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A nationwide general strike, called for Friday, January 30, 2026, in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis, has prompted numerous art galleries and organizations to close their doors. Major commercial galleries like Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace Gallery, alongside institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and the Drawing Center, are participating in the shutdown.

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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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Choke Hole, a drag wrestling show, issued an apology on Friday for a controversial ICE-themed segment performed at Pioneer Works, a Brooklyn art center. The event, titled ARMAGEDDON, was held in conjunction with a show by artist Raúl de Nieves and featured a character named Visqueen, a sex robot, who announced that an ICE agent was present to deport an alien queen. Wrestler Candy Pain fought the fictional agent and won, but the performance angered spectators, including trans activist Chiquitita, who confronted the cast and criticized the trivialization of real ICE violence. Choke Hole acknowledged the harm, donated over $3,000 to NYC ICE Watch, and urged followers to contribute.

Minneapolis Artists Respond to ICE, DHS After Killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti

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Federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE under Operation Metro Surge, have resulted in the deaths of two American citizens, poet Renee Good and nurse Alex Pretti, near major art institutions. The violence and subsequent shelter-in-place orders have directly impacted the local arts community, forcing school closures, remote learning, and causing widespread fear.

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The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) announced it would remain closed on Sunday for safety reasons after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, during an ICE operation in Minneapolis on Saturday. The shooting occurred just blocks from the museum, and MIA had already closed early on Saturday following the news. The closure was part of a broader Day of Truth and Freedom protest against ICE operations in Minnesota, and the NBA also postponed a Timberwolves game in response to the incident.

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The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art closed on January 20, 2026, in protest of escalating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the Twin Cities. The closures follow the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, which sparked nationwide outrage. The museums canceled scheduled events, including a performance by Nile Harris, and joined a broader one-day economic blackout called "A Day of Truth and Freedom" organized by Minnesota union leaders and community groups. Other cultural institutions participating include the Bakken Museum, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Weisman Art Center, and the Museum of Russian Art.

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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."

World Press Photo 2026 winners – in pictures

The World Press Photo 2026 winners have been announced, with Carol Guzy awarded the top honor for her image of distraught girls clinging to their father as ICE agents detain him after an immigration hearing in New York City. Finalists include Saber Nuraldin’s photograph of Palestinians scrambling for aid in Gaza, Victor J Blue’s image of Achi women outside a Guatemala City court, and other powerful works documenting climate displacement in Mexico, a wedding during a typhoon in the Philippines, police detaining a priest at a pensioners’ protest in Argentina, and a social robot in Europe.

Comment | What is the role of art museums in times of civic stress?

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is navigating the civic distress caused by 'Operation Metro Surge,' a federal immigration enforcement initiative that has disrupted the lives of local artists, staff, and residents. In response to the atmosphere of fear and the shift to virtual schooling, the museum has positioned itself as a sanctuary, offering art-making kits, indigenous-led workshops, and public screenings to foster community resilience.

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Performance artist Maria De Victoria spent Tuesday chanting the last words of Renee Nicole Good—a poet and mother killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis—outside the ICE field office in New York City's Jacob K. Javits Federal Building. Dressed in a coat bearing Good's phrase "I'm not mad at you, dude," De Victoria performed the endurance piece from sunrise to sunset as an act of dissent against federal immigration crackdowns. The work concluded with a silent vigil, and De Victoria, an immigrant from Peru represented by Desnivel Gallery, has a history of politically charged endurance performances.

Image of Family Torn by ICE Wins World Press Photo of the Year

American photojournalist Carol Guzy won the 2026 World Press Photo of the Year for her image "Separated by ICE," which captures a tearful family torn apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after an immigration court hearing in New York amid President Trump's broader crackdown. The contest, established in 1955, selected 42 global winners from over 57,000 photographs submitted by nearly 3,800 photographers across 141 countries. Finalists included Saber Nuraldin's "Aid Emergency in Gaza" and Victor J. Blue's "The Trials of the Achi Women," while other winners addressed displacement, war, and environmental crises.

Required Reading

This week's Required Reading from Hyperallergic features a photo by Saber Nuraldin, a finalist for the World Press Photo of the Year, depicting Palestinians climbing an aid truck in Gaza during famine caused by Israel's blockade. The article also includes Elena Megalos's essay on the American Museum of Natural History as a site of motherhood, and reports on Meenu Batra, a legal interpreter arrested by ICE, and the New York Times blocking the Internet Archive from crawling its site.

