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    World War II Journal Entries Float in a Web of Blood-Red Yarn in Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Diary’

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025. Photos by Go Sugimoto. All images courtesy of the artist and Japan Society Gallery, shared with permission

    World War II Journal Entries Float in a Web of Blood-Red Yarn in Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Diary’

    October 2, 2025

    ArtHistory

    Kate Mothes

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    Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Berlin-based artist Chiharu Shiota presents a poignant suite of large-scale works in Two Home Countries at Japan Society Gallery. That artist is known for her immersive string installations, inviting us into emotive, atmospheric experiences that tap into both universal and deeply personal narratives.

    In Two Home Countries, viewers enter a vivid world shaped by red thread, redolent of intertwined veins and blood vessels that attach to the floor, take on the shapes of houses, and spread through an entire room with a cloud-like aura of red—filled with written pages. Themes of memory, mortality, connection, identity, and belonging weave through Shiota’s pieces, exploring “how pain, displacement, boundaries, and existential uncertainty shape the human condition and our understanding of self,” the gallery says.

    Detail of “Diary” (2025) in ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    An expansive, room-sized work titled “Diary,” which is based on an earlier installation and commissioned anew for Two Home Countries, incorporates a dense web of yarn in which float pages of journals that once belonged to Japanese soldiers. Some were also penned by German civilians in the post-war era. “The accumulated pages reveal an expansive record of shared human existence across national boundaries,” the gallery says.

    “When the body is gone, the objects which surrounded them remain behind,” Shiota says in a statement. “As I wander the stalls of the markets in Berlin, I find especially personal items like photographs, old passports, and personal diaries. Once, I found a diary from 1946, which was an intimate insight into the person’s life and experiences.” For Shiota, the power of these objects are revealed in how she feels the presence of writer’s “inner self.”

    Two Home Countries is on view through January 11 in New York City. Plan your visit on the Japan Society’s website, and find more on Shiota’s site and Instagram.

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Detail of “Two Home Countries” (2025) in ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

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    Lakota and Western Art History Converge in Dyani White Hawk’s Vibrant Works

    “Wopila | Lineage II” (2023), acrylic, glass beads, synthetic sinew, and thread on aluminum panel, 96 x 120 inches. Gochman Family Collection. Photo by Rik Sferra. All images courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York, and Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis, shared with permission

    Lakota and Western Art History Converge in Dyani White Hawk’s Vibrant Works

    October 1, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Throughout history, those who wield the most power or resources are typically the ones whose stories are represented in textbooks, passed down through generations, and etched into our collective consciousness. Without intentional effort, it can be difficult to hear more than a single narrative.

    In art history, the reality is much the same. The canon has always privileged white male artists, from titans of the Renaissance like Michelangelo to bad-boy American Modernists like Jackson Pollock. The foundations of 19th-century American landscape painting, for example, are inextricable from the belief in Manifest Destiny, as the American government violently expanded westward. And Western painting and sculpture have historically reigned supreme in the market-driven hallows of galleries and auction houses. But what of the incredible breadth of—namely Indigenous—art forms that have long been overlooked?

    “Visiting” (2024), acrylic, glass beads, thread, and synthetic sinew on aluminum panel with a quartz base, 120 x 15.5 x 15.5 inches (base 5 x 24 x 24 inches). Collection of the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Rik Sferra

    For Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk, the construction of American art history lies at the core of her multidisciplinary practice. “She lays bare the exclusionary hierarchies that have long governed cultural legitimacy, authority, value, and visibility,” says a joint statement from Alexander Gray Associates and Bockley Gallery. “In this light, White Hawk reframes Indigenous art and Western abstraction as inseparable practices—linked by a shared history that dominant narratives have labored to separate and obscure.”

    Pablo Picasso is credited with the saying, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Seminal paintings like “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” and others created in the early 1900s would not exist if it were not for his fascination with African masks. White Hawk draws a similar parallel between the 20th-century Color Field and Minimalism movements to highlight the influence of Native American art forms in the evolution of these styles. She prompts viewers to consider how these notions shape our aesthetic perceptions and judgment while also considering the role of cultural memory and community.

    White Hawk’s work spans painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and installations. Alongside oil and acrylic paint, she incorporates materials commonly used in Lakota art forms, like beads, porcupine quills, and buckskin.

