Seoul Gets an Intriguing New Art Fair—Plus, a Rundown of the Latest in Asia’s Art World

The Asian art landscape is undergoing significant shifts, headlined by the launch of Hive Art Fair in Seoul, which introduces a fee-free booth model focused on B2B corporate collaborations. Major institutional moves include the appointment of Melissa Chiu as the new director of the Guggenheim Museum and the opening of the Black Gold Museum in Riyadh. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Museum of History has reopened with a controversial thematic revamp that emphasizes Chinese heritage over colonial history.

Dark Mofo: 2026 festival to show Willem Dafoe film that can only be watched by one person at a time

Tasmania's Dark Mofo festival for 2026 will feature an exclusive, single-viewer experimental film titled 'Sculpt: Eye of the Duck,' starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Rampling. Created by French artist Loris Gréaud, the 50-minute film will be shown to only 90 individuals at a secret, remote location outside Hobart, with viewers transported to the site after securing one of nine daily slots.

making the mark forum art market museum recap

The inaugural Making Their Mark forum convened 350 art world professionals at the National Museum of Women in the Arts to address systemic gender inequity. Organized by collector Komal Shah and the Making Their Mark Foundation, the event featured panels with artists, curators, and public figures like Chelsea Clinton and Ava DuVernay. The forum served as a call to action to dismantle the male-dominated art historical canon and reform the systems governing visibility and valuation.

making their mark forum

The Making Their Mark Forum recently convened 350 women in the arts—including artists, curators, and over 20 museum directors—at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. Organized by collector Komal Shah alongside Cecilia Alemani and Loring Randolph, the invitation-only conference coincided with a traveling exhibition of Shah’s collection at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The event featured high-profile speakers like Chelsea Clinton and Ava DuVernay, focusing on dismantling structural gender inequities and celebrating the foundational contributions of women to art history.

Frida Kahlo: Making of an Icon

frida kahlo making of an icon

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has launched a major exhibition titled "Frida Kahlo: Making of an Icon," which explores the artist's transformation from a relatively unknown figure during her lifetime into a global cultural phenomenon. Curated by Mari Carmen Ramírez, the show features over 200 objects related to "Frida mania" alongside works by 80 contemporary artists who have been influenced by her legacy. The exhibition traces her life from her childhood in Mexico City and her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera to her emergence as a symbol for various social movements.

uk government slaps export ban on howard hodgkin work after bonhams sold it for a record 1 7 m

The UK government has issued a temporary export ban on Howard Hodgkin’s painting "Mrs Acton in Delhi" (1967–71) following its record-breaking £1.7 million sale at Bonhams. The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) intervened after the buyer applied for an export license, triggering a deferral period that allows British museums or galleries until June 4 to match the auction price and keep the work within the country.

basquiat the hole kenny schachter

Kenny Schachter explores the existential threat posed by the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence and its projected impact on the global economy by 2028. Citing the Citrini Report, he highlights a future of mass unemployment among white-collar professionals—the primary demographic for art consumption—who account for over 50% of discretionary spending in the U.S. As tech leaders like Jack Dorsey begin significant workforce reductions attributed to AI, the financial foundation of the art market appears increasingly precarious.

1969 gallery space zero one wet paint

The New York art scene is witnessing a shift in the Tribeca gallery landscape as 1969 Gallery, a fixture known for championing emerging painters, has shuttered its physical space at 39 White Street. Founder Quang Bao confirmed the closure following the building owner's decision to sell the property, noting that he is currently operating from Barcelona with plans to pivot toward collaborations and residencies rather than the traditional gallery model. Meanwhile, the itinerant Ward Gallery continues to gain traction by hosting pop-up symposia at institutions like the International Center for Photography, signaling a broader trend toward real-estate-free dealership.

abstract expressionists women christian levett

The American Federation of the Arts (AFA) has launched a major touring exhibition titled "Abstract Expressionists: The Women," featuring nearly 50 works from the collection of Christian Levett. Currently on view at the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Virginia, the show highlights 32 artists who were pivotal to the movement but often overshadowed by their male peers. The exhibition includes masterpieces by celebrated figures like Helen Frankenthaler and Lee Krasner alongside rediscovered works by lesser-known painters such as Emiko Nakano and Yvonne Thomas.

