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Adrian Cheng, the mega-collector and regular on ARTnews' Top 200 Collectors list, has announced his new venture ALMAD Group after resigning as CEO of his family's Hong Kong property firm New World Development Co. (NWD) last year. The company will focus on digital assets, blockchain technologies, and immersive digital experiences across entertainment, sports, and media in mainland China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. ALMAD has absorbed Cheng's art-meets-commerce platform K11 by AC, which includes the K11 Craft and Guild Foundation, the K11 Art Foundation, and the K11 Art Malls that pair luxury retail with exhibitions by artists like Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami.

Which Country’s Art Market Came Out on Top in 2025?

The United States solidified its position as the world's leading art market in 2025, with fine-art auction sales rising 25.3 percent to reach $5.4 billion. Despite early volatility caused by trade tariffs, a surging stock market and cooling inflation fueled a massive November auction season in New York, where nine of the year's ten most expensive artworks were sold. In contrast, China's market contracted by nearly 11 percent due to a persistent property crisis, while the United Kingdom and France saw significant growth, with Paris benefiting from the momentum of Art Basel Paris.

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Tobias Berger, a veteran curator who held senior roles at Hong Kong’s M+ and Tai Kwun, has transitioned from the public sector to lead two new private initiatives: Serakai Studio and the Tanoto Art Foundation. Ahead of Art Basel Hong Kong, Berger is launching "Gold," an experimental salon space in Wong Chuk Hang that merges contemporary art with design and fashion. These roles mark a shift toward agile, privately funded cultural models that prioritize regional focus and experimental programming over the bureaucratic structures of large public museums.

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Artist Ai Weiwei returned to his native China after 10 years in exile, making a quiet three-week trip to Beijing last month. It was his first visit since authorities returned his confiscated passport in 2015, allowing him to leave China and live in Europe. During the trip, Ai was briefly interrogated at the airport but otherwise faced no interference. He shared photos and videos on Instagram, and told CNN the visit felt like a reconnection after a decade-long disconnection. The trip was partly motivated by a desire for his 17-year-old son and 93-year-old mother to meet.

'Art is just about making trouble': Inside Auckland Art Gallery's bold new show

Auckland Art Gallery is preparing to open "Forever Tomorrow: Chinese Art Now," a major exhibition of contemporary Chinese art curated by Hutch Wilco. The show features works from the White Rabbit Collection in Sydney, including a massive 7-meter-high stone sculpture by Xu Zhen, paintings by Shang Liang, and photography by Pixy Liao, who recently won a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship. Wilco spent three years organizing the exhibition, which includes playful sculptures, paintings, and multimedia works, with significant logistical challenges in transporting large pieces from China.

27 Best Museums in the World for Art, History, and Cultural Wonders

This article from Travel + Leisure lists 27 of the best museums in the world, covering art, history, science, and culture. Featured institutions include the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Vatican Museums, the National Museum of China in Beijing, the National Gallery and Tate Modern in London, the Natural History Museum in London, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and Miraikan in Tokyo. The piece highlights iconic artworks such as the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Sistine Chapel ceiling, as well as notable architectural features like I.M. Pei's glass pyramid at the Louvre.

A World-Class Art Museum Arrives in the Texas Hill Country

A new museum called Arthouse is opening in Marble Falls, Texas, on April 25, 2026, during the town's Paint the Town Festival. Its inaugural exhibition, "Words Matter," features text-based artworks by artists including Faith Ringgold, Ed Ruscha, Terry Allen, and Jenny Holzer, drawn from the collection of oil and gas entrepreneur Mickey Klein and his wife Jeanne, who are longtime art collectors named to ARTnews' Top 200 Collectors list. The building, designed by Lake Flato, is a limestone and metal structure on Main Street that will serve as both a public gallery and an office.

Lake Flato Shapes a Stunning New Art Space in Texas Hill Country

A new art space called Arthouse is opening on April 25, 2026, in Marble Falls, Texas. Designed by the architecture firm Lake Flato, the 2,000-square-foot white building will display works from the personal collection of philanthropists Mickey and Jeanne Klein, including pieces by Mary C. Sloane, Kenturah Davis, Faith Ringgold, Ed Ruscha, James Turrell, and Teresita Fernández. The debut exhibition, "Words Matter," curated by Mickey Klein, explores text and narrative and coincides with the town's Paint the Town Art Festival. The building also features a courtyard designed by landscape designer Sada Uchiyama.

