Bold Solos, Global Dialogues: Inside Frieze New York 2026

Frieze New York 2026 will return to The Shed from May 13–17, featuring an expansive program of solo, dual, and curated presentations. The fair brings together 33 New York galleries alongside international exhibitors, with strong solo booths by Virginia Jaramillo (Hales), Akinsanya Kambon (Ortuzar and Marc Selwyn Fine Art), and Kelly Sinnapah Mary (James Cohan). Dual presentations include mor charpentier pairing Anas Albraehe and Nohemí Pérez, and Nara Roesler showing Jonathas de Andrade with Marcelo Silveira. Blue-chip galleries like Hauser & Wirth, White Cube, and Gagosian will present works by major artists including Cindy Sherman, Tracey Emin, and Nan Goldin. The Focus section, curated by Lumi Tan, highlights 11 emerging galleries with solo presentations by Antoni Miralda, Seba Calfuqueo, Reika Takebayashi, and Aki Goto.

Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibit featuring Rocky Balboa statue gets underway

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," centered on the iconic bronze statue of fictional boxer Rocky Balboa that sits at the bottom of the museum's steps. Guest-curated by Paul Farber, the show explores the statue's transformation from a movie prop into a real-world symbol of perseverance and public devotion, tracing over 2,000 years of boxing imagery through works by artists such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol. The museum, which once fought to have the statue removed, now embraces it as part of Philadelphia's identity.

Bilingual Catacombs of Neto Art Museum is much more than art on a wall

Milwaukee's Third Ward now hosts The Catacombs of Neto Art Museum, a bilingual museum-gallery hybrid founded by artist-couple Ernesto Atkinson and Jenny Urbanek. Housed in the Marshall building's basement tunnels, the one-and-a-half-year-old space serves as a permanent home for Atkinson's work, which he previously stored in his basement. The couple, inspired by visits to sites like Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona and the Milwaukee Art Museum, conceived the museum as a "sacred resting place" where art comes alive through viewer interaction. Atkinson, a licensed art therapist, integrates psychological and wellness elements into the museum, which also functions as a gallery, educational space, community hub, and introduction to art therapy.

The 2026 Medalists at a Glance

Art Basel has announced the 33 medalists for its 2026 Awards, a global initiative recognizing excellence across the contemporary art ecosystem. The awards span nine categories, including Emerging, Established, and Icon artists, as well as curators, patrons, and institutions. Notable honorees include Barbara Kruger, Howardena Pindell, and Jenny Holzer in the Icon category, alongside established figures like Arthur Jafa and Julie Mehretu. The selection process, led by a jury of nine international experts, emphasizes a cross-disciplinary and geographically diverse group with a strong representation from the Global South.

Museums & Heritage

Melissa Chiu has been appointed as the new director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, departing her long-standing role at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. This major leadership transition comes alongside several other significant museum developments, including the Getty Center's planned $600m–$800m renovation closure and the National Gallery's staff reduction scheme to address a multi-million pound deficit.

An open letter to La Biennale di Venezia calls out inaction in the face of global atrocities

A group of 74 artists and curators invited to the 61st Venice Biennale have issued an open letter to the institution's president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. The signatories are protesting the decision to relocate the Israeli Pavilion to the Arsenale, placing it in close proximity to the central exhibition 'In Minor Keys' curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. The letter demands the exclusion of official delegations from countries accused of war crimes—specifically Israel, Russia, and the United States—and accuses the Biennale of complicity through its silence on global atrocities.

Two museums are looking back on the entire history of American art through political teapots and a 'death cart'

The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) have launched a massive joint exhibition titled "A Nation of Artists," featuring over 1,000 works spanning from 1700 to 2026. The collaboration utilizes a chronological approach at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a thematic framework at PAFA, showcasing a diverse array of objects including colonial teapots, a New Mexican "death cart," and works by masters like Georgia O'Keeffe and Horace Pippin. The project also incorporates significant loans from the private collection of Philadelphia Phillies owner John Middleton.

Venice Biennale Names 111 Artists for International Exhibition

The Venice Biennale has officially announced the 111 artists, duos, and collectives selected for the 61st International Art Exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys." The exhibition follows the vision of the late Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in May 2024 after conceptualizing the show and selecting the majority of its participants. The roster features a diverse global lineup including Wangechi Mutu, Kader Attia, Khaled Sabsabi, and Laurie Anderson, with a curatorial focus on quiet resistance, poetic improvisation, and the "lower frequencies" of social and psychic life.

Biennale Arte 2026: the invited artists

The Venice Biennale has officially announced the list of invited artists for its 61st edition in 2026. The selection features a diverse global cohort including established figures like Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, and Carsten Höller, alongside influential collectives such as fierce pussy and blaxTARLINES KUMASI. The list also includes significant posthumous inclusions like Marcel Duchamp and Beverly Buchanan, signaling a curatorial approach that bridges contemporary practice with historical legacies.

