How Black Gallerists Are Staying Resilient This Black History Month https://ift.tt/m6Hx5In

I’ve collaborated with Storm Ascher, founder of Superposition Gallery, for nearly a decade. We cross-promote each other’s shows (I run DOMINIQUE in Mid-City, Los Angeles), share artists, and split costs for various resources. Five years ago, we did one of our first in-person fairs in New York. It was an intimidating venture, and we stood out as Black gallerists in a predominantly white space.

While prominent Black art dealers, such as Jenkins Johnson and Mariane Ibrahim, have been in the fair circuit for years, Storm and I are part of a new generation of Black gallerists continuing to push through art world barriers. Last February, Storm and I sat across the aisle from each other as exhibitors at Frieze LA. It was an important moment of solidarity; over the past half-decade, we’ve been thrilled to look across convention centers to see a growing number of artists, collectors, art advisors, and other gallerists who look like us.

Since Storm and I met, the number of Black gallerists at fairs seems to have doubled. In 2015, there wasn’t a single Black-owned gallery in the main section of Art Basel Miami Beach. In 2025, Nicola Vassell and Jenkins Johnson were there, and Welancora Gallery participated in the Nova sector. Their presence allows Black and otherwise marginalized artists to find opportunities and partnerships within their own communities. After all, many prominent Black artists start out by showing in small Black art spaces.

Unfortunately, those outlets face significant financial pressures and biases that often lead them to shutter, and Black artists have to seek representation elsewhere. This is a problem, because Black artists who get scooped up by blue-chip galleries may have less access to the Black collectors who will champion and protect their work. They become easier to exploit. Black art dealers, in contrast, support their communities and cultivate cultural stewardship as they prioritize relationships with Black museums, universities, and individual collectors.

This Black History Month, I asked three Black gallerists how they stay resilient in the face of today’s economic and political instability. They are part of a robust tradition. In 2026, almost every major U.S. city has a Black-owned gallery. Some have been around for almost 40 years. New York’s Peg Alston worked with the late, legendary artists Ed Clark and Romare Bearden. New Orleans’s Stella Jones has shown the celebrated Elizabeth Catlett for over 15 years. Newcomers Superposition and Jonathan Carver Moore champion younger voices and aim for such longevity and depth. This February is an ideal time to visit these spaces, plan a vacation around an art fair where they’ll participate, or shop their websites. Patronage is critical to supporting these programs. In the words of Jean-Michel Basquiat, “The greatest treasures of the world are art. They are the most lasting; they are still here after people.”

Stella Jones

Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans

“For me, resilience has always been both strategic and personal. From the beginning, I focused on keeping overhead low, offering works that spoke to a wide range of collectors, and staying deeply connected to my community. You have to understand who you are serving and build accordingly. Sustainability comes from knowing your environment and serving it thoughtfully. But resilience is also about preservation of energy, of joy, of perspective. I take my days off. I love football and basketball. I treasure family gatherings and time with my children. And I travel. Travel resuscitates you. I especially love going to Africa, because it reconnects me to history, to creativity, to possibility.

Over the years, I’ve learned to roll with the punches and to find myself in whatever moment I’m facing. You step in where you fit in. You have to know what’s within your power and what isn’t. When Hurricane Katrina hit, I couldn’t stop it. No one could. That was an act of God. But I could figure out how to leave New Orleans safely, how to return, and how to continue supporting artists afterward. I was able to do that because I had prepared for years before—financially, emotionally, and professionally.

I didn’t come into the gallery world seeking a new career. I come from medicine, where you make decisions, often quickly, and often with serious consequences. That training shaped how I operate as a gallerist. You don’t have to be a doctor to survive in this field, but you do have to be decisive. You have to assess the situation in front of you, trust your judgment, and move forward with purpose. That mindset has sustained me.”

Storm Ascher

Superposition Gallery, New York

“For me, resilience comes from a long tradition of care that extends beyond the self. Being accustomed to cycles of oppression and resistance teaches you how to think systemically—and how to care for the world, not just survive within it.

