the art angle art basel roundup

Artnet News editor Kate Brown hosts a podcast roundtable with three gallerists ahead of the 2025 edition of Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland. The fair features over 200 galleries and is set against a backdrop of a softening art market, with declining sales and cautious demand. The guests are Robbie Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Gallery (who also founded the Art Basel Social Club), Lisa Offermann of LC Queisser (with spaces in Tbilisi and Cologne), and Freddie Powell of Ginny on Frederick (making its Art Basel debut). The discussion focuses on the challenges and strategies for emerging and mid-tier galleries selling works under $250,000.

Tiny art gallery attracts miniature art in downtown Hammond

A tiny art gallery in downtown Hammond is drawing attention by showcasing miniature artworks, attracting both local artists and visitors. The gallery, which operates on a small scale, has become a hub for tiny art pieces, including paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works, all created to fit the compact space. The initiative aims to make art accessible and engaging in a unique, intimate setting.

Community Exhibition Explores Death, Grief and Rituals at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has launched a community-led exhibition exploring the universal themes of death, grief, and mourning rituals. Part of the annual "A Matter of Life and Death Festival 2026," the showcase combines historical artworks from the museum’s permanent collection with contemporary perspectives, including the role of artificial intelligence in grief management. The program features interactive workshops led by artists Bianca Beneduzi and Jemma Mellor, as well as a comedy night designed to spark open dialogue about mortality.

These artists want your help distracting fossil fuel executives

The Brooklyn non-profit space Pioneer Works is hosting an exhibition titled "How to Get to Zero" by artists Tega Brain and Sam Lavigne, featuring climate-focused interactive installations. The centerpiece, "Cold Call" (2023), invites visitors to don headsets and call fossil fuel executives, following a script designed to keep them on the line as long as possible to disrupt their productivity. Another work, "Offset" (2023-25), parodies carbon offset markets by allowing visitors to purchase credits for dissident acts like deflating SUV tires, with proceeds going to activists. The exhibition also includes "Perfect Sleep" (2021), an anti-productivity phone app that encourages rest to reduce carbon footprints, and "Synthetic Messenger" (2021), where cell phones click on climate news ads to boost journalism engagement.

Spouses of PIF leaders visit Art Gallery

Spouses of Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders visited the National Art Gallery in Honiara on Monday as part of the official program for the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. Hosted by Madam Jocelyn Manele, spouse of the Solomon Islands Prime Minister, the delegation toured exhibitions featuring shell money, wood carving, and lava-lava textiles, and engaged with local artisans demonstrating traditional crafts. Acting Curator Julie Fakaia noted that the exhibition showcased gallery collections and live demonstrations, including shell money making and weaving from Rennell and Bellona. The spouses also purchased handmade items from the Solomon Islands Artisans, with traditional gifts exchanged during the visit.

At a height of over 120 meters, the ruins of the former NSA listening station are home to around 2,400 m² of street art – Europe’s largest open-air gallery with over 400 works

An unfinished mountain in Berlin's Grunewald forest, built from the rubble of 400,000 buildings and once used as a Cold War listening station by the US NSA, has been transformed into Europe's largest open-air street art gallery. Since opening to the public in 2011, Teufelsberg now hosts over 400 works across 2,400 square meters, featuring artists such as El Bocho, Nina Valkhoff, Hera, and Dan Kitchener. The site operates as a curated exhibition space with admission fees, guided tours, and regular new commissions, and has been a listed building since November 2018.

This is BC: Renowned artists open Enderby gallery

Renowned artists have opened a new gallery in Enderby, British Columbia, as reported in a segment titled 'This is BC' by Global News. The video feature, published on June 10, 2025, highlights the establishment of this gallery by well-known visual artists in the small community of Enderby, located in the North Okanagan region. The artists are bringing their expertise and creative works to a local venue, aiming to enrich the area's cultural landscape.

Penarth artist holds first exhibition after a lifetime of painting

Stephen Stokes, a 66-year-old retired kitchen business owner from Penarth, Wales, has staged his first-ever art exhibition after a lifetime of painting. The show, held at Llanover Hall Arts Centre in Cardiff, features works spanning decades, including portraits, still lifes, and scenes painted from life. Stokes, who studied at art college in Liverpool in the 1980s, was inspired by post-Impressionist masters like Matisse, Van Gogh, and Monet. Around 80 people attended the opening, and several visitors expressed interest in purchasing his work, though he had not initially priced the pieces.

