Artist Refik Anadol, cofounder of Refik Anadol Studio, announces the opening of DATALAND, a new museum for data designed from the ground up in collaboration with architect Frank Gehry at The Grand LA. The project aims to create an architectural space inherently designed for immersive, AI-generated, and constantly evolving art, moving beyond the need to retrofit traditional museum structures like the white cube.
ArtReview's editors have curated a list of 11 must-see exhibitions worldwide for May 2026, excluding Venice. Highlights include Audie Murray's solo show at april april in Pittsburgh, featuring works made with her own hair and breast milk; Delcy Morelos's monumental earthwork 'origo' at the Barbican Sculpture Court in London; and Bold Tendencies' 20th anniversary season in Peckham, titled 'Euphoria', with new commissions across multiple disciplines.
The article highlights three standout artworks being offered at Tefaf New York. A Tiffany Studios stained-glass window, "Birches and Irises" (around 1915), designed by Agnes Northrop, is priced at $1.25 million through Macklowe Gallery. An Egyptian goddess bust from 570-526 BC, rediscovered at a regional auction in England and later authenticated after scientific study, is offered for £1.5 million by David Aaron. A painting by Cecily Brown, "Functor Hideaway" (2008), is listed at $3.9 million by Berggruen Gallery, coinciding with her current exhibition at London's Serpentine Gallery.
Tefaf New York returns to the Park Avenue Armory from 15 to 19 May, bringing together 88 exhibitors from 14 countries. The fair, which launched in 2016 as a two-part event and consolidated into a single annual edition in 2022, spans Greco-Roman antiquities, jewellery, 20th-century design, and contemporary art. This year’s edition includes nine new exhibitors such as David Lévy, Larkin Erdmann, Piano Nobile, Macklowe Gallery, and ML Fine Art, and sees the return of John Berggruen after a three-year absence. Fair leadership, including director Leanne Jagtiani and head of fairs Will Korner, emphasize the fair’s distinctive focus on Modern art, which they say differentiates it from other spring fairs in New York that are more heavily weighted toward contemporary work.
The 2026 Met Gala, themed "Fashion Is Art," saw celebrities and fashion figures wearing outfits directly inspired by or referencing iconic artworks and art historical movements. Notable nods included Chloe Malle in a gown referencing Frederic Leighton's *Flaming June*, Lauren Sánchez Bezos in a Schiaparelli dress echoing John Singer Sargent's *Madame X*, and Hunter Schafer channeling Gustav Klimt's portrait *Mäda Primavesi*. Other attendees like Anne Hathaway, Hailey Bieber, and Karan Johar also drew from specific paintings, sculptures, and poems, while stylist Law Roach wore a hand-painted piece by Gabonese artist Naïla Opiangah.
Philadelphia gallerist Megan Galardi is launching a new art fair called Elsewhere, set to debut June 4–6 at the Yowie Hotel on South Street. The fair will feature 27 exhibitors from cities including London, New York, and Philadelphia, with seven local dealers such as Fleisher/Ollman, Blah Blah Gallery, and Fjord. Galardi, who founded Blah Blah Gallery in 2023 and has participated in small New York fairs like Spring/Break and Future Fair, designed Elsewhere as a boutique, hotel-based event that offers a lower-cost, more intimate alternative to large-scale art fairs.
Art Basel has launched a "Basel Exclusive" initiative to curb pre-fair PDF sales, encouraging galleries to withhold works from previews to drive in-person discovery at its flagship Swiss event (June 16–21). Around 170 of 232 exhibitors have opted in. Meanwhile, Volta returns to Basel with a new "5,000 Edit" section for works under CHF 5,000 to attract younger collectors, and the alternative fair Esther will hold its third edition in New York during Frieze Week. In other news, Sotheby's set a U.S. record for design auctions with the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection totaling $96 million, and billionaire collector Mitchell P. Rales pledged $116 million to the National Gallery of Art to fund loans to smaller museums. The Smithsonian American Art Museum named Lynda Roscoe Hartigan as its new director, and Gladstone Gallery plans a new Seoul space for 2026.
