ART NEWS: Sept. 01

 

Andra Ursuţa’s “Retina Turner” stages vision at the edge of exhaustion. Her new body of work comprises sixteen monumental, egg-shaped slabs of cast glass. Each slab contains spectral presences—”Private Dancers”, human–machine hybrids who glide, stutter, or dissolve beneath crystalline surfaces. Hypnotic and elusive, they perform the instability of sight in a moment when looking has become retinal apathy, overburdened and hollowed out. Never in history has humanity produced more images, or made more of the world visible faster. Everything can be shown, easily and instantly. Yet this saturation has not led to clarity. Instead, vision has become diffuse, repetitive, exhausted—a glut of images that occludes the very possibility of the visionary. Ursuţa’s “Private Dancers” dwell precisely here, in the gap between the infinite production of images and a faltering, rolling eye. Each figure appears in both translucent and opaque aspects, as if vision were oscillating between clarity and obscurity. These entoptic specters are embodied floaters, phosphenes, and drifting flashes that belong to the eye rather than the external world. They are assembled from fragments—anthropomorphically reconstituted studio flotsam, improvised bodies, visual snow that drifts across the field of sight. In these monumentalized fragments, what remains to be seen is not the spectacle outside but the noise within. Info: David Zwirner Gallery, 537 West 20th Street, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 10/9-18/10/2025, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.davidzwirner.com/

Nora Turato’s new work “they filled me up with words”, conceived especially for the n.b.k. facade, marks a turning point in her practice. Originating in her latest cross-media cycle and the eponymous performance pool7, and serves as the cycle’s culmination. Here, the artist turns to her own body as a source of both spoken and written language. Years of “ingesting” countless found words are likened to the physiological acts of “devouring,” “digesting,” and “retching.” Turato examines the conditioning that shapes human behavior, focusing on how learned patterns become physically manifest. Handwriting appears not merely as a repre- sentation of language but as the direct result of internalized behavior. In contrast to typography, which seeks to replace the executing hand, the immediate gesture of handwriting connects the work to Turato’s performative practice, which lies at the heart of her art. Language – in both spoken and written form – is the core material of Nora Turato’s practice. In wall pieces, videos, sound works, performances, and her artist book series “pool”, she works with found language from a wide range of sources – the internet, social media, news media, literature, films, music, and everyday conver- sations. This vast verbal surplus is meticulously reorganized and distilled to its essence, foregrounding social conditions, societal developments, and cultural phenomena that shape language and its use. Info: Curator: Lidiya Anastasova, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n/b/k/), Chausseestrasse 128 / 129, Berlin, Germany, Duration: 11/9/2025-31/8/2026, www.nbk.org/en

World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 on its world-wide tour, showcases the stories that matter with photography from the 68th annual World Press Photo Contest. Presenting the results of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, the annual exhibition showcases the best and most important photojournalism and documentary photography of the last year. The winners were chosen by an independent jury made of 31 professionals from around the world who reviewed more than 59,320 photographs entered by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries. The World Press Photo exhibition brings together the world’s best work in the field of photojournalism. In times that often seem confusing, it is the images captured by press photographers — often taken at the risk of their lives — that provide orientation. They connect us to the world, make abstract news tangible, and show us reality. The 42 award-winning images were selected by international expert juries from a total of 59,320 submissions by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries. Info: WestLicht. Schauplatz für Fotografie, Westbahnstraße 40, Vienna, Austria, Duration: 12/9-9/11/202, Days & Hours: Mon-Wed & Fri-Sun 11:00-19:00, Thu 11:00-21:00, www.westlicht.com/

“Running Arcs (For John Cage)” (1992), a monumental steel sculpture by the late American artist Richard Serra (1938–2024), is making its long-awaited U.S. debut. The work, rarely seen since its first and only presentation more than three decades ago, premiered on September 12, 1992, at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, Germany. The installation consists of three identical conical steel arcs, each inverted in relation to the next and arranged in a staggered progression that creates shifting perspectives as viewers move around them. Every segment measures roughly 1,585 cm (52 ft) in length, 396 cm (13 ft) in height, and 5 cm (2 in) in thickness. Imposing in scale yet precise in form, the work embodies Serra’s lifelong exploration of how sculptural mass, balance, and spatial tension alter the viewer’s perception of architecture and movement. Dedicated to composer John Cage, the piece reflects a dialogue between sound, silence, and space—qualities central to both artists’ practices. Info: Gagosian, 522 West 21st Street, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 12/9-20/12/2025, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, https://gagosian.com/

