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Dan Duray

Dan Duray

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One Fine Show: Rana Begum’s “Reflection” at the Gallery at Windsor in Florida

Begum's post-minimalism trades the cold certainty of those earlier practitioners for a more delicate and provisional version that is more...

yesterday 2

Observer

Dan Duray

Inside Debra Wimpfheimer’s Vision for the Queens Museum

The incoming executive director will oversee the museum’s next phase of development focused on accessibility and deeper engagement with diverse...

wednesday 6

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Ann Hamilton, still and moving • the tactile image” at the Cleveland Museum of Art

Using light and texture, she transforms archival museum objects into enigmatic visual presences that feel both ancient and newly discovered.

06.03.2026 5

Observer

Dan Duray

Timo Kappeller’s Superpower Is Merging Institutional Rigor With Commercial Momentum

With experience spanning galleries and non-traditional institutions, he has learned to balance slow-burn artistic development with the speed required...

04.03.2026 6

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Joyce Pensato” at ICA Miami

Few cultural figures have invited as many reinventions as Batman, but he’s never had more personality than when rendered in Pensato’s hand.

28.02.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

Gray Art Museum’s Alison Weaver On the Breadth of the University Museum Mandate

Cross-disciplinary collaboration, from the humanities to science and technology, is central to her vision of what a university museum can be.

25.02.2026 6

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Exhibitions of art collections are not meant to be cohesive; this one is a mixtape where each track is strong even if it doesn't flow naturally into...

20.02.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

Artist Diana Thater and CMACC’s Cass Fino-Radin On Redbuilding an Archive After Disaster

"Out of over 200 artworks, I’ve identified 55 that need to be located. We’re now working to find those pieces in institutions and private...

18.02.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

Francesco Bonami’s Case Against Trend-Chasing in the Museum Business

Under Bonami’s direction, By Art Matters in Hangzhou, China, has embraced a curatorial model that favors instinct, experimentation and intellectual...

14.02.2026 4

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Michael Rakowitz, Proxies for Poets and Palaces” at the Stavanger Art Museum

At the center of the exhibition are eight reliefs conceived for the show as part of his ongoing series 'The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist'—his...

13.02.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Nothing Still About Still Lifes” at the Deji Art Museum

The blockbusters on display are incredible and expensive—so much so that walking through the exhibition can feel like going to a really good preview...

07.02.2026 2

Observer

Dan Duray

Oscar Murillo Reflects On Building a Body of Work That Resists Linear Time

The artist frames his practice as a form of sedimentation, where ideas, marks and social encounters coexist across different temporal speeds.

05.02.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “The Lost World, The Art of Minnie Evans” at the High

In Atlanta, the artist’s hallucinatory compositions challenge the boundaries of so-called folk art with their depth and technical complexity.

30.01.2026 6

Observer

Dan Duray

The Park Avenue Armory’s Deborah Warner On Sidestepping Genre and Embracing Collision

In the Armory’s unique blend of performance spaces, she sees opportunities to embrace friction and fluidity between forms.

28.01.2026 5

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Monuments” at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary and The Brick

This exhibition of contemporary commissions paired with decommissioned memorials proposes new ways of grappling with history and memory in a fractured...

23.01.2026 6

Observer

Dan Duray

Between MoAD and SFMOMA, Cornelia Stokes Charts a Unique Curatorial Path

"I’ll know I’ve done my job if the collaboration between the institutions provides a framework for someone else to continue evolving beyond my...

22.01.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, More Than Character Heads” at the Belvedere in Vienna

Through the use of little more than folds, Messerschmidt conjured baffled joy, pure anguish, leering sadism and other emotions, working without...

16.01.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

Museum Educator Sierra Schiano On the Structural Pressures Behind LACMA’s Union Vote

She described long-standing issues—from understaffing to opaque decision-making—that gradually pushed them toward unionization.

15.01.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘Manet & Morisot’ at the Legion of Honor

The exhibition invites viewers to look past old binaries of muse and master and toward a more reciprocal artistic exchange.

09.01.2026 10

Observer

Dan Duray

Curator Juliane Bischoff On Remaining Attentive to the Conditions of the Present

"Portikus offers a rare degree of freedom—to test new ideas, to take risks and to unsettle established formats," she told Observer.

07.01.2026 7

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “The Stars We Do Not See, Australian Indigenous Art” at the National Gallery of Art

This exhibition offers work drawn from under-shown traditions but offers broad context to visitors who take seriously its advice about stepping...

31.12.2025 9

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘Marie Antoinette Style’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum

This exhibition offers a glimpse into her life through the lens of how she chose to look.

30.12.2025 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Henri Rousseau, A Painter’s Secrets” at the Barnes Foundation

The show provides an authoritative introduction to the artist for those unfamiliar with his unique career.

24.12.2025 6

Observer

Dan Duray

Museum of Tomorrow’s Fábio Scarano On Rethinking Science Through Art and Redefining Institutional Purpose

"Our job is to create experiences that make people ask new questions," the curator tells Observer.

17.12.2025 6

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Yoko Ono, Music of the Mind” at MCA Chicago

The exhibition makes the case that the artist's influence would have been unavoidable regardless of fame or circumstance.