“That mindset shows up in our current programming. This Black History Month, we’re presenting new work by Alex Anderson in Artsy’s online Black-Owned Galleries Now sector. His ceramics practice looks at how forces like heat, pressure, gravity, and time shape material into form, revealing endurance and pattern as fundamental conditions of life.

Blood Vessel 3, 2025
Alex Anderson
Superposition

Rose and Grass Vessel, 2025
Alex Anderson
Superposition

“At Frieze Los Angeles, our presentation of Greg Ito centers on a family heirloom—a trunk used during his family’s World War II incarceration—and reflects on how memory, care, and history are carried forward across generations.

“These projects reflect Superposition’s mission to lead with healing, continuity, and collective responsibility—I’m adamant about building worlds, not just exhibitions.”

Jonathan Carver Moore

Jonathan Carver Moore Gallery, San Francisco

“For me, staying resilient during Black History Month as a gallerist means holding both visibility and responsibility at the same time. It’s a month when attention intensifies, but so do expectations, extractive asks, and symbolic gestures. Resilience comes from staying rooted in the long view—continuing to advocate for artists beyond a calendar moment, protecting their labor, and resisting the pressure to overperform or dilute the work for temporary validation.

“I stay grounded by centering care: care for the artists I represent, for myself, and for the community we’re building. That looks like setting boundaries, prioritizing depth over scale, and honoring the fact that Black history is not an annual theme but a living, ongoing practice. Resilience, for me, is continuing to move with intention—building infrastructure, nurturing relationships, and trusting that slow, values-driven work is itself a form of resistance and preservation.”

Explore these gallery programs and more in our online showcase Black-Owned Galleries Now.

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Philadelphia Museum of Art re-instates its original name following a controversial rebrand. https://ift.tt/smzYGJc

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has restored its historic name following public outcry surrounding an unpopular rebrand late last year that introduced its new identity as the Philadelphia Art Museum. The change, effective immediately, was decided in a unanimous vote by the museum’s board of trustees this week in response to surveys given to the museum staff, trustees, members, and the greater Philadelphia community. While the name will revert back, the accompanying logo of a griffin that was also introduced as part of the new visual identity will remain. “An essential part of brand stewardship is innovating, and also listening…The new logo, with the griffin, is a bold, yet historical approach that we are heartened to see is being embraced by the public. Returning to the name that is beloved by staff, trustees, and members is an important gesture,” said the new director and CEO of the museum, Daniel Weiss, in a statement. In an interview with the New York Times, Weiss admitted “It was a misstep,” and that “The reason there was so much public consternation and criticism is because it didn’t resonate.”

When the rebrand was first unveiled in October 2025, then-president and director, Sasha Suda, framed the move as a modernization effort that would usher in a new era for the institution. The museum has faced many challenges in the past few years, including changes in leadership, frustrated staff, missteps by senior management, and mishandled union negotiations. But the greater Philadelphia and museum community at large swiftly denounced the new name and its imposed moniker, “PhAM,” choosing instead to refer to it as “PhArt.”

Chief among the complaints was that the entire rebrand, which is reported to have cost more than $1 million, was unnecessary. Meanwhile, when union workers were striking, for increased wages among other reasons. The museum also brought in a design team from Brooklyn instead of working with a local firm, and only alerted the board of trustees about the new identity just days before the rollout.

Smoothing out the controversy by altering the new logo to include the original name was a top priority for Weiss as soon as he took over. Weiss was recently instated as president and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art this past November. He started two weeks after the former director, Sasha Suda, was ousted by the board after just over three years at the helm of the institution.

