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Nonuya artist Abel Rodríguez, the Artsy Vanguard alum known for representing the plants and animals of the Colombian Amazon in meticulously detailed drawings, has died in Bogotá. On Thursday, his representing gallery, Instituto de Visión, announced the artist’s passing on Instagram. Don Abel, as he was also known, was in his 80s or 90s (his birth year has been reported inconsistently: his CV lists 1941, but Instituto de Visión’s website states that he was born in 1934).

“Don Abel, a wise and generous teacher, leaves a rich legacy of knowledge, deep roots, and a profound love for life and the rainforest,” the gallery wrote on Instagram. “His spirit will continue to live on in the many lives he touched, and his teachings will continue to guide and nourish us for years to come.”

Rodríguez’s work, characterized by lush depictions of his home country’s natural landscape, has been recognized worldwide at various biennials in the past decade. He was featured at documenta 14 in 2017, the 34th São Paulo Biennial in 2021, and the 14th Gwangju Biennale in 2023, to name a few. In 2024, the artist presented work at the 60th Venice Biennale alongside his son, Aycoobo.

Born in La Chorrera, Colombia, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, Rodríguez learned about local plants from his uncle, a sabedor—or “man of knowledge”—within the Nonuya community. Early on, he became an expert in the region’s endemic flora, collaborating with biologist Carlos Rodríguez and the Fundación Tropenbos Colombia, an international nonprofit focused on rainforest conservation through Indigenous knowledge. In the 1980s, Rodríguez worked as a scout and guide for the organization’s researchers until his family was displaced during the armed conflict of the ’90s. Once in Bogotá, he dedicated his time to translating his knowledge of the Amazon rainforest into his landscape drawings.

In 2008, Rodríguez’s work was presented in a group exhibition mounted by Museo Botero in Bogotá. By 2014, the artist was awarded the Prince Claus Award, which is dedicated to those who contribute positive societal impacts. His first institutional solo show was mounted by the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Arts in Gateshead, England, in 2020.

In recent years, Instituto de Visión has presented Rodríguez’s drawings at art fairs around the world, including Art Basel Miami Beach in 2024, The Armory Show in 2023, and Frieze London in 2020.

Graffiti artist and painter Lady Pink will create a new public mural on the facade of MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York City. Her work will inaugurate the museum’s new annual Plaza Mural program, which opens on June 26th and will be on view through spring 2026.

Lady Pink was selected by a jury of Queens-based cultural leaders, including independent curator Camila Palomino; Lindsey Berfond, assistant curator at the Queens Museum; and Isabella Bustamante, founder of Long Island City’s Teen Art Salon. The mural will incorporate typical elements of Lady Pink’s practice, such as the New York City skyline and the 7 train. It will pay tribute to Queens and 5Pointz, the former graffiti landmark across from PS1, with imagery that reflects the city’s layered history and contested urban landscape.

“For the inaugural MoMA PS1 Plaza Mural, we looked to New York–based artists with deep ties to Queens and our city,” Connie Butler, director of MoMA PS1, said in a press statement. “We’re excited to see our locality embedded in Lady Pink’s stunning commission, which will engage both our neighbors and passersby alike with its vivid imagery and synthesis of local histories.”

Born in Ambato, Ecuador in 1964 and raised in Astoria, Queens, Lady Pink began writing graffiti in 1979. Known for tagging subway cars with her tag, “Pink,” she emerged as one of the few women in the male-dominated graffiti scene of the early 1980s. During this period, she formed the all-women street art collective, Ladies of the Arts. Her studio paintings are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.

Her mural, Pink (2007), was prominently featured on the 5Pointz building, which was destroyed when the building was demolished in 2013 and 2014 to make way for residential development. In 2018, the Brooklyn Supreme Court awarded damages to 45 artists whose work was lost in the process. Her new mural is set to feature a giant stone foot bearing tags of fellow 5Pointz artists.

Intrigued by signs of wear and former uses, Richard Haining has a deep reverence for the material and its history.

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Artist Joseph Kehoe incorporates indigenous and historical influences into his inspired Southwest metal sculpture.

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