White Columns, New York’s oldest alternative nonprofit art space, has launched a unique fundraising exhibition titled “Art (by) Dealers.” The show features works created by over 90 art dealers and gallery professionals rather than the artists they represent. Organized by Kathy Huang and Will Leung, the exhibition presents uniform 12-by-9-inch works priced at $500 each, sold anonymously to benefit the nonprofit's programming.
A new wave of design galleries across the United States is redefining the traditional gallery model by prioritizing community, craft, and hospitality over sterile white-cube spaces. Galleries like Tiwa Gallery in Tribeca, Marta in Los Feliz, Blunk Space in Point Reyes Station, and Landdd in Portland are hosting opening-night dinners, sound baths, flower arranging, and workshops to create intimate, home-like environments. Curator Sonya Tamaddon, an alumna of LACMA and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, notes a shift away from formal hierarchies toward richer dialogue between designers, artists, and collectors, with hugging replacing air kissing.
Slip House, a new gallery co-founded by Ingrid Lundgren and Marissa Dembkoski, will open to the public on May 9, 2025, during Frieze Week. Located in a 1,000-square-foot, three-story former carriage house at 246 East 5th Street in New York's East Village, the gallery's inaugural exhibition features a multigenerational roster of artists, including historic works by Jack Whitten and Claude Viallat alongside contemporary pieces by Anne Hayden Stevens, Lizzy Gabay, Max Guy, and others. Former Sprüth Magers Director Jessica Draper co-curates the debut presentation. The space includes a second-floor fireplace and kitchen, and a third-floor live/work area that will host a rotating artist residency, with co-founder Dembkoski living onsite during the first year.
Los Angeles is experiencing a surge in non-traditional exhibition spaces that bypass the conventional 'white cube' gallery model. Artists and curators are repurposing domestic apartments, former Vietnamese restaurants, vacant lots, and garages to host experimental shows. Notable examples include Greg Jenkins’s Paramount-Artcraft in the Fairfax District, Ian James’s Leroy’s in Chinatown, and David Horvitz’s 7th Ave Garden, which utilizes salvaged concrete from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to create an outdoor installation and reading space.
Mariposa gallery has officially opened its permanent location in Hollywood’s historic Beachwood Canyon, housed in the 1923 storybook building originally built by the Hollywoodland Realty Co. Founded by Alec Smyth, a former David Zwirner staffer, and interior designer Noah Ruttenberg, the gallery moves away from the traditional 'white cube' aesthetic in favor of a cozy, domestic environment. The inaugural exhibition features a series of swan-shaped ceramic sculptures by the Los Angeles-born artist Peter Schlesinger.
Two artist-taxidermists, Ferry van Tongeren and Jaap Sinke, have opened the Art Zoo Museum in a restored canal house in Amsterdam, in partnership with the Vrije Academie cultural education institute. The museum, opening on 26 June, is described as a "modern wunderkammer"—a contemporary cabinet of curiosities—featuring taxidermied animals that died natural deaths, arranged in surreal poses alongside preserved flowers and ornate interiors. Van Tongeren, a former advertising agency owner who retrained as a taxidermist, gained international fame after he and Sinke sold their first collection to Damien Hirst in 2016. Their collective is named Darwin, Sinke & Van Tongeren, reflecting the influence of Charles Darwin.
Valentina Akerman and her husband, artist Joe Bradley, founded Galerie Sardine in Amagansett last summer, operating out of an 18th-century farmhouse. The gallery's debut season includes residencies and exhibitions with artists such as Jean Prounis, Julian Kent, Joline Kwakkenbos, Tenki Hiramatsu, and Nate Lowman, along with special events like a Beni Rugs residency and garden dinners. Akerman also curated a Sardine program at Le Consortium Museum in Dijon, France, while Bradley shows new work at David Zwirner's London gallery.
Jonny Tanna, founder of the London gallery Harlesden High Street, has launched a pop-up project in Mayfair during Frieze Week, in collaboration with Düsseldorf- and Berlin-based gallery Setareh. The inaugural exhibition, “Forces of Nature,” features London-based artists Abbas Zahedi and Jamiu Agboke, presenting conceptual installation and atmospheric painting. Tanna emphasizes that this is not a permanent relocation but an itinerant extension of his gallery, which exclusively shows artists of color and is known for its community-focused, unvarnished approach.
The inaugural Medina Triennial has announced its artist lineup for its debut edition running from June to September in Western New York. Featuring 39 participants, the walkable exhibition will showcase site-specific works by international and local figures including Tania Candiani, Lina Lapelytė, and Asad Raza. Installations and performances will be integrated into the town's civic fabric, utilizing non-traditional venues such as a railroad museum, local churches, hospital corridors, and a century-old high school.
PROJECT LOOP, a new POC and queer-owned gallery and open-studio residency space, opens in Hoxton, London on April 26, 2025. The inaugural exhibition features works by Emmanuel Awuni and Fungai Benhura, and Ruby Dickson will initiate the artist-in-residence programme. The space is co-directed by Alïn-Sitoé Diallo and aims to challenge traditional gallery models by integrating a live-in residency with an exhibition space.
