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Arts & Culture / Art & Artists

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The Year’s Most Outstanding Science Visualizations

A juried competition honors photographs, illustrations, videos, posters, games and apps that marry art and science in an evocative way

A leaf grasshopper (Phyllophorina kotoshoensis).

Honey, I Blew Up the Bugs

Italian artist Lorenzo Possenti created 16 enormous sculptures of giant insects, all scientifically accurate, now on display at an Oklahoma museum

The watercolor above is an East African myth: Juok the Creator (shown twice) molding Egyptians from reddish brown clay and Southern Sudanese from the black earth. MacMillan says this image came faster than any of the others, "I literally did the entire thing in an hour and a half, just at home with no prior planning or sketching."

An Illustrated Guide to the World’s Creation Myths

Each culture has its own version of how the universe began. Artist Noah MacMillan brings this “visual vocabulary” to life

Banksy melds street-fighting passion and pacifist ardor in his image of a protester whose Molotov cocktail morphs into a bouquet.

The Story Behind Banksy

On his way to becoming an international icon, the subversive and secretive street artist turned the art world upside-down

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Mona Lisa Travels by Laser, to Space And Back Again

To test the reaches of laser communication, NASA beamed a digital image of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait to a satellite orbiting the moon

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Origami: A Blend of Sculpture and Mathematics

Artist and MIT professor Erik Demaine makes flat geometric diagrams spring into elegant, three-dimensional origami sculptures

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Polaroid Portraits: Capturing President Obama’s Second Inauguration

We sent photojournalist Tamir Kalifa to the inauguration to ask attendees why they came to the National Mall

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The Gory Details of Artist Katrina van Grouw’s Unfeathered Birds

A British artist, with experience in ornithology, explains how she created anatomical drawings of 200 different species of birds for a new book

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The First Major Museum Show to Focus on Smell

“The Art of the Scent” recognizes and celebrates fragrance as a true artistic medium rather than just a consumer product

Red Acorn, 40 years old

Covered in Ink, Cross-sections of Trees Make Gorgeous Prints

Connecticut-based artist Bryan Nash Gill uses ink to draw out the growth rings of a variety of tree species

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Seven Must-See Art-Meets-Science Exhibitions in 2013

Preview some of the top-notch shows—on anatomy, bioluminescence, water tanks and more—slated for the next year

The clocks in each clip document the time throughout the 24 hour movie.

A 24-Hour Movie That May Be the Biggest (and Best) Supercut Ever

Christian Marclay’s The Clock, now on view at MoMA, puts YouTube mashup artists to shame

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Slice of Life: Artistic Cross Sections of the Human Body

Artist Lisa Nilsson creates elaborate anatomical illustrations from thin strips of paper

Beehive ginger

Flower Power, Redefined

In a new book, Andrew Zuckerman embraces minimalism, capturing 150 colorful blooms on white backdrops

Karen Cusolito Lights Her Artwork on Fire

Meet the artist who burns her creations to amazing effect

As the goddess of love, beauty and sexual pleasure, Aphrodite inspired cult worship and challenged artists to render her in suitably magnificent form.

Bringing the Color Back to Ancient Greece

The white marble statutes we revere were originally dressed in eye-popping pigments

For author Camille Paglia, her first moments of beauty occurred in a church and a movie theater.

Why Camille Paglia is Alarmed About the Future of Art

Is the rise of secularism behind the general malaise in the fine arts?

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George Washington and Abigail Adams Get an Extreme Makeover

Conservators at the National Gallery Art restored Gilbert Stuart portraits of our founding figures, making them look good as new

Christopher Bonanos of New York chronicles the rise and fall of Polaroid.

Why Polaroid Inspired Both Steve Jobs and Andy Warhol

Beloved by innovators and artists alike, the camera company dissolved into history once it lost its beloved CEO. Apple should take note

Photo of the painting “Flowers in a blue vase” by Vincent van Gogh. The discoloration is located on the right side of the bouquet.

In a Van Gogh Painting, the Flowers Are Changing Color

Scientists have figured out why some of the “Flowers in a blue vase” became discolored over time

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