Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday.
Happy Wednesday! Here’s a round-up of who’s moving and shaking in the art trade this week.
Industry Moves
- Whitney Acquires Works by Gretchen Andrew and Michael Mandiberg: The museum added pieces from Andrew’s “Facetune Portraits” and Mandiberg’s “Taking Stock” to its digital art holdings—the only acquisitions made by this department during this half of the year.
- Hesse Flatow Adds Emily Harter to Its Roster: The San Francisco–based artist will open her second show with the gallery this month and feature in a solo booth at Minor Attractions Art Fair during Frieze London.
- Alexander Gray Associates to Represent Kamrooz Aram: Known for challenging the Western canon’s divide between ornament and fine art, the Brooklyn-based Iranian artist will debut with the gallery in a solo exhibition this February.
- Fong Chung-Ray Joins Alisan Fine Arts: A key figure in the development of abstraction in Chinese painting, the 90-year-old artist will open his first show with the gallery’s Upper East Side location on October 29.
- Hakim Bishara Named Editor-in-Chief of Hyperallergic: The Palestinian writer has led the publication as managing and senior editor. He first joined Hyperallergic in 2019.
- Isamu Noguchi Museum Names 2025 Award Honorees: The Long Island City institution announced that architect-designer Mira Nakashima and sculptor Kan Yasuda will receive the 12th annual award, which will be presented at the museum’s 40th anniversary benefit on November 17.
Big Number: $2 B.
That’s how much Ari Emanuel has raised in equity to fund Mari, his new holding company that now owns Frieze, the Miami and Madrid Open tennis tournaments, and a majority stake in the collector car auction house Barrett-Jackson.
Read This
On Tuesday, Brandon Taylor—literary critic favorite and social media gadfly—released his latest novel, Minor Black Figures. The book follows a young painter named Wyeth who—perhaps like Taylor himself—has drawn attention for work populated with Black characters, yet is being criticized for engaging either too much or too little with “the moment,” depending on who’s looking.
Despite the seemingly well-worn autofictional premise, Taylor told the New Yorker in a wide-ranging interview that the novel is deeply invested in the idea of the novel as a representation of “social totality,” a concept drawn from his readings of Marxist philosopher György Lukács, who famously theorized the form in 1955’s The Historical Novel. As flippant as he can be online, Taylor remains a sharp and thoughtful critic, making this interview—particularly its interrogation of “Black art”—well worth the read. —Harrison Jacobs, Executive Digital Editor
