Colossal

Major expeditions, numerous attempts, and strokes of luck characterize how many of the top images in the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards came to be. Francisco Castro Escobar, for example, was surprised to see a rare lesser horned owl, sometimes referred to as “the ghost of the desert,” perched on a cactus in northern Chile during a dawn hike. “The largest owl in Chile gets this nickname because seeing one is so rare that it’s like an apparition,” Escobar says. The image a

Clio Sze To paints in the same way she walks around her home in Paris. Setting out with an open agenda and allowing her route to evolve organically, the artist meanders through the city with an eye toward the patterns and textures that comprise the landscape. When she returns to the studio, the sights transform into impressionistic pieces that capture the feeling of a contemplative hour spent on foot. In her forthcoming solo exhibition Échos, Sze To presents a suite of oil paintings based on

In Ashley Percival’s world, a leopard can, in fact, change its spots. The Cornwall-based illustrator is behind a fanciful menagerie in which poodles, rotund birds, and boot-wearing insects try on a vast array of vibrant costumes. Using a mix of colored pencil, pen, paint, and digital tools, he dreams up cheeky patterns and palettes for common animals, presenting collections of the same species in endlessly alluring grids. Percival recently spent three months in Spain and France immersed in na

When a portrait of aviation pioneer Ruth Rowland Nichols was taken while she stood beside her Lockheed Vega aircraft in 1931, she was already one of the most accomplished pilots in the world. That photo was captured the year she also became the first woman to hold simultaneous international records in altitude, speed, and long distance. Nichols’ striking portrait is just one of hundreds of images and illustrations highlighting humans’ pursuit of knowledge in Worlds Unfolding: Scie

Conceptually, memento mori has been around for millennia. Ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Seneca reflected upon the nature of mortality in ancient Greece. And during Roman triumphs, a handful of accounts document how a general would be accompanied by a companion or a slave who was tasked with reminding him he would eventually perish. We often think of memento mori visually in relation to Dutch Golden Age paintings, where skulls or rotting fruit surrounded by insects served as rem

Animated characters, patterned textiles, logos from iconic fashion labels, graffiti, and more coalesce in the vibrant portraits of Victor Quiñonez. Born in Mexico, raised in East Dallas, and now based in Brooklyn, the artist, who works as Marka27, is interested in the ways activism and pop culture converge, and he infuses the visual language of contemporary street art with Indigenous imagery and Mexican mural traditions. Whether working on large-scale walls or more intimate canvases, Quiñonez ta

With a teal roof and gabled windows, a colonial-style dollhouse is at the center of Isaiah Lee’s practice. In his current body of work, the Chicago artist renders childhood toys that transition from objects of play and nostalgia into uncanny, animate entities. Set in the scaled-down rooms and landscape around the miniature home, Lee’s scenes channel the wonder and theatrics of the adolescent imagination, while confronting the ways these early experiences permeate one’s life. Born

Every month, we share opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. Make sure you never miss out by joining our monthly Opportunities Newsletter. Hayama Artist ResidencyFeaturedLaunched in 2020, the Hayama Artist Residency offers visual artists from around the world a unique opportunity to spend four weeks in Japan for rest, reflection, and creative inspiration. Selected artists receive roundtrip airfare, a private bedroom, and an $8

In Ben Sledsens’ new body of work, An Apple for the Road, saturated fields of color meet methodical patterns constructed from grasses, leaves, brick, and more. The Antwerp-born artist conceives of vibrant, atmospheric paintings in which life pauses for a moment: there’s a swan hovering over its tinted reflection, a woman just stepping out her front door, and vivid still lifes in which clouds and soft breezes rustle through the windows. Often beginning with drawings on paper before trans

When I was about 10 years old, my parents organized a vacation to a tiny enclave called Orr Hot Springs just outside of Ukiah, California. Nestled in the mountains with a history dating to 1858 as a stagecoach stop with redwoods shading the trails, the property has a uniquely layered architectural history. We stayed in what my dad called “Art’s cabin,” which turned out to have really been built by a guy named Art in the mid-1970s. A giant tree intersected the middle of the stru

