Weekly News Roundup: December 6, 2024
By The Editors
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The artists shortlisted for the NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging): (top row, left to right) ELLIE HANNON, VERDIKA RAMPAL, ALI TAHAYORI; (bottom row, left to right) ELLEN FERRIER, JOEL SHERWOOD SPRING, and ALI NOBLE. Courtesy Create NSW, Sydney.
Shortlist for 2025 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging) Revealed
On November 28, the New South Wales Government and Sydney’s nonprofit Artspace jointly announced the six artists shortlisted for the 2025 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging). The nominees are: installation artist Ellen Ferrier, photographer Ellie Hannon, multimedia artist Vedika Rampal, “anti-disciplinary” artist Joel Sherwood Spring, abstract painter Ali Noble, and interdisciplinary artist Ali Tahayori. The annual AUD 30,000 (USD 19,300) award offers one emerging New South Wales-based artist the opportunity to undertake self-directed professional development with support from Artspace’s curatorial team. Michelle Newton, interim director at Artspace, said in a press release: “This is an opportunity for [artists] to build new networks, develop skills, and present their work in a generative, inspiring, and professional environment.” The finalists’ works will be featured in a group exhibition at Artspace next August, with the winner to be announced at the opening.
Full-color image of the planet Mercury. Courtesy NASA, Washington, DC; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel; and the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Mercury Crater Named After Late Modernist Sculptor
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially named a crater on Mercury after the late Japanese American sculptor Ruth Asawa (1926–2013). As specified by the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature’s existing categories for naming planetary features, craters on Mercury are designated for “art historically significant figures for more than 50 years” with “outstanding or fundamental contributions” to the field. One of the less-than-30 female visual artists honored to date, Asawa was acknowledged for her innovative approach to art and advocacy for arts education, which have carried a lasting impact and garnered her posthumous accolades. Special recognition was given to her two-dimensional artworks and public commissions across California as well as her iconic biomorphic ceiling-wire sculptures, often suspended in the air, which she likened to “drawing in space.” Her passion for arts education contributed significantly to the establishment and development of San Francisco’s School of the Arts and other art programs in the city.
Portrait of SHILPA GUPTA. Photo by Felix Koenig. Courtesy the Possehl Foundation, Lubeck.
Indian Artist Wins 2025 Possehl Prize
The nonprofit Possehl Foundation in Lübeck, northern Germany, has announced Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta as the winner of its EUR 25,000 (USD 26,500) Possehl Prize for International Art 2025. Gupta, the third artist to receive the triennial award, explores the social and psychological impacts of geopolitical borders through video projections, drawings, sculptures, computer-based installations, and performances. According to a press release, the five-person jury comprising various German art professionals selected Gupta for her “sensitive and often political works” which address “important [contemporary] issues . . . such as belonging, safety, censorship, religion, freedom of expression, and human rights.” Launched in 2019, the Possehl Prize for International Art supports art and architecture in Lübeck, aiming to establish the German seaport city as a contemporary arts hub. As part of the award, Gupta will present a solo exhibition of her work at Lübeck’s Kunsthalle St. Annen on September 27, 2025.
View of the 9th Photofairs edition at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, 2024. Courtesy Photofairs, Shanghai.
Photofairs Cancels Hong Kong Edition
Just four months before it was scheduled to occur, the inaugural Hong Kong edition of Photofairs has been canceled. The London-based organizer Creo Arts cited logistical issues as the primary reason, with no further elaboration. Photofairs debuted in Shanghai ten years ago with a mission to enhance the accessibility of photo media and video art for collectors in the region. A spokesperson for the fair said that despite “great interest and engagement” from their partners, local and international galleries, and the arts community, “the necessary conditions to produce a high-quality and dynamic fair were no longer met.” However, Creo mentioned plans to revisit the initiative, emphasizing their commitment to Hong Kong: “[We] believe it deserves a dedicated photography platform.” This announcement marks Creo’s second cancellation after Photofairs’ New York edition was discontinued in June due to “market conditions.” Photofairs’ tenth iteration in Shanghai will go ahead as planned from May 8–11, 2025.
Exterior view of the Simose Art Museum in Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture. Courtesy the Simose Art Museum, Otake.
Japanese Art Institution Named World's Most Beautiful Museum
The Simose Art Museum in Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture, has been voted the world’s most beautiful museum in this year’s edition of the Prix Versailles, a French architecture and design award. Designed by Japanese architect Ban Shigeru, the complex houses approximately 500 works of Japanese and Western modern art. Merging gracefully with its natural surroundings, the beachfront museum’s colorful floating exhibition rooms are a nod to the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The Japanese museum was nominated alongside six other institutions from around the world, and announced as the winner at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on December 2. Established in 2015, the annual “World’s Most Beautiful” achievements are granted by the Prix Versailles in recognition of exceptional contemporary architecture and design across the globe, from public spaces such as hotels and airports to university campuses, with museums being the newest category.
Portrait of CANDIDA GERTLER. Courtesy Outset Contemporary Art Fund, London.
Candida Gertler Leaves Outset Fund Amid Protests Over Israel Ties
Following several protests against Candida Gertler’s ties to Israel, the British German philanthropist and major art donor has resigned from the London-based Outset Contemporary Art Fund as well as all her voluntary roles at arts institutions. Led by the Strike Outset collective, protestors demanded Gertler close down the long-running Outset Israel program, which funds contemporary art projects in the region, and that she end associations with the country’s “genocidal” policies. In a statement, Gertler described her resignation as a “principled protest against the alarming rise of antisemitism and the tacit normalization of hate” within art spaces, to which she refused to further lend her name and efforts. In response to her decision, Outset UK’s trustees praised her “visionary approach” to arts philanthropy while upholding the organization’s continued mission of supporting contemporary arts that engage with “widest possible audiences” and encourage “open dialogue between artists, institutions, and funders.”
