On View

This weekend, 96 artist-designed globes will be installed at the heart of London in Trafalgar Square, to raise awareness about the history of the transatlantic slave trade in the U.K., as part of the nationwide project, The World Reimagined.
The public will be able to view the globes—designed by creatives including the project’s founding artist, Yinka Shonibare—from November 19–20, and then bid on them in an online auction held by Bonhams online only now from November 17 through November 25. Proceeds are going to The World Reimagined’s learning program, the artists, and the establishment of a grant-making program for racial justice projects and organization.
“The core mission of The World Reimagined is to engage the public to learn about the impact of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans,” Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye, artistic director of The World Reimagined, told Artnet News. “To have a public exhibition in Trafalgar Square, in the heart of the capital where so many people can interact with these glorious works, is incredibly exciting.”
More than 100 globes were commissioned via an open call judged by Shaw Scott Adjaye, who is also head of global research at her husband’s architecture firm Adjaye Associates; artist Chris Ofili; Zoé Whitley, director of the Chisenhale Gallery; Matthew Smith, director of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at UCL; and Renée Mussai, senior curator and head of curatorial and collections at Autograph, a London-based arts charity.
A selection of globes which are going on view in Trafalgar Square. Photo: courtesy the World Reimagined.
The sculptures were decorated by African diaspora artists from across the U.K., as well as a number from the Caribbean. Among those who contributed designs include Julianknxx, who has an exhibition at the Barbican Curve in 2023, Godfried Donkor, Phoebe Boswell, and Alison Turner. All of them have drawn on their personal experience with Britain’s history with slavery, and how it has impacted people of all backgrounds and races living in the U.K. today.
“The World Reimagined is an important opportunity to reflect on the importance of our diversity and to shine a light on our collective stories that too often remain untold,” said the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. “We must remember the millions who suffered due to the Transatlantic slave trade and the impact this has had on generations of Black communities.”
Godfried Donkor, Race. Photo: courtesy the World Reimagined.
Many of the globes have already been shown in cities around the U.K. since August. Each has a QR code on its base that takes visitors to a website, where they can learn more about the issues and histories raised in the artwork.
“This is a deeply powerful moment. We believe in an idea of patriotism that says we are strong and courageous enough to look at our shared past and present honestly, so we can create a better future—together,” said the project’s co-founder Michelle Gayle. “It’s not Black history—it’s all of our history.”
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Visitors to “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” at the Tate Modern in London will find themselves dwarfed as they move between vast, free-hanging structures that challenge our traditional notions of sculpture and textile art. 
Their warmly colored, ragged surfaces have been achieved by weaving together organic materials like sisal plant, horsehair, and hemp rope into complex and ambiguous 3D fiber installations known as “Abakans.”
“It is from fiber that all living organisms are built, the tissue of plants, leaves and ourselves,” Abakanowicz once said. “Our nerves, our genetic code, the canals of our veins, our muscles. We are fibrous structures.” 
Audiences will learn how Abakanowicz started out making painted textiles in the 1950s and watch as her practice evolved over the 1960s and ’70s, when she transitioned to building suspended forms on a monumental scale.
Their radical nature is all the more striking for the artist’s distance from many of the major hubs of the art world. Born in 1930, she grew up in the rural Polish countryside and later, during the war, her family became part of the resistance while she worked as a nurse’s aid at the remarkably young age of 14. Afterward, Abakanowicz became an artist under an oppressive Communist regime and struggled against the odds to build an internationally recognized career. 
Abakanowicz is also known today for Agora, a crowded group of headless figures permanently installed in Chicago’s Grant Park, and War Games, large structures made from trees in the style of military equipment. One of the works from this latter series, Anasta (1989), is displayed in the exhibition alongside the Abakans.
“Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. See works in the show below.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Installation view of “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” is on show at Tate Modern until May 21, 2023. Photo courtesy of Tate Modern.
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Brown Textile 21 (1963). Photo courtesy of Tate Modern; © Fundacja Marty Magdaleny Abakanowicz Kosmowskiej iJana Kosmowskiego, Warsaw.
Photograph of Magdalena Abakanowicz at work in 1966. Photo: © Estate of Marek Holzman.

