603 Arts Foundation launches in New York

August 19, 2026

Founded by Kathleen “Kate” Lee and Clovis Lima Jr., 603 Arts Foundation is the first nonprofit dedicated exclusively to supporting emerging artists across Asia, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America through exhibitions, institutional partnerships, collecting, public programming, and long-term artist advocacy.

Based in New York City, the foundation was established in response to the growing contradiction that while technology has made art more visible than ever, meaningful cultural exchange has become increasingly rare and fragmented, with many artists from Asian and Latin America continuing to face barriers to institutional recognition and collector networks. This prompted them to manually build the ecosystem they felt was missing themselves.

“The internet and social media have made art more visible, but not necessarily more accessible,” says Lee. “We realized that genuine cultural exchange still depends on intimacy, context, conversation, and sustained support.”

Named after the 0.0603 seconds it takes light to travel between Salvador, Brazil and Manila, Philippines, Lima Jr. and Lee’s birthplaces, respectively, 603 reflects the foundation’s larger mission of collapsing distance between cultures through art.

This summer, 603 Arts Foundation presents its inaugural exhibition, The cataclysm of binary star systems, at Nunu Fine Art in SoHo, on view until 29 August. Inspired by celestial mythology and the prospect of rebuilding civilization, the exhibition explores themes of migration, memory, identity, and collective survival, asking what histories and cultural traditions humanity would choose to carry into an uncertain future.

Exhibiting artists include María Elena Pombo, featured in MoMA PS1’s Greater New York 2026; Ang Ziqi Zhang, whose paintings merge abstraction, nightlife, and late-capitalist visual culture; Rithika Merchant, celebrated for intricate cosmological narratives drawing from folklore and science; Keb Cerda, Jess Vieira, and Fiona von Fürstenberg who exhibits in the United States for the first time; and Alex Maceda, Ana Won, César López, Danni Huang, John José Santos III, Leah Ying Lin, and Lena Becerra.

Pi Artworks now represents Antonio Cosentino

August 18, 2026

Pi Artworks is delighted to announce the representation of Antonio Cosentino (b. 1970, Istanbul), who lives and works in Istanbul. Working across painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video and writing, Cosentino has developed a distinctive practice rooted in the changing fabric of the city and in the relationship between memory, everyday life and imagination.

A founding member of Hafriyat Collective, established in 1996, Cosentino emerged from a generation of artists who turned their attention to the street, popular culture and the contradictions of a rapidly transforming Istanbul. The city has remained central to his work ever since. Long walks, photographs, buildings, vehicles, signs, discarded objects and chance encounters accumulate across his practice, forming what has been described as a visual diary of urban life. Reality and fiction sit easily alongside one another; nostalgia, humour and melancholy are equally present.

Cosentino is also a storyteller in the literal sense. Writing has long accompanied his exhibitions, alongside artist’s books and publications, extending the world of his paintings and objects into language. His stories share the same attentive gaze as his visual work: the ordinary details of the city—a street, a car, the sea, a neighbourhood, an unexpected encounter—can become the beginning of another reality. As Cosentino writes, unpredictability and uncertainty are fundamental to his way of working: “The radiant work creates its own story and its own reality.”

Mary Heilmann (1940-2026)

August 17, 2026

Hauser & Wirth and 303 Gallery have announced the passing of artist Mary Heilmann, aged 86, on 14 August 2026 on Long Island, New York. She is survived by her nieces, Ann Jaime and Chris Heilmann, and her nephew, John Heilmann Jr., and their families. She was predeceased by her brother John and his wife Linda.

Iwan Wirth, President of Hauser & Wirth, reflected, ‘Manuela, Ursula and I met Mary in the spring of 1994. We were introduced to her by the artist Patty Martori and we started to collect her work right away. Mary also introduced us to other artists she knew and admired like Louise Bourgeois. Our first project with Mary was her book ‘The All Night Movie,’ which is kind of an autobiography as an artist book, and our first show with her came along in 1997, with so many to follow. Mary was really our first love.’ Mary had 10 exhibitions with the gallery since 1997 and will be greatly missed by all.

