RIBA Royal Gold Medal | Hyundai Commission | Art Genève | ceramic brussels | USA Fellowship

architecture

Níall McLaughlin

RIBA Royal Gold Medal

Irish architect Níall McLaughlin has been named the recipient of the 2026 Royal Gold Medal for architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). With over 30 years in practice, Níall’s body of work displays a remarkable consistency, regardless of scale or budget, shaped by a deep sensitivity to place, material, craft, light and form, and by an enduring commitment to the quality of space. His dedication to education reflects the same sustained commitment to the future of the discipline.

Image: Níall McLaughlin Architects, Magdalene College Library, University of Cambridge. © Nick Kane

art

Tarek Atoui

Hyundai Commission

Tate and Hyundai Motor Company announced that Tarek Atoui will create the next annual Hyundai Commission. Tarek Atoui is an artist and composer celebrated for his innovative performances and installations that explore and challenge traditional perceptions of the medium of sound. Born in Beirut in 1980, Atoui lives and works in Paris, France. Drawing on his extensive research into music history, instrumentation and production, the artist creates multisensory environments that re-think how we understand and experience sound. His new site-specific work for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall will be open to the public from 13 October 2026 to 11 April 2027.

Image: Tarek Atoui, The Rain, 2023–4. Installation view third floor Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2024.
Photo: Markus Tretter. © Tarek Atoui, Kunsthaus Bregenz. Courtesy of the artist.

art

Reginald Sylvester II

Prix Solo Art Genève – Piaget

Reginald Sylvester II represented by Maximillian William received the Prix Solo Art Genève – Piaget 2026, awarded to the best solo presentation at the fair. His solo booth at Art Genève marks the artist’s debut presentation in Switzerland. Part of his ongoing Offering series, the presentation brings together nine new paintings made on industrial rubber, transformed into evocative abstractions through washes of red pigment and layered surfaces.

Image: Reginald Sylvester II, Sorrows, 2025-26. Rubber, acrylic, debris over aluminium, 45.7 x 45.7 cm, 18 x 18 in. © Reginald Sylvester II. Courtesy the artists and Maximillian William. Photo: Daniel Greer.

craft

Galerie Judith Andreae

best booth

At ceramic brussels, Galerie Judith Andreae (DE) received the best booth award for its presentation of works by Janis Löhrer (DE). In his artistic practice, Janis Löhrer explores topics of queer identity, masculinity, sexuality, body, and space. The centerpiece of his solo presentation is a large-scale ceramic wall installation: a meticulously recreated communal shower featuring handmade shower fittings and soap dishes. Alongside the ceramic installation, Janis Löhrer draws on his extensive body of watercolor paintings, which he presents for the first time as a large-scale wallpaper, creating a dialogue with his ceramic sculptural works. Löhrer evokes liminal settings that probe the boundaries of intimacy, publicness, and desire, revealing traces of vulnerability, shame, and community.

Image: Installation view, ceramic brussels 2026, Galerie Judith Andreae, works by Janis Löhrer.
Photo: MARTIN PILETTE prod.

art

USA Fellowship

United States Artists (USA), the Chicago-based arts funding organisation, has announced the 50 artists that will receive their annual fellowship. Among them, the six visual artists are Edra Soto, Eric-Paul Riege, Macon Reed, Maia Chao, Mercedes Dorame and Raheleh Filsoofi. Now in its twentieth year, the fellowship recognises artists and cultural practitioners working in the United States in a range of disciplines including architecture and design, craft, dance, film, media, music, theatre and performance, traditional arts, visual art and writing.

Image: Edra Soto, the place of dwelling, 2025. Courtesy of the artist.