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The boom in immersive art shows has seen some of the world’s best-loved masterpieces reimagined on the largest scale, and toured to audiences worldwide. The focus so far has been on historical works, with artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt and Frida Kahlo among the most popular subjects. 
David Hockney may now be one of the first living artists to get the same treatment for a new show, “Bigger & Closer (not smaller and further away)” opening early next year in London. 
Installation of David Hockney’s Gregory Swimming Los Angeles March 31st 1982 at “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away),” an immersive art experience at Lightroom in King’s Cross, London. Photo: courtesy of Lightroom, ©David Hockney.
Hockney has been able to take the reins and direct this new immersive journey, inviting visitors into some of his most renowned paintings, from the swimming pools he painted during his years in California to the vast canyons he captured in the American West.
Photographs and polaroid collages will also be used to tell visitors about the artist’s life, transporting audiences between Yorkshire, where Hockney is from, to Los Angeles, where he moved to in the 1960s, and Normandy in southern France, where he now lives. 
These insights and many more will stretch across six themed chapters, which are set against commentary from Hockney and a custom score by the American composer Nico Muhly.
Installation of The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twentyeleven) (1998) at “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away),” an immersive art experience at Lightroom in King’s Cross, London. Photo: courtesy of Lightroom; © David Hockney.
“The world is very, very beautiful if you look at it, but most people don’t look very much,” Hockney muses in one voice-over. “They scan the ground in front of them so they can walk, they don’t really look at things incredibly well, with an intensity. I do.”
Three years in the making, this mega production won’t be the first time Hockney has kept an eye on tech trends and adapted his painting practice to new media. He began using computer software to draw as early as the 1980s and, since 2009, he has regularly exhibited portraits, landscapes and still-lifes that were made on an iPad.
David Hockney viewing the model box containing an immersive view of his work August 2021, Landscape with Shadows. Photo: Mark Grimmer, © David Hockney.
The show will open in Lightroom, a new four-story exhibition space for immersive experiences in the creative district of Kings Cross, organized by the London Theatre Company and 59 Productions. “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller and further away)” runs from January 25 to April 23, 2023 and tickets are now on sale at £25 ($30) for adults and £15 ($18) for students.
London is also home to Frameless, another venue for experiential art forms that opened in Marble Arch in September. The arrival of Lightroom suggests that the immersive art craze shows no sign of disappearing, following major investment in this fast growing sector.
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She lived more than 4,000 years ago, she was a Sumerian priestess and, worth mentioning, she was the first recorded author in the world. Her name is Enheduanna, and her place in history is finally being recognized in a new show at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum.
It’s an exhibition that tells an extraordinary story of not just one individual, but of the role of women as a whole in the ancient society of the Fertile Crescent. Not only did the Mesopotamians worship the goddess Ishtar (in Akkadian) or Inanna (in Sumerian), but they also respected women and their important societal contributions, whether as mothers or wet nurses, as skilled agriculture or textile workers, or as religious priestesses with cultic responsibilities.
In the most famous of three poems attributed to Enheduanna, The Exaltation of Inanna, she writes about a usurper named Lugalanne exiling her from her post—and the goddess coming to her aid and restoring her to the temple. The first 60 lines start off as a simple prayer. But then, something unprecedented happens, and the author identifies herself: “I am Enheduanna, let me speak to you my prayer.”
“For the first time in world literature, the writer steps forward and uses the first persons singular and introduces autobiography,” curator Sidney Babcock, head of the Morgan’s department for ancient Western Asian seals and tablets, told Artnet News during a tour of the show. “And what does she write about? Abuse, sexual harassment, defilement, exile, the destructive forces of nature, things that are with us to this very day. And it’s profound and it’s personal. A very strong voice comes through.”
While the exhibition takes its starting point from Enheduanna, most of the artifacts on view are stone carvings depicting women, and the material is in and of itself significant for a culture located on a flood plain where most buildings were made from mud, the most common natural resource.
“Stones represent imported, rare, raw materials,” Babcock said. “That they should immortalize women’s roles is extraordinary. We have women tending animals, women making pottery, and women at a loom weaving. This one shows a priestess in front of a temple, and they’re bringing her offerings.”
Cylinder seal (and modern impression) with two female figures presenting offerings Mesopotamia, Sumerian, possibly Umma (modern Tell Jokha) Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2,500 B.C.E.) Photo by Olaf M. Teßmer, ©Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Vorderasiatisches Museum.