Ai Weiwei solo show in Singapore

Ai Weiwei has launched a solo exhibition at Tang Contemporary Art in Singapore, featuring his signature Lego brick recreations of Western masterpieces and intricate porcelain sculptures. The show includes pixelated interpretations of works by Van Gogh and Andrew Wyeth, alongside porcelain pieces like 'Watermelon' and a series of 16 helmets that satirize international military aid. The artist, currently based in Portugal, noted that the exhibition's themes are heavily influenced by contemporary global conflicts and the digital age's impact on authorship.

New York’s Eclectic Francis Irv Gallery Shutters after Three Years

Francis Irv, a young New York gallery known for showcasing an eclectic mix of established and emerging artists from the US and Europe, has closed after just over three years in business. Founded by Shane Rossi and Sam Marion Wilken, who met as studio assistants, the gallery launched in 2022 under the name Kinder in a Chinatown mall beneath the Manhattan Bridge before relocating to a TriBeCa space. Its inaugural exhibition was a group show in Los Angeles co-curated by artist and writer Aria Dean, featuring artists such as Hannah Black, Jordan Wolfson, and Benjamin Echeverria. The gallery never formally announced a roster but showed artists including Sophie Gogl, Karla Kaplun, Megan Marrin, Win McCarthy, Ahgharad Williams, and German sculptor Reinhard Mucha. In December, it helped mount an experimental play by Georgica Pettus. The founders posted a farewell on their website, reflecting on their run.

Lin Xiang Xiong Art Gallery Opens, Bolstering Penang’s Role As International Arts Hub

The Lin Xiang Xiong Art Gallery officially opened in George Town, Penang, on December 14, with a ceremony officiated by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and attended by former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Founded by 80-year-old artist and professor Lin Xiang Xiong, the eight-story, RM100 million gallery houses over 1,000 artworks and features a special inaugural exhibition titled "Picasso and Lin Xiang Xiong: A Dialogue Across Time." The gallery also hosted the Art for Peace International High-Level Art Forum, gathering leaders from UNESCO, France, Brazil, Japan, China, and Malaysia.

Vancouver Art Gallery gifted 131-work private collection from Hong Kong

The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) has received a landmark donation of 131 works by 78 artists from an anonymous Hong Kong-based collector, named the Art Continuum Hong Kong (ACHK) collection. The gift, the largest contribution of Hong Kong art in the gallery's history, spans painting, sculpture, printmaking, film, installation, and lens-based media from the 1950s to the present, chronicling social, political, and cultural change in Hong Kong. It includes works by internationally recognized artists such as Luis Chan, Irene Chou, Tsang Kin Wah, Wesley Tongson, Sin Wai Kin, and Wucius Wong, as well as Hong Kong-born, Vancouver-based artists like Howie Tsui and Lam Tung Pang. The VAG will present an exhibition of the donation alongside its permanent collection in 2027, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from the UK to China.

Nightlife scenes and local lore abound at Nada Miami's busy opening

At the VIP preview of Nada Miami, dealers reported brisk sales of paintings, with galleries like Hawkins Headquarters, Shrine, Burnaway, the Locker Room, and Baker—Hall showing works by artists including Jackson Markovic, Angela China, Alex Hutton, Clare Torina, Eric Diehl, and Thomas Bils. Nightlife themes were prominent, with Markovic's fluorescent nightclub photographs and Raffi Kalenderian's painting of Mac's Club Deuce dive bar. The Pérez Art Museum Miami acquired works by Bils, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, and Pallavi Sen through its Nada Acquisition Gift programme.

Fast-rising Montana art organisation to take over century-old theatre

Tinworks Art, a non-profit contemporary art space in Bozeman, Montana, is expanding from its original industrial campus to the historic Rialto Theater downtown. Opening November 21, Tinworks at Rialto will debut with Matthew Barney's 2018 film *Redoubt*, on view until February 1, 2026, marking the organization's first year-round venue for installations, talks, screenings, and performances. The Rialto, which opened as a theater in 1924, was donated to Tinworks by its previous owners. Additionally, Tinworks is restoring its deteriorating mill building on the northeast campus, set to open in October 2026, which will add flexible gallery spaces, a visitor center, and offices, extending programming beyond its current June-to-October schedule.