Samantha McCoy, the grand-niece of Jackson Pollock, has launched Argo Fine Arts, a new gallery model operating between Paris and New York. Making its high-profile debut at the 28th edition of Art Paris in the Grand Palais, the gallery is garnering attention for its impressive inventory, which includes works by Jackson Pollock, Cy Twombly, and Charles Pollock. McCoy has opted for an "ephemeral" gallery model that prioritizes artists and clients over permanent real estate, reflecting a strategic response to the current economic pressures facing traditional brick-and-mortar galleries.
Amoako Boafo's third solo exhibition with Roberts Projects, titled 'I Bring Home with Me,' opens January 17 in Los Angeles. The show recreates the artist's Accra, Ghana studio within the gallery through an architectural collaboration with designer Glenn DeRoche, featuring vibrant wallpaper, grid windows, and light-filled passages. Boafo presents new portraits using his signature fingertip painting technique, integrated into the studio structure and a folding wooden sculpture inspired by the Adinkra symbol nkyinkyim.
Close gallery, founded in 2009 by curator and art advisor Freeny Yianni in the grounds of her 17th-century home near Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset, is expanding its operations. Yianni, who previously worked at Lisson Gallery and helped Grenville Davey win the Turner Prize, recently hired sales director Richard Scarry, formerly of Coates and Scarry in Bristol. The gallery's current exhibition features previously unseen works by British abstract artist Jane Harris (1956–2022), shown both in Somerset and at a new London project space in Marylebone. Upcoming plans include presenting a monumental sculpture by Simon Hitchens at Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park.
Beijing's art week, rebranded as the Beijing Art Season, ran from 22 May to 1 June, featuring three concurrent events: Art021 Beijing (formerly JingArt) at a new venue in the 798 Art District, Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ), and the fair Beijing Dangdai. The 798 gallery complex merged with the adjacent 751 complex, becoming the 798 751 Art District. GWBJ scaled back this year, suspending its curated selling exhibition and international visiting sector, instead hosting only one pop-up gallery. Organizers cited economic struggles and tariffs as challenges, with gallerists reporting slower sales and cancelled US orders due to new tariffs.
Riapre a Milano la galleria internazionale che mette in dialogo artisti contemporanei e maestri della storia dell’arte. L’intervista
The artist-run space Octagon is set to establish a permanent home in Milan at Via Maroncelli 12, officially opening on April 15, 2026, during the city's Art Week. Founded by artist Jacopo Mazzetti in 2018, the gallery is transitioning from a nomadic model that saw recent collaborations in Paris and Athens to a fixed physical presence. The inaugural exhibition will feature works by the French Symbolist master Odilon Redon, maintaining the space's signature curatorial approach of bridging historical art with contemporary perspectives.
Yanran Chen (b. 2005) is presenting her first major solo exhibition in China, titled "Neon Dreamland," at Art Focus, a new immersive art space by Tang Contemporary Art in Beijing. The show, curated by actor and digital art platform founder Yuan Hong, runs through July 6, 2025, and features paintings, sculptures, and collaborative projects including a partnership with animation label WaarWorld inspired by Liu Cixin's sci-fi novel *Supernova Era* (2003). Highlights include the debut of the "Players Series" collectible sculptures in China.
The article highlights five new or relocated gallery openings across the UK, from London to rural Wiltshire, that are generating buzz alongside the Frieze London art fair. These include Brink in Notting Hill, which pairs architecture with art in a former temperance hall; Huxley-Parlour's new rural outpost in the North Wessex Downs; Monument, an archival objects gallery expanding in Leyton; 3812 Gallery relocating to The Whiteley in Queensway with a focus on Chinese contemporary art; and Cobogó Gallery's first physical London space in Chelsea Harbour, specializing in Brazilian design.
The Albarrán Bourdais gallery, founded by Eva Albarrán and Christian Bourdais, is launching a large-scale sculpture trail on June 15 in the remote Matarraña region of eastern Spain. The trail winds through 5km of vineyards and hills, featuring 20 installations by artists including Mona Hatoum, José Dávila, and Christian Boltanski. This is part of their broader Solo Houses project, which began in 2010 with avant-garde architect homes and now includes a retreat for collectors, a winery, and plans for a hotel designed by Smiljan Radic set to open by 2028.
Slip House, a new Manhattan gallery co-founded by Ingrid Lundgren and Marissa Dembkoski, has opened in a historic carriage house on East 5th Street. Its inaugural group exhibition, "As if a line" (9 May–14 June), features a cross-generational lineup of painters including Jack Whitten, Claude Viallat, and emerging talents like Lizzy Gabay and Alix Vernet. The show was organized with former Sprüth Magers director Jessica Draper, and the space also includes lamps by ceramicist Gordon Moore on consignment. The building, built in the 1880s, once belonged to fashion designer and artist Charles Kritsky, who allegedly had Jean-Michel Basquiat contribute to its penny mosaic facade.