Andy Warhol exhibition at Saint Laurent Rive Droite turns Paris boutique into pop art gallery

Since April 23, 2026, the Saint Laurent Rive Droite boutique in Paris has been hosting an exhibition dedicated to Andy Warhol titled “Objets banals”. Curated by Anthony Vaccarello, the show features a selection of Polaroids and 35 mm photographs taken from the 1960s onward, revealing a more intimate and personal dimension of the pop art master. The installation is immersive and minimalist, with photographs interacting with Saint Laurent collections, design pieces, and exclusive objects, blurring the boundaries between commerce, museum, and artistic manifesto. All works on display are available for sale, distinguishing the boutique from a traditional museum.

Venice Biennale in crisis: The controversies explained

The Venice Art Biennale's official awards ceremony, scheduled for May 9, has been canceled after the entire five-member jury resigned days before the event. The jury had previously announced they would not consider countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges, directly impacting Russia and Israel. Instead of jury-selected prizes, visitors will vote throughout the Biennale's run, with "Visitor Lions" awarded on November 22. The event, running from May 9 to November 22, features 100 national participations, including seven first-time countries, and a posthumous main exhibition titled "In Minor Keys" curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman to lead the show. Iran withdrew on May 4 amid Middle East tensions, while Russia's return to the Biennale in 2026 has sparked EU threats to cut funding.

Picasso immersive digital exhibition at Museum of Art + Light

The Museum of Art + Light (MoA+L) in Manhattan, Kansas, will host the U.S. debut of "Picasso: Art in Motion," a landmark immersive exhibition exploring Pablo Picasso's life and work, opening May 3, 2026. Produced in agreement with the Picasso Administration, the exhibition uses large-scale projections, film, and digital environments in the museum's 21,500-square-foot Mezmereyz gallery, featuring 108 projectors and over 188 million pixels. It will be accompanied by "Picasso on Paper," a quieter exhibition of etchings, lithographs, and linocuts, and will anchor a broader season including "Interference: The Interactive Art of Daniel Rozin" and "EMULATION: Selections from the Art Blocks 500."

India Modern Art Boom Spreads Through Spring Auctions

The Indian modern art market has reached a significant milestone as a 19th-century oil painting by Raja Ravi Varma sold for nearly $18 million at auction. The sale of 'Yashoda and Krishna' reportedly involved high-profile Indian tycoons from the pharmaceutical and consumer industries acting as both buyers and sellers, signaling a robust domestic appetite for blue-chip Indian masterpieces.

Mexico City street market gallery makes art accessible

Artist Luis Valverde launched Galería Tianguis Neza in 2021 at Mexico City's La Lagunilla street market, selling artworks directly from artists at affordable street-market prices. The project, born during the pandemic to generate income for artists, operates every Sunday and features a rotating selection of artists, including Tania Candiani, Teresa Margolles, and photographer Pim Schalkwijk, who set up an improvised photo studio using a gelatin silver process.

Modern and Contemporary Art: Exceptional Pieces at the Auction House

On February 4th, 2026, the Monte-Carlo Auction House will hold a sale of modern and contemporary art featuring over 30 lots. The highlight is Fernand Léger's 1932 oil on canvas "Contrasting Objects on a Blue Background," estimated at €600,000–800,000. Other notable lots include a bronze sculpture by Robert Indiana (€140,000–180,000), a Chu Teh-Chun oil on canvas (€200,000–300,000), and works by Edgar Degas, Victor Vasarely, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Picasso. The sale also includes decorative pieces by Roger Capron and Maison Pergay.

Art sales surge with artists like Picasso and Warhol in demand: Guggenheim

Art sales are surging after a two-year slump, according to prominent Canadian art advisor Barbara Guggenheim, CEO of Barbara Guggenheim Associates. In an interview with BNN Bloomberg, Guggenheim noted that collectors are now prioritizing quality, seeking established artists like Picasso and Warhol, and that fresh-to-market works are attracting strong bids. Recent record-breaking sales include Frida Kahlo's self-portrait for $54.7 million and Gustav Klimt's 'Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer' for $236.4 million at Sotheby's. The middle market remains robust, with works like Stuart Davis's 'Municipal' selling for $1.5 million, while lower-priced pieces under $30,000 are harder to guarantee as investments.

