Cultural Highlights of 2025
By Neil Scott published December 26, 2025
Best Exhibition
Birth and death, sex and nature, and much more in this extraordinary exhibition of Peter Hujar’s photography
Peter Hujar — Eyes Open in the Dark
It sometimes feels like few in the art world care about beauty. Their hearts have hardened, their spirits are weak. For many, art is simply a vehicle for social change rather than a source of aesthetic bliss. So when an exhibition comes along that is devastatingly beautiful—in all its abject, tender, and spiritual forms—it is all the more shocking.
Peter Hujar’s pictures are alive. The prints—both Hujar’s originals and the recent ones by co-curator Gary Schneider—possess a powerful aura that allows them to transcend their time while also being essential documents of the era. I am even tempted to make a pilgrimage to Bonn next year to see the show a third time.
Read my interview with the exhibition’s co-curator, and Peter Hujar’s biographer, John Douglas Millar.
…
The paradox of memorability is that almost anything can stick in the mind if you dedicate enough attention. Even the act of photographing an event helps solidify it in one’s mental archive. It is no coincidence that half of the things I’ve listed here were ones I documented. So be it. What we pay attention to is what makes up a life. Here’s to more memorable cultural experiences in 2026.