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Two concurrent exhibitions in New York explore the intersection of art and UFOs, paranormal phenomena, and extraterrestrial life. "Voice of Space: UFOs and Paranormal Phenomena" at the Drawing Center (through February 1, 2026) features some three dozen works from artists including René Magritte and Isa Genzken, with Magritte's 1931 painting "Voice of Space" as the conceptual centerpiece. Meanwhile, "Paintings Made for Aliens Above" at P.P.O.W (through December 20, 2025) presents new works by Romanian artist Hortensia Mi Kafchin, probing technofuturism's promises and failures. The shows include historical pieces like Paulina Peavy's multimedia works co-credited to her personal UFO, and contemporary works by Char Jeré that interrogate technology and consumerism.

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This week's art industry news includes Art Basel appointing Egyptian artist Wael Shawky as artistic director of its first Middle East fair, Art Basel Qatar, running February 5–7, 2026. A new fair called Loading… debuts in Hudson, N.Y., during Upstate Art Weekend, while Vienna Contemporary names Abaseh Mirvali as artistic director. Bonhams offers material from Roy Lichtenstein's Hamptons home, and a legendary Le Birkin handbag sells for €8.5 million at Sotheby's Paris. Galleries see Hollis Taggart adding two artists, Adam Lindemann closing Venus Over Manhattan, and Berlin's Meyer Riegger and Paris's Galerie Jocelyn Wolff opening a joint Seoul gallery. Museums include the Zayed National Museum opening in Abu Dhabi, Shamim M. Momin named director of the Bronx Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art acquiring 150 new works. The Art Bridges Foundation and Crystal Bridges acquire 90 Indigenous artworks, and the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt opens a temporary location. In legal news, DHS officials visited the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago.

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This week's art industry roundup covers major sales and developments across art fairs, auction houses, and galleries. At Art Basel Miami Beach, strong sales were reported, including an $18 million Warhol at Lévy Gorvy Dayan's booth, while NADA Miami featured around 140 exhibitors. The Art Dealers Association of America announced a new ADAA Fair at the Park Avenue Armory for November 2025, and Design Miami will expand to Dubai in 2027 with Alserkal. In auctions, Fabergé's 'Winter Egg' sold for $30.2 million at Christie's London, becoming the most expensive Fabergé egg ever auctioned, and Rembrandt's etching 'Arnout Tholinx, Inspector' set a world record for an Old Master print at $4.1 million. A rare 15th-century triptych also sold at Sotheby's for $7.6 million. Gallery news includes the formation of Pace Di Donna Schrader Galleries, Hauser and Wirth's acquisition of a Palermo palazzo, and several artist representation changes.

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Art dealer Jeffrey Deitch shared his impressions of New York's $2.2 billion auction week, praising Sotheby's for its acquisition of the Breuer Building and the intimate atmosphere of its new salesroom. He highlighted the $527 million sale of Leonard A. Lauder's collection, the presence of major figures like Patrick Drahi, Larry Gagosian, and the Mugrabi clan, and lauded auctioneer Ollie Barker's skill. Deitch contrasted the experience with the old days of auction-going, noting the excitement and club-like feeling.

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Alma Allen, a self-taught Utah-born sculptor based in Mexico, has been confirmed as the U.S. representative for the 61st Venice Biennale, opening in May. His pavilion exhibition, titled “Alma Allen: Call Me the Breeze,” will be curated by Jeffrey Uslip and commissioned by Jenni Parido of the American Arts Conservancy. Allen’s selection is notably unconventional: he has no major museum solo exhibitions and was dropped by his galleries, Mendes Wood and Olney Gleason, after accepting the commission. The U.S. State Department’s brief release frames the presentation as highlighting “alchemical transformation of matter” and “elevation,” aligning with the Trump Administration’s focus on “American excellence.”

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Ballroom Marfa in Marfa, Texas, presents the exhibition “Los Encuentros,” on view through March 29, 2026, featuring five Latinx artists—Ozzie Juarez, Justin Favela, Antonio Lechuga, Narsiso Martinez, and Yvette Mayorga—who transform everyday materials like blankets (cobijas) and piñatas into works exploring Latinx identity. Curated by Maggie Adler, the show prioritizes local community engagement over the international art world, with works such as Juarez's "Coatzomaki" (2025) synthesizing LA street art and Aztec culture. The exhibition grew from Adler's existing relationships with the artists and her belief in working beyond institutional walls.