The artworks to which he was pointing are tiny carvings on round cylinder seals, which the Mesopotamians would have rolled onto clay tablets, using them to prove the authenticity of these written documents. (The show features impressions made with contemporary reproductions of each seal, to better visualize the imagery.)
“Many institutions have these early seals where the role of women has been commemorated and preserved, but they’re mostly overlooked,” Babcock said. “I thought we should celebrate them.”
That these cylinders record the activities of women may seem unusual to modern viewers. That they depict women of all classes, not just the elite, carrying out daily activities—even a scene of childbirth, rarely seen throughout art history—seems almost unbelievable.
Cylinder seal (and modern impression) with birth scene Mesopotamia, Sumerian Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2,600–2,350 B.C.E.). Photo courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Other sculptures on view are diminutive figures of women that at first glance may seem unremarkable. But unlike many ancient statues of women, these delicately carved artworks aren’t fertility figures, and these aren’t ancient royalty.
“These are individuals. This is sort of the beginning of portraiture,” Babcock said, pointing to the subtle modeling and fine carving in the sculptures. “These are so sophisticated. To combine stylized details to a natural whole, that is a sign of a great thinking artist.”
The curator first considered staging an Enheduanna exhibition a decade ago, and it was delayed three times due to the pandemic. But despite the logistical challenges that caused, the Morgan secured loans from museums around the world, making sure to install the sculptures to be seen in the round, for viewers to be able to appreciate the details such as the women’s flowing hair from all sides.
Kneeling female figure Iran, proto-Elamite, Susa (modern Shush) Late Uruk period (ca. 3300 B.C.E.) Photo by Les frères Chuzeville, ©Musée de l’Armée, Dist., RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, New York.
The curator stopped before a statue of a female worshipper kneeling in prayer, on loan from the Louvre in Paris. “At her home institution, she’s on a glass shelf with about 20 other things, and here she just fills the case,” he said. “She embodies this sense of humility before the divine or the unknown, whatever you want to call it.”
Another highlight, a heavily damaged bust of a woman borrowed from the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, isn’t even on regular view back in Germany.
“She’s so magnificent, but she’s so battered,” Babcock said. “The reason why she looks like that is that she survived the bombings of the World War II in Berlin. And here she is. She survived.”
Cylinder seal (and modern impression) of Queen Puabi Mesopotamia, Sumerian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), PG 800, Puabi’s Tomb Chamber, against Puabi’s upper right arm Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2,500 B.C.E.) Photo courtesy of the Penn Museum.
The show also includes the first depiction of a named woman in recorded history, a stone scraper that shows a woman raising her hands in front of her mouth. Inscriptions on the object and an accompanying chisel, both dated to around 3,000 B.C.E., identify her as KA-GÍR-gal, and suggest that she was a co-seller in some kind of land deal.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a stunning golden headdress archaeologists found in the tomb of Queen Puabi of Ur, identified only by her own name, not in relation to a male relative or husband. Babcock believes that Puabi may have worn the gorgeous ensemble, on loan from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, during nighttime rituals celebrating the moon god, the chief god of Ur.
“Imagine the total darkness of Southern Mesopotamia, and the bright light of the moon on the flood plain, and how this gold headdress, which just reflects the moon and glistens,” he said. “The whole thing would be absolutely dazzling.”
Queen Puabi’s funerary ensemble Mesopotamia, Sumerian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), PG 800, Puabi’s Tomb Chamber, on Puabi’s body Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2,500 B.C.E.). Photo courtesy of the Penn Museum.
But the star of the show is still Enheduanna. The daughter of the Akkadian king Sargon, the author took her name, which means “high priestess, ornament of heaven,” when he appointed her priestess of the temple of the moon god.
“We don’t have any texts from her own time, but Enheduanna’s work was considered so important that it was one of the 10 works that were taught in all scribal schools for hundreds of years after her lifetime,” Babcock said. “So her writings survived in copies.”
But Babcock believes that Enheduanna wasn’t unique, and that there is evidence of a more widespread female literacy in Mesopotamia. He’s especially excited about a small kneeling statue of a woman, also on loan from the Vorderasiatisches.
“When this was published by the German scholar, a hundred and something years ago, he said ‘Woman with tablet in her lap, meaning unclear.’ It’s been forgotten until this exhibition, and we have resurrected it as the visual proof of women in literacy,” Babcock said. “It is from slightly later than Edheduanna’s time, but if it’s not her image, then it’s an image of what she meant for successive generations.”
See more works from the exhibition below.
Disk of Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), gipar Akkadian period (ca. 2,300 B.C.E.). Photo courtesy of the Penn Museum.
Seated female figure with tablet on lap Mesopotamia, Neo-Sumerian Ur III period (ca. 2,112–2,004 B.C.E.). Photo by Olaf M. Teßmer, ©Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Vorderasiatisches Museum.