Oshorenoya David Francis presents a solo exhibition titled *In Solitude, Fantasies & Becoming* at 1853 Studios in Manchester, running from 15 to 17 May 2026. Co-curated by Obi Nwaegbe and Natasha Virli, the show features new acrylic paintings on canvas and paper that explore themes of solitude, identity, and emotional transformation through expressive figurative compositions. Key works include *Hug*, *Thoughts in Blue*, *Chapters in Atomic Habits*, and *Thy Wish*, each employing bold color, intimate perspectives, and narrative ambiguity to evoke psychological depth.
Fine artist Vanessa Johansson is presenting her debut solo exhibition in the Sky Garden Penthouse of Gramercy’s 200E20TH in New York City. The show features atmospheric acrylic abstract paintings, displayed in a residential setting that complements CetraRuddy’s contemporary architecture. Johansson, who studied at the Art Students League, will next participate in the group exhibition “Women and Abstraction” at Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris.
A new art exhibition called the Culture Collective has been installed across three of Ibiza's biggest nightclubs—Hï Ibiza, Ushuaïa Ibiza, and [UNVRS]—featuring over 70 international artists. The season-long show, organized by London-based art platform W1 Curates in partnership with The Night League, includes monumental murals, marble sculptures (such as Nazareno Biondo's life-size Vespa and Fiat 500), and works by street artists like PichiAvo and VHILS, running from late April to mid-October.
Manuel Acevedo, a photographer known for documenting the people of Newark, New Jersey, is having his works displayed across the city in highly visible outdoor locations. The exhibition places his portraits directly in the neighborhoods and public spaces where his subjects live and work, making the art accessible to the very community that inspired it.
London-based artist Slawn has released a collaborative album titled 'Not An Artist' following a month-long residency at Saatchi Yates gallery. From January to February, the gallery was transformed into a live studio environment where Slawn created paintings and recorded music simultaneously. The project featured a wide array of musical collaborators, including Unknown T and Blackhaine, and was executive produced by Arthur Bean.
Market Gallery, founded by Adam Zhu, has been hosting intimate solo shows from a storage shed on his Chinatown apartment balcony for the past eight months. On July 17, the gallery opened its first group exhibition, "Revolve," in a pop-up space at 51 Mercer Street in Soho, formerly home to Virgil Abloh's Em Pty Gallery. The show, organized by Zhu and his friends Jack Irv and Andrew Kass, features works by emerging and established artists including Lorenzo Amos, Amanda Ba, Maggie Lee, Rene Ricard, and Mike Kelley, and runs until August 10.
Rosa Park, founder of Francis Gallery, has opened Casa Francis, a new exhibition space in her former family home in Los Angeles. The inaugural show, “Have You Eaten Today?,” features nine Korean and LA-based artists exploring themes of care and sustenance, with artworks displayed alongside home objects like silk floor cushions and ceramics. The space operates by appointment only and enforces a strict no-social-media policy, emphasizing an intimate, offline viewing experience.
The creative initiative Roadside, founded by artist Ali Arshad, is challenging the traditional gallery model in Pakistan by hosting pop-up exhibitions in unconventional public spaces. Their latest show, "Anighst Preeminent Prosaics," transformed Iqbal House, a pre-partition bungalow in Lahore, into a multi-sensory art experience featuring 14 artists. By placing works in sites ranging from barber shops to parking lots, the initiative seeks to dismantle the elitist barriers of the "white cube" and engage a broader demographic, including the working class and Gen Z.
A new group exhibition titled 'Grit' opened at Echo Contemporary Art in Atlanta's Echo Street West, featuring works by local artists in painting, illustration, sculpture, installation, tech-driven pieces, and a quilt by Evereman. Co-curated by Alfonso Alday Vergara of Alday Hunken Gallery, Melanie Shaw of ArtShare, and Kyle McNeill (BignPasty), the show explores the theme of perseverance in art-making. The opening night reception drew a crowd, and the week-long exhibition includes artist talks, live music, and a panel discussion with Hayley Smith of SCOPE Art Show and Plushette Ellis of Artistic Logistics.
GHOSTMACHINE Gallery has launched an open call for its upcoming summer exhibition in New York, curated by Dominika Tylcz. Moving away from the traditional large-group show format, the gallery is seeking two to three artists or collectives to participate in a focused, collaborative exhibition running from July 31 to August 29, 2026. The selection process includes a shortlist of ten artists who will receive studio visits, emphasizing a hands-on curatorial approach that requires selected participants to assist with the installation and de-installation of their work.
Sydney-based artist Vicki Lee is opening a new gallery at 16-18 Bayswater Road in Potts Point on September 20, following a previous space in Surry Hills. The 260-square-metre venue spans two levels and features a multi-sensory exhibition titled *Inner Peace, Dinner Please*, which includes a sound-healing listening space with yoga mats, a confessional booth with a shredder for discarding written sins, a light installation, and inhalers scented with frankincense. Lee’s husband, photographer Ted O’Donnell, also exhibits collaborative floral works, and DJ/producer Stu Turner will perform live sets on Saturdays.