‘Mary Heilmann’s work combined formal innovation with a distinctly personal and playful sensibility. Over five decades, she carved out a singular position in contemporary art with her daring balance of rigor and geometry with improvisation and gesture, alongside a palette of vibrant color. This approach has reshaped how we might think about Minimal or Postminimal art—once defined by a severe restraint of color and form. Mary brought joy, emotion, and freedom to her paintings and sculptures and we are proud to have presented her work at Dia not once but twice, recognizing the enduring significance and influence of her practice.’ - Jessica Morgan, Director of the Dia Art Foundation

photo: Joe Gaffney

Sydney Contemporary returns for 10th edition

July 29, 2026

Sydney Contemporary, Australasia’s leading contemporary art fair, returns to Carriageworks from 3-6 September 2026 for its 10th anniversary edition.
 
▻ book tickets here
 
Presented in partnership with MA Financial Group, the fair will feature more than 100 galleries from Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the United Kingdom, bringing work by more that 500 artists from 33 countries.
 
▻ browse the full gallery list
 
Over a decade on, Sydney Contemporary continues to attract the country’s most respected galleries, with the majority of exhibitors returning year after year - a testament to the Fair’s enduring role as Australasia’s premier platform for contemporary art. Showcasing the breadth of contemporary art across painting, sculpture, photography, installation, works on paper and new media, the Fair offers audiences and collectors at every stage the opportunity to discover significant new work by leading and emerging artistic voices, with all works available for acquisition.
 
Sydney Contemporary Founder and Co-Owner Tim Etchells said: “As we celebrate our 10th edition, we’re delighted to showcase exceptional presentations by over 100 exhibitors, many of whom have been with us since the very first edition of the Fair. Sydney Contemporary has grown into one of the region's most anticipated events and a vital part of our cultural ecosystem, a genuine meeting ground for collectors, artists, gallerists, curators, advisors and new buyers alike, and I am proud of the role it plays in supporting living artists by generating the highest concentration of art sales in Australasia each year. We can’t wait to welcome visitors through the doors in September, for what is shaping up to be our most exciting program yet.”
 
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Betye Saar (1926-2026)

July 28, 2026

Roberts Projects has announced that Betye Saar passed away in her sleep in the early morning of Sunday 26 July in Los Angeles, just four days before her 100th birthday.

A pioneering artist and a leading figure in the assemblage movement, Betye Saar will be remembered for a body of work that powerfully interrogated African American identity, spirituality and the intersections between diverse cultures. Emerging as a vital voice during the Black Arts Movement and second-wave feminism of the late 1960s and 1970s, Saar utilized found objects, family heirlooms and vintage ephemera to explore themes of race, gender and historical memory. Her practice transformed everyday items into groundbreaking artworks and installations, cementing her legacy as one of the most influential artists of our time.

Among Saar’s most iconic works is her 1972 assemblage, The Liberation of Aunt Jemima, which places a stereotypical mammy figure holding a broom and a rifle, transforming a symbol of servitude into a warrior of Black liberation. Another foundational work, Black Girl’s Window (1969), utilizes an old window frame as a structural device to merge autobiographical elements with mysticism and racial identity.

Saar’s seven-decade career has been the subject of numerous exhibitions at museums around the world, and her work is represented in the collections of more than ninety institutions globally. Her extraordinary body of work has established her as a landmark figure in contemporary art, with a voice that will continue to inspire future generations.

Saar was immensely proud of her family; she is survived by her three daughters, Lezley Saar (Agust Agustsson), Alison Saar (Tom Leeser) and Tracye Saar-Cavanaugh (Francis Cavanaugh) and her grandchildren Kyle Leeser, Maddy Inez, Sola Saar, Gen Saar-Agustsson, Spencer Saar Cavanaugh, Megan Cavanaugh and her red footed tortoise Rojo.

Saar’s legacy has been entrusted to the Betye Saar Legacy Group. Established in 2025 by the artist and her studio in collaboration with Roberts Projects, the legacy group is a coalition of leading scholars and esteemed curators from global institutions, each hand-selected by Saar for their expertise in different areas of her multidisciplinary practice and stands as a testament to the enduring importance of her life and work for future generations.

There are many opportunities to celebrate and engage with Saar’s work during her centennial year: including notable exhibitions such as Betye Saar’s Black Dolls at the New York Historical Society, on view through 4 October 2026, Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight at the Huntington Library on view through 30 November 2027 and Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar, on view at Roberts Projects Los Angeles through 22 August 2026.

photo: David Sprague

Jessica Morgan appointed Director of Tate

July 22, 2026

The Chairman and Trustees of Tate today announced that leading British curator Jessica Morgan, currently Director of Dia Art Foundation, has been appointed Director of Tate. Morgan will become the tenth Director in Tate’s history.