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Indian Art Collector and Netflix Star Shalini Passi Shares Her Impeccable Collection https://ift.tt/bMfGOIr

Passi’s stature in the Indian art world is reflected in the two platforms she established, the Shalini Passi Art Foundation and the digital platform MASH, as well as in her enduring support of initiatives such as Khoj Studios and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Long recognized within the Indian art ecosystem for her role as a collector and patron, she has more recently entered a wider public consciousness through Netflix’s Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, which offered glimpses into her art-filled home among many other facets of her life, including her society doyenne-meets-surrealist wardrobe. The show introduced Passi at the MASH ball, a Met Gala–inspired charity ball in support of UNICEF, where one of her personas for the night was Cleopatra.

​Passi’s South Delhi residence is both home and a living museum—she believes the artworks she acquires live and grow with her. In its cascading halls, she drifts down the staircase, often in vintage saris or Roberto Cavalli gowns, passing works by the likes of Anita Dube, Atul Dodiya, and Anish Kapoor. Here, contemporary art nestles comfortably alongside 17th- and 18th-century French and Italian furniture: a Baccarat Mille Nuits chandelier hovers above a Damien Hirst skull painting, a Hudson antique teak-root table rests on a circa-1900 Feraghan Mahal carpet, and a 19th-century Italian gilded mirror reflects S.H. Raza’s painting Germination (1995). A lacquered gilt chinoiserie chest coexists with Jeff Koons’ Puppy (Vases) (1998) and an Hervé van der Straeten “Passage” console. Across generations and geographies, what emerges is a collection that shows confidence in curiosity, built with thoughtfulness rather than a prescriptive vision.

The interiors open onto a manicured lawn offering pristine sightlines across sculpture and landscape. Stepping outdoors, the building’s curvature holds the artworks from indoors within view, meeting the moving gaze from multiple angles.

​While her collection spans Indian modernists such as M.F. Husain and contemporary artists Bharti Kher and Sheba Chhachhi, Passi traces her earliest relationship with art to spaces far removed from the gallery. “My earliest interactions with art were through temples, architecture, and the visual richness of Indian homes—not museums,” she said. “As a child, I was drawn to colors, textures, and sacred imagery. I learned to feel art before analyzing it. That instinctive relationship has stayed with me. Art has always felt alive rather than decorative.”​

​Passi recalls how early encounters with artworks lingered in her mind. When she started buying art, ownership felt less like acquisition than responsibility. “My first acquisition was emotional, not intellectual,” she shared. “I felt I was taking responsibility for a work, not purchasing an object. It felt like adopting a living presence into my home. That moment taught me that collecting is about custodianship, not ownership.”​

That work was Goddess Kali (1989) by Manjit Bawa, an Indian modern painter known for his fluid, descriptive figures and bold colors. “Manjit Bawa was a friend of my art teacher at Modern School,” she said. “That work ignited everything.”

Her collection retains the clarity of its initial visceral nature. “I have always said, ‘I collect with my heart first, and my mind follows later,’” she shared. Over time, her collection began to reveal its own internal logic. “Sculpture, the human body, nature, and spiritual energy became recurring themes,” she said. “My collection is a reflection of my inner journey rather than an academic framework. It grew as I grew.”

While her collection spans varied periods and practices, certain pieces remain touchstones. Living with sculptures, especially the hemp sculpture Kusum (1996) by Mrinalini Mukherjee, is an experience she describes as quintessentially human. “Living with her work is like living with a living being,” Passi said. “Her sculptures breathe—they change with light, with mood, and with time. They create silence and contemplation within the home. They make you pause. For me, they embody the idea that art is not separate from life—it is life.”

Patronage, as it operates in Passi’s world, is informed by those who understood collecting as a public responsibility. “I’m inspired by patrons who saw themselves as cultural guardians rather than luxury consumers,” she said, citing J.R.D. Tata, Peggy Guggenheim, and J. Paul Getty as influences. “True collecting is about stewardship, not trophies.”​

Passi’s advice to aspiring art buyers is straightforward: “Begin with sincerity,” she said. “Spend time looking. Ask questions. Build relationships with artists and galleries. Do not collect out of fear or fashion.” Art, she insists, should hold a personal resonance above all. “Remember that you are not just acquiring objects—you are becoming part of a larger cultural conversation.”

