'Trusting that first reaction is important': Nacho Polo and Robert Onuska on the process of collecting

Nacho Polo and Robert Onuska, co-founders of the design gallery Studiotwentyseven, discuss their art collection in an interview with The Art Newspaper. Housed in their Tribeca apartment, the collection spans painting, sculpture, and photography with an emphasis on materiality and sculptural form. They recount their first acquisition—Ron Gorchov's *Autolykos* (2019)—and their most recent purchase, Alex Katz's *Nine Women 5* (2009). The couple also shares their instinctive buying process, a regret over missing a Nick Cave sculpture, and their anticipation for the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection at Sotheby's this spring.

National Museum of Women in the Arts Director Susan Fisher Sterling to Retire

Susan Fisher Sterling, director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., will retire at the end of 2024 after 18 years in the role and nearly four decades at the institution. Sterling joined NMWA as an associate curator in 1988, rose through the ranks to become director in 2008, and oversaw a $67.5 million renovation completed in 2023, expansion of the collection to over 6,000 works, and partnerships with the Louvre, the State Hermitage Museum, and Tate Modern. The board of trustees has begun a search for her successor with executive search firm Howe-Lewis International.

Eugenio Viola, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá

eugenio viola museo de arte moderno de bogota

The Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (MAMBO) terminated the contract of its artistic director, Eugenio Viola, earlier this month. Viola claims his dismissal came after he raised concerns with the board in September 2025 about deteriorating working conditions at the museum, concerns he says were shared by other staff. The museum stated the decision resulted from a comprehensive review and that it has begun searching for a new artistic director.

wafaa bilal artnews awards 2025 established artist

Wafaa Bilal has been named the recipient of the 2025 ARTnews Award for Established Artist, recognizing his survey exhibition “Wafaa Bilal: Indulge Me” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (February 1–October 19, 2025). The show is the first major retrospective for the Iraqi American artist, featuring works that put his body at risk, including the iconic performance *Domestic Tension* (2007), in which remote participants fired a paintball gun at him over the internet, and *Virtual Jihadi* (2008), a modified video game that blurs the lines between aggressor and victim. Curated by Bana Kattan, the exhibition restages elements of Bilal’s original performance and presents his ongoing critique of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, particularly the Iraq War and the use of drone warfare.

richard hambleton

Richard Hambleton, the Canadian street artist known as the "Godfather of Street Art," is the subject of a new feature by Sphere Gallery, which has championed his legacy. The gallery, founded in New York in 2015 and now based in Laguna Beach, California, specializes in artists who shaped contemporary visual culture, including Hambleton. The article highlights Hambleton's early "Image of Mass Murder" body outlines from the 1970s and his iconic "Shadowman" paintings from the early 1980s, which appeared in cities worldwide. It also discusses his relationships with Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring, as seen in his 2016 work *The Four Friends*. Gallery founder Philippe Hoerle-Guggenheim shares his personal encounters with Hambleton's work and explains why the "Shadowman" series remains significant for its raw, psychological intensity and its embodiment of 1980s New York City.

rodrigo padilla whitney museum collector

Rodrigo Padilla, a hairstylist who built his career at Sally Hershberger and now serves on the Whitney Museum’s Drawing and Print Acquisitions Committee, discusses his art collection with his husband Elliott Trice. The couple’s Midtown flat features works by Latin American and diaspora artists including Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Amy Bravo, Verónica Vázquez, Angel Otero, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Dagoberto Rodríguez, and others. Padilla credits Whitney trustee Brooke Garber Neidich with inspiring his collecting journey by advising him to “see everything.”

Alton Yan

Alton Yan has been appointed as the new director of the Asia Society Museum in New York, effective immediately. Yan, previously a curator at the museum, succeeds the outgoing director and brings extensive experience in Asian contemporary art to the role.

A brush with… Olafur Eliasson

This article features an in-depth interview with artist Olafur Eliasson, who discusses his career-long focus on human perception, environmental concerns, and the concept of "we-ness" in his work. Eliasson reflects on key installations such as *Beauty* (1993) and *Your lost lighthouse* (2020), his influences from thinkers like Donna Haraway and Alva Noë, and his fascination with James Turrell and early Renaissance art. He also shares insights into his Berlin studio and answers the question "what is art for?" The piece is accompanied by details of his current exhibitions in Brisbane, Jakarta, and Singapore, as well as a new permanent public work in Oxford, UK.

Dale Berning Sawa

Dale Berning Sawa has been featured in an article from The Art Newspaper, though the provided text is incomplete and primarily consists of a subscription prompt and footer information. The article appears to be a profile or news piece about Dale Berning Sawa, likely a journalist or writer in the art world, but no specific events or details are available from the given content.

