The Modern Art Notes Podcast

Episode No. 766 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features curators Matthew Affron, Michelle Kuo, and Ann Temkin, and artist Nic Nicosia.
The Museum of Modern Art, New York is presenting "Marcel Duchamp" through August 22. The exhibition, the first Duchamp retrospective in the United States since 1973, features over 300 works from across Duchamp's career. The show was curated by Affron, Kuo, and Temkin, with assistance from with Alexandra "Lo" Drexelius, Helena Klevorn, Danielle Cooke, and Julia Vázquez. MoMA has published a catalogue for the show; Amazon offers it for $63.
The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas is showing "Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal" through August 16. The exhibition surveys the last 25 years of Nicosia's career (the period since a 1999-2000 mid-career retrospective) a time during which he has particularly focused on sculpture, films, and drawing. The exhibition was curated by Jed Morse. The Nasher has published a valuable catalogue of the exhibition. It is available from the museum. 
Air date: July 9, 2026.

Episode No. 765 is a holiday clips episode featuring artist Hew Locke.
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston is presenting "Hew Locke: Passages," the first US survey of Locke's career, through September 13. Across sculpture, painting, photography and installations, Locke's work considers colonialism, its power, and the ways in which we respond to colonialism and its impacts. Locke, who is Guyanese-British, particularly focuses on British imperialism and how it was constructed, including through monarchy, trade, and (sometimes forced) migration. The show was curated by Martina Droth. The catalogue, which was edited by Droth and Allie Biswas, was published by the YCBA. Bookshop and Amazon offer it for $60-70. In-gallery materials are available here in both English and Spanish.
Locke's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at The British Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Tate Britain, London, the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and more.
In addition to the images below, here are links to works and exhibitions discussed on the program:
Hew Locke, Ark, 1994.
Hew Locke, Menace to Society (series), 1999-2001.
Hew Locke, The Nameless, 2010.
"Hew Locke: what have we here" at the British Museum;
"A Conspiracy of Icons: The Art of Donald Locke," at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and
"The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-War Britain" at the Hayward Gallery, London.
Instagram: Hew Locke, Tyler Green.
Air date: July 2, 2026.

Episode No. 764 features artist Louis Fratino.
The Baltimore Museum of Art is exhibiting "Fratino and Matisse: To See This Light Again" through September 6. The exhibition shows how Matisse -- specifically Baltimore's great Matisse collection -- has informed Fratino's painting. The exhibition was co-curated by Virginia Anderson and Katy Rothkopf.
Fratino, who earned his undergraduate degree at Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art, often depicts intimate personal spaces and experiences, usually by centering queer life and the male body. His work has been the subject of a solo show at the FLAG Art Foundation, New York; he has been included in group exhibitions at museums such as the Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, NY; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, the RISD Museum, Providence; and the Columbus Museum of Art. His work is well-collected by art museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the MCA Chicago, and the MFA Houston.
Air date: June 25, 2026.

Episode No. 763 is a summer clips episode featuring artist Jes Fan.
The Yale University Art Gallery is presenting "Jes Fan: Unbounded" through June 28. The exhibition spotlights how Fan makes sculptures that combine elegant abstract forms with an experimental and innovative approach to materials. Fan's sculptures often explore the porousness of identity, and incorporate living matter, such hormones, and fluids, such as glass. Fan's work has been exhibited in the 2024 Whitney Biennial, the 2022 Venice Biennale, the 2021 New Museum Triennial at the New Museum, New York, the MIT List Visual Arts Center, the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, and more.
As mentioned on the program:
Stills from Fan's 2023 video Palimpsest.
Byung-Chul Han's book Saving Beauty.
For more images, see Episode No. 658.

Episode No. 762 features artist John Akomfrah.
The Menil Collection, Houston is showing "John Akomfrah: The Hour of The Dog" through October 11. The work, co-commissioned by the Menil and the Baltimore Museum of Art, explores the history of the US civil rights movement between 1954 and 1963. The presentation was curated by Michelle White and Cecilia Wichmann.
Akomfrah is one of the world's most celebrated film-based artists. His work often investigates memory, colonialism, diaspora, and the intersection of time and aesthetics. He has had solo exhibitions at several Smithsonian museums, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and at the Tate Britain. He represented the UK in the 2024 Venice Biennale, a year after the UK honored him with a knighthood.
This is Akomfrah's third time on the program. His previous visits were on Episode No. 332 and Episode No. 339.
Air date: June 11, 2026.