FM Weekly Roundup: Deep Thinks when Art Stinks
FM Weekly Roundup: Late Night Edition, Met Gala, Saint Heron Encyclopedia, Adweek Creative 100, drafts.
This is FM’s weekly roundup. Fresh Mercado is here to deliver the goods on the future of visual culture. Think of it like a bodega, where we are unloading boxes, and what you see is what you get.
Well, well, well, we’re back here again, the nighttime edition of the FM roundup! I hope you like something to read before you go to bed again, cause we’re back because these are some unprecedented times. One thing I didn’t expect was to see the calendar uptick that makes my writing tardy. How do y’all do it?!
As I prepare for Photoville, I still have room to think, but not too much, since our theme of the month is doing, not thinking too much. Unfortunately, this week I did think a lot about a few things, mostly things that were popping up that I needed to do a double-take on, but honestly, the most I’ve felt is thinking about the influences of artistry. Is it possible to do something without overthinking it?
Met Gala’s “Fashion is Art” = “Money is Art.”
The 2026 Met Gala theme, “Costume Art,” dress code “Fashion Is Art.” As we mentioned back in February, the honorary chairs were Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.
If you've been paying attention to where the media money is moving, it’s not surprising. Techno-feudalism has made us stop asking who a long time ago. When something gets the approval stamp from one of the wealthiest people on the planet, is the parade actually art? What makes art beautiful is the artist's vision. The Gala has pivoted to artists performing artistic vision through the lens of performance, rather than allowing any true creative voice to find its way through.
Last year's Superfine theme on Black dandyism had more promise because its intentionality was built into the concept. This year allowed for a generic mix of black dresses, prom nights (how did they do my girl Alyssa Liu so dirty), and a handful that captured the theme. The brands became caricatures of themselves to stay in this room because it’s a reminder that, above all, a gala is always about who can pay to be in it.
What felt different this year is that people seemed to be done accepting it. Mayor Zohran Mamdani skipped the Gala entirely and released a fashion portfolio with I-D honoring tailors, union organizers, and Amazon delivery drivers, the people who actually make the industry run. Actress Lisa Ann Walter called Bezos “Temu Lex Luthor” at the Ball Without Billionaires, where independent designers dressed workers from Bezos-adjacent companies under the theme “Labor Is Art.” A few blocks from the Met, part of the Resistance Runway: protesters in handmade outfits dancing to ABBA in the street.
The Met Gala's predictability has made the counter impossible to ignore. This year brought more excitement outside than in. With the cost of accessing arts and culture rising, people are craving the accessible; we’ll see this take over. You heard it first. They want to be a part of the culture, not just view it. It's a clear indicator of what the consumer is actually craving right now, and I'd be curious to see how industry and brands will try to tailor to that going forward.
Encyclopedia Saint Heronica
Saint Heron is one of my favorite multidisciplinary institutions working right now. Founded by Solange Knowles in 2013, it operates as a publishing house, creative agency, spatial design studio, cultural archive, and living record — all at once, all with intention. Yesterday, in partnership with Pin Up Magazine, they released the Encyclopedia Saint Heronica, Vol. XVI, a retrospective into everything Saint Heron has built: the projects, the clients, the archive, photographed by Kobe Wagstaff and Sean Davidson.
The Encyclopedia gives you an in to the full scope of the practice, the spatial design projects, the new sofa Solange designed, their agency work, and projects like the Cowboy Carter tour book for Beyoncé. What Saint Heron represents is something genuinely rare: a multi-tiered creative practice where someone moves across disciplines: music, design, architecture, publishing, and spatial work. It remains completely true to each vision. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it keeps them niche in the best way. Not a typical creative studio, not a design agency. Something harder to categorize and better for it.
100 under 100; Adweek Creative 100
Adweek’s Creative 100 came out today, which honors the people doing the most innovative and groundbreaking work across agency, creative, and media fields. Now in its 12th year, this year’s list dropped today with the theme of human ingenuity in the age of AI.
Being part of the creative act played a big role in the section Artists & Makers Defining Their Genres, with notable names like Joe Sacco, the Maltese-American graphic journalist whose work in comics journalism made the list for his Gaza series, The Comics Journal. Also included was R.E. Burke, a Welsh artist who was detained by ICE for 19 days, and she then turned it into a graphic memoir. Rama Duwaji, Syrian-American artist and First Lady of New York, is highlighted for her work on Gaza, Sudan, and Syria.