Frieze Los Angeles reflects the city’s resilience

Frieze Los Angeles has returned to the Santa Monica Airport for its seventh edition, marking the first iteration since the fair was acquired by Ari Emanuel’s live events venture, Mari. The event features nearly 100 galleries from 22 countries, balancing global powerhouses like Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth with a strong contingent of local Los Angeles mainstays. Fair director Christine Messineo emphasized the fair's role as a central gathering point for the international collecting community within the city's sprawling landscape.

Exhibition of Black artists reinterpreting the US flag opens without key Dread Scott work

An exhibition titled 'America Will Be!' opened at the University of Maryland's David C. Driskell Center, exploring how Black artists have reinterpreted the US flag. However, the show opened without a key work by artist Dread Scott, 'What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag? (1988)', after the loan request was rescinded by the curators citing logistical and safety concerns.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings (02/09-02/15)

A comprehensive list of gallery exhibitions opening and closing in New York City for the week of February 9-15, 2026, has been published. The schedule includes openings at major galleries like Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and Matthew Marks, featuring artists such as Michael Heizer, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Anish Kapoor, alongside shows at smaller spaces. The list also notes the final weekend to see exhibitions at venues including Tanya Bonakdar Gallery and Alexander Gray Associates.

Read the Room: Dallas Museum of Art’s “International Surrealism” Misses the Mark

The Dallas Museum of Art's exhibition "International Surrealism" is critiqued as a missed opportunity during the centennial of the surrealist movement. The author argues that while the show presents a broad survey of mixed-media works from around the world, divided into six thematic subgroups, it lacks the political urgency and revolutionary context that defined surrealism's origins in 1925. The exhibition, initially curated by Matthew Gale from the Tate Modern collection and presented locally by Sue Canterbury, is described as whimsical and decorous, reducing the movement's subversive power to quirky categories and gift-shop fodder.

Mexico City's Zona Maco fair finds a ‘balance between continuity and renewal’

Zona Maco, Latin America's largest art and design fair, has launched its 22nd edition in Mexico City as the anchor of the city's 2026 Art Week. The fair features over 220 galleries from 26 countries, blending contemporary and modern art, design, and photography under the artistic direction of Direlia Lazo.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (12/15—12/21)

‘Drastic turmoil and change’: Tokyo show explores Japan's post-boom society through its art

The exhibition 'Prism of the Real: Making Art in Japan 1989-2010' at the National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT), explores Japanese contemporary art from the late Shōwa era through the Heisei era, a period of economic turmoil and social change. Curated by Doryun Chong, Isabella Tam, Kamiya Yukie, and Jihye Yun, the show originated from a friendship between Osaka Eriko and Suhanya Raffel, who collaborated on the 1999 Asia-Pacific Triennial. It features works by artists like Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, Lee Bul, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Gimhongsok, Chen Xiaoxiong, and Navin Rawanchaikul, tracing Japan's artistic exchanges with Asia and the world, and addressing themes of gender, immigration, and national identity.

A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle

The Royal Academy of Arts in London presents "A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle," a visually thrilling exhibition running from 31 October 2025 to 24 February 2026. Curated by Tarini Malik, the show pivots around the work of Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949-2015), placing her in dialogue with key figures of the Indian cultural scene, including her parents Benode Behari Mukherjee and Leela Mukherjee, as well as artists Gulammohammed Sheikh and Nilima Sheikh. The exhibition highlights Mukherjee's hemp sculptures like 'Adi Pushp II' (1998-99) and bronze works such as 'Forest Flame IV' (2009), and emphasizes the importance of art schools and places—Santiniketan, Baroda (Vadodara), and New Delhi—in shaping her practice.

Weisman Art Museum shows rugs as the messengers of our stories

The Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis is hosting "RugLife," a touring exhibition that transforms rugs into platforms for storytelling, history, and social commentary. Curated by Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox, the show features works by artists including Sonya Clark, Andrea Zittel, Nevin Aladağ, Ai Weiwei, and Ali Cha'aban, who use rug-making to address themes such as Black barber culture, climate change, political tensions, and the war in Ukraine. The exhibition originated at San Francisco's Museum of Craft and Design in 2023.

Two years on from 7 October attacks, Israeli museum directors are in ‘complete isolation’

Two years after the 7 October 2023 attacks, Israeli museum directors report feeling isolated from the international art world. Tania Coen-Uzzielli, director of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, says most international collaborations were put on hold, delayed, or cancelled. The museum, which has a history of political activism, closed partially during protests against judicial reforms and has taken a public stance to end the war and suffering in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Museum, which opened just after the attacks, shifted to documenting wartime reality and supporting artists, but has received no direct support from international colleagues. The National Library of Israel repeatedly deinstalled and secured its collections during Iranian missile attacks, reopening when safe.

Paradigm Shift – a major exhibition exploring new dimensions in Moving Image.

180 Studios presents 'Paradigm Shift', a major exhibition at 180 Strand in London that transforms the venue's subterranean spaces to showcase acclaimed moving image works from the 1970s to the present. Curated by Jefferson Hack and Mark Wadhwa, the show features over a dozen artists including Ryan Trecartin, Nan Goldin, Andy Warhol, Pipilotti Rist, and Arthur Jafa, drawing from avant-garde cinema, TV, music video, performance, fashion, gaming, and internet culture. New commissions by 180 Studios sit alongside iconic historical works, tracing revolutions in moving image culture from Warhol's 1970s 'Fashion TV' to TELFAR TV today.

