Collaborations: Robert Rauschenberg, Laurie Anderson, Trisha Brown, and Merce Cunningham at BAM

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The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is hosting "Dancing with Bob," an international tour celebrating the centennial of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth. The program features restagings of seminal avant-garde dance collaborations, most notably the 1983 masterpiece "Set and Reset," which combined the choreography of Trisha Brown, the music of Laurie Anderson, and the visual design of Rauschenberg. The tour also includes a rare professional restaging of the 1977 piece "Travelogue," a collaboration between Rauschenberg and Merce Cunningham.

Slags, bings and pipelines: Edinburgh landscape offers fitting backdrop for exhibition on fossil fuel extraction

Jupiter Artland, a sculpture park and gallery near Edinburgh, Scotland, is hosting the exhibition "Extraction" (through July 26), which examines the impact of fossil fuel extraction on landscapes and culture. Set against a backdrop of historic shale oil bings, North Sea oil pipelines, and modern wind farms, the show features five artists who explore energy histories through nuanced, non-polemical lenses. Glasgow-born painter Siobhan McLaughlin uses earth pigments gathered from the nearby Five Sisters Bing to create works like "Date of Exhaustion" (2025) and "Pioneer Species" (2025), turning mining waste into art that reflects on memory, ecology, and regeneration.

kevin mcgarry reviews jason faragos even 300996

Jason Farago, a Guardian contributor, launched a new print journal called *Even* during Frieze New York. Named after a phrase from Marcel Duchamp's *The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even*, the magazine is designed as a compact, text-focused publication that aims to counter the market-driven and superficial aspects of the contemporary art world. The first issue features a lengthy essay on artist Joan Jonas by Elisabeth Lebovici, timed with Jonas's U.S. pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, and a piece by Zachary Woolfe on the Björk exhibition at MoMA.

Does the Neue Nationalgalerie Have Feelings?

Hat die Neue Nationalgalerie Gefühle?

The Kunsthalle Bremen has opened "Remix. Photographie – Fiktion und Wahrheit," an exhibition drawn from its permanent collection that explores the tension between reality and artifice in photography. The show traces a lineage from Heinrich Zille’s unvarnished turn-of-the-century street scenes to the objective industrial typologies of Bernd and Hilla Becher, eventually moving into the postmodern manipulations of the Düsseldorf School, including works by Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth.

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Shanghai's West Bund Art & Design fair and Art021 opened last week with unexpectedly strong sales, despite economic headwinds and regional competition. Many galleries reported brisk first-day sales, with Thaddaeus Ropac placing five works including a Martha Jungwirth painting for €500,000, and Hauser & Worth selling two works for over $1 million. However, major blue-chip galleries like Gagosian and Pace opted out entirely, while others like Almine Rech, White Cube, and David Zwirner scaled back their participation. The fairs took place against a backdrop of China's ongoing property slump and the overlapping Art Collaboration Kyoto, which siphoned attention from international collectors.

shanghai art021 west bund art recap 1234762135

Shanghai's West Bund Art & Design fair and Art021 opened last week with unexpectedly strong sales, defying economic caution and regional competition. Many galleries reported brisk first-day sales, including Thaddaeus Ropac placing five works, Hauser & Wirth selling pieces by Avery Singer and Nicolas Party, and White Cube moving sculptures by Antony Gormley. However, major blue-chip galleries like Gagosian and Pace opted out entirely, while others like Almine Rech, White Cube, and David Zwirner scaled back their participation. The fairs took place against a backdrop of China's ongoing property slump and overlapping with Art Collaboration Kyoto, which siphoned international attention.

Dealer David Schrader’s Case for a More Fluid Art Market: ‘Volume Begets Volume’

Art dealer David Schrader is launching a new secondary-market gallery in New York with partners Marc Glimcher and Emmanuel Di Donna. He argues the current market stabilization and renewed optimism, especially in the secondary sector, provide a favorable backdrop for their streamlined, focused venture that aims to avoid the overhead of historic gallery models.

Why Filmmaker Ming Wong Is the Ultimate Shape-Shifter

Berlin-based Singaporean artist Ming Wong premiered a new film, *Dance of the Sun on the Water | Saltatio Solis in Aqua*, at London's National Gallery. The work, created during a residency, reimagines Saint Sebastian as a queer, shape-shifting figure, with Asian performers of multiple genders enacting the martyrdom amidst the museum's collection of historical paintings of the saint.

Sotheby’s Opens the London Spring Marquee Sales With a £131M White-Glove Night

Sotheby’s London kicked off the spring auction season with a "white-glove" Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale, totaling £131 million ($176 million). Despite significant geopolitical instability and market anxiety following recent escalations in the Middle East, the auction achieved a 100 percent sell-through rate across 54 lots. Key highlights included works by Andy Warhol, a Claude Monet landscape once owned by John Singer Sargent, and a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that sold for £3.7 million after a mid-sale renegotiation.

