It is far too easy to dismiss art fairs, if not the entire commercial art market. By the same token, it is easy to be turned off by Dubai, the most glitzy and commercial of the UAE's emirates. It might take a little longer to appreciate how an art fair staged in a free port like this could benefit artistic production and development—an...

'The 2018 edition of the fair presents an intimate and diverse line-up of 105 galleries from 48 countries, making this year's edition the fair's largest and most globally diverse to date. Alongside 77 returning galleries, the fair welcomes 28 first-time exhibitors from around the world.' –Art Dubai (21–24 March 2018).

'Notable for its unique position both geographically and culturally, the Contemporary Istanbul art fair prides itself on bringing together galleries, artists and collectors from Turkey, the Caucasus, the Black Sea, Russia and the Middle East, as well as from Europe, America and Asia.'–Contemporary Istanbul (14–17 September 2017).

How did you first meet and start collaborating as artists?We have known each other since childhood, but did our first project together as "Recycle Group" in 2008. Before that we worked separately but always advised each other, after realising that each of us have a role in creating the work and we started to work as a...

Five winners of the Turner prize are demanding an end to BP's sponsorship of the National Portrait Gallery, stepping up the campaign against big oil's involvement in the arts.Antony Gormley, Rachel Whiteread, Anish Kapoor, Gillian Wearing and Mark Wallinger are among a group of almost 80 leading artists, including winners of the BP portrait award,...

A small sign outside Nancy Spero: Paper Mirror at MoMA PS1 says 'this exhibition may not be suitable for all audiences.' Fair enough, since the show contains some abstract, impressionistic depictions of Vietnam War atrocities and some garden-variety nudity. But when you think of the importance of her work in this moment, the sign also feels like a...

Who was here first—Nancy Spero, or Hernán Cortés? It may be too much to call Spero (or anyone) a 'universal' artist but her work certainly speaks to the weird postcolonial hybrids that survive as culture in the twenty-first century.

Throughout the show Ostrer collages and layers both sculptural and photographic elements together to create disrupted and often disturbing images. Within the vast footwear installation is his most recent photographic series, Currentsee. For the central protagonist he transforms himself into a dominant tribal leader, a powerful chieftain of all...

You are invited into Do Ho Suh's apartment. You put down your bag, remove your coat and step inside. The hallway changes color as you proceed, first pink, then green and then blue. It's narrow, but it feels spacious. There is a red staircase outside, and beyond it people are moving around. You can see them, right through the walls. Cabinet handles...

Najafov originally trained as a soldier, as well as a professional sportsman – coaching hand-to-hand combat. Inspired by other self-taught artists such as Paul Gauguin and Francis Bacon, it was only in 2003 that he began to experiment with oil paint. In a short span of time, Najafov has been touted to be the next "Francis Bacon" and has...

'I started the residency responding to the studio space with its abandoned junk, which I was told I could make use of. I saw it as 'lovingly stored' for potential use. It felt sad that it would be thrown away, so I started to pick through everything much like a jackdaw or crow might.'From these discards McAdam Freud's sculptures arise imbued with...