Ben Davis

What is it about this painter that made the attention of these big shows converge on her now? Talking with Taína Cruz for the Art Angle...
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The 2026 Whitney Biennial Just Wants You to Feel Something | Artnet News Curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, this year's show marks a "feelings-first" approach to art.

Thoughts on this Whitney Biennial: highs, lows, and vibes
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The Art Angle round-up pod for Feb... here's the preview and the link
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What Will Define Art in 2026? Key Themes From the Big U.S. Shows | Artnet News Hunting for a theme in the three big upcoming U.S. exhibitions: Greater New York, the Whitney Biennial, and the Carnegie International.

Thoughts on the mood of the upcoming big U.S. biennials:
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How Wifredo Lam Made Surrealism More Surreal Than the Surrealists | Artnet News “Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream" at the Museum of Modern Art offers a chance to consider his unique brand of syncretic surrealism.

My piece on the beautiful Wifredo Lam show at MoMA, and "syncretic surrealism"
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Talking about and and magic mushroom. Podcast link here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

very true! part of what people like about him, the performance aspect, much more than the images

Forgot to cite this quote. It's from the book 'Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy' by @benadavis.bsky.social. It's an incredible analysis of the current state of art. The quote is aptly at the very end of the 'AI Aesthetics and Capitalism' chapter.

This is happening on Wednesday... talking with @thegraymarket.bsky.social about the trends we think are emerging in 2026. Come by, hang out, and talk about art

that's awesome! thank you

9 Terms That Helped Navigate a Confusing Year in Art | Artnet News Ben Davis on the art words of the year, from "antimemetics" and "elite capture" to "red-chip" and "slurry."

My picks for some art words of the year
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Thoughts on a Year of Tracking the Top 'Museum Artists' | Artnet News Following the ups and downs of 2025 in museum programming, and looking for what's stayed the same, and what might be changing.

Thoughts on a year of looking at which artists are showing in the most museums news.artnet.com/art-world/mu...

These 15 Artists Are Having the Biggest Moment at U.S. Museums Right Now | Artnet News The quarterly Museum Artist list looks at which artists are showing at multiple shows in the United States.

My Museum Artist list for December 2025
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Jeffrey Epstein's Janky Art Pops Up at Auction, and Here's What We Learned A New Jersey auction has just revealed more details about the ghoulish and junky art collection of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A random flurry of Jeffrey Epstein's art just popped up at auction, so I guess we know where that sculpture of a bride on a rope comes from now
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End-of-the-year Art Angle round-up cast. Promo here, and link below... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Interesting! Because "art" can't be "right" or "wrong"? I don't think the idea of "art" exists without the idea of "bad art"... but there are many ways to approach the word and subject

The Magic of 'The Artist's Way' Podcast Episode · The Art Angle · 12/04/2025 · 29m

Talked to Julia Cameron about 'The Artist's Way,' Morning Pages, creative clusters, believing mirrors, and art-making vs. therapy
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Essays of November 2025 The mystery org behind Trump's Venice pick, Guatemala's biennial reviewed, the Jeffrey Epstein/Leonardo da Vinci art auction connection, video reviews, more.

Newsletter digest of what I wrote in November 2025, plus some other miscellany substack.com/home/post/p-...

Highs and Lows of Guatemala's Scaled-Up Biennale de Arte Paiz Curator Eugenio Viola's vision for the 24th Biennale de Arte Paiz, “El Arból del Mundo,” balances regional advocacy with universal myths.

The Biennale de Arte Paiz is making a big push in Guatemala... my take on this year's edition:
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Small but funny thing to me: American Arts Conservancy has fixed the amateur-hour typo from its founding press release I mentioned yesterday, but even doing this, they STILL fail to put in the open quotation mark

Buncha white ladies in white taking a massive selfie with some Andrew Tate ass dude in tats at mar a lago

Buncha white ladies in white party dresses and blowouts doing a group 3/4 turn cross your ankles portrait in front of the dog rescue that is the excuse for a party at mar a lago

The executive director of the us pavilion at the Venice biennale camps in a white party dress and blowout as she leans into a black clad tat bro carrying a tiny birkin in the crook of his elbow on the way into a shindig at mar a lago

Just three glammed up white ladiesdoing a 3/4 twist bend knee huddle portrait in party white in a tacky as shit and corrupt as hell ballroom at mar a lago, the petite lady at left is now the director of the us pavilion of the Venice biennale, the others are squealing in excitement I’m sure

Here is all you need to know about how this gig came together

What Is the Mysterious New Group Behind Trump's Venice Biennale Pick? | Artnet News What is the American Arts Conservancy? Who are its advisors? Why is a pet foods entrepreneur in charge of the U.S. Venice Biennale pavilion?

"What Is the Mysterious New Group Behind Trump’s Venice Biennale Pick?" Some observations about the American Arts Conservancy news.artnet.com/art-world/am...

What Those Jeffrey Epstein Emails About Leonardo's 'Salvator Mundi' Really Mean | Artnet News Emails reveal that Epstein was speculating about the $450-million sale of Salvator Mundi—and whether it was connected to Trump.

I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out that Epstein email about the sale of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi.' Here's what I think it means (and doesn't mean)
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With "Nigerian Modernism" getting rave reviews at the Tate, I talked to Chika Okeke-Agulu about Nigeria's midcentury art avant garde. Here's the promo and the link podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

The Round-Up: Louvre Heist!, Europe's Art Market Reboot, and the Queasy Art of Sora Podcast Episode · The Art Angle · 10/30/2025 · 34m

This month's Art Angle end-of-month news round-up: Louvre heist, Euro fairs, Sora video art podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

After Fierce Outcry From Arts Groups, Australia Changes Course on A.I. | Artnet News A proposed law change in Australia would have moved Australia towards a U.S.-style system when it comes to A.I. Artists objected.

Australian art groups have risen up in opposition to moving towards an A.I. policy closer to the U.S. one
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Jeanette Andrews is basically a genre all of her own. Interviewing her here about the touchpoints between magic and art. Here's the link and the promo:
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This week's Art Angle is me interviewing the curator of the De Young Museum's big "Art of Manga" show. Promo below, link to the episode here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

A take on take on creativity and the Sora 2 A.I. video app news.artnet.com/art-world/so...