    “I strive to create honest, inclusive works that draw from the breadth of my life experiences,” White Hawk says in a statement, merging influences from Native and non-Native, urban, academic, and cultural education systems. She continues: “This allows me to start from center, deepening my own understanding of the intricacies of self and culture, correlations between personal and national history, and Indigenous and mainstream art histories.”

    “Nourish” (2024), ceramic tile installation of handmade tiles by Mercury Mosaics, 174 x 369 1/2 inches. Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Whitney Acquisition Fund 2024.13

    Mirroring the meditative labor and incredible attention to detail required to create traditional Lakota artworks—from elaborately beaded garments to abstract buckskin paintings—White Hawk creates energetic installations that are bold and confrontational. Vibrant geometric patterns are direct and visceral in a way that “unsettles the categories of Eurocentric art history,” the galleries say.

    White Hawk notes that her mixed-media canvases honor “the importance of the contributions of Lakota women and Indigenous artists to our national artistic history…as well as the ways in which Indigenous artists helped shape the evolution of the practices of Western artists who were inspired by their work.”

    “Nourish,” an installation that spans nearly 31 feet wide and 14.5 feet tall, comprises thousands of handmade ceramic tiles that visually reference Lakota beadwork and quillwork. Permanently installed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the piece enters into a dialogue with the history of American Modernism through painters such as Marsden Hartley and Pollock, who are credited as trailblazers of American abstraction and yet were indelibly influenced by Native American art.

    Detail of “Visiting.” Collection of the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Rik Sferra

    “At its core, White Hawk’s practice is sustained by ancestral respect and guided by value systems that center relationality and care for all life,” the galleries say. “By addressing inequities affecting Native communities, she creates opportunities for cross-cultural connection and prompts a critical examination of how artistic and national histories have been constructed. Her work invites viewers to evaluate current societal value systems and their capacity to support equitable futures.”

    Minneapolis-based Bockley Gallery, which has represented White Hawk for more than a decade, has recently announced co-representation of the artist with New York City-based Alexander Gray Associates, where she’ll present a solo exhibition in fall 2026. If you’re in Minneapolis, Love Language opens on October 18 at the Walker Art Center and continues through February 15. The show then travels to Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where it will be on view from April 25 to September 27, 2026. See more on White Hawk’s website.

    Installation view of ‘Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6 to September 5, 2022). “Wopila | Lineage” (2022), acrylic, glass beads, and synthetic sinew on aluminum panel, 96 9/16 x 168 3/8 inches. Photo by Ron Amstutz

    “Carry IV” (2024), buckskin, synthetic sinew and thread, glass beads, brass sequins, copper vessel, copper ladle, and acrylic paint, 123 x 12 x 10 inches. Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Photo by Rik Sferra

    Detail of “Carry IV.” Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Photo by Rik Sferra

    Installation view of “I Am Your Relative” (2020) in ‘Sharing the Same Breath,’ John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, 2023. Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

    Detail of “Visiting.” Collection of the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Rik Sferra

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    Craig & Karl’s ‘Mateys’ Bring Vibrancy and Joy to Bridges in Brisbane and Beyond

    Detail of “Converge.” Photo by Alex Chomicz

    Craig & Karl’s ‘Mateys’ Bring Vibrancy and Joy to Bridges in Brisbane and Beyond

    October 1, 2025

    ArtDesign

    Kate Mothes

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    In vibrant colors, patterns, and shapes, the immersive works of Craig & Karl invite us to relish moments of joy and surprise. While Craig is based in New York, and Karl is based in London, the two collaborate across the pond—and around the world—to produce multimedia installations that revitalize urban spaces and celebrate the power of play.

    As part of the 2025 Brisbane Festival, Craig & Karl created a pair of large-scale inflatable interventions on two of the city’s bridges, both riffing on the idea of the arch as passageway. Additionally, numerous illustrations, interactive sculptures, and inflatable “Mateys” — a series of quirky characters with expressive faces — pop up on buildings and sidewalks to enable joyful encounters as part of the expansive, city-wide exhibition titled Rear Vision.

    “Walk This Way” (2025), Kangaroo Point Bridge, Brisbane. Photo by JD Lin

    Collectively titled “Walk This Way,” the bridge installations encourage Brisbanites to see their city with fresh eyes. The expressive, flexible characters are also immanently relatable for viewers of all ages. “The Mateys serve as companions that help foster community and shared experiences, welcoming us into different corners of the city,” says a festival statement.

