Art Monthly Magazine
Fiercely independent since 1976
Contents
Issue 498 July–August 2026
Delcey Morelos, origo, 2026
Interview
On Earth
Delcy Morelos interviewed by Elizabeth Fullerton
Through my art practice, I place the viewer in a position to reconnect with the earth through their bodies and remember where they came from.
Tania Candiani, Waterbirds, Migratory Sound Flow, 2022
Feature
Art and the Hydrocene
As access to water becomes increasingly unequal, Bob Dickinson argues that it might be time for us to adopt the newly coined term ‘hydrocene’ to describe our age
The counterargument that should be presented when facing up to the great mismanagement and theft of water might be found in the increasing interest that exists in hydro-humanities, a practice that is closely linked with the concept of the hydro-commons, which insists that water sources, everywhere, all over the planet, are interconnected.
Sonia Boué, Safe as Houses, 2020
Feature
Art and Autism
Sonia Boué surveys how neurodiversity liberates us from the capitalist myth of neurological normativity and conformity
In ‘Empire of Normality’, the philosopher Robert Chapman traces the myth of ‘normal brains’ to the intensification of capitalism, which chimes with Oliver Burkeman’s writing on productivity and deep time.
Sung Tieu, Human Dignity Shall Be Inviolable, 2026
Feature
On Human Dignity
Dan Rees reflects on issues raised by Sung Tieu’s work for the German Pavilion in Venice
A guiding question – perhaps the central question that permeates Sung Tieu’s work – is what remains of dignity once it is mediated and administered through bureaucratic forms of recognition.
 |
|
From the Back Catalogue
Bread and Circuses
Peter Scott on the mayor, the waterfalls and the art of neoliberalism. First published in 2008, now free online.
|
Nancy Lupo, Our Villas at Apollo Mainz, 2025
Profile
Nancy Lupo
Lizzie Lloyd
It frees her to follow the work’s own associative, affective and incidental connections, away from market demands for clarity, accessibility or simplified meaning, instead following a serious, if buried, logic.
sponsored
Editorial
Radical Democracy
Democracy is under threat from authoritarians who are attacking its principles under the guise of defending it. We could well learn from the tactics of artists who have found ways to oppose dictatorships.
As the Republic approaches its 250th anniversary, comparisons with the decline of imperial Rome are irresistible, not least the blatant abuses of power, accusations of corruption and nepotism and, of course, the scandals that have dogged both Donald Trump administrations.
sponsored
Artnotes
Excellence Everywhere
ACE abandons is previous ten-year strategy half way through while announcing a return to ‘excellence’ as a key priority; Dawn Airey, former commercial TV exec, takes over as chair of ACE, replacing Nicholas Serota, former Tate director; proposals to close Dundee’s Cooper Gallery meet opposition; artists turn to bartering to make ends meet; Barack Obama and Donald Trump unveil very different architectural structures; plus the latest on galleries, people, prizes and more.
Obituary
VALIE EXPORT 1940–2026
David Barrett
Meriem Bennani, Life on the CAPS, 2018–22, Thessaloniki Biennale
Exhibitions
Nancy Holt: MoonSunStarEarthSkyWater
Goodwood Foundation
Karen Di Franco
Joanna Piotrowska: A moment of darkness at noon
The Common Guild, Glasgow
Maria Walsh
Bogdan Ablozhnyy: Pedestrian Space
a.Squire, London
Michael Archer
Augustus Serapinas: Physical Culture
Nottingham Contemporary
Hugh Nicholson
Olivia Plender: Little Fennel’s Complaint
Modern Art Oxford
Luisa Lorenza Corna
Drawn Through Time
Lakeside Arts, Nottingham
Phil Tarrant
The Environments of Franco Vaccari
Museion, Bolzano
Martin Holman
Gray Wielebinski: Bring Me Men
Nicoletti, London
Chris McCormack
Glasgow International
various venues
Greg Thomas
9th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art: everything must change. Radical Intelligence. Saloniki 9
various venues
Sarah E James
Colectivo Acciones de Arte, NO+, 1983
Performance
Colectivo Acciones de Arte: Radical Democracy
Juan José Santos
Several original letters detail how the collective convinced Chile’s aeronautical authorities and municipal officials that their planned action – dropping 400,000 lea!lets over Santiago from six small planes – was an innocent work of ecological art.
spread from Curating and Repair
Books
Curating & Repair
Morgan Quaintance
Though the practice of curating is yet to be regulated by a set of agreed criteria, similar to ICOM’s efforts to delineate museological practice, there is a tacit understanding of modes of best practice and procedures that inform the discipline’s conventions. Unfortunately, there are moments when all of them seem to be present in this observant publication.
Kahlil Joseph, BLKNEWS – Terms and Conditions, 2025
Film
Kahlil Joseph: BLKNEWS – Terms and Conditions
Chris Clarke
A throughline is established with a speculative view into the future: a mammoth hovering ocean liner called The Nautica traverses former slave routes between West Africa, The Caribbean and Brazil.
‘No Master Territories’, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
Report
Looking Back at Radical Feminist Filmmaking
Juliet Jacques
The fact that the historical exhibition ‘No Master Territories’ has been held in galleries is testament to how such avant-garde, fiercely independent film cultures no longer exist in the same way: the production and screening of such works are now handled primarily by art institutions.
Alia Farid, Chibayish, 2022
Reports
Letter from Athens
Mandy Merzaban
Alia Farid’s film Chibayish is an oral storytelling of children and families who have lived along the marshes of southern Iraq for generations. Reshaped by war, state-led drainage projects and climate change, the film becomes a record of the declining wetlands.
Grant Falardeau, installation view, Boros Collection
Reports
Letter from Berlin
George MacBeth
Those were, however, more buoyant times for the German art market; the current dismal market outlook has brought the return of more gilt-edged media.
Joseph Yaeger, There is a light and it always goes out, 2021, estimate $60,000, sold for $477,300
Salesrooms
New York Sales
Colin Gleadell
At Phillips, which is the normal stronghold for young contemporaries, the record set at Sotheby’s for Joseph Yaeger tumbled again for There is a light and it always goes out, 2021, a painting of a hand holding a match as it threatens to burn the fingers, which would seem, from the lengthy catalogue note, to bear references to Derek Jarman, The Smiths, Lawrence of Arabia and Albrecht Dürer all at once.
Chris Steward, No ICE in the Cup: Los Angeles, 2026
Artlaw
No ICE in the Cup
Henry Lydiate
Artists across the US have been protesting against law enforcement raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in US cities that are staging the six-week long FIFA Men’s World Cup football tournament.
Artlaw Retrospective
Henry Lydiate marks the magazine’s 50th year by reviewing his Artlaw column since its first publication in 1976. Throughout 2026, one broad subject is explored each month, noting significant events and issues, and commenting on key changes and developments to date.
Read the Artlaw Retrospective articles
Have Art Monthly delivered to your door
Read every issue ever published right now
