German artist Heinz Mack, co-founder of the influential ZERO movement, is being celebrated with a solo exhibition at Beck and Eggeling gallery in Düsseldorf to mark his 95th birthday. The show features recent and rarely exhibited works, including ceramics, collages, and pastel drawings, demonstrating his continued exploration of light, color, and materiality.
Anozero, a biennial art festival held in Coimbra's Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova, has opened a ghostly edition that uses installations—including Taryn Simon's sound piece of laments in multiple languages—to protest plans by the Portuguese government to redevelop the 17th-century convent into a hotel under its Revive programme. Festival co-founder Carlos Antunes threatens to cancel the biennial if the development proceeds, framing the event as a warning to the developer about the spirits that haunt the building.
Artist Jack Butcher (b. 1988) debuted his first-ever booth at Art Basel Miami Beach, titled *Self Checkout*, where he sells art—literally receipts—on a pay-what-you-wish model. Each receipt includes a seed phrase creating a custodial Ethereum wallet holding a digital copy, but the NFT cannot be sold; it merely proves ownership of the physical receipt. The project features a real-time tracker showing his progress toward recouping the $74,211 total cost of the booth, with purchases made at self-checkout kiosks or online in Ethereum. By the fair's second day, the amount needed had dropped to $33,103.56, and Butcher was optimistic about breaking even. If the countdown hits zero, he will auction the flip board and receipt case as a one-of-one sculpture.
Sotheby's will hold its second Saudi Arabia auction, 'Origins II,' on January 31, 2027, focusing exclusively on art after its first sale struggled with a 65.8% sell-through rate and unsold luxury lots. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art has voluntarily returned three statues to Cambodia after determining they were removed during the country's civil war. In digital art news, The Art Newspaper criticizes the 'culture of narcissism' in the field, citing Art Basel Miami Beach's new Zero 10 digital art initiative as an example of bypassing traditional curatorial safeguards.
Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) saw strong sales and a cautiously optimistic mood, with Pace gallery reporting nearly $5 million in sales including a $1.1 million Sam Gilliam painting. The fair debuted a new digital art section, Zero 10, where a Beeple installation of robotic dogs excreting NFTs sold out within five hours for $1 million total, and generative art from Larva Labs sold for up to $45,000 each. However, the opening day crowd was thinner than in past years, and about 20 galleries did not return, replaced by a record 48 new exhibitors. Dealers noted a slower, quieter pace, with buyers more cautious than during the indulgent pre-pandemic era.
ICOM UK hosted its 2026 annual conference in Oxford, bringing together delegates from over 20 countries to explore the theme of 'Museum Diplomacy.' Keynote speaker Dr. Sascha Priewe of the Aga Khan Museum and ICOM Canada framed the current geopolitical moment as a 'GZERO World,' where no country is willing or able to lead globally, and discussed how sanctions, export controls, and shifting alliances are straining international museum collaborations. Sessions featured case studies from the Science Museum Group and International Arts & Artists, emphasizing that trust and networks, not grand gestures, are essential for enduring partnerships.
The Biennale of Sydney has officially denied allegations of discrimination and bias following claims from Australia’s Jewish community that the exhibition's selection process favored anti-Zionist artists. The controversy intensified when the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies declined a preview invitation, citing "objectionable social media activity" by participating artists rather than the artworks themselves. In response, the Biennale maintained that its selection process is based strictly on artistic merit and that the organization maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.
The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) has bypassed standard review procedures to grant final approval for President Donald Trump’s proposed $400 million White House ballroom. The six-to-zero vote occurred after the President replaced the entire commission with allies earlier this year, following the controversial demolition of the White House’s East Wing to clear space for the project.
Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) opens amid a still-sluggish global art market, with sales at live events yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Director Bridget Finn expresses optimism following strong sales at Art Basel Paris in October, noting that gallerists and collectors were energized. The fair introduces structural changes, including relocating the Nova and Positions sections to the east entrance to spotlight emerging galleries, and launching Zero 10, a platform for digital art. Seven local Miami galleries are participating, with Nina Johnson making her ABMB debut. Despite a few longtime exhibitors withdrawing, Finn attributes this to galleries being more selective across Art Basel's five global fairs, including a new Qatar edition in 2026.