Tablets inscribed with “The Exaltation of Inanna” in three parts Mesopotamia, possibly Larsa (modern Tell Senkereh) Old Babylonian period (ca. 1,750 B.C.E.). Photo by Klaus Wagensonner, courtesy of the Yale Babylonian Collection.

Vessel with faces of female deities Mesopotamia, Sumerian Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2500 B.C.E.). Photo by Art Resource, New York, ©The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Vessel with faces of female deities Mesopotamia, Sumerian Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2500 B.C.E.). Photo by Art Resource, New York, ©The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Fragment of a vessel with frontal image of goddess Mesopotamia, Sumerian Early Dynastic IIIb period (ca. 2400 B.C.E.). Photo by Olaf M. Teßmer, ©Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Vorderasiatisches Museum.
Cylinder seal (and modern impression) with sheep and stylized plants Mesopotamia, Sumerian Late Uruk–Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 3300–2900 B.C.E.). Photo by Klaus Wagensonner (seal) and Graham S. Haber (impression).
Stele of Shara-igizi-Abzu Mesopotamia, Sumerian, possibly Umma (modern Tell Jokha) Early Dynastic I–II period (ca. 2900–2600 B.C.E.). Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, funds from various donors, 1958.
Seated female figure with vessel in hands Mesopotamia, Neo-Sumerian, Girsu (modern Tello) Ur III period (ca. 2,112–2,004 B.C.E.). Photo by Franck Raux, ©RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, New York.
Cylinder seal (and modern impression) with goddesses Ninishkun and Ishtar Mesopotamia, Akkadian Akkadian period (ca. 2,334–2,154 B.C.E.). Photo courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Cylinder seal with mother and child attended by women Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), PG 871 Akkadian period (ca. 2,334–2,154 B.C.E.). Photo courtesy of the Penn Museum.
Modern impression with mother and child attended by women Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), PG 871 Akkadian period (ca. 2,334–2,154 B.C.E.). Photo courtesy of the Penn Museum.
Head of a high priestess (?) with inlaid eyes Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar), area EH, south of gipar Akkadian period (ca. 2334–2154 BC). Photo courtesy of the Penn Museum.
Fragment of a standing female figure with clasped hands Mesopotamia, Neo-Sumerian, Girsu (modern Tello) Possibly the reign of Gudea, ruler of Lagash (ca. 2,150 B.C.E.). Photo by Thierry Olivier, ©Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Thierry Olivier/Art Resource, New York.
“Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia” is on view at the Morgan Library and Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, New York, October 14, 2022–February 19, 2023.
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Just under a year after her passing, Joan Didion’s personal estate has come to auction. Until November 16, “An American Icon: Property From the Collection of Joan Didion” at Stair Galleries, an auction house in Hudson, NY, present an intimate view of the acclaimed writer and critic through 224 lots that reveal Didion’s tastes, style, and sensibilities.
Those lots include fine art—some depicting Didion herself, her late husband John Dunne, and daughter Quintana Roo—alongside furniture, homeware, and books by the likes of Norman Mailer and Joyce Carol Oates. Proceeds will benefit Columbia University’s research into movement disorders (Didion died of complications related to Parkinson’s), and the Sacramento City College scholarship for women in literature, both chosen by Didion’s family.
The sale was spearheaded by New York-based consulting group Art Market Advisors, which approached Stair Galleries to make a proposal to Didion’s estate. “We have a strong history of handling single-owner collections from notable people,” Lisa Thomas, Director of Fine Arts Department at Stair Galleries, told Artnet News. “We were thrilled to have been chosen.”
“We chose items for the sale that would help us tell the story of who Joan Didion was and how she lived in her private space,” she continued. “Every item in the sale has meaning in some way.”
The digital catalog notes that Didion and her family embodied an intellectual, bicoastal glamour that translated into Didion’s writing—and her belongings. Upon seeing her parents’ new Upper East Side apartment in 1988, Quintana Roo reportedly remarked, “I hope you California it up.”
And Didion, who grew up in Sacramento, certainly did. Among the lots is an image that depicts a West Coast Didion, perched atop her Stingray Corvette for photographer Julian Wasser shortly after the publication of Slouching Towards Bethlehem in 1968. The writer’s own art collection favors landscapes, nature, and abstraction, with works by Jennifer Bartlett and Richard Diebenkorn harkening, as always, back to California.
Didion’s craft also centers the “An American Icon”: her Victorian-style rattan chair, her XL partner’s desk from California, and a set of unused notebooks—preloaded with potential—collectively offer a picture of where and how she wrote.
Preview more of the collection below.
Pair of Celine Faux Tortoiseshell Sunglasses. Estimate: $400–$800

