Culture Unlocked

Must-See, Must-Know: Weekly Insights in Art, Fashion & Culture.

Week of April 28th

Here is our weekly drop: From the hushed halls of the Frick to Rashid Johnson’s Guggenheim takeover, this is what got our heads spinning. Downtown, the Metrograph teleports us to the gritty ‘80s boom and the raw energy of NYC’s art underground, while Wolfgang Tillmans and Boris Mikhailov pair in a war-torn Kharkiv. At Trotter&Sholer, someone cried in front of an Ezra Cohen’s painting  and we get it. Meanwhile, Joan Didion’s archive is now fully unlocked at the NYPL.

Also — a kid scratched a $50 million Rothko in Rotterdam. What happens when a machine slice you open? Steel hands, zero pulse. Ask Elon.

Oh, and Lorde’s back. Maybe. Kind of. 

now and near by

Downtown 81

Over at the Metrograph, our go-to theater for epic classics and creative talks, we experienced the raw energy of NYC’s ’80s art underground. Downtown 81 is a chaotic ride through 1980s Manhattan, starring a young Jean-Michel Basquiat as he hustles to sell his art and survive. Directed by Edo Bertoglio ( 75min / DCP)and released in 2000, it’s a gritty time capsule of a city long gone.

Director: Edo Bertoglio

Cast: Jean Michel Basquiat

The Metrograph

No. 7 Ludlow

NYC, NY

April 30 and May 17th

Ezra Cohen: Mappin a Paradox

Ezra Cohen turns his Hell’s Kitchen studio into a battleground of memory, tension, and beauty in Mapping a Paradox, now on view at Trotter&Sholer. Fresh off a residency in Mexico City, Cohen returns with four large-scale oil paintings that blur the line between sanctuary and chaos. What looks like meditation on the everyday unravels into something far more haunted — layered, coded, and quietly combustible. This isn’t just a studio — it’s a mega beautiful, deeply emotional and enigmatic portal into Ezra’s inner world.

Trotter&Sholer

168 Suffolk Street

NYC, NY

April 10th - May 17th

The Frick Collection

If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t procrastinate! For downtowners like us who avoid uptight uptown scenes we fashionably skipped the opening week and finally put on some cool fits excited to revive the experience and recently revived The Frick Collection. After four years of scaffolding and dark, the splendid Frick Collection is back — and this time, you’re invited upstairs. The Gilded Age mansion at 1 East 70th finally unlocks its second floor: once private bedrooms and backroom offices, now reimagined as public galleries. Yes, you can literally stroll through Henry Clay Frick’s old bedroom — velvet, ghosts, and all.

Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers

Few blocks up Rashid Johnson’s major solo show at the Guggenheim Museum is a must-see. This exibit crowns him as art historian, cultural decoder, and contemporary powerhouse. Nearly 90 works—black soap paintings, massive sculptures, film, and the towering Sanguine installation—take over the Guggenheim rotunda, with live performances and community-driven events bringing the space to life.

Guggenheim Museum

1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128 (at 88th Street)

April 18, 2025–January 18, 2026

Joan Didion shot by Jurgen Teller

Icon of letters and looks at NYPL

We also stopped by the NYPL, where Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne’s archive has finally been unlocked—336 boxes of notes, letters, drafts, and the raw material of American myth-making. From Didion’s razor-sharp interviews to Dunne’s chilling correspondence tied to Boys Don’t Cry, it’s all now yours to explore with just a library card. You’ll need more than a day to absorb, digest, and dig through this legendary trove.

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live,”

Didion

Now you can read theirs from the inside out.

did you hear?

Elon Musk says robots will out-slice top surgeons within five years?!

It seems that Neuralink already ditched human and had to use a robot for the brain-computer electrode insertion, “as it was impossible for a human to achieve the required speed and precision”, according to Elon.

Too slow, too shaky? Steel nerves, zero doubt.

What was that, Lorde?

Lorde is done whispering? Her new single, “What Was That,” drops a synth-drenched punch straight into the heart — a chaotic, emotional blast that feels closer to Melodrama than the sun-kissed haze of Solar Power.The song's debut was marked by an impromptu performance in New York City's Washington Square Park, which was shut down by the NYPD due to permit drama. Undeterred, she came back later that night for a low-key encore, turning chaos into a cult moment.

Verdict: the internet is losing it—some are calling it her true comeback, others say it’s messy and brilliant in all the right ways. But we can’t shake the feeling that something’s missing. Maybe it’s the wildness, replaced by something smaller, quieter. Some call it maturity. Others call it playing it safe.

Maybe it’s Lorde—or maybe it’s New York itself: once wild and electric, now polished, quieter, and normcore plain vanila.

dripline

Capri spring

Capri is still trending—and no, we’re not talking about the island in Italy. We pulled out our favorite capri pants, embracing last year’s debatable style and reviving our ’90s teen-era favorite. Gen Z style icons (Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner and Renée Zellweger) are leaning in too, giving the controversial cut a second life.

Cio, CHANEL!

Speaking of Italy—Chanel’s next stop: Lake Como. For its 2026 Cruise show, the French house turned the lakeside into a cinematic fever dream—sequins, lace, and lamé dresses shimmering against Renaissance gardens. Staged at the ultra-luxe Villa d’Este, with a moody teaser film shot by Sofia Coppola, it was La Dolce Vita on designer steroids. The collection, crafted by Chanel’s Creation Studio, oozed Italian decadence with just enough sparkle: oversized black sunglasses, a sheer black shirt worn as a dress bloomed with delicate white floral motifs, glistening jackets draped in pearls, ruffled gloves, and charming minaudières—all evoking old Hollywood glamour with an ‘80s edge.

The front row was stacked, from The White Lotus’s Sarah Catherine Snook to Keira Knightley and Margaret Qualley—both Chanel ambassadors.

Watch it all unfold now on Chanel.com or scroll below for our favorites.

somewhere else …

Pairs Skating: Wolfgang Tillmans and Boris Mikhailov

Wolfgang Tillmans and Boris Mikhailov collide in Pairs Skating at YermilovCentre in Kharkiv. Presented by RIBBON International, the show weaves together two sharp lenses on fragility, survival, and the quiet politics of everyday life.

Raw meets precise, past meets present — and the dialogue hits harder than ever. On view through September 28.

YermilovCentre in Kharkiv

Svobody Square, 4, Kharkiv, Ukraine

April 25- September 28

Nadya Tolokonnikova

Berlin Art Weekend

Gallery Weekend Berlin storms back May 2–4, igniting 52 galleries across 61 spots in the city. With over 80 exhibitions and artists from more than 20 countries, it’s a fast, unfiltered look at where contemporary art is headed.

From brutalist hideouts to faded ballrooms, Berlin’s restless soul bleeds into every space. This isn’t just an art crawl — it’s a full-on city takeover.

Mark Rothko - Gray, Orange on Maroon No.8

$ 50 million Rothko painting scratched

A toddler at Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen scratched a $50 million Mark Rothko during what staff called an “unguarded moment.” The damage—small but visible scratches on the unvarnished lower section—has art conservators cringing. And while the museum is staying quiet on the repair price tag, the parents might be sweating over a potentially hefty repair bill. Rule of thumb: look, don’t touch—especially if it’s worth more than your house.