Workers at The Met Move to Unionise, Greece Announces Venice Representative, and More Art World News

A new residency launches in Sharjah, long-established galleries close in San Francisco and New York, and Sony announces its photo prize recipients. Here’s Ocula’s briefing on the past seven days in the art world.

Art Fairs and Market

Art Basel Hong Kong to Spotlight ‘Ultra-Contemporary’ Work in 2026

The art fair, which will take place from 27­ to 29 March next year, has announced its line-up of 240 galleries as well as a new section, ‘Echoes’, dedicated to work created during the past five years. Among the 32 first-time exhibitors are Istanbul gallery Pilevneli, Uffner & Liu from New York, and The Commercial, based in Sydney.

Sotheby’s Closes Out New York Sales with Frida Kahlo Record

At the end of an eventful week for the New York modern and contemporary auctions, a new record was achieved for the Mexican surrealist Frida Kahlo, whose paintings rarely come to market. Kahlo’s El sueño (La cama) (1940) sold for $54.7 million including fees, setting the highest price for a work by a female artist at auction.

Paris Photo Closes with Promising Results

The 28th edition of the annual photography fair wrapped up on Sunday with a total of 75,000 visitors flowing through the Grand Palais during the show’s four days. Notable sales included a work by Zofia Kulik sold to an institution for €200,000 by Berlin-based Persons Projects, and a Eiji Okashi set sold for €30,000 by Japanese gallery and publisher Akio Nagasawa.

Biennials and Institutions

Greece Reveals its Venice Biennale 2026 Representative

The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on Monday that Andreas Angelidakis will represent the Mediterranean nation at the Venice Biennale next year. The Greek-Norwegian artist will present a new installation called Escape Room, using the philosopher Plato’s allegorical cave as a starting point to examine the present, considering right-wing politics and capitalist constructs.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Workers Look to Unionise

The United Auto Workers filed a petition on Monday to represent around 1,000 employees at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, including those in curatorial, education, conservation and retail departments. The Met’s security guards and projectionists are already represented by smaller unions.

Portland Art Museum Reopens After $116 Million Capital Campaign

Next in a wave of U.S. museum reopenings this autumn is the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, which unveiled its transformation on Thursday. The renovations include a revamped entrance and plaza named for the painter Mark Rothko, who grew up in Portland, a new collection dedicated to Black artists, and expanded public spaces.

Galleries

Curtain Calls for Two Significant 1970s U.S. Galleries

Lower Manhattan’s Sperone Westwater Gallery has announced its closure at the end of the year following its current Richard Long exhibition and participation in Art Basel Miami Beach. Co-founders Angela Westwater and Gian Enzo Sperone have ‘decided to pursue separate endeavours’, according to a statement released just two months after the gallery’s 50th anniversary.

On the West Coast, Rena Bransten Gallery will close its San Francisco space on Saturday following its current Oliver Lee Jackson exhibition. The gallery, which was founded in 1974, will move to a remote model and pursue collaborative exhibitions.

Upsilon Gallery Opens in Milan

The New York and London-based gallery opened its new Milan outpost on Tuesday with a solo exhibition of Suprematist-inspired paintings by American artist Osvaldo Mariscotti. The 200-square-metre exhibition space is situated in the Quadrilatero della moda, the city’s luxury shopping district.

Awards and Residencies

Sharjah Art Foundation Launches First Residency Cohort

Following an open call, the Sharjah Art Foundation has announced its Residency Programme’s inaugural artists, who will work between Sharjah City and Kalba from now until January. The interdisciplinary artists invited to this Emirati initiative are Maitha Abdalla, Afraa Ahmed, Mila Balzhieva, Daria Goncharova and Fatemah Kazemi, as well as artist duos HUNITI GOLDOX and Jim Jasper Lumbera and Joey Alexis Singh.

$50K Pérez Prize Goes to Javier Téllez

Miami’s Pérez Art Museum has awarded its annual $50,000 prize to Venezuelan artist Javier Téllez. The artist, who has lived in New York for the past three decades, produces films and other work exploring marginalised communities, especially within the contexts of migration, mental illness and disability.

Sony World Photography Awards Celebrate Joel Meyerowitz

The American street photographer’s six-decade career has been recognised with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize at the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards. Meyerowitz, a pioneer of colour photography, will enjoy a retrospective at Somerset House next year following the awards ceremony in London on 16 April. —[O]

Main image: Installation view of Pipilotti Rist, View of 4th Floor To Mildness in the new Crumpacker Center of the Portland Art Museum, Oregon. © Pipilotti Rist. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Luhring Augustine/Artists Rights Society, New York/ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Jeremy Bittermann.