conductors’ institute was awarded for equal opportunity; Glimmerglass took the musical theatre category for Sunday in the Park with George. – Opera Now
  
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