MoMA to present major survey of post-colonial African art in 2027. https://ift.tt/gB12z3F

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present “Freedom and Futures: Emancipatory Art in Africa, 1956–1982,” an exhibition tracing the history of modern art during Africa’s independence era, on view May 2–August 14, 2027. The show brings together roughly 250 objects from collections around the world, including some 40 works from MoMA’s own holdings. The show is organized by curator Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi with former curatorial associate Erica DiBenedetto.

The exhibition proposes “emancipatory art” as a framework for understanding how artists across the continent gave aesthetic form to decolonization. The show describes these works as a form of “emancipatory modernism.” It is organized around two foundational Pan-African gatherings held in Europe— the First Congress of Black Writers and Artists (Paris, 1956) and the Second Congress of Black Writers and Artists (Rome, 1959). These seminal gatherings were followed by five subsequent festivals held in Zimbabwe, Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria, and Botswana between 1962 and 1982. Works from each of these festivals will appear sequentially across six thematic sections spanning painting, sculpture, photography, film, tapestry, and printmaking.

Highlights from the show include the Algerian artist Mohammed Khadda’s Africa Before One (1963), which draws on Tassili cave petroglyphs and Amazigh and Arabic scripts; Nigerian artist Uche Okeke’s Women Riot (1965), depicting the 1929 women’s tax revolt in eastern Nigeria; Mozambican artist Valente Malangatana’s surrealist Cry of Freedom (1973), made during the final years of Portuguese colonial rule; and Senegalese artist Iba N'Diaye’s Juan de Pareja Menaced by Dogs (1982), which reworks a 1650 Diego Velázquez’ portrait into a statement on neocolonialism.

Ahead of the exhibition, MoMA made several significant acquisitions, including works by Khadda, Malangatana, Okeke, Mahjoub Ben Bella, Gavin Jantjes, Gazbia Sirry, and Ibrahim El Salahi. Nzewi sees these acquisitions in the lineage of the museum’s founding director Alfred H. Barr Jr.'s 1960 acquisition of Tanzanian artist Sam Joseph Ntiro's painting Men Taking Banana Beer to Bride by Night (1956), one of the first acquisitions of a modern work by an African-born artist by a major Western institution, made the same year 17 African nations gained independence.

“Freedom and Futures” caps a three-part series on mid-century Africa at MoMA, growing out of the museum’s Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives (C-MAP) Africa research group, which Nzewi leads. It follows “Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political” (on view December 2025–July 2026), which examined Pan-African photographic portraiture drawn largely from collector Jean Pigozzi’s 2019 gift to the museum, and “Architects of Liberation.” Modernism in Western”(on view July 2026–January 2027), which surveyed independence-era architecture across seven West African nations.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/yKgJtZq

An Art Lover’s Guide to Seoul https://ift.tt/r9PQIij

Ask any Seoullite, and they’ll tell you the city is unrecognizable from five years ago. South Korea’s cultural and creative output—music, film, TV, art—has moved from regional strength to global fixture, and Seoul’s art scene has moved with it.

The 2022 arrival of Frieze Seoul catalyzed a wave of overseas galleries opening branches in the city, and the influx has drawn foreign collectors deeper into the local scene and toward younger Korean artists working across a widening range of disciplines and media.

“For collectors, some of the deepest rewards lie here: not only in recognizing what has already been established, but in encountering a practice before it settles into consensus,” says Hyeyoung Cho, curator of Frieze Seoul’s new Material Practices section.

The Dansaekhwa and Mono-ha masters of the 20th century still anchor the historical picture, but for the first time, the story of Korean contemporary art is being written in real time, in Seoul, and for a global audience that’s paying attention.

The key neighborhoods for art lovers in Seoul

Seoul’s art scene sprawls from Jongno at the historic center, with distinct clusters in Samcheong and Seongbuk to the north, Hannam to the south along the Han River, and pockets pushing outward into Mapo.

Samcheong

On the right side of Gyeongbokgung—the royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty—Samcheong’s streets are lined with hanok-style walls and kiwa roofs. Fashion designer Jaden Cho, who works in the area, says the walk from Seochon through Gyeongbokgung to Samcheong represents “Seoul’s past and present.” That’s true of its art scene too: Veteran galleries have shaped the Korean canon here since the 1970s and ’80s.