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The 28th edition of Paris Photo, which closed November 16, saw a surge in representation of women photographers, rising to 39 percent of artists on view from 20 percent in 2018. This shift is driven by the fair's Elles program, launched with France's ministry of culture, and a broader market appetite for rediscovered women artists. Notable sales included works by Ming Smith, whose vintage prints sold for up to €60,000 at M77 gallery, and offerings from Les Filles du Calvaire featuring Helena Almeida and Katalin Ladik. Richard Saltoun gallery returned after six years with a booth focused on women photographers.

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Artnet News' Wet Paint column reports a wave of gallery closures and rumors in New York's art scene. Blum and Venus Over Manhattan have recently shut down, while Clearing's Bowery space temporarily became a Tank Air clothing pop-up, not a permanent closure. Micki Meng sent a cryptic 'I'm quitting' email but clarified it was a reference to Marcel Duchamp, not a business closure. Jack Barrett Gallery is relocating, not closing, and Tramps has closed its Washington Square Park location while planning a new Paris outpost. Jack Hanley, who closed his gallery in January, is now painting in the Hamptons.

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Art Collaboration Kyoto announced 72 exhibitors for its fifth edition, with 25 first-time participants. Patti Wong, former Sotheby's executive, launched New Perspectives Art Partners with Ed Dolman, Brett Gorvy, and others. Art Fair Tokyo's 20th edition saw sales of ¥2.86 billion, down 10% from last year. Lisa Horikawa and Mizuki Takahashi were appointed co-curators of Japan's pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The Sharjah Art Foundation named Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento curators of the 17th Sharjah Biennial. YDP, a new non-profit space in London, will open with a solo show by Duan Jianyu. At Sotheby's London, Yu Nishimura's painting sold for £292,100. Hong Kong collector Adrian Cheng resigned from New World Development's board.

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Artnet News spoke to seven leading curators about how they identify emerging artists who will become the next big names. The curators, including Amy Smith-Stewart of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and iLiana Fokianaki of Kunsthalle Bern, describe their methods: seeking artists who address erased histories, geopolitical contexts, and marginalized perspectives. The article also references a recent debate sparked by Dean Kissick's polemic 'The Painted Protest' in Harper's, which criticized contemporary art for being overly dictated by identity politics, a view countered by curators who affirm their commitment to socially engaged work.

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Artnet News' Wet Paint column reports on two summer art parties. The White Columns benefit auction in New York raised $350,000, with works donated by 60 commercial galleries. Highlights included a KAWS 'Companion' piece selling for $16,500 and a Florian Krewer painting for $14,000, auctioned by director Matthew Higgs. Separately, London gallerist Sadie Coles has vacated her 1 Davies Street space after a decade and will open a new 6,000-square-foot location at 17 Savile Row, a historic townhouse that once housed the Burlington Fine Arts Club.

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SuperRare, the digital art trading platform, is opening a permanent New York gallery called Offline in the East Village at 243 Bowery, the former home of Salon 94. The inaugural exhibition, “Mythologies for a Spiritually Void Time,” curated by X.S. Hou and Jack Wedge, opens July 8 and features 15 artists working across animation, painting, sculpture, and networked media. The launch includes a week-long festival with dance performances, panels on art and A.I., and a choreographed NFT auction ritual.

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Artnet News published its quarterly museum artist ranking for June 2025, analyzing temporary exhibitions at over 250 U.S. museums to identify which living artists received the most institutional attention. The list includes over 4,500 names, with Indigenous contemporary artists dominating the top ranks: Cara Romero and Sky Hopinka remain highly visible, joined by Jeffrey Gibson and Andrea Carlson. Cindy Sherman appears in at least 10 group shows nationwide, while Alex Katz continues as a rare painter favored by museums at age 97. The ranking prioritizes career retrospectives, dedicated exhibitions, and special commissions over group show appearances.

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Artnet News published its quarterly analysis of the most exhibited living artists at over 250 U.S. museums in March 2025, identifying more than 3,700 artists. The top artist is photographer Cara Romero, who appears in multiple museum shows including a major retrospective at the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College. Three of the six most featured artists have Native American backgrounds, reflecting a surge in exhibitions celebrating Indigenous art. The list excludes the late Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a Native painter and curator who died in January 2025 at age 85 and would have ranked highly.

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Kenny Schachter recounts his fraught journey from Newark to London for his curated Paul Thek exhibition at Thomas Dane Gallery and the 56th edition of Art Basel in Switzerland, describing a near-crash landing and widespread anxiety among U.S. attendees about returning home amid FAA cutbacks and immigration fears. He highlights Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s presence at Jenkins Johnson as his Basel highlight, dismisses panic over a single unsold Giacometti as overblown, and critiques art journalists for lacking real market experience, while sharing conversations with collectors Mera Rubell and Dakis Joannou.

