From Eurotrash to Euroca$h: Culture, Chaos & Kitsch
Must-See, Must-Know: Weekly Insights in Art, Fashion & Culture.
From Eurotrash to Euroca$h, this week served a high-low cocktail of last-minute glam, global kitsch, and royal curveballs. Cannes kicked off with a literal dress-down—organizers dropped a French last-minute ban on sheer gowns and skin-showing theatrics, sending stylists into meltdown. Across the Croisette, glam still found a way; note to Anna Wintour to rethink her styling consigliere post-Met Gala fiasco. Meanwhile, across the Channel, Kate Middleton reminded everyone what true style looks like—no monologues, no merch, just a crisp Victoria Beckham suit and a silk bow that outshone Hollywood “duchess”. Back on the old continent, the Venice Biennale delivered a sequel for climate anxiety in architectural form—Bahrain took gold, while post-colonial repair and Vatican surrealism stirred the discourse. In Basel, Estonia’s Tommy Ca$$h lit up Eurovision with espresso-fueled absurdism, trolling Europe into existential debate. Elsewhere, Lily McInerny lit up the screen in “Bonjour Tristesse”, while Chloë Sevigny heads to Cannes for her own dark journey in “Magic Farm”. Back in NYC, Keith McNally turned Balthazar into a living time capsule of downtown mythos. Meanwhile, AI face reader that might help cure cancer reminds us that tech isn’t just for surveillance—it’s for salvation, too. Magic farms, rogue tastemakers, and art that actually says something? Welcome to the circus. Here's what to see, know, and screenshot.
No Skin, No Trains—Still, All Eyes on Cannes
Cannes 2025 kicked off with less skin and more scandal—festival organizers shocked regulars by banning sheer gowns, overt nudity and long trains just 24 hours before the red carpet. The new dress code sent Bella Hadid, Elsa Hosk, and Halle Berry scrambling for backups. Still, glam prevailed: Hadid stunned in archival Alaïa, Naomi served power elegance in custom Valentino, and Greta Lee brought futuristic chic in Loewe. The Croisette may be censoring flesh, but the drama? Fully alive.
Kate Wins the Spotlight Without Trying
London’s fashion set usually plays it cool—but when Kate Middleton arrived in an olive Victoria Beckham suit and crisp silk pussy-bow blouse, the room actually sparked. There to present the Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design to 29-year-old Patrick McDowell, she looked original, elegant, and effortlessly herself—no podcast monologues, no forced relatability. In private, she and McDowell talked sustainability, craftsmanship, and a standout sleeveless piece dubbed “the Wales jacket.” Meanwhile, from the other side of the Atlantic, a certain duchess keeps trying (a little too hard) to turn Hollywood into Buckingham.
Lily McInerny Glows With Risk in Bonjour Tristesse
Lily McInerny steps fully into her spring/summer femme-fatale era in Bonjour Tristesse, Durga Chew-Bose’s buzzy directorial debut that just hit IFC Theaters (May 2). Set on the sun-soaked French Riviera and based on Françoise Sagan’s cult 1954 novel, the film follows 18-year-old Cécile (McInerny) as she lounges, plots, and self-mythologizes her way through one messy summer. Lazy days with her charming father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his girlfriend Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune) are abruptly disrupted when Anne (Chloë Sevigny), her late mother’s poised and unexpected friend, arrives.
McInerny, deep in her hot-girl-coming-of-age, simmers in every scene—flanked by Sevigny and Harzoune in a trio of tense femininity.
Venice Biennale 2025: Architecture, Power & Provocation
Venice Biennale 2025 crowned Bahrain’s Heatwave with the Golden Lion for its bold exploration of climate and urbanism, while Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Canal Café stirred buzz with its slick fusion of architecture and sustainability. The Silver Lion went to Calculating Empires by Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler — a searing critique of technology, power, and colonial legacy. The scene buzzed with ongoing (and seemingly endless) debates around climate-washing, post-colonial narratives, and the Vatican’s avant-garde move with Opera Aperta (The Holy See Pavilion). Themes of power, repair, and resilience defined the discourse, with a persistent undercurrent of activism clashing and merging with art. This year’s Biennale didn’t just present architecture — it staged a full-blown cultural reckoning.
