Welcome back to Art Movements, our weekly roundup dedicated to tracking the essential updates, prestigious appointments, major awards, institutional acquisitions, and unexpected happenings shaping the contemporary art world. From high-profile residencies in Harlem to a provocative conclusion for Austria’s Biennale presentation in Venice, here is a look at the most significant developments making waves across the global cultural landscape this week.
Studio Museum in Harlem Names Three Artists-in-Residence
The Studio Museum in Harlem has officially announced the selection of its incoming cohort for its renowned artists-in-residence program. Multidisciplinary artist Turiya Adkins, artist and curator Timothy Yanick Hunter, and photographer and filmmaker Clifford Prince King have been chosen for the prestigious yearlong fellowship for the 2026–2027 term.
Beginning this November and running through October 2027, the three selected practitioners will be provided with dedicated individual studio spaces located within the institution’s landmark new building situated on West 125th Street. The celebrated residency program offers far more than just physical workspace; it provides participants with invaluable professional development training, critical material and financial support, and a collaborative environment designed to foster deep artistic experimentation.
The immersive fellowship year traditionally culminates in a highly anticipated group exhibition held within one of the museum’s primary galleries, offering the artists a prominent platform to showcase the fruits of their yearlong labor to the public and critical stakeholders alike. Meanwhile, enthusiasts and supporters still have an opportunity to engage with the current cohort’s output, as an exhibition showcasing the work of the outgoing artists remains on view through January 3.
Brognon Rollin Wins Prix Duchamp
France’s most prestigious and largest contemporary art award, the Prix Duchamp, has been awarded to the dynamic artist duo Brognon Rollin, comprising David Brognon and Stéphanie Rollin. The esteemed accolade includes a cash prize of €35,000 (approximately $39,200) alongside participation in an exclusive exhibition featuring the works of all four nominated finalists. This exhibition is currently open to the public and will remain on view through February 7 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.
Fabrice Hergott, the director of the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, offered high praise for the duo’s conceptual practice, describing their body of work as a quiet yet tenacious statement on human vulnerability. Hergott further noted that the artistic output of Brognon Rollin successfully gives tangible, visible form to intangible human experiences that typically escape our everyday gaze—specifically highlighting the quiet agony of time spent waiting, the complexities of addiction, and the quiet depths of inner resilience.
The competition this year was remarkably fierce, featuring an exceptional lineup of contemporary creators. In addition to the winning duo, the other talented finalists nominated for the Prix Duchamp included Joël Andrianomearisoa, Laura Henno, and Josèfa Ntjam, each bringing distinct conceptual frameworks and material approaches to the prestigious national stage.
Acquisitions
Institutional collections continue to grow through significant gifts and acquisitions, ensuring that masterworks of modern and contemporary printmaking and fine art find permanent homes in major public research libraries and museums. Among the most notable recent institutional additions is a remarkable trove of prints by acclaimed artist Kiki Smith heading directly to the New York Public Library (NYPL).
The acquisition deepens the library’s extensive holdings of contemporary editions, highlighting Smith’s profound engagement with printmaking processes over the decades. Among the stellar pieces included in the acquisition is her haunting and technically exquisite 2000 print Pool of Tears II, published by Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE). This addition not only bolsters the NYPL’s robust visual arts collections but also provides scholars, researchers, and the general public with enriched access to the visionary output of one of contemporary art’s most influential figures, whose career has consistently interrogated the intersections of the human body, nature, and mortality.
Wildcard
As the 61st Venice Biennale draws toward its eventual conclusion, the Austrian Pavilion is preparing one of the most provocative and literal closing acts in the history of the international exhibition. Florentina Holzinger, the mastermind behind the pavilion’s ambitious and immersive installation Seaworld Venice, has announced the details for the project’s visceral coda, titled "Closing Étude."
Over the course of the seven-month biennale, the pavilion’s central operational conceit involved collecting and filtering urine from on-site port-a-potties, eventually routing the processed waste into a prominent dunk tank. Now, as the exhibition prepares to shutter, Holzinger is set to host a "final dinner" at the historic Scuola Grande della Misericordia in Venice. This unique closing event will feature all of the bodily waste collected from visitors throughout the entire run of the exhibition.
According to a statement released by the pavilion, the distilled remains harvested from the public over the multi-month event serve as a monument for the future. This startling accumulation of human byproduct is scheduled to be formally presented outside the closed pavilion on November 22, offering a striking, bodily meditation on resource circulation, sustainability, and the physical footprint of mass cultural tourism before the Biennale officially closes its doors for good.
