Lee Ufan Awarded Wolfgang Hahn Prize, Alma Allen to Represent U.S. at Venice, and More Art World News

Art Dubai reveals participating galleries for its 20th edition, Mou Projects draws to a close in Hong Kong, and Film London’s Jarman Award goes to two artists for the first time. Here’s Ocula’s briefing on the past seven days in the art world.

Art Fairs and Market

Art Dubai Reveals Initial Details of 20th Anniversary Edition

The Emirati art fair has begun unveiling the participants in its 20th anniversary next April. Led by new director Dunja Gottweis (former global head of gallery relations at Art Basel), Art Dubai will feature more than 100 exhibitors at the Madinat Jumeirah resort, with 36 first-timers including Galerie Frank Elbaz, ChertLüdde, Labor, and Galerie Peter Kilchmann.

Biennials and Institutions

Alma Allen to Represent United States at Venice Next Year

Following much speculation after an initial proposal by Robert Lazzarini fell through, Utah-born sculptor Alma Allen was officially announced as the representative for the U.S. pavilion in 2026 Venice Biennale with an exhibition titled Call Me the Breeze. Unusually, the U.S. State Department determined the recipient, with curator Jeffrey Uslip inviting Allen, whom he had never met, to participate (despite Allen not having applied). Allen’s galleries Olney Gleason and Mendes Wood DM have both since dropped the artist from their rosters.

Galleries

As One Gallery Closes in New York, Another Opens

Stephen Friedman Gallery announced the closure of its New York outpost earlier this week after just two years in the space. (The gallery will maintain its London headquarters.) Meanwhile, Munich-based gallery Lohaus Sominsky, which opened in 2022, will expand internationally for the first time with a New York space opening next month.

Hong Kong’s Mou Projects Announces Closure

After a slew of gallery closures in the U.S. and U.K., it seems Hong Kong is not immune, either. Emerald Mou announced the end of her contemporary art space Mou Projects on Tuesday after six years in operation. The gallery’s last exhibition, featuring work by Tap Chan, closed in May.

Gallery Representations

Parisian Galleries Add Los Angeles Artists

Perrotin has announced the co-representation of Todd Gray—together with Lehmann Maupin, which has represented the Los Angeles-born photographer since 2023—and will exhibit his photo-sculptural works in a solo show at its Los Angeles outpost next March.

The Paris-founded Mennour, meanwhile, now represents the Los Angeles-based French painter Brooklin A. Soumahoro, alongside François Ghebaly in Los Angeles and Rodolphe Janssen in Brussels. The gallery will present one of Soumahoro’s geometric compositions at Art Basel Miami Beach next week.

Artist-Filmmaker Emilija Škarnulytė Joins Sies + Höke

Düsseldorf-based gallery Sies + Höke now represents Emilija Škarnulytė following her solo exhibition with the gallery in autumn 2024. The announcement comes ahead of the opening of the Lithuanian artist and filmmaker’s solo exhibition at Tate St Ives in Cornwall next week.

Argentine Painter Ad Minoliti joins OMR

Mexican gallery OMR has announced the representation of Argentinian painter Ad Minoliti. OMR first showed Minoliti’s abstractions, which explore queerness and feminism, in a solo exhibition in February, and will present recent work by the artist at Art Basel Miami Beach.

Awards and Residencies

Film London Jarman Award Goes to Two Artists for the First Time

Onyeka Igwe and Morgan Quaintance are the joint recipients of the £10,000 Film London Jarman Award, which recognises artists working with moving image. The shortlisted artists’ works are on view at London’s Whitechapel Gallery until 14 December, while Igwe and Quiatance’s films are being shown at on Irish Museum of Modern Art’s ‘Living Canvas’ until 10 December.

Lee Ufan Awarded 100K Wolfgang Hahn Prize

The Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst at Museum Ludwig has awarded its annual Wolfgang Hahn Prize to Lee Ufan, the Korean artist known for his minimalist practice and being a key figure in the Mono-ha movement. The Cologne museum will acquire up to €100,000 worth of Ufan’s work, and present his solo exhibition late next year. 

Inaugural Hyundai Blue Prize+ Winners Revealed

Hyundai has announced the two winning curatorial teams to produce exhibitions at Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing over the next two years as part of the first Hyundai Blue Prize+. Korean duo Hyejin Park and Yoonyoung Park’s exhibition will interrogate AI, while Dublin- and London-based curators Yifeng Wei and Penny Dan Xu’s proposal ‘speculates on alternative futures’.

Obituaries

Icelandic Artist Kristján Guðmundsson Dies at 84

Reykjavík-based i8 Gallery announced the death of the conceptual artist Kristján Guðmundsson, who had been with the gallery since its founding 30 years ago. Guðmundsson was a leading member of the SÚM artist-run space and movement during the 1960s, and represented Iceland at the 1982 Venice Biennale.

‘One Man Band’ Llyn Foulkes Dies at 91

Los-Angeles based artist and musician Llyn Foulkes died last week, as announced by his New York gallerist Kent Fine Art. Foulkes’ work, which often incorporates assemblage and a Mickey Mouse motif, skewers contemporary culture and capitalism. He was the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions across the U.S., as well as the 2013 documentary One Man Band. —[O]

Main image: Art Dubai Digital 2026: Art On Istanbul, Oddvix, Lisbon (2025) (detail). Print. 150 x 250 cm. Courtesy Art On Istanbul.