Thomas Bangalter, formerly of the electronic music duo Daft Punk, is scheduled to co-headline an immersive experience called 'WAREHOUSE ARTEFACTS' at the Art Basel fair in Basel, Switzerland. The event, produced by Nordstern Basel nightclub in cooperation with Art Basel and Fondation Beyeler, will also feature house music producer Rampa and conceptual artist Julian Charrière.
The Los Angeles art scene faced a moment of introspection during Frieze Week as logistical hurdles and rumors of New York gallery departures sparked debates about the city's long-term viability. Despite whispers of downsizing from major transplants and the 'quiet quitting' of spaces like Tanya Bonakdar and Sean Kelly, the week was defined by high-energy alternative events. Highlights included a massive group show curated by Barry McGee and Jeffrey Deitch in a defunct 99 Cent Only Store and the 'Away From Desk' micro-fair, which showcased the city's resilient underground and Chinatown-adjacent gallery circuit.
Tony Shafrazi, the legendary and controversial New York art dealer, is returning to the art fair circuit for the first time since 2012 with a booth at the Independent 20th Century fair in New York. He is presenting works by Armenian sculptor Zadik Zadikian, whose installation of gold bricks Shafrazi first exhibited in Tehran in 1978 before they were lost in the Iranian Revolution, alongside paintings by Brandon Deener. Shafrazi, now in his 80s, closed his New York gallery in 2011 and was banned from Art Basel in 2012 for breaking the fair's rules.
Annie Armstrong bids farewell to Artnet Pro's Wet Paint column after 198 editions, reflecting on her four-and-a-half-year tenure as the art world's gossip columnist. She recounts her first assignment at the 2021 Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles, where she nervously approached a group of art-world insiders, and describes the highs and lows of covering galas, parties, and scandals from Frieze Seoul to the Henry Street gallery scene.
The 24th edition of the Biennale de Arte Paiz, titled "El Arból del Mundo" ("The Tree of Life"), has opened in Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala. Under Italian curator Eugenio Viola, the biennial has expanded from 30 to 46 artists and doubled its venues from 5 to 10, including the Museo Nacional de Arte de Guatemala (MUNAG) and La Nueva Fabrica. The dates have shifted to December to attract visitors from Miami Art Week and Zona Maco in Mexico City. The show features textile works, research-based art, and ecological themes, with highlights including a street installation by Erick Boror.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion on November 17 to intervene in the Cassirer family's two-decade-long restitution case for a Camille Pissarro painting stolen by the Nazis. The artwork, *Rue Saint Honore, Apres Midi, Effet De Pluie* (1897), is owned by Spain's Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had previously ruled that Spanish law applied, allowing the museum to keep the painting, but California's Assembly Bill 2867, signed into law in September, now seeks to apply California law to protect victims of art theft. The case has been sent back to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for reconsideration.
Heirs of German Jewish banker and art collector Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy have urged the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to revive their lawsuit seeking the return of Vincent van Gogh's *Sunflowers* (1888), which they claim was sold under Nazi duress. The lawsuit, filed in 2022 against Japanese insurer Sompo Holdings, argues that the painting was purchased at a 1987 Christie's auction by Sompo's predecessor, Yasuda, despite provenance indicating Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a Nazi victim. A lower court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of jurisdiction, but the heirs contend that the painting's exhibition in Chicago in 2001 establishes sufficient legal ties to Illinois.
The inaugural AIR festival took place in Aspen as part of Aspen Art Week, featuring a mix of talks, performances, and a closed-door retreat for artists, writers, scientists, and theorists. Highlights included a pack of panting huskies, a psychoanalysis talk in a psychedelic chapel, an artist conversing with his AI doppelganger, and a whispery musical performance on a museum rooftop. The festival kicked off with a film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul accompanied by composer Rafiq Bhatia, followed by discussions on dreaming and catastrophe, and site-responsive works by Jota Mombaça and Paul Chan.
The Rachofsky House, a landmark contemporary art residence in Dallas designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier, has been quietly listed for sale off-market by Compass agent Faisal Halum. The 9,000-square-foot home at 8605 Preston Road has been owned for decades by prominent collectors Howard and Cindy Rachofsky, who annually hosted the Two x Two gala there, raising over $130 million for amfAR and the Dallas Museum of Art. Howard Rachofsky confirmed the sale, citing his age (81) and ongoing estate planning.
Artsy Editorial highlights five standout exhibitions at small and rising galleries for May 2026. Among them is British-born, Amsterdam-based painter K. T. Kobel's first major Swiss show, "Hand, Body, Object, Sin," at Kutlesa in Goldau, Switzerland, running through May 29. Kobel, who has exhibited from Los Angeles to Milan since 2022, presents cinematic, storyboard-like paintings that embrace fragmentation and loose ends.
Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 generated viral moments with Beeple's 'Regular Animals' installation featuring robot dogs with billionaire faces, while Leandro Erlich's underwater sculpture garden 'Reefline' debuted concrete cars in Biscayne Bay. The fair's priciest work was Andy Warhol's $18 million 'Muhammad Ali' (1977), sold by Lévy Gorvy Dayan. Other highlights included Katie Stout's public commission 'Gargantua's Thumb' in the Miami Design District, Refik Anadol's AI screen, and the return of Sukeban, a Japanese women's wrestling league, as a crowd favorite.