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Stephen Friedman Gallery closes its London space and ceases operations after 30 years. https://ift.tt/ClmHvP8

Venerated London dealer Stephen Friedman Gallery has closed its remaining space in London and ceased operations after 30 years, effective immediately. The gallery has long been known for championing and developing the careers of artists including Kehinde Wiley, Yinka Shonibare, and David Shrigley, among other talents. The news comes just months after the gallery announced the closure of its New York space late last year, a move that was presented as a consolidation strategy to centralize operations in London. It also recently appointed several new senior directors, and announced representation of artists Alexandre Diop and Ana Cláudia Almeida this past fall.

In a statement shared with Artsy, the gallery said: “Stephen Friedman Gallery commenced the administration process on 2 February 2026 to allow for an orderly review of its financial position. FRP Advisory have been appointed as the administrator. All matters are now subject to the administrator’s consideration. The gallery is now closed to the public and is not presenting at Art Basel Qatar this week.” The gallery had planned a solo presentation of work by Huguette Caland at Art Basel Qatar, but a last-minute floor plan change shows the booth is now presented by the Huguette Caland Estate, and is being manned by Lisson Gallery staff, as was reported by The Art Newspaper.

Stephen Friedman Gallery’s New York outpost opened in Tribeca in November 2023, and was positioned as a way for the gallery’s existing artists to show their work in New York. A month earlier, in October 2023, the gallery further expanded its presence in London by moving into a larger space on Cork Street that would allow for both more exhibition and administrative space. Filings on Companies House, the U.K.’s publicly-available corporate registry, from 2025 show that the gallery lost £1.7 million (approximately $2.31 million) in 2023 due to construction costs of the two new galleries. This was “compounded by a strong downturn in the industry’s economic market.” It is believed that the costs associated with the renovation of these two spaces and expanded operations contributed significantly towards the recent liquidation of the business.

Canadian-born Stephen Friedman opened his eponymous gallery in London’s Mayfair neighborhood on Old Burlington Street in 1995 after moving to the city in his early twenties to study at Sotheby’s. Over the course of its three-decade-run, the gallery’s program championed a range of emerging voices alongside blue-chip talents, spanning from Brazil and Latin America to Europe, the U.S., and beyond. Included in their current roster are artists Deborah Roberts, Caroline Walker, Holly Hendry, Denzil Forrester, and Jiro Takamatsu, among others.

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The 10 Best Booths at Art Basel Qatar 2026 https://ift.tt/t0LZ6CH

Art Basel Qatar is here. After much anticipation, some hesitation, and a lot of speculation, the fair opened with a splash on its VIP day, February 3rd.

Taking place in the Doha Design District, Art Basel’s first foray into the Middle East marks a new chapter in Art Basel’s history. With 87 galleries taking part, the fair is a fraction of the size of its other editions (the flagship Basel fair last year included 289 galleries). Plus, unlike the other Basel fairs where group booths are rife, this fair is dedicated entirely to solo artist “special projects,” as the fair’s communications put it.

These projects are mounted in response to the fair’s theme “Becoming,” devised under the artistic direction of artist Wael Shawky. “The opportunity to explore artistic practices from across the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region and beyond, within a framework that values research, narrative, and experimentation, is extremely meaningful to me,” the artist said in a statement.

Qatar, a country of just over three million residents, has in recent years grown into a global hub that brings together regional traditions with contemporary, international art, and creative industries. In particular, Qatar Museums has developed several important projects, like the Museum of Islamic Art and Katara Cultural Village. These new venues come alongside significant investment in public art, international exchange initiatives, and major events such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The fair is also overseen by Sheikha al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the sister of the country’s Emir, chair of Qatar Museums, and an instrumental figure in growing the country’s cultural initiatives.