• Hakgojae, Kukje Gallery, and Gallery Hyundai—the neighborhood’s mainstays—helped make the likes of Lee Jung Seob, Nam June Paik, Lee Ufan, Kim Whanki, and Ha Chong-hyun the modern masters they are today. Other galleries in the area include PKM and Baik Art.
• WWNN, one of the most talked-about younger galleries, adds vibrancy to the mix.
• Art Sonje Center focuses on multimedia, performance, and installation work; its collection includes works by Lee Bul, Woo Hannah, and Koo Jeong A.
• Down toward the Cheonggye stream, Ilmin Museum of Art is led by innovative, interdisciplinary curatorial choices that rarely miss the cultural moment.

Seongbuk

With Bukhan and Bugak Mountains as its backdrop and several foreign embassies scattered around it, Seongbuk rose in the late 20th century as one of Seoul’s most affluent areas with grand detached houses on winding streets (remember that scene in Parasite?). Its quiet character and proximity to Daehakro, historically a theater and performance-arts hub, drew artists to live and work there.

• Wooson Gallery boasts an influential cluster of collectors from Daegu in the country’s southeast; local tastemaker Jason Haam sits nearby.
• A 10-minute taxi brings you to A-Lounge Contemporary, the Whanki Museum, and Primary Practice on the other side of the mountain.

Expect a mix of Korean and international contemporaries in impressive gallery spaces. The hills are steep, so taxis are essential once you’re up there.

Hannam

Beyond

If you want something rougher around the edges, head to Euljiro, the industrial high street (printing shops, steel merchants) where lower rents have made it a breeding ground for experimental galleries like N/A.

West of the city, the Mapo district contains hip pockets such as Mangwon, Sangsu, and Yeonhui. And in Gangnam, the city’s upscale district is home to galleries including White Cube, Perrotin, Opera Gallery, Tang Contemporary Art, Roy Gallery, and G Gallery.

The key museums and institutions to know in Seoul

Seoul’s institutional depth spans from Joseon-era Korean art to some of the most ambitious contemporary museum programming in East Asia.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (MMCA): The city’s flagship contemporary institution is in Samcheong. Its permanent collection features major Korean art from the 1960s to 2010s, while its exhibitions highlight cutting-edge Korean and international contemporary art.

Kansong Art Museum: South Korea’s first private museum was founded in Seongbuk in 1938. Kansong Chun Hyung-pil’s collection of Korean cultural heritage remains a rare window into the country's classical art history.

Other institutions worth checking out include:

• Park Seo-Bo Museum: Opening in late August in Yeonhui, this spot is dedicated to one of Korea’s most celebrated modern painters and a key figure of the Dansaekhwa movement.
• Arumjigi Foundation: The foundation’s Jongno space houses rotating exhibitions on Korea's traditional culture inside a modern building—with a hanok on the rooftop as a surprise. Open to the public for only a couple of months in fall, and per architectural designer Minsung Son, “one of the most magical experiences in Seoul—not to be missed.”
• National Folk Museum of Korea: On the grounds of Gyeongbokgung in Samcheong, the museum traces Korean folk life, traditional customs, and material culture, a rich counterpoint to the contemporary galleries surrounding it. Free admission.
• Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA): The city’s flagship public contemporary art museum, near Deoksugung Palace, with rotating exhibitions and a collection focused on Korean and international contemporary work.
• Amorepacific Museum of Art (APMA): The corporate museum inside David Chipperfield’s Amorepacific headquarters in Yongsan pairs Korean traditional art with contemporary programming, in a building that's a destination in its own right.
• Frieze House Seoul: The fair’s year-round Seoul outpost programmes exhibitions, talks, and dinners between the annual September edition. A useful drop-in for a read on what Frieze is looking at in Korea now.

And an off-the-radar pick: The late painter Kim Tschang-yeul’s former residence in Seongbuk opened this year as a public space—a rare chance to see where the artist lived and worked. Daeyang Gallery and House, a private gallery and residence designed by Steven Holl and Lee In Ho to look like it’s floating on water, occasionally opens to the public.

