The article surveys the visual art landscape of 2025, arguing that the year's defining throughline is the increasing centrality of artificial intelligence—a technological revolution most people didn't ask for but cannot escape. It highlights several exhibitions and works that engage with AI in different ways: Seth Price's show at Isabella Bortolozzi in Berlin, which uses generative images from the pandemic era overlaid with gestural paint strokes; Charmaine Poh's video "GOOD MORNING YOUNG BODY" (2023) at Palais Populaire, where she deploys deepfake technology to have her twelve-year-old self speak back to internet trolls; and Philippe Parreno's show at Haus der Kunst, which poeticizes how generative technologies interact with humans and nature. The article also notes the rise of AI-generated "slop" online and its incursion into the physical art world, as well as market shifts where larger galleries are increasingly acquiring Instagram-friendly emerging artists directly.
This matters because it captures a pivotal moment when AI is no longer a niche or futuristic concern for the art world but a pervasive force reshaping both artistic practice and the market. Artists are responding across a spectrum—from scathing critique to opportunistic embrace—and their works are forcing viewers to confront questions about creativity, authenticity, and human agency in an age of generative tools. The article also signals structural changes in the art market, where big galleries are bypassing mid-level dealers to chase youth appeal, reflecting how capitalism and technology are converging to redefine how art is made, shown, and sold.