Tishan Hsu, a 74-year-old artist based in Brooklyn, is the subject of a feature article discussing his 40-year career exploring the boundary between the virtual and the physical. His current exhibition, "Emergence," at Lisson Gallery in New York (through Jan. 24), presents new biomorphic UV prints with silicone appendages that evoke fingers penetrating a computer screen. Hsu's interest in this territory began in the mid-1980s while working as a word processor on Wall Street, and his practice has consistently sought to give form to the paradox between bodily presence and virtual distance.
The Rose Art Museum held its first-ever New York benefit gala, marking its return to the fundraising circuit after two decades. Co-chaired by advisor Abigail Ross Goodman and Christie’s Sara Friedlander, the event honored sculptor Hugh Hayden and philanthropist Lizbeth Krupp, the longtime chair of the museum’s board of advisors. The evening raised $900,000 toward a new $2 million Exhibition Endowment Fund, with Krupp making the first gift. Guests included artists Salman Toor, Leilah Babirye, Ali Banisadr, and Ilana Savdie, as well as gallerist Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and Public Art Fund’s Nicholas Baume.
Art Basel has launched its inaugural edition in Doha, Qatar, debuting a specialized format that emphasizes solo artist presentations and a slower, more meditative pace compared to its flagship fairs. The event features a curated selection of international galleries including Pace, Lisson, and Almine Rech, with a layout designed to foster deeper engagement and introduce regional collectors to the fair circuit.
The Marfa Invitational, a small art fair in West Texas, has sparked controversy after pivoting to a new format called the "Marfa Invitational Open." The fair issued an open call to Texas-based artists, charging a $75 application fee and later requiring an additional $150 "installation fee" not disclosed in the original terms. Over 500 artists applied, but many dropped out after the hidden fee was revealed, leading to a boycott campaign. Approximately 160 artists ultimately exhibited at the Saint George Hotel last weekend. The fair had previously faced scandal in 2023 when its tax-exempt status was revoked due to cofounder Michael Phelan's failure to file required paperwork.
The 2026 edition of EXPO Chicago opened at Navy Pier with a renewed sense of energy, marking its third year under Frieze ownership and its first under the leadership of director Kate Sierzputowski. Early reports from the VIP preview suggest a successful revitalization of the fair, which has successfully re-engaged longtime Midwestern collectors while simultaneously attracting a more robust international audience.
The article highlights collateral exhibitions at the 2024 Venice Biennale that take place beyond the main venues of the Giardini and Arsenale, offering visitors unexpected discoveries in historic Venetian palazzos and warehouses. Featured shows include Hernan Bas's 'The Visitors' at Ca' Pesaro, exploring tourism's contradictions; 'Turandot: To the Daughters of the East' at Palazzo Franchetti, a group exhibition of women artists from Central Asia; and Amoako Boafo's first solo show in Italy at Palazzo Grimani, presented by Gagosian.
Two Brazilian women, Fernanda Mazzuco and Luciana Solano, run Art in Brackets, a consultancy and art advisory firm based in New York. For the first time, they have opened a public exhibition space on Walker Street in Tribeca, featuring a collective show centered on the African diaspora and transatlantic connections. The exhibition includes works by artists such as Santídio Pereira and Madalena dos Santos Reinbolt, with prices ranging from $3,800 to $140,000. The company, founded in 2022, connects collectors with Brazilian and Latin American artists, operating as 'wall curators' in partnership with various galleries.
This article highlights a curated spring journey through major exhibitions across Europe and the US, focusing on artists represented in the UBS Art Collection. Featured shows include Catherine Opie at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Yin Xiuzhen at the Hayward Gallery, Tracey Emin at Tate Modern, Lorna Simpson at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, and Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. Each exhibition offers fresh perspectives on the artists' practices, from photography and installation to painting and works on paper.
Los Angeles is hosting a surge of high-profile exhibitions to coincide with the arrival of Frieze Los Angeles and its various satellite fairs. The city's gallery and museum circuit is currently anchored by major debuts and surveys, including Leiko Ikemura’s mystical explorations at Lisson Gallery, Sarah Sze’s immersive video and painting installations at Gagosian, and Alejandro García Contreras’s folklore-inspired ceramics at Anat Ebgi.
Artnet News has published the latest installment of its '25 of 2025' series, spotlighting five sculptors to watch. The article profiles Lotus L. Kang, a Canadian artist who had a solo show at 52 Walker in New York, was recently picked up by Esther Schipper, and has appeared in group exhibitions at MoMA, Jeffrey Deitch, and the Hessel Museum. It also features Raven Halfmoon, a Caddo Nation artist whose totemic ceramic works draw on Indigenous traditions and folklore, and who had her major institutional debut at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in 2023. The series aims to highlight emerging talents shaping contemporary art.