Where the art world in Seoul eats, drinks, and shops

Seoul’s food scene is one of the world’s best. Generations of discerning eaters, high-quality ingredients, and rapid trend cycles converge in the city’s bustling restaurants and cafés.

For dinner: For Korean barbecue honed to the finest, Gold Pig Restaurant is Frieze House Seoul director Andy St. Louis’s pick. Reservations are recommended, but walk-ins are not impossible. For Korean contemporary cuisine, MAPS Museum senior curator Seolhui Lee recommends Eatanic Garden, spearheaded by Son Jong-won of Culinary Class Wars fame.

If given the chance, try the Pyongyang-style cold noodles. The dish has somehow become the ultimate tastemaker marker among Seoul’s art world. For a vegan-friendly pick, creative producer and filmmaker Eugene Mayu Kim says URT in Hongdae is “always a winner.”

For drinks: Bars in Samcheong and Seochon will offer something quieter and more quaint. Gong-Gan, another Lee pick, is a strong cocktail bar for post-opening gatherings. Head south of the river, in Cheongdam district, opposite the Songeun Art and Cultural Foundation, to a refined wine bar, Les Copains, a “haven for discerning oenophiles and post-fair unwinding,” recommended by collector and attorney Jeongho Nam. If you’re open to making the evening a longer one, head to one of the many bars in Haebangchon and continue the night at a club or two in Itaewon. Artist and musician Yubin Choi says of Hertz in Itaewon, “crazy good to see the sunrise.”

For coffee: Cafés are their own genre in Seoul. Some attribute the proliferation to the city’s extreme weather. In Euljiro, Choi suggests NETZ kaffeehaus for meetings. MK2, meanwhile, in Seochon, is loved by nearby architects and design professionals.

For browsing: D&DEPARTMENT SEOUL by MMMG offers a snapshot of Korean contemporary craft and design. Minsung Son recommends Oval, “recommended to anyone very particular about their pens, pencils, and paperweights.”

For antique furniture, product designer Gyuhan Park points to Dapsimni Antique Market; for vintage jewelry and watches, Sewoon Square. Haggling is fair game at the traditional markets.

Where to stay: Lisa Shin suggests staying at Boan Stay, an accommodation service provided by the art and exhibition space of the same name, with “a beautiful view of the walls and trees of Gyeongbokgung.” Alternatively, consider staying in a hanok-style accommodation, which can be found throughout Jongno, as Wonseok Koh, director of Line Cultural Foundation, recommends.

Top tips for art lovers visiting Seoul

When to go: Consider early September for Frieze Seoul and Kiaf, the local counterpoint fair. Both draw international curators, artists, and collectors, and together anchor Seoul Art Week, when galleries across the city open new shows.

How to navigate: Google Maps is serviceable, but it’s worth downloading Naver Map or Kakao Map instead, recommends Koh. Seoul’s public transit is excellent and often the fastest way to move between clusters, but avoid rush hour where possible. For Seongbuk in particular, taxis are essential given the hills. Plan the day by cluster—Samcheong in the morning, Hannam in the afternoon, for instance—rather than crisscrossing.

What locals know: Punctuality is never not fashionable in Korea; always be on time. Openings run late and often spill into dinner and drinks nearby. Seoul is dense despite being smaller than London and New York: Everything takes longer to cross than it looks on the map.

Bringing artworks home: Exporting contemporary art from Seoul is straightforward. Most galleries handle international shipping as a matter of course, and Korea’s logistics infrastructure is excellent. English is widely spoken in commercial galleries, especially those with international programs. One thing to verify when buying antique or traditional Korean pieces is whether they are subject to export restrictions, so check the status before buying older work.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/cfyCUjd

How to Give Art as a Gift—An Expert Guide https://ift.tt/Q8oZ5xG

Art is one of the most personal gifts a person can receive. Whether a painting, print, or a sculpture, art communicates mood, memory, and meaning in ways few other objects can. It has the potential to become part of someone’s daily life for many years, an object of reflection and beauty.

But taste in art is highly subjective, making gifting art, especially for the first time, a bit daunting. Don’t be put off. Advisors and dealers say people overestimate how complicated the process needs to be. “Chances are that if you are gifting art to someone, that person means a lot to you, and you likely possess an inherent sense of what they’ll enjoy,” said Maria Vogel, founder of the art advisory Rococo.

