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Fiercely independent since 1976
Contents
Issue 497 June 2026
Anna Barham, Out of the gravel, 2022/26, installation view
Interview
Disfluency
Anna Barham interviewed by Lizzie Lloyd
Each reader re-authors the text in the act of reading, and I was fascinated by the way agency was distributed within a group and between human and machine.
Isa Genzken, Untitled, 1998
Feature
On Sculpture: Against Standing
Mark Prince argues that sculpture’s once default position as a surrogate for presence has been challenged, taking it in new and more interesting directions
Anne Truitt’s anomalous sculptural idiom – a minimalistic formalism – points in two directions which seem mutually exclusive: ‘standing’ but ‘intactly’, it complies with sculpture’s definitional conditions to escape their confines.
Chavajay Benvenuto, Corn Man, 2020
Feature
Art and ID
Bob Dickinson observes how in western societies the debate around ID cards centres on issues about security while for many it remains a political struggle to achieve the right to an identity
In 2024, a sample of the bureaucratic paperwork and proof required by relatively specialised applicants, such as artists, to enter Europe was added to the British Library’s Sir John Ritblat Treasures Gallery in a display case organised by Daniel Lowe, curator of the Library’s Arabic Collections.
Jawed Karim, Me at the zoo, 2005
Feature
Me at the Zoo
For Giovanni Aloi, the very first YouTube video captures the contemporary mode of looking as a form of consumerist browsing
If Me at the zoo has become worthy of a museum collection, it is because it condenses with ruthless intensity the conditions of attention, representation and consumption that have come to shape art and communication in the first quarter of the millennium.
From the Back Catalogue Viral Images
Sophie J Williamson on the case of Khaled Mohamed Saeed. First published in 2013, now free online.
Lydia Ourahmane, (45.3820696, 12.3294242), 2026
Profile
Lydia Ourahmane
Chris McCormack
Lydia Ourahmane’s pier (titled after its future GPS co-ordinates) is expected to leave the gallery during the exhibition to be installed on the island; the carved-out tiled flooring that houses each of the eight posts will be the only remaining mark of its former presence.
sponsored
Editorial
The Human Zoo
The overt and increasingly covert introduction of Smart technology, in both the public and private spheres, has opened us up to dangerous levels of surreptitious surveillance and non-consensual filming, not only by state agents but also by so-called content creators and influencers.
As Giovanni Aloi warns, such ‘frictionless viewing’, whether strolling at the zoo or scrolling on a digital device, cultivates the dangerous perception of the subject – animal or human – as being ‘perpetually available’ as ‘content’ with or without their consent.
ANGA’s protest march at the Venice Biennale
Artnotes
Venice Sanctioned
Protests come to a head at the Venice Biennale; photographer and social activist Misan Harriman is smeared by the right-wing press; a large-scale Banksy sculpture appears in Westminster; a large-scale Antony Gormley sculpture is removed from Reform-led Kent; London’s Artist Garden showcase for women artists is under threat from TfL; London Met University lecturers strike over cuts to academic staff in the Art Department and beyond; research shows that engaging with the arts reduces biological ageing at a similar level to physical exercise; plus the latest on galleries, people, prizes and more.
Racheal Crowther, ‘Liquid Trust’, Chisenhale, London
Exhibitions
Anne Truitt: Pioneer of Minimal Art
K20, Düsseldorf
Camiel van Winkel
David Hammons and Jannis Kounellis
White Cube, New York
Martin Holman
Ruth Asawa: Retrospective
Guggenheim Bilbao
Tom Denman
sponsored
Racheal Crowther: Liquid Trust
Chisenhale, London
Michael Archer
Jumana Manna: Your Time Passes And Mine Has No Ends
Hollybush Gardens, London
Sarah E James
Paul Eastwood: Unreadings
Mostyn, Llandudno
Emily Butler
sponsored
Zahra Malkani: Noorani Metal Sound
Auto Italia, London
Amrita Dhallu
Sara Cwynar: Baby Blue Benzo
The Approach, London
Lynton Talbot
The Coming of Age
Wellcome Collection, London
Marcus Verhagen
61st Venice Biennale: In Minor Keys
various venues
Chris Clarke
image from Chickenman Mkhize’s WORDSWORDSWORDS published by Wax366
Artist’s Books
Artists’ Books Round-up
Greg Thomas
The interest lies partly in the satirical power with which Chickenman Mkhize mimics and deconstructs public rules and signage in apartheid-era South Africa’s crumbling racist regime.
Ibrahim Shaddad, Jamal, 1981
Film
Courtisane festival 2026
Nathan Geyer
One of the most startling discoveries of the festival, Ibrahim Shaddad’s Jamal, 1981, featured in a programme of Sudanese cinema curated by Rund Alarabi & Vincent Stroe. Pitched to the Sudanese Ministry of Culture as a documentary about traditional sesame oil manufacturing, Shaddad’s film is in fact an intensely noisy piece of punk expressionism.