On the ground at Art Week Tokyo: amid shifting national politics, Japan’s ‘sleeping beauty’ art scene is waking up

The fifth edition of Art Week Tokyo (AWT) took place from November 5-9, bringing together over 50 commercial galleries and museums across the city in a hybrid "post-art fair" model. The event unfolded against the backdrop of Sanae Takaichi becoming Japan's first female prime minister, a political shift that has sparked mixed reactions in the Japanese art world, with calls for improved tax incentives, international promotion, and stronger public collections. AWT, directed by Atsuko Ninagawa and organized in collaboration with Art Basel, featured museum shows including "What is Real?" at the Okura Museum of Art, curated by Adam Szymczyk, and "Prism of the Real: Making Art in Japan 1989-2010" at the National Art Center, Tokyo.

4 notable art exhibitions opening around the world

Four major retrospective exhibitions are opening around the world in late 2025 and early 2026, celebrating the work of Robert Rauschenberg, Wes Anderson, Vivienne Westwood, Rei Kawakubo, and Wifredo Lam. At M+ in Hong Kong, "Robert Rauschenberg and Asia" explores the artist's collaborations with artisans in India, China, and Japan. The Design Museum in London presents "Wes Anderson: The Archives," featuring over 600 items from his film sets. The Museum of Modern Art in New York hosts "Wilfredo Lam: When I Don't Sleep, I Dream," the most extensive US retrospective of the Cuban-born artist. A creative conversation between designers Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo is also highlighted.

‘Sometimes the space comes first’: how Shohei Shigematsu is using architecture to break cultural ground

Shohei Shigematsu, director of OMA New York since 2006, has carved a niche designing luxury-brand exhibition spaces and flagship stores for Dior, LVMH, and Tiffany. His approach treats architecture as a cultural platform that integrates fashion, art, design, and food. Key projects include the 2016 'Manus x Machina' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the 2023 'Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams' show in Seoul, where spatial design often precedes thematic content.

Metropolitan Museum receives 6,500 works from photography collector Artur Walther

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has received a promised gift of more than 6,500 works from German American photography collector Artur Walther and his Walther Family Foundation. The trove spans post-war and contemporary photography from Africa, Japan, Germany, and China, alongside vernacular photos from Europe and the Americas. A special showcase of African photographers' works will debut in the Met's Michael C. Rockefeller Wing when it reopens after renovation later this month. The collection, which has operated exhibition spaces in Neu-Ulm, Germany, and New York's Chelsea district since 2010, includes major names such as Malick Sibidé, Zanele Muholi, Ai Weiwei, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Thomas Struth.

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Artist Sun Yitian, known for photorealistic paintings of mass-produced consumer objects that sell for up to six figures, is opening her largest solo exhibition to date at Esther Schipper in Berlin as part of Gallery Weekend Berlin on May 2. The exhibition, titled "Romantic Room," features 14 new paintings that incorporate Christian religious symbols alongside references to China's copy culture (shanzhai) and the proliferation of fakes in the 1990s. Works like "Image of Jesus" (2024) depict a Christ with facial fillers, inspired by posters in her hometown Wenzhou, while "Jingpin" (2024) playfully addresses Wenzhou's history of fabricating high-quality shoe copies. The show also includes her ongoing "Shelter" series, featuring inflatable bouncy castles from her childhood.

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Sharon Stone has created a new series of figurative paintings titled "Rogues Gallery," which she describes as channeling the spirits of historical figures from different eras and locations, including an enslaved individual who drowned in the East China Sea and Iranian freedom fighter Mahsa Amini. The works, made in 2025, mark a shift from her earlier abstracted landscapes and floral motifs, and were produced in her Los Angeles home studio. Stone, who began painting seriously around 2020 and has previously exhibited at C. Parker Gallery, Allouche Gallery, and Galerie Deschler Berlin, approaches the portraits as a medium for healing and confronting difficult histories, including her own family's potential involvement in enslavement.

Perfectly unusual settings for art in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is experiencing a surge in non-traditional exhibition spaces that bypass the conventional 'white cube' gallery model. Artists and curators are repurposing domestic apartments, former Vietnamese restaurants, vacant lots, and garages to host experimental shows. Notable examples include Greg Jenkins’s Paramount-Artcraft in the Fairfax District, Ian James’s Leroy’s in Chinatown, and David Horvitz’s 7th Ave Garden, which utilizes salvaged concrete from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to create an outdoor installation and reading space.

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.

Why is the art market turning Gulf-wards?

