The Art World This Week, 5 September 2025
Save to My OculaGalleries share Frieze Seoul sales, details announced for Adelaide Biennial, remembering American artists Rosalyn Drexler and Robert Grosvenor, and more. Here’s Ocula’s briefing on the art world news you might have missed.
Biennales and Institutions
Adelaide Biennial to ‘Yield Strength’ in 2026
The Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art has announced the 24 participating artists for next year’s edition, entitled Yield Strength. Curator Ellie Buttrose says that the 2026 Biennial ‘foregrounds how bodily experience and intellectual wonder are intimately entwined in the experience of art’.
Former National Portrait Gallery Director to Head up Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin announced Kim Sajet as its newest director on Wednesday. The Dutch art historian was the first woman to head the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, President Trump controversially announced her termination after 12 years of service, shortly after which she resigned.
Singapore Biennale Reveals Artist Lineup
The island nation’s biennale has revealed the over 80 artists participating in this year’s edition. Beginning at the end of October, the eighth edition will feature 30 new commissions. Highlights include installations by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Guo-Liang Tan, Emily Floyd, and Joo Choon Lin.
CCA Tashkent Launches First-Year Programme, and Announces Opening
Alongside the Bukhara Biennial opening this week, the burgeoning Uzbek art scene sees more action as the Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent announces its first year of programming, including artist residencies, youth programmes, and the launch of the Tashkent Public Art Festival. The museum opens to the public in March 2026 with its inaugural group exhibition Hikmah, meaning ‘wisdom’.
Art Fairs and Market
Milan’s miart to Embrace ‘New Directions’ Next Year
For miart’s 30th edition, Milan’s international modern and contemporary art fair promises to be jazzy with a theme celebrating the double centenary of the births of musicians John Coltrane and Miles Davis. The fair has also announced a new venue—the architectural space of the South Wing of Allianz MiCo—and will take place from 17 to 19 April 2026.
Frieze Seoul in Full Swing
The art scene descended on Seoul this week for Frieze Seoul and KIAF, as well as auxiliary events across the Korean capital. Although Frieze is on through the weekend, galleries are already reporting successes. Lehmann Maupin, for example, sold several works by Korean artists Kim Yun Shin, Do Ho Suh, and Sung Neung Kyung. Exhibitors have also seen seven-figure sales, such as a €1.8 million Georg Baselitz painting at Thaddaeus Ropac.
Weis Collection to Come Under the Hammer
Christie’s has announced that the $180 million (USD) Weis collection will come to auction during its marquee week in New York this November. No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) (1958) by Mark Rothko is expected to achieve $50 million in a focussed single-owner sale.
Awards and Residencies
SeMA-HANA Media Art Award Recipients Revealed
Hiwa K and Anocha Suwichakornpong have won the 2025 SeMA-HANA Media Award, as announced by the Seoul Museum of Art. The award recognises the top contributions to the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Ernest A. Bryant III was also given an honourable mention.
Rabkin Foundation Announces 2025 Prize Winners
The $50,000 prize for U.S.-based visual arts journalists has announced its eight recipients. Winners include America Meredith of First American Art Magazine, J Wortham of The New York Times Magazine, and independent journalist Eva Recinos, among others.
Obituaries
Pop Art Painter Rosalyn Drexler Dies at 98
Once hailed by Nora Ephron as a ‘Renaissance Woman’, the prolific artist, writer, and former professional wrestler died on Wednesday at her home in New York. Her passing was announced by her representatives, Garth Greenan Gallery.
American Sculptor Robert Grosvenor Dies at 88
Paula Cooper Gallery announced the passing of sculptor Robert Grosvenor on Thursday. His death comes shortly after the opening of a major survey of his work at the Fridericianum in Kassel. —[O]
Main image: Rosalyn Drexler, The Syndicate (1964) (detail). Acrylic and paper collage on canvas. 172.7 x 201.9 cm. Private collection, Massachusetts.
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