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The Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid is seeking an investigation after security officers removed three visitors displaying Stars of David and an Israeli flag from the museum. Video of the incident, published by a conservative Spanish outlet, went viral, showing officers stating other visitors were "bothered" by the symbols. The museum has stated it is investigating the actions of its security team.

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Kelly Reichardt's new film *The Mastermind*, starring Josh O'Connor, centers on a bumbling art heist at the fictional Framingham Museum of Art, where thieves steal paintings by American modernist Arthur Dove. Set in the early 1970s against the backdrop of Vietnam War protests, the film is deliberately slow-paced, drawing criticism from some early viewers who called it boring. Reichardt based the story on a real 1972 theft at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, where robbers took four paintings by Rembrandt, Picasso, and Gauguin, worth about $7.72 million today. Two high school girls accidentally witnessed the heist, and a guard was shot, though all paintings were recovered within weeks.

How Caravaggio’s Dark Masterpieces Mirror the Crimes in Netflix’s Ripley

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The Netflix series Ripley, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, utilizes the works of Caravaggio as a central narrative and aesthetic device. The show follows Tom Ripley, a grifter who travels to Italy and eventually adopts the identity of a wealthy acquaintance after committing murder. Throughout the series, Ripley encounters several of Caravaggio's masterpieces, including The Seven Acts of Mercy and David with the Head of Goliath, which serve as dark mirrors to his own descent into violence.

kenny schachter 2026 predictions van gogh private sale 2734822

Kenny Schachter offers his predictions for the art world in 2026, set against a backdrop of political chaos and rapid AI development. He forecasts only a marginal uptick in global art sales, which he estimates will exceed $57.5 billion, and warns that luxury goods—bags, watches, fossils—are increasingly encroaching on art fairs, auctions, and exhibitions. Schachter criticizes Sotheby's for blurring the lines between auction house, museum, and gallery, citing its traveling "Icon" show as a spectacle of price tags rather than art scholarship.

K-POP, FUNGI, AND TERRACE RAVES: Art Basel Hong Kong 2026

Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 commenced against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty and geopolitical tension, yet the city's local scene demonstrated remarkable resilience. The week was characterized by a surge of grassroots activity, including the debut of three alternative art fairs and the opening of several new gallery outposts. Key highlights included the launch of GOLD, a cross-disciplinary salon in Wong Chuk Hang, and the expansion of Shanghai’s Antenna Space into the city, signaling a shift toward more flexible, community-oriented art spaces.

Director of Contemporary Istanbul urges Turkish art to remain ‘radical and clever’ in face of political tension

Contemporary Istanbul (CI) opened its 20th anniversary edition at the Tersane Istanbul complex, a restored Ottoman shipyard, bringing together 51 galleries from 16 countries. The fair coincided with the Istanbul Biennial, drawing a larger crowd of collectors and museum groups than the previous year. Works by leading Turkish artists such as Nil Yalter, Güneş Terkol, and Azade Köker were on view, with prices ranging from €1,000 for emerging artists to over €2m for a James Rosenquist painting. Despite high spirits, the fair unfolded against a backdrop of political tension following the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, ongoing protests, and increasing censorship. Galleries displayed politically and socially engaged works, including Rasim Aksan's homoerotic triptych and Fatoş İrwen's prison-made fabric piece, while collectors sought discounts amid Turkey's high inflation and economic volatility.

Director of Contemporary Istanbul urges Turkish art to remain ‘radical and clever’ in face of political tension

Contemporary Istanbul (CI) opened its 20th anniversary edition at the Tersane Istanbul complex, a restored Ottoman shipyard, bringing together 51 galleries from 16 countries. The fair coincided with the Istanbul Biennial, drawing a larger crowd of collectors and museum groups than the previous year. Works by leading Turkish artists such as Nil Yalter, Güneş Terkol, and Azade Köker were on view, with prices ranging from €1,000 for emerging artists to over €2m for a James Rosenquist painting. Despite high spirits, the event unfolded against a backdrop of political tension following the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and ongoing protests.

Bicoastal Art World Satire ‘Kill Dick’ Imagines Sackler Revenge

Luke Goebel's new novel 'Kill Dick' is a satirical, chaotic takedown of the contemporary art world and its entanglement with the Sackler family, fictionalized here as the Sicklers. The book follows protagonist Susie, the daughter of the Sickler family lawyer, as she navigates addiction, familial disgust, and a numbed existence against the backdrop of 2016 America. Its prose is deliberately abrasive and shocking, mirroring the emotional state of its narrator.

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Guy Wildenstein has resigned as president of Wildenstein & Co., the prestigious art gallery founded by his family in 1875, after 35 years in the role. He is succeeded by his son David Wildenstein, who previously served as vice president overseeing investment and real estate, while his daughter Vanessa Wildenstein becomes vice president and director of the New York location. The announcement was made to the Art Newspaper, which first reported the news. Wildenstein, 80, was convicted of tax fraud in 2024 in a high-profile French case involving the concealment of masterworks to avoid inheritance taxes, receiving a four-year prison sentence with house arrest and a €1 million fine.