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Rosemarie Beck, a once-promising abstract painter celebrated in the 1940s and 1950s by the Whitney Museum and mentored by Robert Motherwell, abandoned abstraction in 1958 to pursue figuration. Despite early success and shows at prestigious venues like the Stable Gallery, her shift to mythological and literary themes caused her to fade from art historical memory. A new exhibition, "Rosemarie Beck: Earthly Paradise," at Van Doren Waxter in New York, showcases over 25 figurative works from 1959 to 2000, marking a major reappraisal of her career.

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Maurice Mielcarek, a 43-year-old Zurich-based collector, exemplifies a new generation of younger art buyers who prioritize lasting engagement over speculation. At Zurich Art Weekend, he introduced friends to New York artist Travis Boyer, whose velvet paintings Mielcarek has collected for two years. This cohort, mostly in their 30s and 40s, takes a slower, research-driven approach to collecting, often building relationships with artists and galleries before purchasing. They focus on discovery, conceptual works, and supporting artists' visions beyond mere acquisition.

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This week's art industry roundup covers major developments across art fairs, auction houses, and galleries. Ahead of Art Basel in Basel, Artnet's Editor-in-Chief Naomi Rea investigates how the trade lost control of the pricing narrative amid a market breakdown. The Armory Show announces its 2025 edition with over 230 galleries and new curated sections, while Frieze will open a gallery space in Seoul. Sotheby's London will auction Pauline Karpidas's collection estimated at over $81 million, and a rare Rodin marble sold for $1.2 million. Caroline Lang steps down as chair of Sotheby's in Switzerland after four decades. Gallerist Kamel Mennour donates 180 works to Paris's Musée d'Art Moderne, and Marian Goodman Gallery now represents the estate of Ana Mendieta.

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Art Busan wrapped its 14th edition on a high note, with over 100 galleries participating and a special exhibition titled “CONNECT” curated by Wonseok Koh under the theme Territories and Boundaries. The fair, part of Busan Art Week, saw strong engagement from international galleries such as Société (Berlin) and Canada (New York), with directors noting maturing visitors and serious local collectors. A new partnership with Tokyo Gendai will bring 10 Korean galleries to Japan this September, and the fair debuted a Future Art Award for emerging galleries.

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The article profiles Bona de Mandiargues, an overlooked Italian Surrealist artist whose work is finally gaining international recognition. Her major debut occurred at the 2024 Venice Biennale, and her first U.K. solo show is now on view at Alison Jacques gallery in London through June 28. The exhibition focuses on her mature period (1975–1995), featuring dark, erotic, and occult-inspired collages and assemblages that challenge gender norms.

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This week's art industry roundup covers major auction results, including Sotheby's $51.8 million sale of the Saunders Old Masters collection (a record for a single-owner sale in that category) and the $12.5 million sale of the Lalanne's 'Ostrich Bar' in Paris. The Breuer Building, purchased by Sotheby's in 2023, has been landmarked by New York City, preserving its interior during renovation by Herzog & de Meuron. Art Basel announced a new fair in Doha, Qatar, launching next February with 50 exhibitors, while Untitled Art revealed 84 exhibitors for its first Houston edition. In gallery news, Yan Du will open YDP in London, Annely Juda Fine Art is moving, and Jean-Paul Engelen joins Acquavella Galleries. Gladstone Gallery hired Julian Ehrlich from Christie's. Saudi Arabia opens its first specialized art storage facility in Jeddah. Creative Australia chair Robert Morgan retires amid controversy over the Venice Biennale team appointment, and Monash University reversed a decision to cancel an exhibition.

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The article reviews the Independent art fair, highlighting its curated approach that results in a visually cohesive and easeful experience compared to other fairs. It notes the prevalence of neo-bucolic landscapes and animal paintings by artists like Sameen Agha, Tim Braden, and Lisa Sanditz, as well as delicate abstractions and small ceramic works. Standout pieces include Pope.L's provocative paint-scribbled underwear at Mitchell-Innes and Nash, Rosa Barba's kinetic painting at Vistamare, Ibrahim El-Salahi's silkscreen painting at Vigo Gallery, and works by emerging artists such as Constanza Camila Kramer Garfias and Ada Friedman at Kendra Jayne Patrick Gallery.

