Praise Shadows’s New Sales Director and Para Site Names Executive Director: Industry Moves for March 18, 2026

Several key personnel changes occurred in the art world this week. Boston gallery Praise Shadows hired Rebecca Hayes as its new Sales Director, while Hong Kong's Para Site appointed curator James Taylor-Foster as its Executive Director. Concurrently, galleries Lehmann Maupin and Jessica Silverman announced a co-representation agreement for artist Guimi You, and London's Timothy Taylor gallery revealed it will close its New York outpost after ten years.

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Collector R Parmar has launched Enzo Art Fair, a new boutique satellite fair debuting during Frieze Week Los Angeles in Echo Park. Hosted at Parmar’s Alabaster Projects warehouse, the fair features nine New York-based galleries, including Magenta Plains and Silke Lindner, and operates on a non-traditional, cost-free model for both exhibitors and attendees.

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The Aspen Art Fair will hold its third edition from July 29 to August 1, 2026, at the historic Hotel Jerome, now under the direction of Kelly Cornell. Cornell, who will continue to lead the Dallas Art Fair, plans to bring her dealer-focused approach to the Aspen event, emphasizing support for galleries as the core of the fair's success. Co-founder Bob Chase of Hexon gallery stressed the fair's intimate identity is tied to its venue, with no plans to expand beyond the Hotel Jerome's capacity.

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Brazilian police raided the São Paulo branch of Almeida & Dale, a prominent gallery, on Wednesday in connection with three missing paintings by modernist Alfredo Volpi. The São Paulo State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic) executed a search warrant regarding the works, valued at R$6.4 million (about $1.2 million), which have been the subject of a civil dispute. The artist's estate accuses gallery cofounder Carlos Dale of brokering an unauthorized sale in 2006 of the paintings, which were reported stolen in 2008. No artworks were seized, but a laptop was taken, and the gallery has denied wrongdoing, stating it acted as an intermediary in legitimate transactions before any theft report.

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British artist and designer Mason Newman is selling limited-edition silkscreen prints of his artwork "Prince of Darkness," which was gifted to the late Ozzy Osbourne just before the Black Sabbath vocalist's death. The prints, featuring goldleaf detail and limited to an edition of 76, are priced at £850 and benefit Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Acorns Hospice, and Cure Parkinson’s, in line with the Osbourne family’s wishes. The release coincided with the airing of two documentaries about Osbourne on BBC and Paramount+.

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Urban explorer artist Isaac Wright, known as 'Drift,' was arrested by NYPD officers at the opening of his 'Coming Home' exhibition at Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea. He faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge for allegedly climbing the Empire State Building to take a photograph featured in the show. Wright, who has been arrested four times for similar acts, was released on bail and spoke to ARTnews about the unexpected arrest in front of 400 gallerygoers.

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Urban explorer photographer Isaac Wright, known professionally as “Drift,” was arrested by NYPD officers at the opening of his first solo exhibition, “Coming Home,” at Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea on Thursday evening. Witnesses reported that an undercover woman signaled to police before the arrest, which occurred just before 8 p.m. Wright faces a charge of criminal trespassing in the third degree, a class B misdemeanor, and was released the next day. The show continued despite the disruption.

Primitivism to Reinvent Art

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Philippe Dagen has published the third and final volume of his series on primitivism, covering the period from World War II to the late 1970s. The book traces how Western artists, from Barnett Newman and Jackson Pollock to members of the CoBrA movement and figures like Jean Dubuffet, Lucio Fontana, and Yayoi Kusama, engaged with so-called "primitive" art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, often as a means of rejecting or redefining modern civilization. Dagen also examines the intellectual debates surrounding primitivism, including the critiques of colonized peoples who refused the label "primitive," and the shifting attitudes of thinkers like Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michel Leiris, and Aimé Césaire.

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A Moscow court designated the feminist art collective Pussy Riot as an extremist organization on December 15, following a lawsuit from Russia's Ministry of Justice. Founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, currently living in exile, condemned the ruling, warning that owning a balaclava, having a song on a computer, or liking a post could lead to prison time. She learned of the lawsuit while finishing her durational performance "Police State" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, which she described as a warning about surveillance authoritarianism. Tolokonnikova co-founded Pussy Riot in 2011 and was previously imprisoned for performing anti-Putin songs at a Moscow cathedral.

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Jeffrey Deitch has organized a pop-up exhibition in Miami's Design District during Art Basel Miami Beach, titled "That Was Then, This Is Now." The show, running from December 2, 2025 to January 2, 2026, features about two dozen ultra-emerging artists, predominantly from the West Coast. It was organized by American Art Projects, a platform led by Deitch associate director William Croghan and Benno Tubbesing, former director of Ruttkowski;68's New York branch. The exhibition includes paintings, ceramics, clothing, and books, aiming to offer accessible price points for new collectors.

How Artist Uman Channeled a Turbulent Year Into Calm Abstraction

Artist Uman opened her first solo museum exhibition in the United States, titled “After all the things…,” at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut. In an interview, she discusses her initial reluctance to enter the institutional world, preferring to focus on commercial success, but found the right partnership with chief curator Amy Smith-Stewart. The show features large paintings, a video, and works that blend landscape with abstraction, reflecting her life in upstate New York and a turbulent year transformed into calm, internal peace.

