The art world is in constant chaos with awards, institutional changes, and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Here are the must-know highlights from this week’s art agenda:
Awards and Honors
-Marina Abramović: The queen of performance art, Marina Abramović, has been awarded the 2025 Praemium Imperiale Sculpture Prize. The award was presented at a ceremony in Tokyo, attended by Hilary Clinton. Painter Peter Doig and architect Eduardo Souto de Moura are also among this year’s recipients of the Japan Art Association awards.
-Rosana Paulino: Afro-Brazilian artist and educator Rosana Paulino has won the 2025–2027 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice, presented by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. Paulino was recognized for her examination of the intertwined histories of science and racial violence in her 2016 artist book ¿História Natural?.
-Other Honors: The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture will honor artist Tracey Emin, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, and the New York art space Socrates Sculpture Park at its 55th annual awards dinner next month at MoMA.
Institutions and Transitions Canal Projects
-Closing: The experimental nonprofit art organization Canal Projects, which has operated in Manhattan for only four years, has announced it will close its physical space and transition into a “grant and funding organization.”
-New Representations: London-based painter Gideon Rubin is now represented by Anat Ebgi gallery in New York and Los Angeles.
-New Director: Anthony Kiendl will become the new director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver starting December 1. Kiendl previously came from the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Wildcard: The New Temple of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
-Refik Anadol’s AI Museum: Refik Anadol, known for his shape-shifting, meditative artworks created using artificial intelligence, has announced that he will open “the world’s first Artificial Intelligence Arts Museum” next spring.
-“Dataland”: Aptly named “Dataland,” the institution will be part of The Grand LA complex in downtown Los Angeles, designed by Frank Gehry. The museum is being promoted as a space where “human imagination meets machine creativity” and will include Anadol’s “Infinity Room” (2015) and an immersive area filled with “AI-generated scents.”
-Final Comment: (Following the rule of adding commentary with a witty tone): “Fantastic!!!! Just kidding, we’re all doomed.”
These developments show how the art world is oscillating between its deep-rooted legacies (Abramović’s performance art) and a rapidly digitizing future that pushes ethical boundaries (the AI Art Museum).
