EMI AVORA CHOSEN AS A FINALIST FOR THE WOMEN IN ART PRIZE
Singapore-based artist Emi Avora has been selected as a finalist for the Women in Art Prize in the Overseas Artist category and will be attending the awards evening in London. The Women in Art Prize is open to all emerging women artists who are living and working in the UK, with an awarded prize for one Overseas Artist. Now in its eighth year, the prize aims to empower and celebrate women artists from diverse backgrounds. Avora was born in Greece but is currently living and working in Singapore, drawing inspiration from both countries throughout her practice. Her works enter a dialogue with earlier historical canons, pondering the everyday within the context of larger cosmic forces that govern time. Across her oeuvre, Avora explores themes of ‘place’ and ‘identity,’ allowing space for re-invention and blurring the boundaries between the real and the imagined. Mythology is woven into narratives of reality, with Avora noting that, “the very process of my mark making opens up a platform to investigate painting’s power to transcend imagery by breaking it down to the basics of colour, shape, pattern and composition.”
Emi Avora in her studio
$4.5 MILLION MARK BRADFORD PAINTING LEADS FRIEZE SEOUL 2025 OPENING DAY SALES
Hauser & Wirth led the sales from Frieze Seoul’s VIP Day with of a triptych painting by Mark Bradford. Sold for $4.5 million, the triptych is the highest reported sale since the debut of Frieze Seoul in 2022. The fair opened with queues at the COEX exhibition centre, hosting more than 120 galleries from 30 countries. Alongside this major sale, there were a number of seven-figure sales reported including another major sale at Hauser & Wirth with George Condo’s Purple Sunshine (2025) for $1.2 million. Thaddaeus Ropac reported a sale of a Georg Baselitz painting for €1.8 million ($2.1 million) and White Cube sold a Baselitz painting for €1.3 million ($1.5 million). In addition, Seoul gallery Hakgojae sold Kim Whanki’s Cloud and the Moon (1962) for ₩2000 million ($1.4 million). Dealer Thaddaeus Ropac observed, “There’s been a noticeable step up in the pace on opening day this year, in terms of the energy, but critically in the concentration of serious collectors attending who are very focused and decisive in their buying. It’s still early in the fair, but already we’ve sold to collectors from Korea—including important museum collections—as well as Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, [and] a few from America and Europe.” Artsy have listed some of the top sales from the preview day, from both international and regional galleries.
Installation view of Hauser & Wirth’s booth at Frieze Seoul 2025
FRIEZE OPENS PERMANENT BASE IN SEOUL
Frieze have announced that they will be opening a permanent exhibition space Frieze Seoul House in Seoul’s Yaksu-dong neighbourhood, coinciding with Frieze Seoul 2025. The new space has been modelled off No. 9 Cork Street, which was launched in London by Frieze in 2021. No. 9 Cork Street works around the model of inviting galleries from outside of London to stage selling shows and the new Seoul location is hoping to continue this. Patrick Lee, the director of Frieze Seoul, is confident about this venture in Seoul, “Frieze has gravitas in Seoul. As with No. 9, we want to connect galleries to a receptive, inbuilt audience, and to provide them with a platform to make good sales. It’s both networking and commercial.” However, Lee is also conscious of tailoring the space to local audiences, primarily through incorporating different artistic disciplines into the programme, staging exhibitions by architects, filmmakers and fashion designers, and hosting music industry events. Commercial galleries will be the “primary tenants,” but the venue will also be open to curators and biennials to hold non-selling exhibitions. Frieze Seoul also offers a bridge for international galleries venturing into the city, providing a range of local services, from shippers and installers to interns for translation. Frieze also intends to move its Seoul office to the new space, which covers four floors and holds the capacity for two simultaneous gallery shows.The building was renovated by the Seoul-based studio Samuso Hyoja, retaining many of its original features from its 1988 design. The inaugural exhibition will feature ten artists including Korean artists Grim Park and Haneyl Choi, particularly spotlighting themes of queerness and the home.