“Destiny”, is exhibition of new paintings by Josh Smith, on view at the gallery’s 606 N Western Avenue location in Los Angeles. This is Smith’s first solo presentation in Los Angeles. For “Destiny”, Smith has made a series of paintings that continue his long-running dialogue with the grim reaper, a figure that has appeared in his work for years in countless guises. In these new canvases, the reaper is set loose in New York City, riding a bicycle through familiar streets, cutting past landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. The once faceless symbol of death now has eyes and stares back at you, tangled in the swirl of the city. It is funny, unsettling, and alive. Smith’s paintings are built out of seemingly contradictory parts: loose but controlled, casual but deliberate, improvised yet tightly bound. He uses the bikes almost like scaffolding. Wheels, frames, and spokes break up the surface and give him an excuse to push color and shape across the support. The reapers wear cloaks made from bold strokes of black, but also from sharp hits of high-tone green, violet, or electric orange. Each canvas is a balancing act where lines threaten to collapse but never do. Info: David Zwirner Gallery, 606 N Western Avenue, Los Angeles, Ca, USA, Duration: 13/9-5/11/2025, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.davidzwirner.com/

What does a vehicle say about the person driving it? Kunsthal Rotterdam will be presenting the exhibition “Homo Mobilis”, a photographic project by Martin Roemers. For years, Roemers has been photographing people and their vehicles – from compact city cars to throbbing trucks, and from tuktuks to motor scooters. Over thirty photographs show that these vehicles are not just a means to travel from A to B, but also reveal something about the status, identity, and culture they originate from . For this project, Roemers has travelled to cities in the Netherlands, Germany, China, Ukraine, India, Senegal, and the United States. In public spaces, he and his team build a mobile photo studio: a white backdrop measuring 12 meters long and 6 meters high that blocks out all visual distractions. This neutral setting places full emphasis on the person and the vehicle, allowing subtle details such as posture, gaze, and material to speak. To some a vehicle is purely practical, but to others it is an extension of their identity. The portraits contain information about only four things: name, occupation, vehicle brand and location. This minimal context leaves room for imagination and invites personal interpretation. Info: Kunsthal Rotterdam, Museumpark, Westzeedijk 341, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Duration: 27/9/2025-1/3/2026, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, www.kunsthal.nl/

For thirteen consecutive years, the Platforms Project – Independent Art Fair has been shaping a vibrant meeting ground where ideas, practices, and perspectives are exchanged among hundreds of artists and theorists from across the globe. Dedicated not only to the visual arts but also to the broader field of creative expression, the fair functions as a catalyst for dialogue, collaboration, and experimentation. Its mission is to serve as a dynamic nucleus for the emergence and documentation of cutting-edge artistic trends, while simultaneously fostering lasting connections between independent platforms and artist collectives. In 2025, the Platforms Project becomes once again a crossroads of contemporary artistic communities: collectives and artists from 26 countries converge, with 64 platforms presenting the work of more than 900 artists. Beyond the main exhibition, the program expands into a rich constellation of events, including symposia, presentations, performances, workshops, and guided tours, creating multiple entry points for both professionals and the wider public. What sets the Platforms Project apart is its community-driven spirit. Far from being an impersonal art fair, it is a living ecosystem of creativity and exchange, radiating energy and providing space for the presentation of independent and alternative art. It is not merely an event—it is a shared cultural experience, one that continues to redefine the possibilities of collective artistic practice on a global scale/ Info: Directors: Artemis Potamianou and Michalis Argyrou, Artistic Director: Artemis Potamianou, Platforms Project– Independent Art Fair 2025, Tobacco Factory Lenorman 218, Athens, Greece, Duration: 9-12/10/2024, Days & Hours: Thu (9/10) 18:00-22:00, Fri-Sun (10-12/10) 12:00-21:00, Admission: free, www.platformsproject.com