For Xanthe Burdett, the boundary between humans and nature is thin, malleable, and always in flux. The Devon-born, London-based artist works largely in a palette of greens, layering leaves and vines atop faint figurative silhouettes. Invoking mythology and ancient cosmologies, her paintings suggest that people and plants are not only interconnected but also intrinsically one. Beginning with a sketch, Burdett employs the Renaissance-era cartoon method of transferring her drawings to canvas, wh

Myriad myths and symbols are wrapped up in our captivation with cats. In ancient Egypt, the animals were revered as divine protectors, personified by the deity Bastet. In Japan, it’s hard to walk by shops without seeing a maneki-neko waving from the window. And superstition says that if a black cat crosses your path, it may be bad luck. Although depending who you ask, it could mean good luck… did you happen to notice which direction it was walking? For artist Minyoung Kim, who cen

More than 65,000 images by photographers in 121 countries presented a staggering challenge for the jurors of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Of these entries, 100 were selected for the prestigious contest’s shortlist, showcasing the world’s diverse creatures and their habitats. The top images also demonstrate an array of realities across a number of categories, from animal behavior to portraits to photojournalism. Viewers are treated to the beauty and te

In Leslie Wayne’s exhibition The Unintended Blues, large-scale paintings may a first read as photographs. Melting icebergs in the Arctic Circle, the island of Manhattan, harbor construction projects, and coastlines around the U.S. that are vulnerable to rising sea levels take center stage. The closer one approaches, however, the more fluid the imagery becomes, as some shapes and shorelines appear nearly abstract. These latest works follow Wayne’s series titled This Land Is Your Land, in

From the Tanzanian grasslands around Mount Kilimanjaro to the ever-evolving icy realm of Antarctica and beyond, Swedish photographer Björn Persson captures the majesty of the natural world and its wild denizens. His bold, tonal style of portraiture taps into the drama of running giraffes and a stoic American bison in profile, but he also homes in on family-centric moments as a lioness plays with her cubs, for instance, or a coalition of cheetahs’ perch calmly atop a knoll. Persson&#8217

Joy Machine is thrilled to present The Peace of Wild Things, a duo exhibition by Chicago-based American artist Emmy Star Brown and San Jose-based Korean artist Danym Kwon. This is Brown’s second exhibition at Joy Machine and Kwon’s third. Drawing its title from Wendell Berry’s often-quoted poem, The Peace of Wild Things is a return to wonder through disparate yet complementary practices. For both Brown and Kwon, color and layering become a means of self-discovery and a way to tap into the emo

Drawn to the juxtapositions of urban spaces and desolate regions alike, photographer Luca Battaglia illuminates the distinctive characteristics of places. “I do not claim—nor do I ever say—that I am an architectural photographer,” he says in a statement. “When asked, I say that I am a photographer of places, of voids.” From the expanses of the American Southwest to images of New York City that revel in quietude rather than its signature boisterousness, built environments

Meticulously cut wooden panels, semi-precious beads, and layered thread and cordage transform into intricate geometric reliefs by Nosheen Iqbal. The Dallas-based artist draws on her background in product design and illustration to create chromatic works that tap into craft, nature, and ancestry. Taking inspiration from her Pakistani heritage and the immanently ornate forms of Islamic architecture and ornament, Iqbal combines wood, which she might associate with building, with textile-related

Through vivid sculptural paintings, Los Angeles-based artist Estefania Ajcip peers in on the fractures families face when split apart. Ajcip spent much of her childhood in Guatemala, while her father worked in L.A. and missed pivotal moments of her youth. In a new body of work titled Folded Memories, the artist contends with this adolescent experience, extrapolating her recollections into poignant compositions filled with a longing for connection. From birch plywood, papier mache, small LED l

At ICD Brookfield Place in Dubai, a vibrant collection of smiling inflatables sprouts from a vaulted ceiling, creating a suspended pool party of colorful forms. The spirited installation is titled “Under the Sun” and the latest project by duo Craig & Karl. “We wanted to capture the warmth, vibrancy, and joy of summer—distilled into one space and experienced from within the expansive summer garden atrium. A way to bring the season indoors,” the pair write about the