12.12.2025 8

Observer

Dan Duray

How Uman Channeled a Turbulent Year Into Calm Abstraction

In conversation with Observer, the artist reflects on her first solo museum exhibition in the United States, which she says was shaped by trust, time...

12.12.2025 6

Observer

Dan Duray

Five Pieces That Quietly Stole the Show at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025

The strongest presentations feel almost allergic to hype, with tightly edited selections that reward close looking.

05.12.2025 8

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism” at the Denver Art Museum

The exhibition makes the case that this relatively mellow artist should stand shoulder to shoulder with his crazier peers.

05.12.2025 5

Observer

Dan Duray

Gagosian’s Kara Vander Weg On Shaping the Afterlife of an Artist’s Work

The gallery’s “Building a Legacy Program” demonstrates how careful stewardship can pull even underappreciated artists back from the brink of...

29.11.2025 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Anselm Kiefer, Becoming the Sea” at the Saint Louis Art Museum

This museum is not as unlikely a venue for a show of work by the artist as you might think.

21.11.2025 7

Observer

Dan Duray

Anthony Kiendl On Unlocking MCA Denver’s Potential and Upending Art World Hierarchies

"I have spent most of my career off-center and trying, in a modest way, to de-center the art world," he told Observer. "I want to break down binaries...

19.11.2025 9

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Strange Realities, The Symbolist Imagination” at the Art Institute of Chicago

Symbolism swept the colder parts of Europe and can be considered a response to Impressionism's fascination with the visible world.

14.11.2025 5

Observer

Dan Duray

Abang-Guard Talk Labor, Legacy and “Makibaka” at the Queens Museum

Through paintings, performances and installations, the artist duo bridges personal heritage with broader struggles for equity and recognition.

12.11.2025 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Five Friends” at Museum Ludwig in Köln

This new exhibition is somehow the first to examine John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly in the context of...

05.11.2025 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Robert Rauschenberg, Fabric Works of the 1970s” at the Menil Collection

The exhibition mines an underexplored and experimental aspect of the artist's practice, one particularly suited for our fashion-oriented times.

31.10.2025 7

Observer

Dan Duray

Juana Williams and Julie Egan of DETROIT SALON On Bringing Motor City’s Art to the World

Three exhibitions in Paris positioned Detroit’s creative community on the international stage while celebrating its history of resilience and...

29.10.2025 6

Observer

Dan Duray

In Anish Kapoor’s Hands, an Offshore Gas Rig Becomes a Call for Climate Accountability

Positioned against the backdrop of rising global temperatures and corporate profits, 'BUTCHERED' challenged viewers to consider who pays for the...

27.10.2025 7

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘Michaelina Wautier, Painter’ at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna

The exhibition celebrates a long-neglected Flemish Baroque artist who is finally receiving the recognition she's due.

24.10.2025 7

Observer

Dan Duray

Five Years On, Jeff Klingman’s Outline Festival Keeps New York Guessing

Knockdown Center’s architectural versatility lets artists experiment freely with sound and presentation in a setting that encourages creative...

22.10.2025 7

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘Jon Rafman’ at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

"Report a Concern – The Nine Eyes Archives" presents works related to 'The Nine Eyes of Google Street View,' a project the artist began in 2008.

17.10.2025 8

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘This is What You Get’ at the Ashmolean Museum

Radiohead’s practice is precise and holistic, and the results have proven them to be consistently ahead of the curve in almost every way.

13.10.2025 8

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘June Crespo, Danzante’ at Secession

This is not art about art; that would be too clever and not immediate enough. The artist's sculptures here are self-sufficient and vital without being...

10.10.2025 10

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘Spirit & Splendor – El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque’ at Blanton Museum of Art

This show brings together the work of two Spanish greats alongside that of Francisco de Zurbarán and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Latin American...

02.10.2025 8

Observer

Dan Duray

Kathy Ryan On Curating Joy Through Different Artists’ Lenses

She recently curated "Joy, in 3 Parts," which debuted simultaneously in New York City, London and Shanghai with new photography by Inez & Vinoodh,...

27.09.2025 5

Observer

Dan Duray

Saying No for Change: Dawn Chan On Grounding Herself in a Jet-Setting World

What happens when an art critic refuses to fly for fairs, exhibitions and other cultural events?

22.09.2025 5

Observer

Dan Duray

Lesley A. Martin On the New York Art Book Fair’s Legacy, Urgency and Return to MoMA PS1

Printed Matter’s NYABF is, she says, the mothership of all art book fairs.

15.09.2025 6

Observer

Dan Duray

Architect Moseley Putney On Louisville’s Hidden Histories and Unresolved Cultural Debates

Preservation battles over David Wojnarowicz's mural created for "The Missing Children Show" highlight the tension between the city's artistic heritage...

15.09.2025 20

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: “Millet, Life on the Land” at The National Gallery in London

The works on view show how Jean-François Millet refused to romanticize the countryside, focusing instead on the grit and dignity of the people who...

11.09.2025 6

Observer

Dan Duray

Observer’s Top Five Pieces Not to Miss at the 2025 Armory Show

This year, the art isn't bad at all—in fact, there's a lot to love.

06.09.2025 9

Observer

Dan Duray

One Fine Show: ‘Why Look at Animals?’ at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens

Representations of animals are always fraught, as they are laden with baggage about what modernity has both given to us and taken away.

03.09.2025 9

Observer

Dan Duray