Check out first look images of L.A.’s trippy museum of AI arts — and its new opening plan

Media artist Refik Anadol has announced that Dataland, the world's first museum of AI arts, will open in spring 2026 at the Frank Gehry-designed Grand L.A. complex in downtown Los Angeles, delayed from its original 2025 schedule. The museum spans 25,000 square feet and includes five galleries; a sneak peek was released of the Infinity Room, an immersive multisensory space featuring swirling colors, AI-generated scents, and a proprietary AI model called the Large Nature Model. The Infinity Room concept originated in 2014 at UCLA and has since toured 35 cities, attracting over 10 million visitors.

Ragnar Kjartansson's politically charged soap opera—halted by the Russia-Ukraine war—goes on show in Reykjavík

Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson's video work *Soap Opera*—a recording of his durational performance *Santa Barbara: A Living Sculpture*—is on view for the first time at i8 Grandi in Reykjavík. The original performance, staged at the V-A-C Foundation's GES-2 House of Culture in Moscow from December 2021 to February 2022, featured Russian and Ukrainian actors reenacting episodes of the American soap opera *Santa Barbara*, which had been a cultural phenomenon in post-Soviet Russia. The production was halted at episode 81 on February 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Euan Uglow monograph offers a fresh perspective through memoirs, papers and contributions

Andrew Lambirth's new book, *The Uglow Papers*, takes an unconventional approach to the monograph on British painter Euan Uglow (1932-2000). Instead of a traditional narrative, Lambirth compiles around 30 personal memoirs, papers, and contributions from friends, students, and colleagues—gathered through interviews, phone calls, emails, and letters. These firsthand accounts, paired with a concise introduction and a glossary of names, offer intimate recollections of Uglow's rigorous studio practice, his teaching methods, and his social life, including details about his Sunday night open houses and shared meals. The book also traces Uglow's artistic development from his studies at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and the Slade School of Fine Art, through his mentorship under William Coldstream, to his own distinctive geometric and emotionally charged works like *The Diagonal* (1971-77) and *Pyramid* (1993-96).

The McManus are opening a new exhibition celebrating Scotland’s top modern artists next weekend

The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum will open a new exhibition titled 'Border Crossings: Ten Scottish Masters of Modern Art' on Saturday, 28 June, running until 14 June 2026. The show features ten influential Scottish modern artists—Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Robert Colquhoun, William Crozier, Alan Davie, William Gear, William Johnstone, Robert MacBryde, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Scott, and William Turnbull—all drawn exclusively from Dundee’s nationally recognized art collection. It marks the first time these ten figures have been displayed together at The McManus.

The rise of contemporary African art in a global market

The article reports on the rapid growth of the contemporary African art market, which has more than doubled in value since 2016 to an estimated annual combined value of $72 million. Sales of ultra-contemporary works by African-born artists under 45 surged from $16.2 million in 2020 to $40.6 million in 2021, and the market could reach $1.5 billion this year. Aspire Art, a South African auction house, has set records for artists like Joseph Ntensibe, whose painting *Forest Scene* sold for R924,200, and Nicholas Hlobo, whose work *Intlambo yochulumanco* fetched R1,479,400.

Four Galleries to Watch in Milan

Four Milanese galleries—eastcontemporary, MATTA, Martina Simeti, and zaza’—are gaining significant attention for their dynamic programming and role in shaping the city's contemporary art scene. These spaces are championing emerging and mid-career artists, often with a focus on conceptual and research-based practices, and are contributing to a shift in the city's artistic energy, particularly beyond its traditional commercial centers.

Building Through Change, Jean-David Malat, Founder of JD Malat Gallery on resilience, risk and the evolving art scene in Dubai

Jean-David Malat, founder of JD Malat Gallery, opened a new outpost in Downtown Dubai in early 2025, expanding from his established Mayfair space in London. The gallery launched with a group show, *Carte Blanche*, and has since hosted solo exhibitions, with plans for a *Made in UAE* initiative that received over 1,000 applications. Malat cites the slowing London market and growing momentum in the UAE as key factors in his decision to invest in Dubai, where he spent a month building relationships with collectors and the local community before opening.