How I Shop with Michelle Ogundehin: ‘We grownups have enough stuff already’

Michelle Ogundehin, the former editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration and current head judge on BBC’s Interior Design Masters, shares her personal shopping philosophy and favorite sources for design and art supplies. The interview highlights her preference for tactile, high-quality essentials over mass consumerism, citing her love for artist-grade watercolor paper from L. Cornelissen & Son, vintage tapestries from Larusi, and curated items from Japan House London.

newsmakers valentina akerman gallery sardine hamptons

Valentina Akerman, an art director and architect, opened Sardine gallery in a weathered Amagansett rental last summer with her husband, artist Joe Bradley. What began as an improvised experiment has grown into a Hamptons success story, now in its second season with a Summer 2025 program featuring film series, residencies, dinners, and four exhibitions pairing painters with sculptors. The gallery also hosted a pop-up in Paris during Art Basel Paris and is organizing a group show at Le Consortium Museum’s summer space in Burgundy.

max carter christies chairman 20th and 21st century art americas

Christie’s has appointed Max Carter as chairman of 20th and 21st Century art for the Americas. Carter, a Canadian-American writer and art specialist who joined the auction house in 2007, previously led the Impressionist and modern art department in the Americas from 2017 to 2022. He has overseen major collection consignments from Anne Bass, Paul Allen, S.I. Newhouse, Mica Ertegun, Robert F. Weis and Patricia G. Ross Weis, and Elaine Wynn, and has achieved record prices for artists like Ed Ruscha and Henri Rousseau. Carter will report to Christie’s global president and succeeds in the role as the auction house prepares for its marquee November sales in New York.

Person of the Day | Chase Quinn Adopts Multi-Discipline Approach to Art-Museum Exhibits, Programs

Chase Quinn has been appointed as the inaugural creative director and curator of special projects at the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) in Jackson, starting in January 2025. In this newly created role, he oversees both curatorial and education departments, focusing on inclusive, cohesive content development and storytelling. Quinn, previously co-director of education and programs and curator of special projects at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, was inspired by Carrie Mae Weems’ series “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried” at Tate Modern in the mid-1990s, which shaped his approach to complicating narratives around race in museum exhibitions.

art justin emmanuel dumas young artist

Cultured magazine profiles 31-year-old Pittsburgh-based artist Justin Emmanuel Dumas as part of its 2025 Young Artists list. Dumas creates what he calls 'painting-shaped objects' that challenge traditional notions of painting, often incorporating wear and tear, slouching forms, and surfaces that peel outward. His work, including the piece 'Détrompe Warp' from his graduate thesis, explores infrastructural decay and renewal on both citywide and intimate scales. Dumas has exhibited at the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, and his practice involves using tools like a heat gun and improv techniques learned from his aunt, Sandy Dowe.

english heritage nick merriman steps down

Nick Merriman has stepped down as chief executive of English Heritage, the British conservation charity, after just over a year in the role. He resigned for personal reasons related to family health, effective immediately. Merriman’s tenure was marked by a controversial restructuring plan that proposed cutting 7 percent of the workforce (189 jobs), reducing opening hours by 10 percent across its 400 sites, and closing 21 sites over winter. The charity had begun consulting staff and unions on the proposals, which were not finalized before his departure. Interim chief executive Geoff Parkin has been appointed to replace him.

Monuments in Motion

Denkmäler in Bewegung

Berlin-based artist Sarah Ama Duah, who transitioned from fashion to sculpture, creates works that explore Afro-German memory culture. Her practice includes beeswax portraits, found objects like Delft porcelain and baroque vases, and performances at venues such as the Humboldt Forum. In 2025, she received the Wolfram Beck Prize for Sculpture. Duah's early fashion work, including silicone garments shown at the Fashionclash Festival in Maastricht, evolved into sculptural investigations of clothing, body, and space, leading her to study performance and sculpture at the Berlin University of the Arts under Jimmy Robert.

Kochi Biennale co-founder Bose Krishnamachari steps down as president

Bose Krishnamachari, co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India, has stepped down as president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation and as a board trustee after 14 years, citing pressing family reasons. His departure will not affect the ongoing sixth edition, titled "For the Time Being," which opened last month and runs until March 31. Krishnamachari founded the biennial in 2012 in Fort Kochi, Kerala, alongside fellow artist Riyas Komu, who left in 2018 amid sexual harassment allegations.

Major gift fuels new curator role at Laguna Art Museum

Laguna Art Museum has established a new endowed curator position, the Curator of Contemporary Art, funded by a significant gift from local philanthropists and art collectors Mark and Janet Hilbert. The inaugural appointment to this role is artist and curator Rochelle Steiner, who will oversee the museum's contemporary art initiatives and exhibitions.

cultured 2025 young collectors list

Cultured magazine has published its eighth annual Young Collectors list, featuring 11 individuals who exemplify a deep, obsessive commitment to art collecting. The honorees include Carl Gambino, Jon Neidich, Tanya Fileva, Tia Tanna, Paul Leong, Ben Weyerhaeuser, Laura de Gunzburg and Gabriel Chipperfield, Margherita Maccapani Missoni, Danielle Falls, and Toby Milstein Schulman, based in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, and Milan.