    Craig & Karl are known for their vivid participatory projects, which range from mini-golf courses to playgrounds to murals. The artists initially met 30 years ago while studying at Griffith University in Brisbane, and since, their collaborative practice has included partnerships with global brands and publications like Adidas, Nike, Apple, Chanel, The New Yorker, Variety, and more.

    While the bridge installations came to a close at the end of September, you can still stroll along the Public Art Trail through October 20 to spot Craig & Karl’s sculptures and installations in unexpected places. Then, drop by the exhibition Double Vision at the Griffith University Art Museum, which continues through January 7.

    Plot your course on the Brisbane Festival website, and see more of the artists’ projects on their site and Instagram.

    “Mateys” (2025), part of ‘Rear Vision’ Public Art Trail, Brisbane. Photo by Claudia Baxter

    “Mateys” (2025), part of ‘Rear Vision’ Public Art Trail, Brisbane. Photo by Alex Chomicz

    Detail of “Converge.” Photo by Alex Chomicz

    “Converge” (2025), Neville Bonner Bridge, Brisbane. Photo by JD Lin

    “Prismatic,” Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

    Detail of “Unfold,” Suzhou, China

    “Cosmos,” Melbourne Central, Melbourne

    Detail of “Cosmos”

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    Detroit’s Heidelberg Project in Wisconsin? Tyree Guyton Transports His Magic

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation
    view (2025). All images courtesy of the artist and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, shared with permission

    Detroit’s Heidelberg Project in Wisconsin? Tyree Guyton Transports His Magic

    September 29, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    If you were to have visited the 3600 Block of Heidelberg Street in Detroit around 1986, you would have likely encountered a young artist beginning the project of a lifetime. Found object assemblages and painted patterns were quickly transforming a neighborhood that had experienced mass disinvestment, turning grassy lots and abandoned homes into an enclave of creativity.

    Soon, an immersive, vernacular art environment emerged and was at once an amalgamation of everyday materials and what seemed to be a mystical translation from another realm. The creator behind the sprawling installation—which continues today—is artist Tyree Guyton, who dubbed what would become his most famous work in his home neighborhood of McDougall Hunt, The Heidelberg Project.

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    Spanning nearly four decades and several blocks, the ever-evolving environment has become a destination for tourists and locals alike as Guyton’s spiritual philosophies reach every inch of the property. There’s the iconic polka-dot house, another covered in long paintings of shoes, a collection of portraits on car hoods, and countless sculptures and assemblages that seem to take on a life of their own. Because the works are exposed to the elements, maintenance and upcycling occur regularly at the project, as the artist adds to an existing piece or transforms materials anew.

    Several of Guyton’s standalone works are on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A large-scale presentation of the artist’s decades-long outdoor and studio projects, Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now? is rooted in what the museum describes as “the study of discarded material incorporated into the fabric and structure of a community and the effects on the community.”

    Guyton, on the other hand, is much more abstract, offering the following in a phone conversation from Detroit. “That’s what this show is about, magic. Two plus two equals eight, Heidelbergology…There are people there that have not been here, and I came there to give them a reason to come. It’s an invitation.”

    While exhibiting in a traditional white-cube gallery space, Guyton brings his community focus to Sheboygan. He invited locals to paint his beloved polka dots on the walls, providing a vivid and expressive backdrop for his expansive works. Looming in the entrance is Guyton’s version of Noah’s Ark, composed of crowd-sourced stuffed animals and children’s toys piled high atop a painted fishing boat.

    “Auto World” (1998), mixed media and paint

    Guyton makes an explicit connection to the divine—and Yahweh, in particular—throughout the exhibition and his work, more broadly. He considers The Heidelberg Project to be both a mirror to society and also a conduit to a higher power, one whose messages he translates and shares with anyone who might encounter the work.

    “What I see happening in the world? I put it on those TV sets, put it in a museum, turn it into works of art, to give it back to the public and to say to them, look at what’s happening,” he says. “Like, can we see it? I see it through me.”

    The exhibition also nods to the artist’s own history and his grandfather, Sam Mackey, who first introduced Guyton to art as a child. A collection of Mackey’s drawings made at the end of his life is suspended in a house-shaped structure at the center of the museum. These familial works aren’t typically on view in Detroit and offer special, often-unseen insight into the artist’s background.