Dallas Museum of Art to Host “International Surrealism” Exhibition

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) will present "International Surrealism," a major exhibition in collaboration with Tate London, opening November 2, 2025, and running through March 22, 2026. Marking the centenary of the first Surrealist exhibition in 1925, the show features over 100 works from Tate’s collection, including pieces by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Lenora Carrington, Wifredo Lam, Malangatana Ngwenya, Alberto Giacometti, Dorothea Tanning, and Jackson Pollock. The exhibition aims to decentralize Surrealism by presenting works from around the world, alongside printed ephemera and publications from the early 1900s. Tickets go on sale October 7, 2025, with early access for DMA members on October 6.

Christie’s expects Elaine Wynn’s collection to bring $75m, while her record-breaking Bacon triptych goes to Lacma

Christie’s will auction more than a dozen jewels from the collection of the late billionaire and philanthropist Elaine Wynn this autumn in New York, with total estimates exceeding $75 million. Highlights include Lucian Freud's *The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer* (2005) and Richard Diebenkorn's *Ocean Park #40* (1971), each estimated at $15–$25 million, alongside works by Joan Mitchell, J.M.W. Turner, Wayne Thiebaud, and others. Meanwhile, the crown jewel of Wynn’s collection—Francis Bacon’s 1969 triptych *Three Studies of Lucian Freud*, which she bought for a record $142.4 million at Christie’s in 2013—has been bequeathed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) and will debut in its new David Geffen Galleries building next April.

An expert’s guide to Indigenous Australian art: five must-read books on the subject

Kelli Cole, lead curator of Tate Modern's Emily Kam Kngwarray survey, and academic Jennifer Green recommend five essential books for understanding Indigenous Australian art. The selections range from Wally Caruana's concise survey 'Aboriginal Art' (2025) to John Kean's 'Dot, Circle and Frame' (2023), which details the origins of the Papunya Tula art movement. The recommendations come amid major international exhibitions spotlighting Indigenous Australian art, including Tate Modern's Kngwarray show and the National Gallery of Art's 'The Stars We Do Not See'.

Hunterdon Art Museum presents Annual Members Show

The Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, New Jersey, will host its Annual Members Show from September 21, 2025, to January 11, 2026, featuring 35 artists working in ceramics, sculpture, glass, wood, fiber, printmaking, painting, photography, and collage. The exhibition was juried by Donna Gustafson, a freelance curator and critic with a PhD in Art History, who selected works from 84 artists and nearly 400 slides, noting themes of nature, identity, community, and politics. An opening reception is scheduled for September 21.

Never-before-seen landscape photos on display at Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum has opened a new photography exhibition titled "What We've Been Up To: Landscape," featuring works acquired over the past 17 years that have never been publicly displayed before. The show, curated by the museum's photography department (established in 2008), includes a range of landscape photographs from historic images by Ansel Adams, Marion Post Wolcott, and William Henry Jackson to contemporary works by artists such as Abelardo Morell, Meghann Riepenhoff, and Steve Fitch. The exhibition occupies a few rooms on the sixth floor of the Martin Building and highlights the museum's recent acquisitions in photography.

Museum Exhibition Uses The Art Of Sports To Attract Visitors

The article reports on a museum exhibition that leverages the intersection of art and sports to draw in visitors. By showcasing works that explore athletic themes, movement, and sports culture, the exhibition aims to broaden the museum's audience beyond traditional art enthusiasts.

Final Weeks to Experience Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors

The Denver Art Museum is hosting 'Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors,' a major exhibition of the Cree artist's provocative, large-scale paintings that challenge Western art history through an Indigenous lens. The show, co-organized with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, runs until August 17 before traveling to Montreal in September. It has drawn widespread critical acclaim and emotional visitor responses, with reviewers praising its blend of humor, beauty, and political urgency.

‘Slowing the process down’: how a bohemian Somerset art gallery is forging its own path

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.

Amid tariff and economic struggles, the newly rebranded Beijing Art Season persevered

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.

Which galleries are returning to Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2025—and which are not?

Frieze London and Frieze Masters have announced their 2025 exhibitor lists, with nearly 290 galleries set to participate in Regent's Park from October 15 to 19. Frieze London's 22nd edition will feature over 160 exhibitors, including blue-chip names like Gagosian, Pace, Goodman, and Sprüth Magers, alongside London staples The Approach and Corvi-Mora. Notable absentees from last year include Tanja Wagner, Magician Space, and Lia Rumma, while newcomers such as Carbon 12, Anat Ebgi, and Simões de Assis join the main section. The Focus section for emerging galleries debuts eight first-time participants, and a curated section organized by Jareh Das will highlight artists from Brazil, Africa, and their diasporas. Across the park, Frieze Masters, under new director Emanuela Tarizzo, will host around 120 galleries, with first-timers including Champ Lacombe and Vito Schnabel Gallery, and the Studio section curated by Sheena Wagstaff.