art basel hong kong 2026 fair highlights

Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 will feature 240 galleries and an expanded program, including the Asia debut of the digital-focused Zero 10 section and a reimagined Encounters section. The Encounters section, curated by a team led by Mami Kataoka, will feature 12 large-scale works based on the Five Elements theme, with pieces by artists like Suki Seokyeong Kang and Parag Tandel. The Film section is under new curation by Ellen Pau, and the fair coincides with major exhibitions at institutions like M+.

what to see milan best museums galleries 2026 winter olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics are set to begin in Milan, Italy, with an opening ceremony featuring Mariah Carey at San Siro Stadium. While most events take place across northern Italy, the article provides a guide to Milan's top museums and galleries for art-loving visitors during the three-week games. Highlights include exhibitions at Fondazione Prada (with works by Mona Hatoum and Hito Steyerl), Pirelli HangarBicocca (Nan Goldin's "This Will Not End Well" and Benni Bosetto's "Rebecca"), Pinacoteca di Brera (Italian masterpieces plus Giorgio Armani garments), and Museo del Novecento (sports-themed posters by Armando Testa). Several commercial galleries also feature solo shows by artists such as Emily Sunblad, Claudia Losi, and Jonathan Lyndon Chase.

chicago volume gallery move west town

Volume Gallery, a Chicago gallery specializing in art and design, is tripling its size and moving to a new location in the West Town neighborhood. The gallery, founded by Claire Warner and Sam Vinz, will open a 3,500-square-foot space on February 13, marking its third location since its 2010 launch. The inaugural exhibition, "The Heresy of Legacy," will feature works by artists and designers including Selva Aparicio, Richard Artschwager, and Joyce Scott.

jack shainman esther schipper victoria miro olney gleason roster

This article from ARTnews reports on recent industry moves in the art world, including gallery roster additions and appointments. Jack Shainman Gallery added Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist Donyel Ivy-Royal, Esther Schipper now represents Tuan Andrew Nguyen in collaboration with James Cohan, Emalin took on Ghanaian artist Jonathan Okoronkwo, and Victoria Miro and Olney Gleason will jointly represent Emil Sands. Additionally, the Bass Museum of Art appointed Jasa McKenzie as associate curator. The piece also highlights a record-breaking $84.1 million sale of William I. Koch's Western art collection at Christie's, which set five new artist records, including Frederic Remington's reset twice.

alejandro jodorowsky taschen art sin fin monograph

Taschen has released a monumental two-volume monograph titled "Art Sin Fin" (2026) dedicated to the 96-year-old Chilean filmmaker and polymath Alejandro Jodorowsky. The book, priced at $1,500 and packaged in a Plexiglass box, spans over 2,000 pages and includes film stills, collages, drawings, photographs, comic strips, and performance images curated by Jodorowsky himself in collaboration with Donatien Grau, head of contemporary programs at the Louvre Museum. It covers his entire career, from his surrealist films "El Topo" (1970) and "The Holy Mountain" (1973) to his failed "Dune" adaptation, his comic series like "The Incal" and "The Metabarons," his psychomagic therapy practice, and recent collaborations with his wife Pascale Montandon.

rebecca salsbury james

Rebecca Salsbury James, an artist who mastered reverse painting on glass and colcha embroidery, is gaining renewed attention. Born in 1891 in London to parents involved in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, she later moved to Taos, New Mexico, where she lived until her death in 1968. She was married to photographer Paul Strand, a close friend of Georgia O'Keeffe, and exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery. Recent milestones include her inclusion in the 2025 Site Santa Fe International, a new acquisition by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, and a record auction price for her work at Christie's in 2016.

philip tinari ucca tai kwun asian art industry news

This edition of State of Play, part of Artnet Pro's The Asia Pivot newsletter, reports on multiple developments across Asia's art scene. Highlights include the launch of Art Fairs Pavilion Taipei, a new alternative art fair co-founded by Hong Kong dealers Willem Molesworth and Ysabelle Cheung, with 13 galleries for its inaugural edition. Galleries Antenna Space and Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery are expanding into Hong Kong and Singapore respectively, while veteran Beijing gallery Long March Space has closed its physical venue. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum announced Taiwan's collateral exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and the Hong Kong Museum of Art named artists for its collateral show. The Asia Society Museum in New York will open a 70th-anniversary exhibition, and the H+ Museum in Suzhou, designed by Tadao Ando, officially opened with two inaugural shows.