    As Guyton and the project’s team prepare for the future, they intend to transfer The Heidelberg Project to the community, who they hope will steward the enormous effort and further invest in the neighborhood. “I’m here to do something that when I die, it’s going to live on,” the artist says. “I believe that what I have done here is so philosophical, it’s teaching me, and I love making mistakes.”

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    While hoping to secure support for the project, Guyton isn’t precious about his work and easily embraces change. When the exhibition in Sheboygan wraps, for example, the sculptures and paintings that have been so meticulously cared for in a museum setting will be returned outdoors, although they might find themselves in a new spot if the artist filled the previous location with something new.

    In this way, The Heidelberg Project is always in motion, presenting new messages for Guyton to learn and share through a graffiti-covered television set or a collaged work on panel. When asked how he feels a piece is complete, he answers clearly: “My work is finished when I’m dead.”

    See Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now? through February 15, 2026. And while you’re in the area, be sure to check out the truly impeccable environments at the Art Preserve just a few miles away. You can find more about the project on the website and Instagram.

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation view (2025)

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation view (2025)

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation view (2025)

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

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    Millo and Seth Globepainter Trade Concrete for Canvas in ‘Beyond’

    Images © the artists, shared with permission

    Millo and Seth Globepainter Trade Concrete for Canvas in ‘Beyond’

    September 26, 2025

    Art

    Jackie Andres

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    Street artists Francesco Camillo Giorgino and Julien Malland (a.k.a. Millo and Seth Globepainter) have painted in more than fifty countries combined. In a new exhibition titled Beyond, the pair takes their expansive mural practice indoors with thirty new works and their first collaborative canvas installation.

    Beyond is grounded by a vast map at the entrance of the show, charting the far-reaching and meandering paths both artists have taken across the globe. Though they’ve crossed paths before, the exhibition emphasizes their convergence once again at Goldman Global Arts Gallery, where their monumental works have been reimagined within the context of gallery walls.

    Both Millo and Seth radiate a childlike wonder within their works, evoking a sense of joy and curiosity. While Millo’s compositions usually feature monochromatic figures and architectural components expressed with robust line work and bold pops of color, Seth’s pieces illustrate his signature optical illusion perspectives, executed with vibrant yet soft palettes.

    Installed together, the works visually complement each other and amplify overlapping themes of surreal dreamscapes, everyday whimsy, and the power of imagination.

    Beyond continues through November 16 in Miami. See more work on Millo and Seth’s respective Instagram accounts.

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    Elmgreen & Dragset’s Uncanny Sculptures Make Reality Feel Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’

    “The Other David” (2025), marble, 33
    7/16 × 59 1/16 × 33 7/16 inches. All images © Elmgreen & Dragset/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy of Pace Gallery, shared with permission

    Elmgreen & Dragset’s Uncanny Sculptures Make Reality Feel Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’

    September 18, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    Dysmetropsia is a neurological condition that distorts size and perception, often causing objects to appear smaller or larger than they really are. Also called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, the disorder is the basis of a disorienting exhibition by Berlin-based duo Elmgreen & Dragset.

    Collaborating since 1995, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are behind a slew of iconic works, perhaps most famously the full-sized boutique in the middle of the Texan desert known as “Prada Marfa.” This destination installation is representative of the artist’s enduring interest in recontextualizing seemingly common objects to explore how our interpretation and perception change.

    “September 2025” (2025), silicone figure, clothing, chair, dimensions variable

    For their exhibition at Pace Gallery in Los Angeles—their first solo show in the city—the duo continues this line of inquiry. The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome opens with a silicone gallery attendant dozing on her desk, an undrunk cup of coffee and stack of books nearby. Like the adventurous tale it references, the large-scale show invites viewers to ask whether what unfolds is real or all a hallucinatory dream.

    Farther inside is a series of white marble figures recreated on two different scales. Wearing headphones and VR headsets, these nondescript characters appear perpetually distracted and immersed in their technologies of choice. On the gallery walls is a collection of circular works from the artist’s Sky Target series, which varies mirrors and cloudy expanses in stripes or concentric rings. These patterned pieces reflect the wide, open space and fragments of the sculptures, albeit through a distorted view.

    As we collectively grapple with the strange, often concerning effects of living in an increasingly digital world, Elmgreen & Dragset prompt us to consider how physical presence shapes our understanding and can lead to an uncanny experience all on its own.