Jessica Morgan has been Director of Dia Art Foundation since 2015. Based in New York, Dia is a multi-sited organisation which commissions and organises artist projects and exhibitions, cares for a growing collection of modern and contemporary art, and stewards several major site-specific art installations across the USA and Germany. Under Morgan’s leadership Dia has become a more expansive and dynamic institution, from increasing free admission and undertaking capital projects across all of its sites, to bringing a broader range of artists and artworks into its collection and exhibition programme.

Morgan previously worked at Tate Modern as The Daskalopoulos Curator, International Art, from 2010 to 2014, and was Curator at Tate from 2002 to 2010. At Tate, she curated numerous major exhibitions and organised new commissions for the Turbine Hall, as well as playing a key role in the growth of Tate’s international collection. Before Tate, Morgan served as Chief Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

Morgan joins Tate at an exciting moment for the organisation, as Tate Liverpool prepares to reopen in 2027 following a major transformation. She will take up her new role on 1 January 2027, succeeding Maria Balshaw CBE. Until then, Karin Hindsbo (Deputy Director of Tate and Director of Tate Modern) is serving as Interim Director of Tate.

photo: Gabriela Herman

Sarah Miltenberger joins Galerie Eva Presenhuber as Sales Director & Artist Liaison

July 14, 2026

Galerie Eva Presenhuber is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Miltenberger as Director Sales & Artist Liaison.

Miltenberger brings extensive experience across the international art market, with a career spanning both the gallery and auction sectors. After over a decade in senior roles at internationally renowned galleries Eigen + Art, carlier | gebauer, and König Galerie, she most recently held a leadership position for over 6 years at the leading international auction house Grisebach in Berlin.

Joining as Sales Director & Artist Liaison at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich marks a return to the gallery sector, where she will support the gallery’s artists, strengthen relationships with collectors worldwide, and contribute to the gallery’s continued international development.

“My career has given me the opportunity to experience the art market from multiple perspectives. Working in both international galleries and the auction world has shaped not only my understanding of primary and secondary markets, but also of the long-term development of artists’ careers and collections. I have long admired Eva Presenhuber for her exceptional program and enduring commitment to her artists. I look forward to joining her gallery and contributing my experience while building lasting relationships with artists, collectors, and colleagues alike.” – Sarah Miltenberger

Mai 36 Galerie announces representation of Leon Xu

July 9, 2026

Mai 36 Galerie is pleased to announce the representation of Leon Xu (*1995, Zhongshan, China, lives and works in New York).

Leon Xu’s work explores the boundaries between memory, identity, and place. Drawing on his background as a Chinese-born immigrant in the United States, Xu creates paintings which engage with themes of cultural displacement, emotional residue, and the tension between visibility and obscurity.

Leon Xu’s paintings dwell on peripheral beauty - the overlooked moments that pass at the edge of attention: flowers from a corner bodega, sunlight on a windshield, a neon sign at night.

Rendered in soft palettes and layered textures, these scenes carry a cinematic quality, at once deeply personal and universally familiar. Xu’s practice resists rigid narrative. These are not scenes from one life, but moments anyone might recognize. His paintings ask to be felt rather than deciphered. Suspended between joy and melancholy, desire and loss, Xu’s work returns our attention to the present, to a beauty that so often goes unnoticed until it is nearly gone.

Leon Xu was born in 1995 in Zongshan, China, and raised in San Francisco. He studied Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania and Painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He has presented solo exhibitions at Helena Anrather (New York), Whaam! (New York), and Mai 36 Galerie (Zurich) as well as group shows with Olney Gleason (New York), Perrotin (New York), Karma (New York) and Setareh (London).

photo: Sirui Ma

Galerie Lelong now represents Magnus Plessen

July 8, 2026

Galerie Lelong is pleased to announce the representation of Magnus Plessen.

Born in Hamburg in 1967, Magnus Plessen lives and works in Berlin. A self-taught artist, he pursued photography and filmmaking before dedicating himself fully to painting in 1999.

Plessen’s multidisciplinary background continues to inform a distinctive painterly practice that explores the porous boundary between abstraction and figuration. Through fragmented representations, dynamic compositions, and an expressive use of paint, he creates works that challenge conventional notions of space and perception, resulting in images that are characterized by their materiality and emotional complexity.