To help navigate the process of buying art as a gift, we’ve put together an expert-led guide to tackling the central questions, from sussing out taste to the logistics of framing and shipping.

How to tap into someone’s taste

Wrapped in a Bow, 2026
Vanessa Stockard
Birdcage Collective

Don’t ask what someone likes, the experts say. Instead, look at what they’ve already chosen for clues.

“Find out what kind of art they already have at home, especially what they chose for themselves,” said Weini Liao of Shanghai’s Matthew Liu Fine Arts. “That usually tells me so much about taste.” Jurgita Juospaitytė Bitinienė, director of the Rooster Gallery in Vilnius, Lithuania, agrees, adding that she also looks for “what connects those choices,” be it a medium, theme, or style. Liao also suggests thinking about where a work might hang—home, office, hallway, bedroom—since the space narrows down size and medium before browsing even starts.

Advisor and Artsy contributor Sadaf Padder, founder of Alpha Arts Alliance, searches for clues in conversation. Long before making a purchase, she suggests being aware of artists your giftee may already be interested in, or a gap in their collection you’ve noticed. Emily Sussman, an independent curator and advisor, encourages people to ask their giftees about the best gifts they’ve received. The answers can give you insights into what they value.

What to know when buying art for an occasion

Untitled, 2025 Oil on canvas 9 x 12 in.
Elizabeth Tremante
Spinello Projects

When buying an artwork for a special occasion, be it a birthday, wedding, or anniversary, should the art reflect the moment?

On this question, dealers and advisors can see it both ways. Padder once placed a watercolor of Riverside Park, where a client had proposed to his wife, as a gift for their soon-to-arrive child. Vogel, meanwhile, advises taking a longer view. “Stay consistent and true to parameters around buying for someone rather than tying it to an occasion. That will better ensure the piece has timeless value to them,” she said.

Sussman encourages letting the occasion shape the mood. For a birthday, she said, “find a work that matches the sense of occasion in spirit…or a work that is personal to the recipient.” She advises skipping anything too literal, like a painting of a piece of cake, in favor of scenes that resonate personally.

Still, Liao noted, the occasion can give you some guideposts. A wedding gift, for instance, can encourage you to think about a work both partners can live with, or, for a retirement, something contemplative, or “a work that takes a little more time to appreciate.” Cultural context matters, too, Liao noted. A clock, for instance, is a fraught gift in Chinese culture, since the phrase sounds close to one associated with funerals.

Yes, you can buy art on a budget

Salão da Loucura, 2026
Marcela Cantuária
A Gentil Carioca

A meaningful gift of art is possible at a range of budgets, the experts agree.

Vogel pointed to works on paper, prints, photography, and works by emerging artists, including MFA students, as good starting points. Bitinienė noted that many of her gallery’s collectors are young, so budgets under $500 are common. At that price point, she turns their attention to smaller paintings, drawings, photography, and porcelain or sculptural objects. “Part of the pleasure of giving art is knowing that you have found something singular,” she said.

Artsy’s own price-based collections—Art under $1,000 and Art under $2,500—are built for exactly this kind of search.

Prints and editions, meanwhile, can offer access to established artists’ works at a fraction of the cost of a unique work. “Prints are so unsung,” Padder said, pointing to techniques like lithography and monoprinting that stretch back centuries. Liao stressed that a properly editioned photograph is an original work, not a reproduction, and noted that buyers should look for “the edition number, signature where applicable, certificate, and provenance.” The Artsy Edition Shop, with accessibly priced works by major names, is one place to start.

To frame or not to frame?

The Backdrop, 2012
Nandan Ghiya
10 Chancery Lane Gallery

When gifting an artwork, should the work be framed? It turns out there is no consensus, even among the pros.

“Giving someone an unframed work can sometimes mean giving them another task to deal with,” Liao said, though she suggests leaving canvases bare and keeping any frame “simple and neutral.” Vogel is a believer in framing gifts of art: “You wouldn’t gift a jewel without its setting, so don’t gift a work without its frame.”

Others take a looser approach. “For me, the artwork is the gift. The frame can be part of the life it begins afterward,” said Bitinienė.