Untitled Art, a well-known Miami art fair, is expanding to Houston with its inaugural edition taking place September 19–21 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The fair will feature over 80 national and international exhibitors, including a Nest section for emerging galleries, and will launch the CAMH Commission Prize in collaboration with the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, resulting in a major new commission for the 2026 edition. Four leading art advisors—Illa Gaunt, Liana Schwaitzberg, Lea Weingarten, and another—have shared their shortlists of artists to watch, highlighting works by Mason Owens, Miki Leal, Ana Villagomez, Aaron Morse, and Francesca Fuchs, among others.
Korean artists are gaining unprecedented global recognition, with figures like Haegue Yang, Do Ho Suh, Lee Bul, and Mire Lee leading a shift from traditional Dansaekhwa abstraction to more conceptual and contemporary practices. The article highlights how K-pop and Korean soap operas have boosted cultural awareness, drawing new audiences to events like Frieze Seoul and prompting major international galleries such as White Cube, Perrotin, and Pace to open in Seoul. Curators and scholars note that Korean art now engages deeply with globalization, historical trauma, and sociopolitical change, facilitated by biennials in Gwangju, Busan, and Seoul, as well as a surge in art institutions.
Observer has published its updated 2025 May Art Fair Calendar, highlighting a packed schedule of art fairs in New York and around the world. Key fairs include CONDUCTOR 2026 (April 29–May 3), a Brooklyn-based fair focused on artists of the global majority; the Aotearoa Art Fair 2026 (April 30–May 3) in New Zealand; the Clio Art Fair 2026 (May 7–10 and 14–17), known as an "anti-fair" for unrepresented artists; and PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai 2026 (May 7–10), a leading platform for contemporary photography in China. The article notes that May is one of the busiest months in the spring art calendar, with many fairs concentrated in New York City during "Frieze Week."
CFA in Milan presents "No Hay Banda," a group exhibition running from 29 May to 26 June 2026, featuring four international artists: Vandria Borari (Brazil/Germany), Petra Feriancová (Slovakia), Karoliina Hellberg (Finland), and Sofia Silva. The show brings together ceramicist and Indigenous activist Borari, whose work includes the Yupirungáwa series and the Fluid Forest project; Feriancová, a Slovak artist who represented the Czech and Slovak Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale; and Hellberg, a Finnish artist who recently won the Visual Artist Award from the Marcus Collins Memorial Fund. The private view is scheduled for 28 May 2026.
The Loop Plus media art fair has launched its second edition in Busan, South Korea. The fair, dedicated exclusively to new media art, is confronting fundamental market challenges, specifically the public and collector uncertainty about whether such technologically dependent works can be owned and collected. It aims to build the market and ecosystem for the genre.
Lehmann Maupin is set to present "The Open Window," an exhibition of new works by the renowned Brazilian twin artist duo OSGEMEOS, running from April 23 to June 6, 2026, in New York. The showcase features five new paintings that continue the artists' exploration of their surreal "Tritrez" universe, characterized by their signature yellow-skinned figures and intricate patterns. These works operate at a more intimate scale than their well-known large-format murals, focusing on material sensitivity and detailed narratives inspired by hip-hop culture and Brazilian folklore.
London’s art scene sees a surge of activity this week with five notable openings across the city. Highlights include a rare exhibition at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert featuring Rachel Whiteread’s drawings alongside her sculptures, breaking her long-standing rule of keeping the two mediums separate. Other significant shows include LA Timpa’s UK solo debut at Cell Project Space, Hannah Lim’s exploration of cultural heritage at Wilder Gallery, and a group exhibition at Woodbury House featuring Los Angeles street art pioneers like RETNA and Chaz Bojórquez.
Art Deco, the French-led Modernist style that flourished between the world wars, is experiencing a centenary peak this autumn. A major exhibition at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs, titled "1925-2025: One Hundred Years of Art Deco" (through April 2026), leads institutional celebrations, with smaller shows at the Musée Zadkine and Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, and a poster survey at the London Transport Museum. The style is also prominent on the art fair circuit: Eileen Gray’s Dragon armchair (1917-19) was redisplayed at FAB Paris, Galerie Jacques Lacoste featured a Deco stand at PAD London, and focused presentations are planned at Salon Art + Design in New York. Galleries like Galerie Marcilhac are expanding, with a new Paris space and plans to showcase Deco designers at upcoming fairs.
The latest episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three major stories. Host Ben Luke tours the newly opened David Bowie Centre at the V&A East Storehouse in London, a permanent repository for thousands of items from Bowie's archive, discussing the displays with curator Madeleine Haddon. The episode also reports on the inaugural Bukhara Biennial in Uzbekistan, with art market editor Kabir Jhala delivering a verdict from the opening and curator Diana Campbell offering insights. Finally, the podcast features a 'Work of the Week' segment on two paintings—Hurvin Anderson's 'Untitled' (2025) and Kara Walker's 'West Indies' (2014)—shown in an exhibition at Michael Werner Gallery in London curated by critic and writer Hilton Als, which explores the life and work of Dominican-born writer Jean Rhys.