Art Movements, published every Thursday afternoon, is a roundup of must-know news, appointments, awards, and other happenings in today’s chaotic art world.
Alma Allen Heads to Perrotin
The French gallery with outposts in Paris and New York has announced the latest addition to its roster: Utah-born, Mexico-based sculptor Alma Allen, who raised eyebrows when he agreed to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale under the Trump administration’s highly compromised selection process. Allen’s former galleries, Mendes Wood and Olney Gleason, reportedly dropped the artist after he accepted the State Department’s nomination. Look, when Trump calls for art that promotes “American exceptionalism” and censors exhibitions that confront this country’s violent legacy, it says something about Allen’s work that it was deemed acceptable — namely, that it is antiseptic and probably politically vacant. (Or maybe just shiny.) In social media comments last year, Allen said nothing about the ethical line many feel he’s crossed, and instead strawmanned critics by accusing them of bias against his “working-class” and “self-taught” origins. What about all the artists who fit that description and aren’t represented by a mega-gallery?
We See You, Brooklyn!
- The Brooklyn Museum announced Keisha Scarville as the recipient of its 2026 UOVO Prize, which celebrates emerging Brooklyn-based artists. The prize comes with a $25,000 unrestricted cash grant and two commissions, one for the facade of UOVO’s Bushwick facility and another for the Brooklyn Museum’s Iris Cantor Plaza. The latter, titled “Where Salt Meets Black Water,” will open at the museum on May 8.
What Else Happened?
- The Portland Museum of Art named Andrew Eschelbacher as its new deputy director and head of Art and Exhibitions. Eschelbacher previously served as director of collections and exhibitions at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.
- Laura Phipps, former associate curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, is the new director of the Gochman Family Collection. Read more at Hyperallergic.
- Arturo Agüero was appointed as director of Education and Public Programs at El Museo del Barrio.
- Martina Tanga was named the new director of Exhibitions and Curatorial Initiatives at the American Federation of Arts.
- Anne E. Stoner won the 2026 Panczenko MFA Prize from the Chazen Museum of Art.
- Jessica Silverman and Lehmann Maupin galleries now co-represent artist Guimi You.
The Artist Is Buoyant
In what’s being improbably billed as Marina Abramović’s “first foray into inflatable materials,” the performance artist better known for her static stare than her aerostatics will debut a new installation at the Balloon Museum in New York City. According to a press release, the project will consist of “an immersive environment populated by shoulder-high inflatable blades of grass,” which sounds cute and whimsical, words not often associated with the artist’s reputation as a messiah of late capitalism (remember her skincare line?!). In a statement about the project, Abramović said: “The balloon is, fundamentally, a childhood object. But beyond its innocence, the balloon carries a deeper philosophical charge.” I guess we’ll have to wait until the July opening to see if that’s just a lot of hot air.