Peter Treherne, Matter of Britain, 2026
Film
Open City Documentary Festival
Oliver Dixon
Peter Treherne’s Matter of Britain, 2026, a collaborative documentary of a village’s performance of Arthurian myth, proposes cinema as a kind of residual ritual, a practice with which to trace our collective histories and subjectivities, operating firmly within remaining institutional infrastructures.
Tarek Atoui, ‘Souffle Continu, Sunflowers’
Sound
Tarek Atoui: Souffle Continu, Sunflowers
Joanne Laws
At Tarek Atoui’s feet is a sprawling web of transparent plastic piping that flows from a central chamber to a series of neat wooden boxes, which act as little islands within this fantastical cartography. Contained within are reeds, organ blowers and variations of flutes, with an intricate circuitry of electrical cables feeding a constellation of interfaces.
‘Document H.E.T. Alternative Publishing and Community Undercurrents’, The NewBridge Project, Newcastle
Reports
Alternative Art Publishing
Caitlin Merrett King
The exhibition at NewBridge Project presents a selection of Document H.E.T., a collection of radical and independently published printed matter from the 1970s to the 1990s – including information catalogues, community newsletters and magazines – gathered by Newcastle-based printmaker and graphic designer Niall Greaves.
Karlo Kacharava, Untitled, 1988
Reports
Letter from Tbilisi
Cherry Smyth
When it rains in Tbilisi, the buildings pour. Drainpipes empty straight onto the street, where pavements stream. Poor drainage could symbolise what refuses to be channelled out of sight in Georgia. Prolific graffiti signals the very alive tensions around self-determination – ‘Long live free Georgia’ – attesting to the defiant pride that greets you here.
Gao Zhen, The Execution of Christ, 2009
Artlaw
Repression in China
Henry Lydiate
In 2022, Gao Zhen emigrated to the US. In 2024, while in Beijing visiting his family, he was arrested, 100 of his artworks were seized, and his wife and seven-year-old son were banned from leaving China. Chinese media reports described Gao as a ‘so-called artist, who caters to Western political agendas through pseudo-art that vilifies and insults revered figures’.
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
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Oreet Ashery’s Piece, 2025, modelled by Onyeka Igwe
Art Monthly x Oreet Ashery
PIECE
To celebrate Art Monthly’s 50th anniversary in 2026, Oreet Ashery has produced a T-shirt to support the magazine’s fundraising campaign.
• Limited edition of 30
• Organic white cotton
• One-size
• Introductory price £39 including UK delivery
Each T-shirt is supplied with a separate printed poem signed by the artist, which includes the lines:
Piece by piece
No Justice, No Peace
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May: Sarah E James explains why political action always falls to individual artists, Matthew Bowman discusses Lucia Pizzani’s exhibition at Focal Point Gallery. Hosted by Matt Hale.
Mar: Dave Beech argues that the still life should be re-examined in the light of wider political, social and cultural contexts to understand what he calls ‘still lifescapes’. Hosted by Matt Hale.
Feb: Tom Denman considers the work of Leah Clements, including her coming exhibition at Peer in London, and Bob Dickinson discusses his feature ‘Art and Contested Memory’, which warns of the need to preserve collective memory against attempts by the far-right regimes to erase it. Hosted by Chris McCormack.
Michael O’Pray Prize
Award for new writing on moving image
Now in its 10th edition, the Michael O’Pray Prize is an award for new writing on innovation and experimentation in the moving image. The prize is open to all early-career writers based in the UK and is free to apply to.
• £800 first prize
• £400 prize for two special mentions
• Each published by Art Monthly and FVU
Application deadline: noon 16 June 2026
More info and applications: www.fvu.co.uk
Judging Panel
• Mimi Howard
• Lola Olufemi
• Georgina Starr
• Chris McCormack
• Angelica Sule
Writing Futures (free online event) 6pm 26 May 2026
Q&A between Art Monthly associate editor Chris McCormack and FVU director Angelica Sule about what makes a strong pitch for a particular article, how to go about researching where might be receptive to a pitch for a particular article and how a professional editorial process works.
The Michael O’Pray Prize is a Film and Video Umbrella initiative, in partnership with Art Monthly.
Aiming to uplift writers who are from backgrounds currently underrepresented in cultural journalism. Art Monthly and Edinburgh Art Festival | Apply by 14 June edinburghartfestival.com
promoted
Michael O’Pray Prize
For new writing on innovation and experimentation in the moving image. The prize is open to all early-career writers based in the UK, and applications are free. Art Monthly and Film and Video Umbrella | Apply by 16 June fvu.co.uk
promoted
Callout for Expressions of Interest from Artists
Aldeburgh & Fearon Streets Neighbourhood Watch, London | 28 May docs.google.com
1-year drawing intensive with live tuition, flexible course choices, and critical dialogue. For artists worldwide. Starting January 2027. Royal Drawing School, London | Apply by 29 July royaldrawingschool.org
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