À Mouans-Sartoux s’expose l’art extra-terrestre créé lors des résidences de l’Observatoire de l’espace
The Espace de l’art concret in Mouans-Sartoux is hosting a landmark exhibition featuring "extraterrestrial" artworks created through the Observatoire de l’espace’s residency program. Since 2006, this cultural laboratory of the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) has invited artists like Renaud Auguste-Dormeuil, Stéphane Thidet, and Victoire Thierrée to produce works in zero-gravity environments. These creations are born aboard parabolic flights on the Airbus A310 Zero G or via stratospheric balloons, where physical laws like gravity and atmospheric pressure are suspended.
The article reports strong sales across Miami art fairs, particularly at Art Basel Miami Beach, where Beeple's "Regular Animals"—robotic dogs with hyper-realistic heads of billionaires—were a major attraction in the new digital art section Zero10. It also notes that three art-world heavyweights are launching a new gallery focused on secondary market sales, and that the Art Dealers Association of America is launching a new art fair after canceling its long-running Art Show.
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, has selected Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) to lead a transformative redevelopment of its campus, the first major investment in the museum in over 40 years. The announcement was made during the opening night of the Art Toronto fair, where the museum hosted a fundraiser. The project, which includes expanded exhibition, education, and public programming spaces, is backed by up to C$50 million from the Ontario government (contingent on matching funds) and a previous C$25 million federal investment, though additional funding is still being sought.
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.
The Anozero – Bienal de Coimbra in Portugal is presenting a significant number of works addressing conflict and displacement in the Middle East. The biennial, curated by John Zeppetelli and Hans Ibelings, features projects like Taysir Batniji's "Just in Case #2," a series of 250 photographs of keys belonging to displaced Palestinians, and Adam Broomberg and Rafael Gonzalez's "Anchor In The Landscape," documenting destroyed olive trees.
A wave of new and relaunched satellite art fairs is debuting in Los Angeles to coincide with Frieze Los Angeles, offering lower-cost alternatives for galleries and artists. Newcomers like the Indianapolis-based Butter Art Fair, the photography-focused Show LA, and the New York-centric Enzo Art Fair are positioning themselves as intimate, artist-centric, or zero-fee options. These ventures aim to capitalize on the influx of global collectors while bypassing the high overhead costs associated with major international fairs.
Art Basel Miami Beach will debut a new curated space called Zero 10, dedicated to digital and new media art, at its upcoming fair in the Miami Beach Convention Center. The centerpiece is an interactive installation by American artist Beeple featuring robot dogs with human heads modeled after public figures like Andy Warhol, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, which will photograph fairgoers and offer NFTs. The space, curated by Eli Scheinman, includes works by pioneers such as Manfred Mohr and Larva Labs, alongside galleries like Pace Gallery and platforms like Art Blocks, exploring themes of AI, robotics, and generative systems. The name references Kazimir Malevich's 1915 exhibition '0,10', signaling a push into new artistic terrain.
The article reports that the New York Spring Marquee auctions in May 2025 generated $1.27 billion, an 8% decline from $1.38 billion in May 2024, followed by a 26% drop in London June auctions to £98 million. In response to this volatile market, auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s are increasingly relying on third-party guarantees (or irrevocable bids), where a buyer agrees in advance to purchase a lot at a set price if no higher bid emerges. Data from Pi-eX Ltd shows that third-party guarantee coverage surged from near zero in 2021 to a record 73% in May 2025, with the Leonard & Louise Riggio collection being 99% backed by such guarantees.
Artist Sougwen Chung is presenting new work, including the 10-metre scroll 'Recursion 0,' at Art Basel Hong Kong's new Zero 10 sector. The piece, created with brainwave data, will be completed live at the fair, showcasing her ongoing exploration of human-machine collaboration.
The Icelandic Art Center will present "Pocket Universe," a multidisciplinary exhibition by artist, poet, composer, and filmmaker Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir, representing Iceland at the 61st Venice Biennale. The exhibition, held at the Icelandic Pavilion's new location at Docks Cantieri Cucchini, explores shifting perspectives through hope, imagination, and belief, blending sound, performance, moving image, sculpture, and installation. It features a moving image work centered on a character called "Creature Zero" searching for the "original rock," and incorporates themes of luck, chance, and transformation through playful, game-like structures.
Zero Art Fair held its first New York City edition at the Flag Art Foundation, offering artworks for free under a novel contract system. Instead of paying upfront, collectors took home 179 works valued at $537,500 by presenting a paper card, with artists retaining certain rights. The fair, co-founded by artists William Powhida and Jennifer Dalton, involved over 300 applicants and 90 participating artists, with costs underwritten by Flag Art Foundation and Gagosian.