U-Haul Gallery’s Mobile Model Takes Art to the Streets

U-Haul Gallery, founded by James Sundquist, is a nomadic art initiative that uses rented U-Haul trucks as mobile exhibition spaces. During New York art week, the gallery parked outside major fairs and openings, drawing crowds into its cargo bay for shows like Ben Nuñez's video work "Today, Last Year." The gallery operates on a budget of $29.99 per day for truck rental, bypassing the high costs of traditional brick-and-mortar spaces. Sundquist, along with head of global strategy Jack Chase, curates collaborative, adaptable exhibitions that respond to their surroundings.

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MSCHF, the art collective known for viral stunts like Big Red Boots and a branded ATM, has launched a project called "Our Cow Angus" in which they purchased a cow named Angus in August 2024 and presold tokens tied to its eventual slaughter. Token holders can cancel their pre-orders via a "Remorse Portal," and if 50% opt out, Angus will be sent to a sanctuary instead of being turned into hamburger patties and leather handbags. As of January 8, only 31.8% of holders had canceled.

How to watch the 'Costume Art' Met Gala red carpet

The 2026 Met Gala, held on May 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, featured a dress code titled 'Costume Art' that explicitly frames fashion as an embodied art form. Celebrities including Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams ascended the museum's steps wearing archival fashion pieces and custom creations, with references to artistic collaborations such as Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí's lobster dress, Yves Saint Laurent's Mondrian-inspired designs, and Marc Jacobs' work with Takashi Murakami. The event raises funds for the museum's Costume Institute, whose spring exhibition 'Costume Art' examines the centrality of the dressed body.

Glenstone Is Celebrating 20 Years Of Art, Architecture, & Nature

Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, is celebrating its 20th anniversary as one of the largest private contemporary art museums in the United States. Founded in 2006, the institution offers a unique, immersive experience across 230 acres, combining world-class art, minimalist architecture, and expansive nature trails. The museum currently features major works by iconic artists such as Jackson Pollock, Ruth Asawa, and Kerry James Marshall within its two primary structures, The Gallery and The Pavilions.

At Art Basel Hong Kong, More Collectors Are Buying With Purpose

Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 opened with a renewed sense of optimism, featuring 240 galleries and a significant emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region. The VIP preview saw a surge in attendance primarily from regional collectors across mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, signaling a robust recovery for the local market. While international travel remains a factor, the fair's success is increasingly driven by a localized ecosystem of younger collectors and long-term public investments in cultural infrastructure like the M+ museum.

Tefaf Maastricht: exhibitions to see beyond the fair

As the art world descends on the Netherlands for the TEFAF Maastricht fair, several major regional museums are launching significant exhibitions to capture the international audience. Key highlights include the Mauritshuis’s bird-themed survey co-curated by Simon Schama, the Rijksmuseum’s exploration of Ovid’s Metamorphoses featuring loans from the Galleria Borghese, and a massive Yayoi Kusama retrospective at Museum Ludwig in Cologne marking the institution's 50th anniversary.

An Exhibition of Peter Schlesinger’s Ceramics Inaugurates a Playful New Gallery in Hollywood

Mariposa gallery has officially opened its permanent location in Hollywood’s historic Beachwood Canyon, housed in the 1923 storybook building originally built by the Hollywoodland Realty Co. Founded by Alec Smyth, a former David Zwirner staffer, and interior designer Noah Ruttenberg, the gallery moves away from the traditional 'white cube' aesthetic in favor of a cozy, domestic environment. The inaugural exhibition features a series of swan-shaped ceramic sculptures by the Los Angeles-born artist Peter Schlesinger.

David A. Ross resigns from New York's School of Visual Arts over friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

David A. Ross, chair of the Master of Fine Arts in art practice department at New York's School of Visual Arts (SVA), resigned from his position following the release of documents revealing his long-standing friendly correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The emails, dating from 2009 to 2016, show Ross praising Epstein's ideas for controversial exhibitions and offering him personal sympathy, even after Epstein's 2008 criminal conviction.

Comment | The dissolution of Antwerp's museum of contemporary art should serve as a warning to all

The Flemish ministry of culture has ordered the closure of M HKA, the museum of contemporary art in Antwerp, Belgium, and the transfer of its collection to S.M.A.K. in Ghent. A planned €130m new building for M HKA, ready to break ground, has been cancelled. In response, artists and cultural workers have launched a "Museum at Risk" campaign, occupying the museum's entrance and pressuring city councillors, while international artists like Emilia Kabakov and the estate of Christian Boltanski are demanding the return of their works.

The 'Lee Kun-hee Collection' Touring Exhibition Draws 3.5 Million Visitors—Opening the Door for K-Art’s Global Expansion

The Lee Kun-hee Collection touring exhibition, featuring over 330 masterpieces including seven National Treasures, has drawn 3.5 million visitors across South Korea and is now traveling internationally to Washington, Chicago, and London. The exhibition, organized by the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), showcases Korean art from the Three Kingdoms period to the present, and has been widely covered by outlets like The Washington Post, CNN, and Forbes.