Common mistakes—and how to avoid them

You're My Favourite Mistake (Blue), 2015
Rebecca Mason
Helm Gallery

The advisors and gallerists we spoke to warned against overcorrecting. “The most common mistake is probably trying too hard to choose something that is universally appealing,” said Mauro de Vanna, of Milan gallery Delvis (Un)limited.

Liao warned against being too literal, such as buying someone a seascape simply because they love the ocean. “It sounds logical, but sometimes it can be a little too literal,” Liao said. “A good art gift should be something the person genuinely wants to keep looking at and living with.”

Bitinienė, meanwhile, has noticed a related pattern. Buyers afraid of “getting it wrong” often retreat toward humor or provocation. “The quieter, less obvious choice can actually be much more personal,” she said. Padder points to another common conundrum—buying what you like rather than what the recipient would choose. She said this mistake is “especially easy” to make if “you live together and know you’ll be looking at the work, too.”

What to know about timing, shipping, and inquiring through Artsy

The Gift, 2026
Philippe Le Miere
Art & Collectors

Too excited to blow out the candles, even though they forgot to get more, 2025
Destiny Oyibode
Ogirikan Art Gallery

For anything bought against a deadline, gallerists and dealers encourage collectors to tell the seller up front. This goes for making an inquiry—a message sent asking about the price, availability, or details of a specific artwork—on Artsy for a listed artwork.

“I would always encourage a buyer to mention the occasion and the required delivery date when making an inquiry on Artsy,” de Vanna said. “This immediately gives the gallery the information it needs to advise them properly.”

Bitinienė’s gallery typically responds to Artsy inquiries within hours and can ship within a week, even internationally, though larger or fragile works need more room. Liao, working from Shanghai, replies within a business day and recommends three to four weeks for international shipping, once framing and customs are factored in.

When it comes to orchestrating delivery, several experts suggested presenting an image or a certificate of authenticity on the day of a special occasion, then arranging delivery once shipping and the giftee’s schedule allows.

And if you’re still not sure what to buy, Liao has a foolproof method. Shortlist two or three works and then let the recipient make the final call.

“The giver has still put real thought into the gift, while the recipient also has some freedom to choose.” As Bitinienė put it, “there is no single correct way to give art.”

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/tFMmN3W

Frieze Abu Dhabi announces 84 galleries for its inaugural edition in November 2026. https://ift.tt/kUI3DcA

Bio: The fair’s debut will feature 84 galleries from 36 countries.

Frieze Abu Dhabi has announced the full lineup for its debut edition, running November 19–22 at Manarat Al Saadiyat in the Saadiyat Cultural District. The fair will bring together 84 galleries from 63 cities and 36 countries and regions, and will mark Frieze's first venture into the Middle East. The fair builds on the 17-year run of Abu Dhabi Art, which it succeeds under a partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. The fair was first announced last October.

“The inaugural edition of Frieze Abu Dhabi begins with the depth and ambition of the UAE [United Arab Emirates] and wider WANASA [West Asia, North Africa and South Asia] art scene and reaffirms our commitment to fostering meaningful dialogues on the global art stage,” said Kristell Chadé, Frieze's executive director of fairs, in a statement, using the fair's shorthand for West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia. Fair director Dyala Nusseibeh added that the fair's curated sections “will introduce fresh perspectives and avenues for critical inquiry,” calling it “a catalyst for knowledge production, art market integration and meaningful participation in global discourse for the whole region.”

The fair’s main section, Galleries, will have a strong regional presence with UAE mainstays including Carbon 12, Lawrie Shabibi, The Third Line, and Tabari Artspace, joined by Saleh Barakat Gallery and Galerie Tanit from Beirut, Athr and Hafez Gallery from Saudi Arabia, Dastan from Tehran. Indian galleries will also have a strong presence, including Experimenter, Jhaveri Contemporary, Nature Morte, and Project 88. Some 20 European galleries will present at the fair as well, among them Thaddaeus Ropac, Victoria Miro, Timothy Taylor, and Waddington Custot. Gagosian, Pace Gallery, and Vito Schnabel Gallery are among those participating from the United States.