A rendering of Frieze House Seoul, renovated by local architects Samuso Hyoja
A LIFETIME OF DISCOVERY: THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT F. AND PATRICIA G. ROSS WEIS
Christie’s have announced the auction of the collection of Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis this November in New York. It is considered one of the most thoughtful private collections of the 20th century, bringing together works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, and Mark Rothko. Robert was the chairman of Weis Markets Inc., a family-operated food company founded in 1912 in rural Pennsylvania. He approached his collecting with intellectual rigour, researching the art world, reading auction catalogues, and visiting galleries and museums in New York City on weekends and in the UK and France on vacations. Patricia, born in New York, held a lifelong passion for art, architecture, and design. She played a particularly key role in the couple’s acquisition of modern ceramics, their collection including pieces by Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. The Weis’ collection includes works from some of the most prominent 20th century movements, from Braque’s Fauvist landscape La Ciotat (1907) to examples of surrealist works. The couple forged relationships with artists such as Tom Wesselmann and Wolf Kahn but were also dedicated to understanding artists’ practices within the museum and gallery environments. The collection captures the breadth of 20th century art history as well as the couple’s own intention and sensitivity. The preview and auction will be held during marquee week this autumn in New York.
Joan Miró (1893-1983), Femme nue, 1932.
TAF CONVERSATION IN SÃO PAULO AND SINGAPORE
The Tanoto Art Foundation will be collaborating with the Bienal de São Paulo and the Singapore Biennale this autumn as part of the TAF Conversation Series. TAF Conversation: in São Paulo is part of the Bienal’s Conjugations program and brings together five artists from Southeast Asia, Korakrit Arunanondchai, I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, Trinh Thi Nguyễn, Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, and Trương Công Tùng. The event is also in collaboration with writer and art historian Putu Sridiniari and scholar Julia Bryan-Wilson, and will feature a series of screenings, a talk, a panel discussion and a performance. It will offer “a meditation on humanity and the sensory intelligence it shares with the living world and its many beings.” Regarding the Singapore Biennale, TAF Artistic Director Xiaoyu Weng will be joined in conversation by artists Cui Jie and Ayesha Singh. Within their practices, both artists explore the materiality of space and architecture, highlighting the ways that power structures and political histories are embedded in the built environment and urban infrastructure. Themes of displacement, collective memory, and nation-building are invoked by the artists’ works and the heterogenous perspectives. These conversations are part of a broader theme of materiality, expanding beyond just the physicality and delving into the ways in which one engages with materials.
Documented image of Trương Công Tùng's performance in Central Highlands, Vietnam
ART BASEL TAPS MOMA PS1’S RUBA KATRIB TO CURATE UNLIMITED
Art Basel have announced Ruba Katrib as the new curator of Unlimited, the fair’s platform for large-scale projects. Katrib is currently the Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoMA PS1 in New York. With her inaugural edition set for Basel 2026, Art Basel interview Katrib, discussing thoughts coming into the role and her plans as curator. Katrib shares her excitement about stepping into the role, “I think it’s an excellent opportunity to present some major works. There really isn’t anything like the scale or scope of Unlimited. You leave the sector with a big-picture overview of what’s happening in art. I have such a strong memory of my first time seeing it – I was blown away. It’s an honour to be part of the organizing team. I’m also happy to be spending more time in Basel.” The curator notes that for her, “it’s about working with the network of artists and galleries I already know, while also making new connections and learning about works or practices that I might not encounter in my day-to-day.” The global exchange is another aspect of the sector that is important to Katrib, coming from one of the most international cities in the world. Katrib’s previous curatorial work has been centred around sculpture and new production, often working with artists on new commission projects. Given the scale of Unlimited, Katrib notes, “the works are experienced in a less mediated way than in other settings. That’s what’s so thrilling: it’s direct. Unlimited feels like a grand gesture towards privileging art experiences at their most ambitious. I think that’s something to hold on to.”
Ruba Katrib
Jordan Tan holds an MA in History of Art from the prestigious Courtauld Institute of Art. With a passion for fine art and the art market, Jordan plays a key role at Art Works by researching and interpreting trends across the primary and secondary markets, delivering valuable insights and business intelligence for the fine art department.