David Novros’s Portable Murals

David Novros’s latest exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery showcases his "portable murals," intricate multi-paneled paintings that challenge the traditional concept of art as a mere object on a wall. Utilizing oil and murano on canvas, Novros assembles monochromatic, L-shaped, and horizontal panels with precise intervals that incorporate the gallery wall into the composition. These works are designed to be experienced kinesthetically, responding to shifting natural light and the viewer's physical movement through the space.

This California Art Show From Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys Pairs Major Artists With a Stunning Pacific Backdrop

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is hosting "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys," an exhibition featuring over 130 works by 37 Black American and diasporic artists. The show, which began at the Brooklyn Museum in 2024, includes pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gordon Parks, Mickalene Thomas, and Derrick Adams, and was celebrated with a preview party attended by the collectors and their creative community.

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.

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.

In “Discipline,” Larissa Pham Explores Predatory Art-World Mentorship

Larissa Pham’s debut novel, Discipline, follows Christina, a young writer and former painter grappling with the psychological aftermath of a formative affair with her art professor, Richard. Set against the backdrop of a book tour for her own autofictional novel, the narrative uses Christina’s observations of art—ranging from Helen Frankenthaler to Edward Hopper—to slowly peel back the layers of a relationship defined by power imbalances and predatory mentorship.

Dalí Museum Acquires Dalí’s Largest Work: A Monumental Surrealist Ballet Set

The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, has acquired Salvador Dalí's largest known work, the monumental 1939 ballet set 'Décor de théâtre pour Bacchanale,' for €254,400 at a Bonhams auction. The work, over 20 meters high and 30 meters wide, consists of thirteen panels painted by Dalí as a backdrop for the Surrealist ballet 'Bacchanale' choreographed by Léonide Massine for the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo.

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The Newark Museum of Art in New Jersey has appointed Lisa Funderburke as its new director and CEO, effective February 1. She succeeds Linda C. Harrison, who left the position seven months ago. Funderburke joins from the Artist Communities Alliance, a much smaller nonprofit focused on supporting artists and residencies.

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Jonathan Carver Moore, founder of an eponymous gallery in San Francisco, is presenting a solo booth of new paintings by Cameroonian-born artist Sesse Elangwe at the FOG Design + Art Fair. The works, developed during a residency with the gallery, depict local Bay Area subjects against recognizable backdrops. Moore, who opened his gallery in 2023 after a career in nonprofit communications and criminal justice reform, emphasizes creating an inclusive, conversational atmosphere for art viewing and collecting.

New York’s Newest Triennial Lines Up 39 Artists for Star-Studded First Edition Along the Erie Canal

The Medina Triennial has announced the artist lineup for its inaugural edition, set to open on June 6 in the Western New York village of Medina. Curated by co-artistic directors Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo, the exhibition features 39 international and local artists, including Venice Biennale winner Lina Lapelytė, Taysir Batniji, and Tania Candiani. The event is centered around the Erie Canal and explores the theme "All That Sustains Us," focusing on ecology, sustainability, and community exchange.

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British artist Anish Kapoor's iconic sculpture *Cloud Gate* (2006), known as "the Bean," in Chicago's Millennium Park became the site of a controversial photo op on Monday, when dozens of U.S. Border Patrol agents, led by chief Gregory Bovino, gathered in front of the 110-ton piece just after dawn. The agents, armed and in fatigues, reportedly shouted "Little Village"—a predominantly Mexican American neighborhood where Border Patrol had deployed tear gas in a raid over the weekend—instead of "cheese" for the photo. Local officials, including Chicago governor J.B. Pritzker and alderman Mike Rodriguez, condemned the action, and Kapoor himself expressed horror, likening the agents to "SS Nazi troops" and calling the incident a "fascist battle cry of intimidation." Chicago artist Michael Rakowitz also denounced the shoot as a "horrible invasion and occupation."

Who owns the seas? Shahzia Sikander's new animation on world trade beamed onto M+ museum facade

Artist Shahzia Sikander's new animated film, '3 to 12 Nautical Miles,' is being projected onto the digital façade of the M+ museum in Hong Kong. The work uses the historical expansion of territorial waters from 3 to 12 nautical miles as a framework to explore themes of maritime sovereignty, surveillance, and the legacy of colonial trade.

Take a walk on the wild side with the Haas Brothers' fantastical new show

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York has opened "Uncanny Valley," a major exhibition dedicated to the Los Angeles-based duo Nikolai and Simon Haas. The show features 85 works spanning 15 years of their practice, showcasing their signature blend of art, furniture, and craft through zoomorphic sculptures and kooky forms. Organized in collaboration with the Cranbrook Art Museum, the exhibition places these physical objects against surreal, algorithmically-generated backdrops that explore the intersection of human craftsmanship and digital technology.