renovated frick expansion reopening highlights

The Frick Collection reopens to the public on April 17 after a five-year closure and a $220 million expansion and renovation by Selldorf Architects. The project adds 18,000 square feet, including 10 new galleries in the family's original second-floor living quarters, a marble staircase, cafe, gift shop, and a new auditorium. The percentage of the collection on view has increased from 25% to 47%, and Ukrainian artist Vladimir Kanevsky has created porcelain floral arrangements for the reopening. New director Axel Rüger, who joined from London's Royal Academy of Arts, welcomed journalists at a press preview.

robert colescott market

The article examines the posthumous market resurgence of painter Robert Colescott, who died in 2009. After his commercial profile faded, Los Angeles dealer Tim Blum and his gallery Blum & Poe began working with the artist's estate in 2017, staging five solo shows and rescuing a disorganized estate with works stored in shipping containers in Arizona. Major auction prices followed, including a record $15.3 million for 'George Washington Carver Crossing The Delaware' in 2021. In 2024, after Blum & Poe closed, Gladstone Gallery took over representation. A current exhibition at the Tacoma Art Museum, 'The One-Two Punch: 100 Years of Robert Colescott,' runs through March 29.

john p axelrod dead collector

John P. Axelrod, a prominent art collector and retired lawyer, was killed in a hit-and-run incident on January 3 in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood while walking his dog. The suspect, William Haney, 42, allegedly drove onto a pedestrian mall and struck Axelrod before fleeing; he has been charged with murder and animal cruelty. Axelrod, 79, was a longtime collector of American painting, African American and Latin American art, and decorative arts, and was listed on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list from 1997 to 2000.

amid ongoing layoffs brown university terminates both bell gallery curators rankling faculty

Brown University terminated both curators at the David Winton Bell Gallery—Kate Kraczon, director of exhibitions and chief curator, and Thea Quiray Tagle, associate curator—on December 4, as part of broader layoffs and austerity measures amid a financial crunch. The university eliminated 55 vacant positions and laid off 48 staff across campus, but has not publicly commented on the curators' terminations, which were confirmed via an internal message shared with ARTnews. Faculty members expressed surprise and frustration, saying they received no clear explanation beyond budget cuts, and it remains unclear who will handle future programming at the gallery.

industry moves december 30 2025

This ARTnews industry moves roundup from December 30, 2025, reports that Fabienne Levy Gallery now represents Amit Berman, whose work is currently in a group show at the Haifa Museum of Art and was previously presented at the Jewish Museum of Venice during the 2024 Venice Biennale. Kevin Umaña has joined The Pit gallery; the New York-based artist had his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles in 2025 and received the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award that same year. Additionally, Qatar Museums and the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Center have signed a five-year partnership to create educational programs in India and Qatar. The article also notes that the Bayeux Tapestry will be loaned to the British Museum in 2026, requiring a UK Treasury guarantee of $1 billion to insure the work while its French owner undergoes renovation.

art world insiders 2026 market predictions new years

Art world insiders share their predictions for 2026, anticipating a market rebound after a turbulent 2025 marked by gallery closures and tariff announcements. Key developments include the launch of new art fairs by Art Basel and Frieze in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the return of the Whitney Biennial and Venice Biennale, and a surge in estate-driven sales as the Great Wealth Transfer accelerates. Experts note a revival of interest in Old Masters and classic taste, with collectors returning to bidding and galleries seeing renewed activity.

palm beach art guide museums galleries and gardens

Palm Beach is emerging as a major art destination, bolstered by Miami's growing art scene. The article highlights key cultural attractions including the Norton Museum of Art, which underwent a Norman Foster-designed expansion in 2019 and features Dutch Golden Age masterworks from the Leiden Collection, as well as a growing contemporary collection. Other notable sites include the Flagler Museum (Whitehall), a Gilded Age mansion showcasing historic interiors and a private railcar, and the Bunker Artspace, a private museum founded by collector Beth Rudin DeWoody in a converted toy factory, displaying over 600 works from her collection.

