Kim Keon Hee, the former first lady of South Korea and wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, was arrested on Tuesday following a court-issued warrant. The arrest makes her the first former first lady in South Korean history to be detained while her husband is also in custody, marking an unprecedented moment in the nation's political landscape.
Kim, who has described herself as a "K-culture salesperson," faces multiple serious charges including stock price manipulation of Deutsch Motors between 2009 and 2012, and illegal interference in candidate nominations for the 2022 and 2024 elections. She has firmly denied all allegations against her. The former first lady appeared at Seoul Central District Court on August 12 for a hearing to review the arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors.
Known for her involvement in South Korea's cultural scene, Kim had previously organized high-profile art exhibitions featuring renowned artists such as Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko. Her arrest comes months after her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was detained following his controversial attempt to impose martial law in December 2024. This simultaneous detention of a former presidential couple represents a historic first in South Korean politics.
Meanwhile, the American art world is facing what curators describe as a growing wave of censorship targeting LGBTQ-related content in major cultural institutions. The cancellation of Amy Sherald's LGBTQ-inclusive Smithsonian exhibition "American Sublime" last month has been cited as the latest example of this troubling trend throughout 2025.
In February, Washington D.C.'s Art Museum of the Americas abruptly canceled "Nature's Wild" with Andil Gosine, a group exhibition inspired by Gosine's book examining Caribbean sexuality and activism. Critics have noted the timing of these cancellations coincides with Trump administration directives to eliminate what they term "anti-American content" from cultural institutions across the country.
Art historian Jonathan D. Katz has connected these recent events to longstanding tensions over sexuality in American art, drawing parallels to the controversial Mapplethorpe exhibitions of the late 1980s. The current climate has left many curators and artists concerned about the future of queer representation in mainstream American museums.
In tragic news from the design world, Mario Paglino, 52, and Gianni Grossi, 54, two renowned Italian designers celebrated for transforming Barbie dolls into unique, high-value art pieces, died in a devastating car crash on July 27. The couple's vehicle was struck by another car traveling in the wrong direction on the A4 Turin-Milan highway, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
Based in Novara, near Milan, Paglino and Grossi had married in New York City in 2022 and collaborated closely in both their personal and professional lives. Their custom-designed Barbie dolls often sold for thousands of dollars, with one piece raising over $15,000 at a charity auction. The duo had earned widespread acclaim within the global Barbie collector community, which spans numerous online groups with some boasting over 100,000 members.
Kim Culmone, head of doll design at Mattel, explained the significance of their work within the collector community: "Fans either collect Barbies made by Mattel or seek out rare, one-of-a-kind creations by doll artists." She described Paglino and Grossi as beloved figures in this vibrant and passionate collector world, whose loss will be deeply felt by collectors and artists worldwide.