The Creative 100 list highlighted how multidisciplinary artists are dominating the creative space; Ali Brown was highlighted for her production on the Cowboy Carter tour visuals. Hunter Harris’ Hung Up had landed her in the creative list right as the new season of Lemme Say This begins with Peyton Dix, relaunched under the Obamas' Higher Ground, after a hiatus since last October. Graham Retzik is also a great contender at A24, where we see how marketing can become cultural participation, and the campaign fuses with the film itself.
From the agency perspective, Adweek highlighted Tom Bender at Mother, who created the Claude ads that called out ChatGPT and went all-in on AI commercials. Tiffany Rolfe built an AI products team at R/GA and grew revenue 30%. It’s great to see how creatives are evolving and how media is shifting. FM has been saying some of these sentiments for a while, so it’s always exciting to see the real people doing the actual work. Full list here.
Things I’ve been thinking about but haven’t fully fleshed out yet, cause a little less time this week!! Here’s a sneak peek at what was on the draft list.
World Press Photo: Carol Guzy’s Separated by ICE image won Photo of the Year last month.
Paula Hornickel for WePresent. Her Anthrobocene project documents how robots are becoming part of the in-care system across Germany, offering a bizarre, campy exploration of humans and robots.
Transparent tech is back: I’ve been excited to see more transparent-type devices, whatever it is!.
Brands are now posting BTS to prove they’re not AI. Even though the source focuses on “Made by Humans” as the new “small batch.” More on this soon.
Also need to build out a mobile workstation list for those who like to travel — in the meantime, check out some of my faves here.
Cake culture: I’ve been noticing it everywhere; birthdays, events, social feeds. Gone are the days of box flour and frosting. The cake has become the photographic moment; it’s unpredictable based on the outcome; it’s a spectacle.
The Devil Wears Prada 2: is this Anna Wintour’s sympathy tour? Because it seems like a biopic about her after she had to deal with accusations of being a horrible adult
The Whitney Biennial: The curation felt very earthy, sustainable, and nostalgic. I kept asking myself: What is the more cohesive theme? It wanted to say so much that it became hard to keep up with all the ideas without getting lost in the overlap. My favorite was Ignacio Gatica's Sanhattan, a short film about Chile building the largest skyscraper in South America, modeled after Manhattan's skyline and identity.
Digital Graffiti: I love this.
Go To This
Through May 17 — Margaret Curtis: ‘S @ Post Times, 29 Henry Street, Lower East Side
Through May 25 — The Camps America Built @ ICP Incubator Space, 84 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side — Haruka Sakaguchi, free admission
Through May 31 — Flashpoint! Protest Photography in Print Reading Room @ Printed Matter, 231 11th Avenue, Chelsea
Through June 3 — Spencer Vazquez: Glue Traps @ Baxter St at CCNY, 126 Baxter Street, Chinatown
Through August 22 — Marcel Duchamp retrospective @ MoMA
Through November 22 — Venice Biennale: “In Minor Keys”
May 8–10 — ICP Photobook Fest, 84 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side — 5th year, 80+ international publishers
May 13–17 — Frieze New York @ The Shed, Hudson Yards + 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair @ Starrett-Lehigh Building, Chelsea — same week, both worth the trip
May 16–30 — Photoville, Brooklyn Bridge Park + all 5 boroughs — 15th anniversary, 85+ exhibitions — featuring Fresh Mercado presents Cafecito: What Keeps Us
Apply To This
Due May 7 — PhMuseum Days 2026 Photography Festival Open Call
Due May 15 — Women Photograph + Getty Images Grants — $5,000–$10,000, open to women, nonbinary, and transgender photographers
Due May 17 — The Hopper Prize — unrestricted cash grants, international, all visual media
Due May 19 — NYFA JGS Fellowship for Photography — $8,000, NY State photographers outside the five boroughs
Due May 21 — VIA Art Fund Artistic Production Grants — $25,000–$100,000 for public and non-traditional exhibition work
Due September 15 — Lucie Foundation Photo Book Prize
— Nicole ⚙️