The Art World This Week, 29 August 2025

Jeff Koons returns to Gagosian, the Getty Foundation awards $2.6m worth of grants to increase access to Black art history archives, and hundreds of artists sign the Collective Courage manifesto following Trump’s accusations against the Smithsonian. Here’s Ocula’s briefing on the art world news you might have missed.

Biennales and Institutions

Fundação Bienal de São Paulo’s 36th Edition to Showcase Works Worldwide with Augmented Reality

Centred on the theme, Not All Travellers Walk Roads — Of Humanity as Practice, the event will consist of two programmes: ‘Conjugations’ and ‘Apparitions’. ‘Conjugations’ will include a series of meetings and debates developed in conjunction with notable cultural institutions from across the world, while the ‘Apparitions’ project will present works from the exhibition in select locations around the world through augmented reality. 

Getty Invests $2.6m to Uncover Black Art History

The Getty Foundation will extend the art foundation’s Black Visual Arts Archives programme to libraries, museums, and universities across the United States. The initiative funds the processing and activation of collections connected to Black artists. New recipients of the grant include the Amistad Research Center and Clark Atlanta University, which received $275,000 and $140,000 respectively.  

Hundreds of Artists Sign a Manifesto in Response to Trump’s Attack on Smithsonian

The Collective Courage manifesto demands that arts organisations ‘maintain autonomy over programming choices, curatorial decisions, and artistic content’ in the face of the White House’s accusation that the Smithsonian is adhering to ‘anti-American ideology,’ sparking debates around both institutional and self-censorship. Signatories span institutions like the Brooklyn-based A.I.R. Gallery, the City of Sacramento’s Office of Arts and Culture, and the Japanese American National Museum, alongside notable individuals such as Cindy Sherman and curator Deborah Rothschild.

PODO Museum’s Latest Exhibition Explores Violence and Healing

The Jeju Island-based museum has drawn inspiration for its latest exhibition from the ‘Pale Blue Dot’, an evocative photograph of Earth in space, taken by Voyager 1 in 1990. It features work from 13 international artists, including Mona Hatoum, Jenny Holzer, and Liza Lou. The presentation takes place across three galleries and will run until August of next year.

Gallery Representations

Jeff Koons Returns to Gagosian’s Artist Roster After Leaving Four Years Ago

Gagosian is ‘pleased’ to announce it will once more represent Jeff Koons after the artist left the mega-gallery four years ago to join Pace Gallery. Best known for synthesising ideas from mass culture, art history, and spectacle, Koons has had thirteen solo exhibitions staged by Gagosian in Beverly Hills, Hong Kong, London, and New York in the past two decades. 

Pop Art Painter Peter Saul and Newly Appointed Director Anna Christina Furney Join Gladstone Gallery

The international gallery, founded by the late Barbara Gladstone, will now represent the 91-year-old artist. Saul is best known for his cartoonish critiques of official art movements and political narratives. Furney has also joined the gallery as director, previously serving as a partner at the now-defunct Venus Over Manhattan. —[O]

Main image: Fondation H building (2025). Photo: Fabio Thierry Andriamiarintsoa. © Fondation H.