Chloë Sevigny Heads to Cannes
Speaking of psychological twists and sun-drenched French Rivieras—NYC fashion icon, actress, and eternal It Girl Chloë Sevigny is set for a haunting Cannes rendezvous. In Magic Farm, Sevigny ditches city life for a crumbling rural commune that promises "healing" but delivers something far darker. The land pulses with its own hunger in this twisted eco-horror tale, directed by indie breakout Ariel Kleiman. Hypnotic, unnerving, and quietly feral, Magic Farm premieres May 19, 2025, at Cannes (Directors' Fortnight). Not hopping a flight? Catch it at Angelika NYC or streaming on MUBI.
Espresso, Outrage & Eurovision: Tommy Cash Brews Chaos in Basel
The 69th Eurovision Song Contest is underway in Basel, with Estonia’s Tommy Cash stealing the spotlight. Famed rapper and extremely talented visual artist brought a viral controversy into a monotonous Swiss town. His viral entry, Espresso Macchiato, is a chaotic electroswing satire packed with Italian clichés—coffee, mafiosos, and spaghetti metaphors—that’s sparked outrage in Italy and calls for disqualification. Cash insists it’s all in loving jest, but the absurd visuals and meme-worthy chorus have made his act the one to watch. The grand final takes place Saturday, May 17, with 26 countries vying for the crown.
Elizabeth King and Louse Bonnet at Swiss Institute
Back in NYC Swiss took to the rooftops—equal parts chic, cerebral, and champagne-soaked. De Anima at Swiss Institute is a wild, brainy ride into what makes something “alive.” Louise Bonnet’s distorted bodies and Elizabeth King’s eerily lifelike puppets blur the line between flesh and fake, gesture and machine, true life and influence. Inspired by Renaissance robots, stop-motion, spy manuals, and 80s philosophy, these pairing cracks open big questions about gender, tech, and what it even means to move. On view now — go get existential.
Memoir, Martini, Manhattan: McNally’s book launch at Balthazar
At a candlelit dinner inside the iconic Balthazar, New York’s cultural elite gathered to celebrate the release of Keith McNally’s memoir, I Regret Almost Everything. The guest list glittered with names like Anna Wintour, Alec Baldwin, Padma Lakshmi, Christy Turlington, and Tony Shalhoub—all toasting the man who helped define downtown dining cool. The room was packed, and yes, Woody Allen was there too, arriving with his wife Soon-Yi and daughter Bechet, quietly taking a corner table and prompting a few sideways glances. Between trays of Champagne and pomegranate martinis, Richard E. Grant read raw, emotional excerpts from McNally’s life—stroke, aphasia, suicide and all. The night pulsed with nostalgia, warmth, and reverence for McNally’s irreverent genius, with even Baldwin calling him “a magician” of Manhattan nightlife. It was less a book launch, more a reminder that McNally’s rooms still draw the kind of mix no algorithm can engineer—fame, friction, and intrigue.
AI Reads Your Face—and Your Fate
A new AI model called FaceAge is doing more than guessing how old you look — it's helping predict cancer outcomes, and it's surprisingly accurate. In a study published in The Lancet Digital Health, researchers trained the model on 59,000 portraits of adults over 60 from public datasets like IMDb and Wikipedia, then tested it on 6,200 cancer patients. The results: patients with cancer appeared five years older than their actual age, while healthier individuals showed a biological age closer to their real one. Those deemed “older” by the AI were significantly more likely to die. Researchers believe the tool could help tailor treatments—for example, a biologically young 75-year-old might withstand aggressive therapy better than someone with a higher biological age. Surprisingly, the AI didn’t focus on wrinkles or baldness, but on subtler cues like facial muscle tone. In the future, your face might not just unlock your phone—it could help save your life.
somewhere else
A drift, Not Lost: Woman in a Rowboat at Olivia Foundation
Now on view at Olivia Foundation in Mexico City through September 28, Woman in a Rowboat, curated by Diana Nawi, is a sharp, stirring group show charting the inner lives of primarily women artists across generations. Drawing from the Olivia Collection, the exhibition flows between abstraction, surrealism, still life, and landscape, forming a visual language of memory, desire, solitude, and self-perception. From tender psychic gestures to bold emotional states, these works don’t just depict the world—they map the inner weather of being alive. The title, borrowed from de Kooning’s 1965 painting, sets the tone: one woman, one vessel, infinite possible directions.
Woman in a Rowboat
on view until September 28, 2025