gloria klein anat ebgi crisis management

Gloria Klein, a late New York-based painter known for anxious acrylic arrangements and methodical mathematical systems, is the subject of a new solo exhibition titled "Crisis Management" opening January 9, 2026, at Anat Ebgi New York. The show presents many of her later paintings for the first time, and coincides with the announcement that Anat Ebgi now represents her estate. Klein, born in Brooklyn in 1936, was a queer artist who participated in the feminist publication HERESIES, created portraits of critics Arlene Raven and Lucy Lippard, curated the 1977 exhibition "10 Downtown: 10 Years" at PS1, and was a member of the Criss Cross art cooperative. Despite a recent sale of her work for $30,000 at Frieze Los Angeles in 2023, she remains relatively unknown.

mattress factory anthony elms artistic director

The Mattress Factory, a contemporary art museum and residency program in Pittsburgh, has appointed Anthony Elms as its artistic director, effective February 2024. Elms, who previously served as chief curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and as a director at Peter Freeman, Inc., will oversee all artistic programming, including exhibitions, commissions, and the residency program. He was also a cocurator of the 2014 Whitney Biennial and recently organized a solo exhibition for Rodney McMillian at the Henry Art Gallery.

how darren bader makes show amy winehouse weight machine

Darren Bader's first exhibition with Matthew Brown Gallery in New York, titled "Youth," features his signature conceptual works that blur the line between humor and philosophical inquiry. The show includes pieces like "jam on It," a mound of fruit spread placed on a Stephen King novel, and a bin soliciting sock donations, including a pair printed with Edgar Allan Poe's face and injected with Botox. Gallery director Jack Eisenberg describes the challenges of sourcing jam in New York, highlighting the absurd yet meticulous nature of Bader's practice.

hot lots top flops november day sales 2025

Artnet News reports on the November 2025 day sales in New York, following the evening sales that signaled a market comeback. Hot lots included Gertrude Abercrombie's "Message for Mercy" (1950), which sold for $1.2 million at Sotheby's, setting a new auction record for the artist. Other strong performers were Julia Jo's "Rhyme or Reason" (2022) at Christie's for $203,200 and Mary Abbott's "Forest of Dak" (1965) at Phillips for $167,700. Top flops included Jacques Lipschitz's "Tete" (conceived 1915), which sold for $152,400 against a $300,000–$400,000 estimate at Sotheby's, and Sterling Ruby's "SP44" (2008), which underperformed at Christie's.

martin wong painting unseen art basel miami beach ppow

A long-unseen 12-foot-wide painting by Martin Wong, titled *Tai Ping Tien Kuo (Tai Ping Kuo)* (1982), will be exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach next month courtesy of New York gallery P.P.O.W. The work, which features a rare nude portrait of the artist’s mother and stepfather, was last shown publicly in 1987 at the Asian Arts Institute in New York. It was kept in storage for decades because Wong’s mother, Florence Wong Fie, objected to its display out of modesty. The painting adopts a classical three-panel altarpiece format, blending Chinese American history with references to Western art, the Taiping Rebellion, and Wong’s own Lower East Side influences.

paris photo women photographers

The 28th edition of Paris Photo, which closed November 16, saw a surge in representation of women photographers, rising to 39 percent of artists on view from 20 percent in 2018. This shift is driven by the fair's Elles program, launched with France's ministry of culture, and a broader market appetite for rediscovered women artists. Notable sales included works by Ming Smith, whose vintage prints sold for up to €60,000 at M77 gallery, and offerings from Les Filles du Calvaire featuring Helena Almeida and Katalin Ladik. Richard Saltoun gallery returned after six years with a booth focused on women photographers.

the art angle alison gingeras the woman question

Alison M. Gingeras, an American curator and writer, has organized a major new exhibition titled “The Woman Question: 1550–2025” at the recently opened Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. The show brings together over 200 artworks spanning nearly 500 years of women’s creative production, from Renaissance figures like Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana to Baroque artists such as Elisabetta Sirani and Artemisia Gentileschi, and contemporary names like Betty Tompkins and Lisa Brice. The exhibition explores how women artists have depicted themselves, power, resistance, desire, and violence, drawing on the historical concept of the "querelle des femmes" and Linda Nochlin’s famous 1971 essay. Gingeras discusses the project on the podcast The Art Angle.