The galleries at Art Basel hope to build on this momentum, connecting leading galleries with collectors and institutions and vice versa. “The fair offers a vital entry point into a largely untapped market for the global art world, and we are hopeful that our participation this year will foster new relationships with collectors from across the region,” said dealer David Maupin of Lehmann Maupin.

Indeed, on the VIP day, plenty of connections were being made, with a diverse and busy crowd of luminaries populating the fair’s three venues: the M7, Barahat Msheireb, and Doha Design District.

There were plenty of international visitors, among them Angelina Jolie, mega-curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, and collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, all spotted in attendance. “The energy here is extraordinary,” art advisor Grace Wong Li told Artsy. “This isn’t a typical art fair—Qatar invited Art Basel as a statement of cultural transformation, becoming a true center for knowledge and creativity.”

Taking place under a blazing February sun, the atmosphere was energized and cheerful. Presentations of heavyweight artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Pablo Picasso added a distinctively Art Basel–flavored punch of blue-chip action. Meanwhile, several galleries presented bold installations that carried a distinctively institutional focus, from large-scale hanging sculptures at Cardi Gallery to a vast 3D Bruce Nauman digital projection at Konrad Fischer Galerie.

As for reported sales, the standard Art Basel reports from galleries appeared muted by the afternoon of the fair’s VIP day. A reflection, perhaps, that this really isn’t like its other fairs. Stay tuned on Monday for our roundup of sales and takeaways from the fair.

Here, we share our 10 best booths from Art Basel Qatar 2026.

Galerie Krinzinger

Booth M205

With works by Maha Malluh

Food for Thought "Fatawa II", 2023
Maha Malluh
Galerie Krinzinger

Keep Cool, 2016
Maha Malluh
Galerie Krinzinger

Galerie Krinzinger’s booth of Saudi artist Maha Malluh was literally blowing VIP visitors away on the fair’s opening day. In the center of the Viennese gallery’s installation is a hulking sculpture of 27 stacked “desert cooler” air conditioning units. These functional fans (just ask a gallery staffer to turn them on) stand imposingly, playfully resembling both a Rubik’s Cube while offering a canny commentary on global warming and energy consumption.

“It’s very typical for her work where she is working with found objects,” said gallery staffer Manfred Wiplinger. Also featured isFood for Thought “Fatawa II” (2023), a series of cassette tapes of recordings—including prayers and religious teachings—arranged to form a geometric pattern on the side wall of the booth.

Hafez Gallery

Booth D115

With works by Lina Gazzaz

Tracing lines Growth تتبع خطوط النمو, 2024
Lina Gazzaz
Hafez Gallery

Tracing lines Growth تتبع خطوط النمو, 2024
Lina Gazzaz
Hafez Gallery

Tracing lines Growth تتبع خطوط النمو, 2024
Lina Gazzaz
Hafez Gallery

Tracing lines Growth تتبع خطوط النمو , 2024
Lina Gazzaz
Hafez Gallery

Constructed from discarded crownshafts from royal palm trees, Lina Gazzaz’s installation Tracing Lines of Growth (2024) hangs from the ceiling of Hafez Gallery’s booth like a suspended skeleton.

To create the works, the Saudi artist hand-stitched red threads to the palm tree’s inner vascular roots, wrapping some around and letting others cascade and pool at the bottom like streams of blood.

“There’s also this idea of hair,” noted the gallery’s head of international art fairs, Kenza Zouari. “As Gazzaz was unrolling the threads and brushing them, she was like ‘Oh my God, I feel like I’m brushing my own hair!’”

The poignant installation also muses on themes of resilience, the palm referred to by the artist as “lyrical instruments of time.”