    The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is on view through October 25. Explore more of the artists’ work on the gallery’s website.

    Detail of “September 2025” (2025), silicone figure, clothing, chair, dimensions variable

    Detail of “September 2025” (2025), silicone figure, clothing, chair, dimensions variable

    Detail of “Close” (2025), marble, 71 1/8 × 26 × 20 1/4 inches

    “Close” (2025), marble, 71 1/8 × 26 × 20 1/4 inches

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    Through Illuminated Compositions, Raúl de Nieves Transforms a Hall into a Bold Sanctuary

    “In Light of Innocence” (2025). Photos by Dan Bradica, courtesy of Pioneer Works, shared with permission

    Through Illuminated Compositions, Raúl de Nieves Transforms a Hall into a Bold Sanctuary

    September 17, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    In a monumental new installation, Raúl de Nieves brings Catholic imagery, Mexican folklore, and tarot into dazzling view. For “In Light of Innocence,” Pioneer Works’ Main Hall transforms into a vibrant sanctuary complete with 50 stained glass-like panels that reach up toward the heavens. The individual pieces are fitted into the space’s windows, with a larger lightbox mural radiating from below.

    De Nieves is known for utilizing common materials, including wood, glue, tape, and, for this project, brilliantly colored acetate that allows light to filter into the open hall. Along with swapping plastic for glass, the artist also upends the typical cathedral environment with non-religious imagery and typographic panels. Included are a skeleton riding a horse—long a symbol of transformation in tarot—and bold phrases like “happiness runs in circular motion” and “words are like weapons they wound sometimes.”

    This medley of spiritual references creates a welcoming environment that allows for reflection and connection across belief systems. A statement says, “‘In Light of Innocence’ invites viewers to embrace change not as loss, but as renewal—a passage that leads to deeper insight and inner strength.”

    The immersive project marks de Nieves’ first institutional exhibition in New York City and is on view through December 14. Find more of the artist’s work on Instagram.

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    Descend into the Underworld via Anish Kapoor’s Sculptural Subway Station Entrances

    All images courtesy of Anish Kapoor, shared with permission

    Descend into the Underworld via Anish Kapoor’s Sculptural Subway Station Entrances

    September 17, 2025

    ArtDesign

    Kate Mothes

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    West of Naples, along the Tyrrhenian coast, sits the storied Lake Avernus. Situated in a volcanic crater, its Latin name is synonymous with hell or the underworld, and to the ancient Romans, it was considered the portal to Hades. Dante Alighieri echoed the belief in his seminal Inferno. More recently, Anish Kapoor set out to explore the notion in a striking new entrance to the Monte Sant’Angelo subway station in central Naples. “In the city of Mount Vesuvius and Dante’s mythical entrance to the Inferno, I found it important to try and deal with what it really means to go underground,” the artist says.

    Kapoor is renowned for large-scale sculptures and installations that tap into visceral psychological experiences, from a perpetually swirling whirlpool of black water in “Descension” to a meat-like slab of wax being wedged through a doorway in “Svayambhu,” which references a Sanskrit word meaning “self-born.” And, of course, there’s the iconically mirrored “Cloud Gate,” known fondly as “The Bean,” in downtown Chicago.

    University entrance

    “At Monte Sant’Angelo station, three integral themes of Kapoor’s practice have coalesced in more potent form than ever: the mythological object, the body, and the void,” a statement says. The artist’s design for two separate entrances, initiated more than two decades ago, tap into his interest in dualistic relationships like internal and external experiences or lightness and darkness.

    Kapoor’s two entrances exist in dialogue with one another, as one is made from weathered steel with a rusty patina that suggests an amorphous bodily form. The other is conceived as something of the inverse, where a tubular steel form is presented more smoothly and “cleanly” while likewise hovering over travelers like a mysterious system or gigantic conduit.

    “The station is a remarkable symbiosis of sculpture and architecture, a dynamic that has always been a central force in Kapoor’s work,” a statement says. “Kapoor’s work both holds and creates the new space in which it is experienced.”

    Explore dozens of works on Kapoor’s website, and discover even more artistic subway stations around the world.

    Looking up from within the Traiano entrance

    A side view of the university entrance

    Looking down into the university entrance

    Traiano entrance

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