Bananas Sell for Millions and Tenderness Blooms at Ninety: 2024’s Art World Curveballs
A banana taped to a wall fetching $6.2 million and a 93-year-old artist dazzling Dior’s runway—2024’s art scene thrived on the unexpected. This year, the Venice Biennale’s spotlight shifted to Indigenous and queer voices, challenging the old Western canon and sending ripples through global galleries.
Artists like Julie Mehretu and Jeffrey Gibson redefined influence, not just through blockbuster sales or exhibitions, but by shaping institutions and public spaces—from the Obama Presidential Center to The Met’s iconic façade. Meanwhile, Isabella Ducrot’s delicate collages, crafted from rare fabrics, enchanted audiences well into her tenth decade, proving that acclaim has no age limit.
Elsewhere, Maurizio Cattelan’s irreverent stunts and Jasleen Kaur’s Turner Prize protest reminded the world that art remains a battleground for both humor and activism. In 2024, the art world’s power map redrew itself—one protest, installation, and viral moment at a time.
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