New York museums are launching a significant slate of spring exhibitions, featuring major retrospectives and thematic surveys. Highlights include "Noguchi's New York" at the Noguchi Museum, exploring the sculptor's unrealized urban projects; "Raphael: Sublime Poetry" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a comprehensive look at the Renaissance master; and "Gothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship," also at the Met, focusing on medieval architectural drawings.
Amsterdam-based artist Cathalijn Wouters has joined the roster of SmithDavidson Gallery. Her practice, which blends painting and drawing through fields of color and linework, is informed by her graphic design training and a pivotal encounter with modern art at the Stedelijk Museum. She describes her process as beginning with drawings and sketches on linen treated like paper, and cites influences ranging from Marcel Proust to Egon Schiele and postwar painting.
Los Angeles art dealer Matthew Brown is relocating his gallery to a significantly larger, 13,000-square-foot former warehouse in the Hollywood Media District. The new space, designed by architect Markus Dochantschi, more than doubles his exhibition area and includes offices, viewing rooms, and storage. The inaugural exhibition will feature artist Mimi Lauter, marking her first Los Angeles show in eight years.
The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach has appointed the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee to design a new 22,000-square-foot pavilion. The expansion, funded in part by a $20.1 million municipal bond, will occupy a site currently used for parking and will feature an elevated gallery designed to withstand South Florida’s environmental challenges, alongside an outdoor patio and performance stage.
The 22nd edition of SP-Arte has opened at São Paulo’s Oscar Niemeyer-designed pavilion, featuring over 180 galleries and design studios. While global art markets face a period of recalibration, the Latin American sector—and Brazil in particular—is reporting significant growth, including a 21% year-on-year increase in sales for Brazilian dealers according to the latest Art Basel and UBS report.
The New Museum in New York has officially reopened following a two-year closure for a major expansion designed by OMA. The renovation doubles the institution's footprint to 60,000 square feet, introducing a central spiral staircase that seamlessly connects the original SANAA-designed building with the new structure. The reopening is marked by the massive group exhibition "New Humans: Memories of the Future," a sprawling survey featuring over 200 artists curated by artistic director Massimiliano Gioni.
The gallery Anthony Meier in San Francisco is hosting "Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Garden = Grid = City," the first exhibition of the late artist’s work since her estate began being co-represented by the gallery and von Bartha. The show highlights Solomon’s diverse eight-decade career, moving beyond her famous "supergraphics" to showcase rarely seen paintings and drawings from the 1980s that explore the intersection of city grids and landscape architecture.
Devon Turnbull, also known as OJAS, has a dedicated listening room featuring his custom-built high-fidelity sound system as part of the "Art of Noise" exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. The installation, titled HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, occupies Andrew Carnegie's former personal library and features scheduled listening sessions with the artist or guests, including notable figures like filmmaker Josh Safdie, musician Laraaji, and artist Tom Sachs.
San Francisco Art Week is underway, anchored by the 12th edition of FOG Design and Art (January 21–25) on a historic former Army base. The event arrives amid flux for Northern California's art scene, with several prominent galleries closing and two major art schools—the San Francisco Art Institute and the California College of the Arts—recently shuttering. However, new free-admission fairs Atrium and Skylight Above (both January 22–25) signal fresh energy. The article highlights must-see museum shows across the city, including "Lee ShinJa: Drawing with Thread" at BAMPFA, "Rose B. Simpson: Lexicon" at the de Young Museum, "Rising Tides" at the Floating Art Museum, and "Earthseed Dome: Lily Kwong" at the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Francisco.
Volume Gallery, a Chicago gallery specializing in art and design, is tripling its size and moving to a new location in the West Town neighborhood. The gallery, founded by Claire Warner and Sam Vinz, will open a 3,500-square-foot space on February 13, marking its third location since its 2010 launch. The inaugural exhibition, "The Heresy of Legacy," will feature works by artists and designers including Selva Aparicio, Richard Artschwager, and Joyce Scott.