An all-female curatorial team leads the fair's two curated sections. Frieze Masters Abu Dhabi, organized by independent curator Marika Sardar, will present objects and artifacts from antiquity through the early 20th century, centered on the theme of the Indian Ocean and its historic networks of trade and exchange, and will be joined by rare book and antiquities specialists, including David Aaron and Peter Harrington. Global Futures, curated by Tarini Malik, gathers solo presentations addressing the UAE and wider region's cultural histories, including Ala Younis with Taymour Grahne Projects, Mohammed Joha with Zawyeh Gallery, and Seta Manoukian, a fixture of Beirut's 1960s art scene, with Marfa.

Focus, the fair's section for younger galleries, will offer bursaries to its participants and features solo presentations including Tahir Karmali with Management, Marigold Santos with Patel Brown, and Chonon Bensho with W-Galería. Additional solo presentations across the fair spotlight regional figures including Ibrahim El-Salahi, Farideh Lashai, and Samir Rafi alongside internationally recognized artists Emily Kam Kngwarray, Francesco Clemente, and Sheila Hicks.

Beyond the booths, Frieze Abu Dhabi's program includes the debut Frieze Abu Dhabi Artist Award, an edition of Frieze Sculpture, and In Dialogue, a new annual exhibition pairing an established and emerging UAE artist.

Deutsche Bank, the fair's global lead partner, will present a lounge installation by UAE artist Omar Al Gurg. The fair's selection committee includes Yasmin Atassi of Green Art Gallery, Asmaa Al-Shabibi of Lawrie Shabibi, and Sandhini Poddar, adjunct curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Frieze Abu Dhabi arrives after fellow international fair conglomerate Art Basel launched its inaugural fair in the region this year in Doha, Qatar.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/8Hy2WqM

How One Painting Set This Seoul Art Collector on a Lifelong Journey https://ift.tt/z5xFS0v

When Mr. Seunghue Lee moved into his new home in Seoul, he knew the bare walls staring back at him needed populating. He bought a painting by renowned Korean painter Kim Tschang-Yeul. Recurrence (1993) features hyperrealistic water drops overlaid on densely printed Chinese characters.

“I looked up the artist after liking the image of the work I’d seen and found out that he was one of the first to travel to Paris from Korea, and ended up living in France,” Lee told Artsy. “The cultural blend in the painting reflected how the artist lived his life, which felt like a perfect match.”

Seven years after buying his first painting, Lee has built a collection of nearly 200 works spanning Korean modernism, post-war abstraction, and contemporary art from across the globe. Its first public exhibition, currently on view by appointment in Seoul’s stylish Samcheong-ro district, arrives at a revealing moment.

Lee’s taste is still evolving; his ambitions remain deliberately open-ended. Titled “What the Surface Remembers,” the show is a snapshot of a collector learning how to connect instinct, scholarship, and cultural identity, featuring works by Philip Guston, Lee Bul, Rashid Johnson, Kelly Akashi, and others.

How Seunghue Lee caught the collecting bug

Lee, who works in finance, wakes up each morning to a Sean Scully painting in his bedroom. In his living room hang works by George Condo, Lee Ufan, and Florian Krewer: works that inspire him in this place he spends most of his time.

Lee’s interest in art began after visits to the Vatican and the Louvre during a university backpacking trip, but his initial acquisitions were driven by feeling. “I never thought about the context of where a work might fit into a collection, because I never thought that I would be a collector,” he said.

His collection is now too large to fit into his private residence. “I have two kids, aged three and one, and it’s important that my family can enjoy the work we have at home,” he said of selecting pieces for his home. “I’d love to open up my home one day, but with young children it can be chaotic, which is why we’re showing at an exhibition venue.”

Today, his buying approach is characterized by rigorous research into an artist’s life, provenance, and materials. Lee engages with artists over years: studying their careers and observing their practice during studio visits.

“Art is like wine,” he noted. “Learning the basics gets you interested in it, but as you go deeper, it gets more complex and fascinating.”

He’s learned that collecting is not a solitary pursuit. Leaning on other collectors, galleries, artists, and museum patrons has taught him far more than he could have learned on his own. Now, with a global network of industry peers, he’s sharpened his eye.