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President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and arts organizations across the U.S. are already feeling the impact. After a White House budget request in May that excluded the NEA, dozens of institutions received abrupt termination notices for their grant applications, with the NEA citing a shift in policy priorities to focus on projects reflecting the nation's artistic heritage as prioritized by the President. In protest, many senior NEA staff resigned or were asked to retire, leaving the agency in disarray. The cuts are part of broader federal efforts to defund cultural agencies, including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which has seen a 70-80 percent staff reduction and canceled over a thousand grants. Private foundations like the Mellon Foundation and the Helen Frankenthaler and Andy Warhol Foundations have launched emergency funding programs, but the consequences for artists, educators, and community organizations are immediate and destabilizing.

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The article examines the resurgence of ceramics as a fine art medium, tracing its history from ancient Chinese and Greek pottery to the record-breaking $36 million sale of a Ming Dynasty chicken cup in 2014. It highlights influential figures like Peter Voulkos, who established ceramics departments at major institutions, and artists such as Ken Price, Ron Nagle, and Betty Woodman. Recent major museum exhibitions—including 'Strange Clay' at London’s Hayward Gallery, 'Funk You Too!' at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, and 'Ceramics in the Expanded Field' at MASS MoCA—showcase a new generation of artists pushing the medium beyond traditional craft.

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Gallery Weekend Berlin took place during the city's spring bloom, featuring exhibitions like Alvaro Urbano's melancholic installation "September and Lions" at ChertLüdde and Pamela Rosenkranz's flesh-toned water bottles at KaDeWe. The event kicked off on May Day and included expanded public tours, artist talks at the Neue Nationalgalerie, and a 24-hour window project. Notable attendees included collector Frédéric de Goldschmidt and celebrity Usher, who collected art. The weekend was marked by a mood of resilience despite political turmoil.

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Sotheby's New York held a single-owner auction titled "175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundation" on December 11 and 12, achieving a world record for a photography auction. The sale grossed $21,325,063, surpassing its presale estimate of $13–20 million and beating the previous record of $15 million set by a Sotheby's sale in 2006. The collection came from the late American financier Howard Stein, who founded the Joy of Giving Something Foundation in 1999. The auction had a strong sell-through rate of 90.3 percent by lot and 94.9 percent by value, with top lots including Alvin Langdon Coburn's "Shadows and Reflections, Venice" (1905) at $965,000 and August Sander's "Handlanger" at $749,000. Several female photographers set new records, including Tina Modotti, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Lee Miller.

Isaac Julien review – Gwendoline Christie meets a cyborg starfish in a pleasure-seeker’s postmodern parlour

A new film by artist Isaac Julien, featuring actors Sheila Atim and Gwendoline Christie as science-fiction deities, is on view at the Cosmic House in London. The 25-minute work, which incorporates themes from Octavia E. Butler's novel *Parable of the Sower*, explores concepts of change, interconnectedness, and fluid identity through a visually rich, postmodern lens.

2026 Venice Biennale pavilions: your go-to list [Updated]

ArtReview has compiled a running list of national pavilions for the 61st Venice Biennale, running from 9 May to 22 November 2026. The Biennale was set to be curated by Koyo Kouoh, who died on 10 May 2025. Recent announcements include Haitham Al Busafi representing Oman, Genti Korini representing Albania with a three-channel video installation titled 'A Place in The Sun (still)', and Matías Duville representing Argentina with an interactive salt-and-charcoal installation. The Australia Pavilion will feature artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, who were initially dropped due to controversy over Sabsabi's 2007 film 'You' but later reinstated. Florentina Holzinger will represent Austria with a water-themed performance.

Appropriation Culture: Richard Prince and Arthur Jafa

An upcoming exhibition at ArtReview pairs artists Richard Prince and Arthur Jafa to explore the ethics and aesthetics of image appropriation. Jafa's work, such as the video "Love is the Message, The Message is Death" (2016), uses found footage of police violence and Black cultural icons, while Prince's "Girlfriends" series rephotographs amateur snapshots from biker magazines. Jafa has cited Prince as a key influence on his own practice of transposing images across contexts.

A Launchpad for the Future

"Eine Startrampe für die Zukunft"

The article is a media roundup covering several stories from the art world. It includes an interview with Jeff Koons discussing his artistic process and philosophy, a portrait of artist Jorinde Voigt, a report on the robust Art Düsseldorf fair, a news piece about two valuable Gerhard Richter paintings on loan to a museum, and a review of the new LACMA building's non-linear curatorial approach.