Ai Weiwei has recreated Claude Monet's monumental triptych "Water Lilies" (1914–26) using 650,000 Lego bricks in 22 colors, spanning nearly 50 feet. The work, titled "Water Lilies #1" (2022), is now on display at the Design Museum in London ahead of a major survey exhibition opening April 7. Ai added a personal touch by inserting a "dark portal" referencing the underground dugout he shared with his father during his family's exile to Xinjiang in the 1960s. The show also includes "Untitled (Lego Incident)", a work made from Lego bricks sent by fans after Ai's Instagram post about Lego temporarily restricting his bulk orders for political artworks.
Alissa Friedman has returned to Salon 94, the New York gallery where she spent 15 years shaping its identity, after a stint at Stephen Friedman Gallery's US outpost, which is closing. In an interview with ARTnews, she discusses the gallery's early days in the mid-2000s, its unconventional program that embraced Indigenous artists, ceramics, and design before such categories were widely accepted, and how the art world has since aligned with that vision. She also explains her departure in 2021 when founder Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn joined LGDR, as Friedman preferred working directly with living artists.
The Winter Show returns to New York's Park Avenue Armory from January 23 to February 1, 2026, blending blue-chip modernism with decorative arts, design, jewelry, and antiques. The fair features a special presentation titled 'Study of a Young Collector,' curated by Patrick Monahan in collaboration with executive director Helen Allen, which imagines the private study of a next-generation collector using works from 11 international dealers exhibiting for the first time. Notable highlights include Jonathan Boos's presentation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's early work 'Wrapped Toy Horse' (1963), priced at $450,000, and a rare copper and gilt mask by Harlem Renaissance artist Sargent Claude Johnson from 1933, priced at $245,000. Boccara Gallery also showcases modern and contemporary tapestries by artists like Man Ray and Alexander Calder.
This edition of State of Play, part of Artnet Pro's The Asia Pivot newsletter, reports on multiple developments across Asia's art scene. Highlights include the launch of Art Fairs Pavilion Taipei, a new alternative art fair co-founded by Hong Kong dealers Willem Molesworth and Ysabelle Cheung, with 13 galleries for its inaugural edition. Galleries Antenna Space and Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery are expanding into Hong Kong and Singapore respectively, while veteran Beijing gallery Long March Space has closed its physical venue. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum announced Taiwan's collateral exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and the Hong Kong Museum of Art named artists for its collateral show. The Asia Society Museum in New York will open a 70th-anniversary exhibition, and the H+ Museum in Suzhou, designed by Tadao Ando, officially opened with two inaugural shows.
The Frick Collection reopens to the public on April 17 after a five-year closure and a $220 million expansion and renovation by Selldorf Architects. The project adds 18,000 square feet, including 10 new galleries in the family's original second-floor living quarters, a marble staircase, cafe, gift shop, and a new auditorium. The percentage of the collection on view has increased from 25% to 47%, and Ukrainian artist Vladimir Kanevsky has created porcelain floral arrangements for the reopening. New director Axel Rüger, who joined from London's Royal Academy of Arts, welcomed journalists at a press preview.
Artnet News asked four curators and four art advisors from around the world to each select one artist they believe is poised to break out in 2026. The article profiles the first two of eight artists: Indonesian artist Bagus Pandega, known for kinetic plant-based installations, who has had solo shows at Kunsthalle Basel and Swiss Institute New York; and Max Hooper Schneider, a Los Angeles-based artist creating aquarium-like works blending organic and artificial materials, recently exhibited at 125 Newbury gallery in New York.
Magdalene Odundo, the 75-year-old Kenyan-born British ceramic artist, discusses her lifelong practice and the cultural and spiritual significance of the ceramic vessel in a recent interview at her studio in Farnham, England. Her career has reached new heights following a record auction result this past summer, when an untitled 1990 piece sold for £723,900 ($995,462) at Sotheby's London, nearly tripling its estimate. This milestone coincides with her debut solo exhibition at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels, running until January 24, featuring works including the large-scale installation Transition II (2014) with 1,001 miniature glass vessels.