Toyin Ojih Odutola, for instance, is one such artist whom Lee hopes to engage with more deeply. Her nearly 3-meter triptych Time, Energy, Resources (2024–25) provides a statement introduction to his exhibition: Visitors must circle the freestanding work to experience the scale of the artist’s commentary on power and human agency. “I fell in love with her work because it captures all these fictional characters as portraits, and I feel there are some Asian aspects in her work, too,” Lee said.

Leiko Ikemura is another whom Lee has met with several times during travels and studio visits. Her patinated bronze sculpture Usagi Girl (2002/23) is one of four pieces Lee owns by the Berlin-based Japanese artist. The hybrid rabbit-human figure, with a hollow bell-shaped “skirt” for a body, suggests a sanctuary of incubation that feels almost maternal. “I’m mesmerized by the quasi-abstract, figurative work and how it captures a sense of spirituality across her paintings and sculptures.”

Building a borderless collection

In Lee’s hallway sits Olga de Amaral’s multimedia sculpture, Aqua Plata (2012), “silver water.” As the natural light changes throughout the day, crisp blue tones give way to metallic reflections, revealing the work anew.

Lee has come to expect similar changes in his own sensibilities. “I thought I knew what my taste in art was, but that was completely shattered as I grew and learned more,” he reflected. “Now, I have more of an appreciation for things I previously may not have.”

His collection initially gravitated towards artists who represented Korea on the world stage, from traditional ink paintings to the Dansaekhwa movement led by Park Seo-Bo in the 1970s.

“I wanted to put Korean artists in context with what’s happening elsewhere around the world,” he said. His collection often pairs Korean and international artists working in similar periods: Works by Ed Clark, David Hammons, and Huguette Caland sit alongside their Korean contemporaries.

Lee sees his collection as bridging geographies and facilitating an international exchange between works. “Korean art can be found all over the world, not just in Korea,” he said. “Today, it’s really hard to tie artists of any nationality to just one location, and it's important that my collection reflects that.”

One of his latest acquisitions encapsulates how much Lee’s taste has evolved. Following an encounter with artist Ryan Gander in Seoul, he bought I’ve felt everything I'm going to feel - The Unspeakable World (2026), a small sculpture featuring an animatronic mouse. “I love that it’s subtle and unexpected and introduces a layer of wit, but also reflection for the viewer,” he said of the work’s placement in the exhibition among historical paintings by the likes of Clark and Philip Guston.

This marks the first time the public will encounter the breadth of Lee’s collection, from large-scale tapestries by Otobong Nkanga to Mark Bradford mixed-media works. But he sees the show less as a culmination than an early milestone.

“This exhibition has allowed me to take stock of my collection so far, connect the dots between the works, and get clear on what I want to do in future,” he said. “I know this isn’t going to be perfect because I’ve never done it before, but this is not the end of my collection. I just want to share where I’ve gotten to so far.”

He remains deliberately undecided about what form the collection might eventually take. “What I like most about collecting is that you never know what’s coming next,” he said. “What I do know is that this is something I will do for the rest of my life.”

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/UzGjsrQ

New York‘s High Line announces fall 2026 commissions by Alvaro Barrington, Marianna Simnett, and more. https://ift.tt/3nB9Cpk

High Line Art has announced its fall 2026 season of commissions, with new sculptural works by Marianna Simnett, Amol K. Patil, and Alvaro Barrington, alongside a billboard by Christopher Williams. The works will open throughout September and November and continue themes of bodies, labor, and infrastructure that have run through the park‘s 2026 program.

Opening in September at 30th Street near Hudson Yards, Simnett’s Interlude (2026) installs a pair of concession stands. In one stand, a video loop shows a food vendor preparing stadium hot dogs under fluorescent light while singing an eerie, melancholic song. The Berlin- and New York–based artist is known for multidisciplinary work blending horror, humor, and theater to explore vulnerability and metamorphosis. With this work, she turns an ordinarily invisible worker‘s shift into what High Line Art describes as “a powerful and humanizing performance of agency, despair, and survival.”

Patil‘s The Voices Cast in Dust (2026), opening at 24th Street near Chelsea in early October, is a monumental bronze sculpture depicting a mass of human figures merging into a single form, limbs jutting outward in what reads alternately as collective striving and a fight for survival. Patil, a conceptual and performance artist based between Mumbai and Amsterdam, draws on a family history of working-class advocacy—his grandfather was a folk poet, his father an avant-garde playwright who chronicled the struggles of Mumbai‘s mill and sanitation workers—to bridge labor conditions in Mumbai and New York.