A Washington Museum Zeros In on the Watergate Scandal
The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., has opened a new exhibition titled "Break the News: Watergate and the American Presidency." The show features over 60 objects, including photographs, political cartoons, and artifacts like the infamous tape recorder used by President Richard Nixon, to explore the scandal's impact on media, politics, and public trust.
Art Basel Miami Beach's new digital art section, Zero 10, featured a heavily subsidized presentation curated by Eli Scheinman, bypassing the fair's usual selection process. The centerpiece was Beeple's installation "Regular Animals" (2025), which displayed dog-like robots with humanoid masks of figures including Kim Jong-un, Elon Musk, and Beeple himself, which critics argue lacks substantive critique and relies on shallow satire.
Zero Art Fair, debuting its second edition at the FLAG Art Foundation in New York City from July 10 to 12, offers a radical alternative to traditional art fairs: attendees can take home selected artworks for free. The fair uses a "store-to-own" contract developed by artist William Powhida, NYU professor Amy Whitaker, and artist-attorney Alfred Steiner. Participants commit to a five-year vesting period before ownership transfers, during which artists retain rights to sell or borrow the work. After transfer, artists receive 50 percent of any sale price and a 10 percent royalty on subsequent resales. The fair was conceived by Powhida and artist Jennifer Dalton, rooted in their experiences with unsold work and structural gaps in the art market.
Half of non-bank art lenders experienced loan defaults in 2024, up from 17 percent in 2022, according to the Art and Finance Report 2025 by Deloitte Private and ArtTactic. The report notes that while the wider art market has shrunk since 2022—sales fell 12 percent to $57.5 billion in 2024—the market for art-backed loans has grown to an estimated $33.9–$40 billion. Non-bank lenders are increasingly taking on riskier clients, with some charging over 15 percent interest, while private banks reported zero defaults in 2024.
Australian politicians are pushing back against UNESCO's concerns that ancient rock art in Murujuga, Western Australia, is endangered by the proposed expansion of the Karratha Gas Plant, operated by Woodside Energy. The site contains up to 1 million petroglyphs, some dating back 47,000 years, and UNESCO's advisory body ICOMOS has warned that industrial emissions are a major threat. Australia's environmental minister Murray Watt has disputed ICOMOS's findings, calling them factually inaccurate, while Woodside claims the expansion will help transition away from coal and achieve net zero by 2050.
Emerging artists in Toronto are turning to unconventional venues like Dirty Laundry and She Said Gallery to bypass the city's high-barrier commercial art scene. These functioning laundromats operate as professional gallery spaces with exhibition schedules and opening receptions, allowing artists to host solo shows for minimal fees and zero commission on sales.
A collective of artists in Sunderland, England, is transforming the former Sweet Home Alabama shop on Fawcett Street into a new art gallery called Twenty-Four North East (24NE). Led by Sunderland artist Ken Devine, along with Graham Bowes, Darren Timby, and others, the group has leased the unit and is renovating it with donated paint from Albert's Place. The gallery will operate as a permanent independent retail fine art gallery, funded and run by the artists themselves, selling original artworks with zero commission. It is set to open on November 20 with a winter exhibition and will be open Wednesdays to Saturdays for shows, classes, workshops, and art sales.
The Hanwha Cultural Foundation is presenting a major solo exhibition, 'Sweat Models 1991-2026,' by Korean American artist Michael Joo at its New York venue, Space Zero One. The show, running from February 20 to April 18, is a 30-year survey of Joo's work across sculpture, installation, and video, exploring themes of body, system, matter, and information.
The Hanwha Foundation will present a solo exhibition by Korean American artist Michael Joo titled 'Sweat Models 1991-2026' at its New York space, Space Zero One, from February 20 to April 18, 2026. This marks the first exhibition of the year for the Tribeca-based platform, which opened in November with a mission to support emerging artists internationally.
Digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, is presenting a new installation titled *Regular Animals* (2025) at Art Basel Miami Beach's Zero 10 digital art section. The work features robotic canines with hyper-realistic heads resembling tech billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as historical figures Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, and Beeple himself. Each robot costs $100,000 (in an edition of two plus one artist's proof), and all were sold during the VIP preview, except the Bezos piece. The robots excrete certificates of authenticity that include QR codes for purchasing accompanying NFTs, and they continuously photograph their surroundings, with images reinterpreted in the style of each dog's humanoid counterpart.