This week's art industry roundup covers major auction results, gallery representation changes, museum leadership shifts, and a high-profile art theft. François-Xavier Lalanne's *Hippopotame Bar* sold for $31.4 million at Sotheby's Breuer headquarters, setting a record for both the artist and design works. A Tiffany Magnolia floor lamp also set a new auction record at Sotheby's, fetching $4.4 million. Meanwhile, a New Jersey auction house quietly sold over $100,000 of Jeffrey Epstein's belongings, including artworks, without disclosing his ownership. In the gallery world, several artists changed representation, and former Clearing director John Utterson joined Thaddaeus Ropac. Museum news includes the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art repatriating three Khmer-era sculptures to Cambodia, Maria Balshaw stepping down as Tate director, MoMA PS1 offering free admission starting January 1, and the Rijksmuseum planning a new branch in Eindhoven. Additionally, eight rare Matisse prints and five works by Candido Portinari were stolen from São Paulo's Mário de Andrade Library.
The article highlights four must-see fall gallery shows in New York City for September-October 2025. It features Mercedes Matter's first solo show at Berry Campbell, reviving the overlooked Abstract Expressionist; Julio Torres's theatrical debut "Color Stories" at Performance Space New York; Gabrielle Garland's first New York solo exhibition at Miles McEnery Gallery, showcasing surreal suburban paintings; and Omar Ba's exhibition "Promises and Glory" at Templon, presenting fantastical mixed-media works.
This week's art industry moves include South Arts appointing Doug Shipman as its next president and CEO, departing his role as Atlanta City Council president to lead the regional nonprofit across nine Southern states. London gallery Alison Jacques now represents Cape Town–born painter Gina Kuschke, with a debut solo exhibition opening January 15. Gallery Wendi Norris in San Francisco will represent the Marie Wilson estate, while Berlin's Galerie Judin adds Jorinde Voigt to its roster in partnership with David Nolan, Dirimart, and Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino. Thaddaeus Ropac appoints John Utterson as director in London, and Aperture secures $2 million in gifts toward its new permanent home. A record $31.4 million was paid for François-Xavier Lalanne's 'Hippopotame Bar' at Sotheby's New York, tripling its high estimate. The article also notes a growing trend of consultancies—mostly US- and European-based—being hired to help the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia build their cultural sectors.
The article is a personal remembrance of artist Robert Grosvenor, written by a former student who encountered him as a visiting speaker at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978. It recounts the profound impact Grosvenor's work and teaching had on the author's own artistic practice, describing his use of ordinary materials, his sculptural innovations like the cantilever and "hover," and his influence on her approach to art-making. The piece also references Grosvenor's 2025 exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery and his earlier commission at Storm King Art Center.
Frank Gehry, the visionary architect behind iconic cultural landmarks such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, died on December 5 at age 96. Over the weekend, art and architecture figures including artist Rob Pruitt, Serpentine Galleries artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist, and leaders of institutions like the Guggenheim Bilbao, LACMA, and the J. Paul Getty Trust shared personal remembrances and tributes, highlighting his groundbreaking designs, enduring friendships, and profound influence.
Maggie Harrison, head winemaker at Antica Terra in Oregon's Willamette Valley, has collaborated with artists Julie Mehretu, Paul Pfeiffer, and Jessica Rankin to create a limited-edition box set of wines. Each set includes wines blended collaboratively and individual artworks packaged with the bottles, described as a “Museum in a Box.” Proceeds from the 150 sets benefit Denniston Hill, the artist residency founded by Mehretu and Pfeiffer. Harrison also opened an Art Meadow at Antica Terra this past summer, featuring a site-specific installation by Lily Clark, with plans for another exhibition next year.