In November, Barrington will present Western Beef-High Line (2026) at 14th Street near the Whitney Museum of American Art, a work constructed with a steel-framed billboard strung with colored plastic vinyl strips of the kind used in supermarkets and butcher shops, framed by plastic milk crates. The work engages the sunset views over the Hudson River once painted by the Hudson River School. “We are best served as an immigrant nation, in dialogue with each other,” Barrington wrote of the piece, which he called a “contemporary ‘stained glass’ proposition.” Barrington, who was raised between the Caribbean and Brooklyn, is primarily a painter whose tactile, multimedia practice incorporates burlap, textiles, and industrial materials such as chain-link fencing.

“Each of this fall‘s commissions considers our relationships to various forms of labor and each other, in revealing and startling ways,” said Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art, in a statement. “Marianna Simnett’‘s concession stand with a video of a solitary vendor transforms a routine work shift into a powerful performance of survival. Amol K. Patil bridges the distance between Mumbai and New York with a bronze sculpture depicting a multitude of figures, a monumental tribute to the labor that supports city life. And Alvaro Barrington‘s luminous composition stands as a public celebration of heritage and shared humanity.”

Williams‘s billboard, MODEL (High Line Billboard, 18th Street and 10th Avenue, New York, 10011) (2026), meanwhile, opens in September at 18th Street in West Chelsea. Built from an object in his enamel-on-glass series, the sign appears industrial from a distance but up close reveals handmade brushwork. Its texture recalls the woodchip-patterned Rauhfaser wallpaper common in 20th-century European working-class interiors—a pointed juxtaposition against the luxury towers now surrounding the High Line.

The fall lineup follows the April opening of Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s 27-foot sandstone Buddha sculpture on the High Line Plinth, and joins current-season works by Katherine Bernhardt, Patricia Ayres, and Derek Fordjour.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/H2kSPuX

Sliman Mansour, Palestinian artist of land and memory, has died at 79. https://ift.tt/rvszuX7

Untitled, 1988
Sliman Mansour
Gallery One

Sliman Mansour, the Palestinian painter whose depictions of farmers, hill villages, and embroidered dress are some of the most widely circulated in modern Arab art, has died at 79. His family announced the death on Monday, August 24th, in a story post on Instagram. He died at his home in Jerusalem. “We lost a father, our source of love, strength, and home,” the family wrote.

The family gave no cause of death, although Al Jazeera reported that Mansour had been ill for some time.

Mansour was born in 1947 in Birzeit, Palestine, north of Ramallah, and studied art and design in Jerusalem, graduating in 1970. He came to prominence in the 1970s as part of a generation of Palestinian painters, writers, and poets who were assembling a visual vocabulary out of land, labor, and household objects.

His best-known painting dates from that decade: a 1973 oil of an elderly porter carrying the city of Jerusalem on his back, usually given in English as The Camel/Carrier of Hardships. Mansour painted several versions of the subject, with a 2005 acrylic version selling for his record auction price of $257,000 in 2015 at Christie’s. Often reproduced, the painting signifies the struggle of the heavy weight of Palestinian history,

Untitled, 2002
Sliman Mansour
Zawyeh Gallery

Mansour drew on Canaanite, Pharaonic, and Assyrian antiquity as well as Islamic and Arab traditions of calligraphy and geometric ornament in his work. He used these techniques to depict scenes from village life in the hills around his birthplace. Olives and oranges feature as symbols of the land throughout his rich and bold compositions. He often portrayed doves, too, that evoke his hope for peace in the future.

Mansour was also a key figure in the Palestinian art community, co-founding the League of Palestinian Artists, which he led for several years. In the late 1980s, Mansour helped found the New Vision group; after Palestinian artists boycotted Israeli-made art supplies, its members worked instead in mud, straw, wood, leather, henna, and natural dyes. He returned to clay decades later in The Portrait (Portrait of a Man) (2017 and 2019), made in clay and acrylic on wood.

Mansour exhibited widely in the Arab world and internationally, and his work is held in museums and private collections like the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah, UAE. Among his awards was the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, which he received in 2019.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/vF9lsZO