Where to see art in Singapore this week (Oct 24 to 31)

South-east Asia's largest art book fair, the Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF), returns from October 31 to November 2, 2025, with over 120 exhibitors—its largest edition yet. The fair moves to a larger venue at New Art Museum Singapore and Whitestone Gallery, with ticket prices unchanged from 2024 ($6 online, $8 on-site). About half the exhibitors are first-timers, including Saigon-based studio WEDOGOOD, Cairo-based Rizo Masr, and local participants like graphic design trio Hause, Con-Temporary Art Editions, and visual artists Chin Lew and Isabell Hansen. The pilot Thing Books Residency Programme presents three new artist books by musician Yuen Chee Wai, filmmaker Seth Cheong, and vocalist Nur Wahidah. Visitors can also register for bookmaking workshops at additional cost.

Kennedy Center Board Votes to Close for 2-Year Renovation Project

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board has approved a plan to close the institution for a two-year, comprehensive renovation project. The decision follows public criticism from former President Donald Trump regarding the center's physical state and past financial management.

The Paradox of Contemporary Art: The World Is Violent, but the Works Are Correct and Inoffensive

Il paradosso dell’arte contemporanea: il mondo è violento, ma le opere sono corrette e inoffensive

The article examines a paradox in contemporary art: as the world grows more violent and chaotic, art has become increasingly 'correct,' morally irreproachable, and inoffensive. The author argues that over the past fifteen years, artworks have been judged primarily by their moral and identity credentials, with curators acting as moral gatekeepers and censors. This shift coincides with a period when geopolitics, history, and public behavior have spiraled out of control, creating a strange compensatory dynamic where art is expected to be perfectly controlled and polite while reality grows brutal.

Here are the photos of the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (the one full of nude performers that it is forbidden to photograph)

Ecco le foto del Padiglione Austria alla Biennale di Venezia (quello pieno di performer nude che è vietato fotografare)

The Austrian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "Seaworld Venice" and curated by Nora-Swantje Almes, features provocative performances by artist and choreographer Florentina Holzinger. The installation includes four distinct nude female performances: a performer acting as a bell clapper on the hour, a female Deposition of Christ scene with three women on a rotating vertical structure, a nude woman riding a jet ski in circles, and a reenactment of Giorgione's Sleeping Venus in a urine-filled tank. The pavilion has become the most talked-about and Instagrammed at the Biennale, drawing long queues despite a ban on photography.

egypt prince waserif re tomb discovered saqqara

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered the tomb of Prince Waserif Re, son of King Userkaf, founder of the Fifth Dynasty, at the Saqqara necropolis. The multi-chamber tomb features a 15-foot-tall pink granite false door inscribed with the prince's name and titles, a red granite offering table, and statues of Third Dynasty pharaoh Djoser, his wife, and ten daughters that were moved there during the Late Period. A black granite statue with hieroglyphic inscriptions from the 26th Dynasty suggests the tomb was reused nearly 2,000 years after its original construction. The joint Egyptian mission was led by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Dr. Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities and Heritage.

Brea Gallery is made for enjoying art

The Brea Gallery in Brea, California, is currently hosting its 41st annual "Made in California" exhibition, featuring nearly 100 artists from across the state. The juried show, which runs through June 28, 2026, includes works in multiple media created within the last three years, with submissions reaching 5,000 this year. The gallery, a 6,500-square-foot space opened in 1980, focuses on contemporary art by living artists and mounts four exhibitions annually. Upcoming shows include "America 350" (opening July 31) and "What Fearful Shadows" (opening October 10), which reimagines early American horror themes.

Readers’ Choice 2026: Pence Gallery — Best Best Art Gallery

The Pence Gallery has been named the "Best Art Gallery" in the Readers’ Choice 2026 awards, celebrating its 50-year legacy as a regional arts leader in Davis, California. The gallery hosts between 15 and 20 contemporary exhibitions annually across various media, attracting over 20,000 visitors with its commitment to free admission and community-focused programming.

The Most Important Thing is That Art Remains Accessible

"Das Wichtigste ist, dass die Kunst zugänglich bleibt"

Gilles Neiens has been appointed as the first-ever artistic director of Art Düsseldorf, marking a strategic shift for the eight-year-old regional art fair. In his new role, Neiens aims to elevate the fair's profile by focusing on high-quality curation, thematic depth, and fostering closer collaborative relationships with participating galleries. This structural change signals a move away from purely organizational management toward a more distinct, content-driven identity.