Sprüth Magers

Booth M202

With works by Otto Piene

Light Room with Mönchengladbach Wall, 1963–2013
Otto Piene
Sprüth Magers

Light Ballet, 1960
Otto Piene
Sprüth Magers

Untitled, 2014
Otto Piene
Sprüth Magers

Untitled (Yellow), 1984
Otto Piene
Sprüth Magers

Interferenz, 1957/1991
Otto Piene
Sprüth Magers

Untitled, 1957/63
Otto Piene
Sprüth Magers

Tucked away in a darkened side room in the M7 plaza, Otto Piene’s Light Room with Mönchengladbach Wall (1963–2013) is a hypnotic diversion from the fair bustle outside.

Constructed from six light sources, cardboard, wood, aluminum, and motors, this work bathes the room in shadow-play patterns of undulating spirals, circles, and softened tones. Automatic timers regulate the light sources so that brightness varies between almost total darkness and brightened radiance.

The work was created in the 1960s when Piene, a founding member of the influential post-war art collective Group Zero, explored complex mechanized light sculptures in his practice. Often involving metal screens, discs, motors, timers, and rotating electric lights, these installations create an almost theatrical experience.

Nature Morte

Booth D11

With work by Imran Qureshi

Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi reimagines traditional Charpai bed-weaving in this bright installation from Indian powerhouse gallery Nature Morte.

Charpai, a traditional, lightweight, woven bed, is a common part of domestic life in the Indian subcontinent. In this installation, Opening Word of this New Scripture (2024), the gallery’s booth is covered in gridded metal frames threaded with vivid nylon cord in various patterns, such as stars and chevrons. In the center of the booth, two weavers sit barefoot on the bright green and neon yellow floor, constructing the patterns in real time.

A symbol of domesticity here becomes a celebration of shared cultural resonance. “People from all classes could relate to it,” said the gallery’s sales executive, Nikita Singh. “[That’s] a very beautiful thing about it.” The installation is the latest in a string of recent regional appearances for Qureshi, including at the recent Islamic Arts Biennale in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

Pace Gallery

Booth M310

With works by Lynda Benglis

Elephant Necklace 39, 2016
Lynda Benglis
Pace Gallery

Lucky Strike, 2024
Lynda Benglis
Pace Gallery

Elephant Necklace 41, 2016
Lynda Benglis
Pace Gallery

Elephant Necklace 61, 2016
Lynda Benglis
Pace Gallery

Winged Victory, 2024
Lynda Benglis
Pace Gallery

Pace Gallery’s CEO and president, Marc Glimcher, was part-art dealer, part-steward of his gallery’s presentation, a ring of 37 elemental floor sculptures that make up Lynda Benglis’s Elephant Necklace Circle (2016).

The pieces, arranged in the center of the M7’s first-floor lobby, were quite the obstacle course for VIPs on the fair’s opening day. Those who stopped to inspect were rewarded: The works are part of a late-career series by the pioneering American artist, who is about to open a show at London’s Barbican Centre later this month.

Best known for her freeform wax paintings and poured latex sculptures, Benglis is an artist who creates visceral forms that nudge between organic shapes and abstraction. The raw, glazed ceramic works that make up Elephant Necklace Circle continue the artist’s preoccupation with movement and fluctuation: Some of the forms, like 39, appear to twist, while others, like Aqiu, look vaguely amorphous, as though they’re trapped in a scream.

ATHR

Booth M207

With works by Ahmed Mater

Makkah (or “Mecca”), Islam’s holiest city, is the subject of Ahmed Mater’s ongoing photographic series “Temporal Migration,” on view at this booth from Saudi gallery ATHR.

In these photographs, the city—home to the annual Hajj pilgrimage and the Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque)—is depicted as an evolving site in which construction, mass movement, and a changing landscape continue to shape its topography.

In the diptych Black Stone (2025), for instance, Mater captures the collective rush of pilgrims moving towards the Kaaba, the stone building at the center of the mosque. Then, in quieter scenes that are no less impactful, images in “The Empty Land” show aerial views of silent roads, dormant military bases, and empty oil barrels, offering eerie meditations on landscape and power.