East Dallas art exhibition is a celebration of Chicano identity and community

An exhibition titled “Chicano” at Art on Main gallery in East Dallas showcases the work of over 50 North Texas artists, featuring paintings, digital photography, and mixed media that explore Chicano identity, childhood memories, lowrider culture, immigration enforcement, and Indigenous heritage. Co-curated by artists Ariel Esquivel and Junanne Peck, the show includes pieces such as Chelsea Reyes' digital photograph “Movimiento y Orgullo,” Cease Martinez's painting “Cultura,” and Hermila Cuevas' oil on canvas “Chicomecōātl: Giver of Harvest.” The gallery owner Andrea Lamarsaude, who previously collaborated with the curators on the exhibition “Shelter,” notes the community's positive response.

Artists protest Alligator Alcatraz at Scope Art Show

At the Scope Art Show in Miami, Amnesty International has presented an installation titled "Cruelty Is Their Point—But Another World is Possible" featuring works by artists Agua Dulce Gloriosa and Clarence James. The project protests the notorious migrant-detention facility in the Everglades nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz, which opened in July 2025 and is operated by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management in partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security. The installation includes an altar-like piece by Dulce Gloriosa and a collage by James, and invites fairgoers to sign a petition demanding the facility's closure.

Faculty, students oppose censorship of artist at University of North Texas

In February 2025, the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton abruptly canceled a solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist Victor “MARKA27” Quiñonez just nine days after its opening. The show, titled “Ni de Aqui, Ni de Allá,” was displayed at the College of Visual Art & Design (CVAD) Gallery and featured works from Quiñonez’s I.C.E. Scream series, including large-scale paleta sculptures embedded with handcuffs and firearms, and a cart bearing the phrase “U.S. Department of Stolen Land Security.” The exhibition was closed without notice, its street-facing windows covered with brown paper, and UNT terminated its loan agreement with Boston University Art Galleries, which had originally hosted the show in September 2025. Faculty and students responded with an open letter to UNT President Harrison Keller, condemning the censorship and demanding transparency.

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Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrived at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (NMPRAC) in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood on Tuesday, with between 15 and 20 DHS vehicles appearing without notice or a warrant. Museum staff reported that officers claimed to be assessing entry and exit points for undocumented immigrants at upcoming events. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the account, stating the visit was a briefing for a narcotics investigation, but security camera footage shows officers inside the museum, contradicting her statement. Local aldermen and museum leadership condemned the action as intimidation, with the museum vowing to resist and continue its community programming.

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Agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrived at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture in Chicago on Tuesday, with at least 15 DHS vehicles occupying the museum's parking lot for nearly two hours. Museum staff reported that an agent entered the building under the pretense of using the bathroom but instead looked around and refused to leave when asked. Museum president Billy Ocasio described the incident as intimidating, comparing it to "Gestapo-style" tactics, and staff expressed fear. DHS later denied targeting the museum, stating the vehicles were staging for a narcotics investigation, but museum officials and local Representative Delia Ramirez criticized the lack of identification and the intimidating show of force.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a painting by the late artist Thomas Kinkade titled *Morning Pledge* on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and X, with the caption “Protect the Homeland.” The painting depicts an idealized American small town with midcentury cars, a schoolhouse, and an American flag. Kinkade, known for mass-producing sentimental, conservative scenes and dubbed the “painter of light,” was widely dismissed by the mainstream art world as kitschy. The DHS post coincided with the opening of a new ICE detention center in the Florida Everglades, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” built to imprison immigrant detainees, and with the passage of a controversial bill expanding ICE funding while cutting healthcare and food benefits.

At ELAC’s Vincent Price Art Museum, an exhibition pays tribute to 30 years of Latina lesbian activism

East Los Angeles College’s Vincent Price Art Museum is hosting an exhibition through August that spans three decades of Latina lesbian activism in Los Angeles, from the 1980s to the late 2000s. The show features photos, posters, letters, and ephemera highlighting the fight against anti-gay hate crimes, alongside struggles for LGBTQ+ healthcare, affordable housing, fair wages for janitors, and immigrants’ rights. Co-curated by Jocelyne Sanchez and Vanessa Esperanza Quintero, the exhibition is a collaboration with UCLA’s Latina Futures 2050 Lab and pays tribute to activists including the late archivist Yolanda Retter Vargas.

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Barbara Kruger's monumental text-based mural "Untitled (Questions)" (1990/2018) at the Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles has become a backdrop for National Guard deployments during protests against ICE raids. Originally commissioned by MOCA in 1989, the 191-foot-long work asks "WHO IS BEYOND THE LAW?" and has been photographed twice with armed soldiers beneath it—first in 1992 during the Rodney King protests, and again this week as President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to quell demonstrations against immigration enforcement. Photographer Jay L. Clendenin captured the latest image, showing a calm scene that belies nearby unrest.