Art Movements, published every Thursday afternoon, offers a roundup of essential news, appointments, awards, and other developments in today’s chaotic art world.
Pat Oleszko, whose oversized inflatable sculpture and early film work drew crowds at this year’s Whitney Biennial, has been named the 2026 Bucksbaum Award recipient. The $100,000 prize, presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art, honors a Biennial artist whose work demonstrates “a singular combination of talent and imagination.” After recently closing a major solo show at SculptureCenter in New York City and with work currently on view at The Campus in Upstate New York, the artist is enjoying a particularly strong year.
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles gallery Murmurs has announced that it will close its physical space in Downtown LA. The gallery has mounted exhibitions by artists including Sula Bermúdez-Silverman and Alison Nguyen. “It is no secret that the creative landscape is facing an intense economic squeeze,” its founders wrote. “We are letting go of our space not to stop, but to discover more resilient ways to operate.” They added that a closing celebration is planned for the fall.
In another announcement, two-time cancer survivor Jacolby Satterwhite has become the first recipient of the Artists Living with Cancer grant, a new initiative from the Rema Hort Mann Fund and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. The program is designed to support visual artists undergoing treatment in the New York metro area. After this inaugural $25,000 award, the grant will provide one-time awards of up to $10,000.
On the acquisitions front, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) said this week that it acquired more than 90 modern and contemporary works from January to June 2026. The additions include pieces by Rose B. Simpson, Ana Mendieta, Betye Saar, and Kishio Suga. Among the highlights is a watercolor on paper by graphic artist Orlando Smith, who is currently incarcerated at San Quentin prison; “Aging Is A Fact!” (2025), pictured above, calls attention to the risks and struggles facing the prison’s aging population.
In other news, James Cohan Gallery will now be called Norr Cohan after gallery partner David Norr took sole ownership of the New York City space. Jeanette Andrews is now represented by Trotter&Sholer gallery, and Louis Blue Newby is now represented by Ehrlich Steinberg gallery.