Political statements at Art Basel Miami Beach are sparse but strident

At Art Basel Miami Beach, one year into Donald Trump’s second presidential administration, most galleries are avoiding overt political themes, though a few notable exceptions stand out. The most talked-about piece is Maurizio Cattelan’s marble sculpture *Bones (2025)*, a crashing eagle metaphor for the nation’s state, shown on Gagosian’s stand. Other politically charged works include Nicholas Galanin’s burned totem pole and drone-inspired rug, David Hammons’ *African American Flag (1990)*, and Tim Youd’s typewriter performance of Hunter S. Thompson’s book. Most exhibitors, however, focus on apolitical American iconography or market-driven choices.

Comment | What the art market doesn’t allow, branded content does for Tom Sachs

Tom Sachs has signed with The Lede Company, a US public relations firm, for agency representation, while Thaddaeus Ropac continues to represent him for gallery and fine art inquiries. This arrangement highlights Sachs's expanding activities beyond the traditional art market, including collaborations with Nike and Levi's, such as a Nike app promoting the Mars Yard 3.0 trainers. The announcement came in August, amidst other art-world movements like Jeff Koons's return to Gagosian from Pace Gallery.

Why St. Louis Is A World-Class Art Destination

The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is presenting "Anselm Kiefer: Becoming the Sea," a landmark exhibition featuring new, large-scale paintings and sculptures by the renowned German artist. The works, including 30-foot-tall paintings like "Missouri, Mississippi" (2024) and "Lumpeguin, Cigwe, Animiki" (2025), were created specifically for SLAM's soaring Sculpture Hall after Kiefer revisited St. Louis in 2023. The exhibition draws on Kiefer's 1991 visit to the city, where he was deeply impressed by the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and brings together themes of rivers, borders, memory, and cultural metaphor.

Gustave Caillebotte blockbuster that sparked controversy in France opens in Chicago—with one key difference

A major Gustave Caillebotte survey exhibition, originally titled *Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men* (in French, *Caillebotte: Peindre Les Hommes*), has opened at the Art Institute of Chicago with a revised title: *Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World*. The change was made after an internal focus group found the original title too narrow, and before the show even debuted in Paris. The exhibition, co-curated by Gloria Groom (AIC), Paul Perrin (Musée d’Orsay), and Scott Allan (Getty), explores Caillebotte’s preference for male subjects—such as rowers, soldiers, and card players—without asserting that the artist had same-sex relationships. It previously sparked controversy in France, where critics accused the curators of imposing an American-influenced, reductive queer reading on the artist.

Marlene Dumas’s $13.6m semi-nude breaks auction record for a living female artist

Christie's 21st century evening sale on Wednesday achieved $79 million ($96.5 million with fees), falling within revised estimates but below original projections and prior sale totals. The standout lot was Marlene Dumas's 1997 painting *Miss January*, which sold for $13.6 million with fees, setting a new auction record for any living female artist. The sale saw three of four records set for women artists, including Simone Leigh, Emma McIntyre, and Louis Fratino, though bidding was subdued overall with heavy reliance on third-party guarantees.

BUSINESS MONDAY: Spotlight on Art in the Berkshires—now open on Castle Street

Art in the Berkshires, founded in 2024 as an online resource, has opened a physical gallery and studio space at 8 Castle Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The venture is led by Shany Porras, an abstract painter and founder who serves as gallery director, aiming to make Berkshire creativity more accessible through artist directories, venue listings, and a weekly newsletter.

Boulder County art exhibits on display this week

This article lists dozens of current and upcoming art exhibitions across Boulder County, Colorado, featuring a wide range of venues from commercial galleries like 15th Street Gallery and Ana’s Art Gallery to nonprofit spaces such as Art Parts and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA). Highlights include lithographs by Santa Fe artist Rodney Carswell, Jorge Vinent's recycled-material works in "We Choose Earth," and student showcases at Canyon Theater and Gallery. The roundup also covers community-focused shows like "Racism & Discrimination at the Lafayette Swimming Pool 1934" and group exhibitions at Liminal Light Gallery and The New Local Gallery.

Here’s what’s on the gallery walls in Boulder County

Boulder County’s art scene is currently hosting a wide array of exhibitions across its museums, galleries, and community centers. Highlights include the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art’s eclectic group show "Yes &…," a historical examination of segregation at the Lafayette Swimming Pool in the 1930s at the Collective Community Arts Center, and a showcase of Indigenous ecological knowledge at the Dairy Arts Center. The region is also emphasizing local talent through the Boulder Valley School District student showcase and various member exhibitions at the Louisville Art Association and Liminal Light Gallery.

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President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” targeting the Smithsonian Institution. The order tasks Vice President J.D. Vance with removing “improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums, supported by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and advisor Lindsey Halligan. Critics, including historian Raymond Arsenault, have described the move as totalitarian. The Smithsonian, a public-private partnership founded in 1846 with 21 museums and the National Zoo, faces potential loss of federal funding if it does not comply, echoing pressure applied to other institutions like Columbia University.