Les Johnson, Portrait of Joan Didion (1977). Estimate: $3,000–$5,000

Richard Serra, Malcolm X (1981). Estimate: $10,000–$15,000

Jennifer Bartlett, House: Dots, Hatches (1999). Estimate: $2,000–$4,000

American Oak, Walnut and Bird’s Eye Maple Partner’s Desk, J. Breuner, Sacramento, California. Estimate: $8,000–$12,000

Richard Diebenkorn, Twelve (1986). Estimate: $50,000–$70,000

Group of Three Victorian Style Upholstered and Oak Slipper Chairs. Estimate: $500–$700

Mary Ellen Mark, John Dunne and Joan Didion – New York City (1996). Estimate: $2,000—$4,000

Transfer Printed Porcelain “California” Charger. Estimate: $200–$300

Annie Leibovitz, Joan and Quintana (1989). Estimate: $3,000–$5,000
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Immersive exhibitions are back in a big way—heartening evidence that New York City and the world beyond are recovering from the stringent social restrictions of the past two years.
The latest sign that the art-going public is ready to get up close and personal with each other is Friday’s opening of “Monet’s Garden” at the Seamen’s Bank Building on Wall Street, kicking off the show’s American tour after stints in Berlin, Zurich and Mülheim. This is not the first time French impressionist Claude Monet joins the ranks of art superstars like Gustav Klimt and Frida Kahlo, whose works have also been interpreted in the digital, room-filling format.
“It was Monet’s own wish that the viewers of his art would submerge themselves and dive into his art,” Nepomuk Schessl of Alegria Konzert GmbH, the show’s producer, told Artnet News. “This is why he painted his famous water lilies in such a large format—so that the viewer would feel like she or he is being surrounded by water. In a way, the immersive concept was already predetermined in Monet’s art and seems like an unavoidable logical next step.”
Schessl pointed out their show “takes it one step further” beyond the existing zeitgeist. Visitors “will be able to engage with his art, thereby understanding—not just by reading but by interaction—why Monet was a revolutionary of his time,” Schessl wrote.
“Monet’s Garden” presents the artist’s story across three segments. First, “The Studio” plunges visitors into Monet’s methods and perspectives, as well as his thinking, his blindness and the destruction of his own work. “The Garden” reimagines Monet’s infamous property in Giverny—his greatest inspiration—featuring physical and sensory elements like smells and a real bridge to walk over.
“The Showroom” caps the experience off with an exclusive focus on Monet’s artworks, particularly his series of monumental paintings of water lilies. There aren’t any real paintings in the show, so leave your mashed potatoes at home. Instead, high-resolution images with admittedly intense textural detail are projected onto the walls, creating that hallmark “immersive” experience.
Take a look for yourself below. Tickets start at $35.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.
Installation view of “Monet’s Garden.” Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who undeniably has already garnered a cult-like following of loyal fans and admirers over the past several decades, is the latest artist to get the so-called “immersive” treatment in New York.
Notwithstanding the fact that some observers feel as if we are nearing the saturation point with these splashy—and typically pricey—events, this one is a thoughtful, yet fun, and often very trippy deep dive into the artist’s rich life that also had more than its fair share of struggles.
Introductory wall texts for “Frida Kahlo Immersive Biography.” Photo by Eileen Kinsella
Unlike other wander-through immersive installations that rely heavily on music and slide projections, this exhibition, staged at a sprawling warehouse in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, uses a wide variety of show platforms to tell Kahlo’s story. After passing through elaborately lit ofrendas (offerings), flowers, and hanging vines, visitors are greeted with wall texts, written in both English and Spanish, that go deep into the artist’s life. They cover everything from her childhood (including the horrific injuries she sustained in a bus accident that resulted in lifelong consequences) to her development as an artist, wife, and mother, including her often tortured marriage to artist and muralist Diego Rivera, whose career often overshadowed her achievements during their lifetimes.
Installation view of The Accident by Nueveojos & Ideal at “Frida Kahlo Immersive Biography”. Photo by Eileen Kinsella.
One holographic, multi-dimensional video installation, The Accident, depicts the impact of the bus collision by showing slow-motion abstracted fragments colliding and shattering. Frida herself, who often painted self portraits to tell stories about her life, said she could never depict it because she was unable to reduce it to one image. Noting that she was left with her spinal column broken in three points, a fractured clavicle, broken ribs and other major injuries, the work asks: “How many images are necessary to reflect pain?” according to the wall text accompanying the work.
In all, there are seven different interactive rooms complete with 360-projects, virtual reality experiences, historical photographs, installations, and more. In total, the journey takes about 90 minutes and is appropriate for children and adults alike. One particular VR installation puts the viewer in the famous bed, where Kahlo recovered from her injuries and includes a trippy ride through landscapes that echo her Surrealist paintings and iconic imagery.
Brooklyn is the fifth city to host the show following other stops in the U.S. and Europe. The exhibition will continue on to venues in Latin America next year.
The show gives guests “the opportunity to look beyond the surface of her world-famous artwork and get to know the woman who overcame hardship, created beauty from pain, broke boundaries, and continues to inspire today,” according to a statement from organizers Primo Entertainment and Loud and Live.
Here are a few highlights.
Installation view of “Immersive Frida Kahlo Biography,” in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Image courtesy of The Frida Kahlo Corporation.
Installation view of “Immersive Frida Kahlo Biography,” in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Image courtesy of The Frida Kahlo Corporation.
Installation view of “Immersive Frida Kahlo Biography,” in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Image courtesy of The Frida Kahlo Corporation.
Installation view of “Immersive Frida Kahlo Biography,” in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Image courtesy of The Frida Kahlo Corporation.
Installation view of “Frida Kahlo Immersive Biography,” in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Photo by Eileen Kinsella
“Frida Kahlo Immersive Biography” continues through November 27, 2022 at 259 Water Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Ticket prices for adults start at $33.99, and those for children aged 5-15 start at $25.99. Children aged four and under get in for free. There are also family packages available as well as student discounts and rates for school groups.