The art market is shifting its focus toward the Gulf region, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, following a sharp decline in Chinese luxury goods sales (18–20% drop in 2024) and a 31% slump in Chinese art sales. Auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have established outposts in Saudi Arabia, with Sotheby’s first auction in Diriyah generating $17.3 million and attracting 35% new buyers. The UAE’s tax-haven status and lack of sanctions on Russians have drawn wealthy residents, while Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 campaign, led by Mohammed bin Salman, is pouring money into cultural projects such as AlUla, Art Week Riyadh, the Islamic Arts Biennale, and a new teamLab Borderless museum in Jeddah.

Hong Kong show offers 'most comprehensive survey' of 21st-century Chinese art

Tai Kwun in Hong Kong is presenting a two-part exhibition titled 'Stay Connected: Art and China Since 2008,' aiming to be the most comprehensive survey of 21st-century Chinese art. The first part, 'Navigating the Cloud,' examined the early internet's influence, while the current second part, 'Supplying the Globe,' focuses on the physical world of labor and China's manufacturing supply chain. The show is structured thematically, exploring ecological footprints, reconfigured labor, networks of exchange, and global realignment.

Lu Yang at Kunsthalle zu Kiel

Lu Yang's solo exhibition "Electromagnetic Brainology" opened at Kunsthalle zu Kiel, running from January 30 to March 15, 2026. Curated by Muriel Meyer, the show features a new body of work from the Shanghai-based multimedia artist, known for immersive installations blending digital avatars, neuroscience, and pop culture iconography.

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A wave of significant art world events has unfolded globally, led by a high-profile heist at Italy’s Magnani Rocca Foundation where thieves stole masterpieces by Renoir, Matisse, and Cézanne. Simultaneously, the international community is monitoring the secret trial of artist Gao Zhen in China, who faces imprisonment for sculptures created over 15 years ago that allegedly mock Mao Zedong. Other notable developments include the early closure of Amir Fattal’s exhibition in Mexico City due to antisemitic vandalism and the opening of a landmark LGBTQ-themed exhibition at the Art Sonje Centre in Seoul.

The evolution of agriculture tells the story of the world in an unmissable exhibition at Fondazione Prada

L’evoluzione dell’agricoltura racconta il mondo in un’imperdibile mostra alla Fondazione Prada

The Fondazione Prada in Milan is hosting "Dash," a comprehensive solo exhibition by Chinese artist Cao Fei that explores the intersection of ancient agricultural rituals and cutting-edge technology. The exhibition features installations like 'Land Ceremony,' where an agricultural drone is treated as a ritualistic rice dragon, alongside VR experiences and documentary films that investigate the automation of farming in China and Southeast Asia.

Victoria & Albert Museum yields to Chinese censorship

Le Victoria & Albert Museum cède à la censure chinoise

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London removed a map and other content from its exhibition catalogues after its Chinese printer, C&C Offset Printing, flagged them as unacceptable to Chinese censors. The map, showing 1930s British Empire trade routes, was rejected by China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) because it included Chinese territory and borders, requiring the use of state-approved maps. The museum also previously removed a map and a photograph of Vladimir Lenin from a 2021 Fabergé exhibition catalogue.

Gala Porras-Kim: Future spaces replicate earlier spaces

Gala Porras-Kim presents her first exhibition at kurimanzutto in Mexico City, titled "Future spaces replicate earlier spaces," running from April 11 to June 13, 2026. The show brings together works that examine how museums and conservation institutions reclassify objects removed from their original contexts, using reconstruction and resituating to explore their spatial, material, and temporal conditions. Central to the exhibition is the installation "The motion of an alluvial record" (2024), which recreates the humid marshland atmosphere of the Yucatán Peninsula inside the gallery, contrasting with the controlled climates of museums. Other works include drawings replicating wall decorations from the Techinantitla complex in Teotihuacan, which were fragmented and sold on the black market, and graphite drawings of objects by artist Brígido Lara, whose "original interpretations" of Totonac ritual clay objects were mistakenly catalogued as Pre-Hispanic artifacts in major museums.

Exhibition as Séance at Seoul Mediacity Biennale with Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis

The 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, titled “Séance: Technology of the Spirit,” will open in August 2025 at the Seoul Museum of Art. The exhibition is curated by Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres, and Lukas Brasiskis of e-flux, who previously organized the Shanghai Biennale in 2023. The curators aim to structure a film program as an extension of the exhibition, engaging with themes of Cosmism and spiritual séance. They have collaborated with the Hong Kong-based architecture firm COLLECTIVE to transform the museum’s white-wall space into a scenography evoking different metaphysical realms, using color and light to enhance the experience.