MASSIMODECARLO

Booth M318

With works by Matthew Wong

Matthew Wong’s paintings are always a treat to behold. One of several standout late artist presentations at the fair, Massimodecarlo’s booth presents six paintings from 2019—the year of Wong’s passing. All feature Wong’s familiar territory of landscapes, those that feel familiar but nonspecific. These are imagined depictions that hold a very real presence in their quietness and intensity. In THE HERMIT’S PATH (2019), a botanical, desert-like scene unfolds in front of the viewer with swirling earth tones. An altogether calmer mood emerges from A WALK BY THE SEA (2019), where a crimson and violet backdrop dwarfs two strolling figures.

“In dialogue with the fair’s theme, ‘Becoming,’ the works engage with change from within the act of painting, staying close to the discipline and intensity of Wong’s practice,” Ludovica Barbieri, partner and global director of artist liaisons at the gallery, told Artsy. “Emotion is shaped through a deeply art historical language, finding a form that feels personal yet universal.”

Ahead of Wong’s major showcase at the Palazzo Tiepolo Passi in Venice later this year, these works are an apt reminder of the self-taught artist’s generational talent.

Tabari Artspace

Booth M307

With works by Hazeem Harb

Victims of a Map, 2025
Hazem Harb
Tabari Artspace

Future Archaeology, 2025
Hazem Harb
Tabari Artspace

1# Reformulated Archeology, 2018
Hazem Harb
Tabari Artspace

2# Reformulated Archeology, 2018
Hazem Harb
Tabari Artspace

5# Reformulated Archeology, 2018
Hazem Harb
Tabari Artspace

A group of mosaic tile fragments from the former Palestinian airport line one wall of Dubai gallery Tabari Artspace’s booth. The artist Hazeem Harb collected the remnants and scanned them in these prints, emulating the practice of archeological documentation, drawing attention to its role in cementing cultural value.

That theme recurs in a series of the artist’s “Reformulated Archaeology” works on paper, in which archival photography of landscapes, anatomical forms, and artifacts from locations across Palestine are loosely collaged against shapes of flat colors. Again fragmented, these images show how histories and locations can be moved and reclassified.

Taken together, it’s a moving and thought-provoking booth from Harb, whose works are in the collections of eminent museums such as Centre Pompidou and LACMA.

Lisson Gallery

Booth M315

With works by Olga de Amaral

Described by gallery partner Louise Hayward as a “mini-retrospective,” this presentation of works by Olga de Amaral is a pint-sized taster of an artist who has challenged the boundaries of craft and art for more than six decades.

The booth’s earliest work, 1969’s hanging wall piece Cintas entrelazadas, offers an early insight into the vibrant colors and interlacing forms that would go on to be recurring themes of de Amaral’s practice, in a vibrant palette of pinks, purples, yellows, and greens.

“It shows the very early influence of Indigenous communities in the Andes, inspiring different weaving techniques, which come from pre-Columbian traditions and heritage, so really stemming from the kind of roots of her own cultural legacy,” noted Hayward. Other highlights of the booth include Lienzo ceremonial III (1987), in which painted threads cascade, layer, and overlap like a waterfall.

Cardi Gallery

Booth M304

With works by Jannis Kounellis

Senza titolo, 2003
Jannis Kounellis
Cardi Gallery

Taking up a vast wall in the plaza space of the M7 center, Jannis Kounellis’s 2003 installation Senza Titolo is rearticulated to monumental effect in Cardi Gallery’s presentation.

The work must’ve been a nightmare to install, but any headaches it may have caused in logistics are more than made up for in the awe-producing spectacle of the work. Vertical sequences of suspended weighing scales each hold arrangements of various—mainly glass—found objects: vases, glasses, bowls.

The weighing scale is a recurring motif in the oeuvre of Kounellis, who passed away in 2017. A leading figure in the Arte Povera movement, his interest in how objects carry historical and symbolic meaning is displayed here with delicacy and dexterity.

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