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From a rugged northern desert to an urban marina, a hotel foyer to an airport terminal, a shopping center to a hospital, a theatre to a museum, art will be installed across Qatar. This, at least, is the aim of Qatar Museums, the government institution founded in 2005 and tasked with supercharging the Gulf state’s cultural status.
Although the building of starchitect-designed museums has drawn the most attention—Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel, and Jacques Herzog all have projects in the country—funding public artworks has also been central to Qatar Museums’ mission.
In the run up to the FIFA World Cup, such ambitions have been amplified by Qatar Creates, the country’s very own year of culture, comprising 300 different experiences, for which former soccer star David Beckham is the public face. The goal is for the more than 100 public artworks to form part of the Qatar World Cup’s legacy, enduring long after the expected 1.5 million visitors return home.
“As tourists visit this region of Qatar to experience these new art installations they will learn about Qatar’s natural landscape and history and come away with a better understanding of the diversity of Qatari culture,” said Qatar Museums chairwoman Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, in a recent press statement.
And as with its museums and stadia, Qatar has commissioned some of the most celebrated names in the art world to create site-specific installations. Olafur Eliasson has placed giant rings and mirrors in the desert. Fourteen bronze fetal sculptures by Damien Hirst line the road to a hospital. Sculptures by KAWS, Tom Otterness, and Urs Fischer greet visitors at the Hamad International Airport. One of Richard Serra’s most expansive works stands in the Brouq nature reserve. The list goes on.
See some of Qatar’s most eye-catching public installation artworks below.
Ernesto Neto, SlugTurtle, TemplEarth (2022). Photo: Iwan Baan, Commissioned by Qatar Museums.
Installation view of Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows travelling on the sea of the day (2022), Doha, Qatar. Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy of the artist.
Richard Serra, East-West/West-East (2014). Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy of Qatar Museums.
Subodh Gupta, Gandhi’s Three Monkeys (2012). Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums
Simone Fattal, Gates to the Sea (2019). Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums.
Faraj Daham, The Ship (2022). Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums.
Isa Genzke, Two Orchids (2015), Qatar National Theatre. Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums.
Damien Hirst, The Miraculous Journey (2013). Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums.
KAWS, SMALL LIE (2018). Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums.
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