Plessen’s work was presented at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003). It has been exhibited in numerous international museum exhibitions and is held by major public institutions such as the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago), Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Düsseldorf), the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), the Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), and the Rose Art Museum (Waltham).

It is also included in prominent private collections including the De la Cruz Collection (Miami), the Fundación Amparo y Manuel (Mexico City), the Goetz Collection (Munich), the Rachofsky Collection (Dallas) and the Rubell Collection (Miami). Since 2019, he has been Professor of Painting at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe.

Magnus Plessen is also represented by Mai 36 Galerie (Zurich), Konrad Fischer Galerie (Düsseldorf, Berlin), Wentrup (Berlin), and White Cube (London, Paris, Honk-Kong, New York). His first solo exhibition with Galerie Lelong will open in Paris on October 19, 2026.

photo: © Kristin Krause

Almine Rech announces collaboration with Consejo Leonora Carrington

June 15, 2026

Almine Rech is honored to announce an exclusive collaboration with the Consejo Leonora Carrington in France. The gallery will collaborate with rossogranada, the exclusive representative of the Consejo Leonora Carrington, whose mission is to preserve and promote the work of the internationally renowned artist.

The gallery will debut bronze sculptures by Carrington from 2010 at Art Basel, Switzerland, this June. This inaugural presentation will be followed by a solo exhibition of the artist's work at Almine Rech Paris, Turenne, in September. Organized in collaboration with the Consejo Leonora Carrington and rossogranada, the exhibition will bring together the wide range of mediums Carrington explored throughout her career, including drawings, paintings, sculptures, tapestry, and writings.

"Our program recognizes the importance of women artists, and Leonora Carrington emerged as a natural choice. Although she occupies a leading position within the Surrealist movement, her work has only recently received the recognition it deserves. I am particularly drawn to Carrington’s extraordinary talent as both a painter and a sculptor, as well as to her audacity and courage. She worked freely between mediums throughout her life, from paper and canvas to tapestry, poetry, ceramics, wood, and bronze.

Surrealism, which emerged alongside the development of psychoanalysis, first found expression in literature and the visual arts in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. Yet much older works can be connected to it, and its influence continues to extend into the present and future, making it timeless. The first feminist movements also emerged in Europe and the United States during the same period; however, as Leonora Carrington often suggested, there was still a long way to go. Carrington famously rejected the role often imposed upon women in the arts, declaring, "I didn't have time to be anyone's muse. I was too busy rebelling against my family and learning to be an artist." (1)

During the last 17 years of her life, Carrington turned masterfully to bronze, creating molds that were cast into sculptures, masks, and figures she had depicted throughout her life in her paintings and drawings—notably creatures inspired by Greek mythology, Celtic art, and fairy tales… La Hija del Minotauro is a magnificent example. Created in bronze in 2010, it originated from the painting And Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur, from 1953, now in the collection of the MoMA."

- Almine Rech

(1) Leonora Carrington in Juliette Pozzo, Leonora Carrington, Carnet d'exposition, Coédition Découvertes Gallimard / GrandPalaisRmnÉditions, 2026

photo: © Photoshot / TopFoto

Almine Rech now represents Keita Morimoto in New York and Paris

June 4, 2026

Almine Rech is pleased to announce the representation of Keita Morimoto in New York and Paris, alongside a series of recent institutional acquisitions of the artist’s work.

Following his inaugural solo exhibition with Almine Rech New York in 2025, Morimoto’s work will be presented by the gallery at Art Basel in Switzerland this June, ahead of a solo exhibition at Almine Rech Paris in 2027.

"I have long been intrigued by the scenes depicted in Keita’s paintings, which are invariably set at night. Illuminated by the glow of the contemporary city, his figures belong to a generation born in the 1990s. They are part of an urban youth that discovers a sense of freedom after dark. Light has been a central subject for several artists from earlier generations represented by the gallery, and Keita brings a singular vision to it, one deeply rooted in the realities of the present day and conveyed through an exceptional command of painting."
— Almine Rech

Keita Morimoto (born 1990, Osaka, Japan) engages deeply with the techniques and themes of Baroque lighting, early 20th-century American Realism, and pre-modern Genre Painting. By referencing these historical movements, he reimagines contemporary urban life, transforming ordinary streets into extraordinary narratives. Through the symbolic use of light, he merges its sacred and natural connotations with the stark realities of consumerism and industrial culture, creating works that resonate with both historical depth and modern complexity.

photo: Haruta