Whitney Biennial Trends, a New Baroque Art Star, and Banksy Unmasked
3/26/202643 min
Spring is upon us. March has seen a burst of big art events—the true start of a busy year. This week, Kate Brown and Ben Davis are joined by senior writer Eileen Kinsella to discuss some of the biggest art stories of the month.
In this episode, will be discussing:
— The 2026 Whitney Biennial, which opened at the beginning of the month. It always gives a snapshot of who’s in and who’s out, and what’s on curators minds. (I've written two pieces on it, here and here)
— The rise of a new art hi...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsEileen Kinsella· Guest0:00
[upbeat music] I have to say my first vibe about it was that it's, like, giving zombie Twombly. Ben, I'm sure you're- You have to explain what that means.
Kate Brown· Host0:10
I don't know what that is.
Eileen Kinsella· Guest0:11
[laughs] Yeah. Okay.
Ben Davis· Host0:12
[laughs] It's a deep art reporter term right there. [upbeat music] I'm Ben Davis, and this is The Art Angle, a podcast from Artnet News. Spring is upon us. March has seen a burst of big art events, the true start of a busy year, and we've picked out a few of its big topics to talk about. In this episode, we will be talking about the 2026 Whitney Biennial, which opened at the beginning of the month. It always gives a snapshot of who's in and who's out and what's on curators' minds. We'll be talking about the rise of a new art historical art star, the Flemish Baroque painter Michaelina Wautier. And then we'll talk about a new investigation that claims to definitively, absolutely, positively, once and for all, settle the question of who Banksy really is. Do we think they did it? Does it matter? With me to talk is Kate Brown, Artnet senior editor and Art Angle co-host in Berlin as usual.
Kate Brown· Host1:20
Hi, Ben.
Ben Davis· Host1:21
And here in New York with me is Eileen Kinsella, senior market editor.
Eileen Kinsella· Guest1:27
Hi, Ben. Thanks for having me.
Ben Davis· Host1:28
So to