Works by Pedro Coronel, Mathias Goeritz, Wolfgang Palen, Carlos Orozco Romero, Joy Laville, Gunther Gerzso, Miguel Covarrubias at Galería Enrique Guerrero’s booth
The 22nd edition of Zona Maco, Latin America’s largest international art fair, opened in early February in Mexico City. Art Observed was on site when the fair brought over 200 galleries from close to 30 countries to CDMX for the whirlwind of exhibitions, performances, and events known as ‘Art Week.’ Zona Maco continues to demonstrate that though the world is only recently catching on, Mexico has always been an artistic nexus – not just as an incubator for native talent, but as an inspiration and refuge for artists of many nationalities who have found places here.
Build From Here marks the twentieth anniversary of Tillmans’s work cycle, Truth Study Centre, first displayed at Maureen Paley in 2005. In a sanctifying choice, the exhibition is the first to be staged at Paley’s Herald Street location — the artist’s studio before his move to Berlin — a stone’s throw from the gallery’s Three Colts Lane location.
As the white-tipped tents return to London’s Regent’s Park, Frieze London ’25 marks its twenty-second year—one that lands squarely on all four legs. And, like everything in this city, it has surprised everyone involved. Working alongside London-based studio A Studio Between, this year’s fair has spotlighted contemporary artists through curated sections like Artist-to-Artist and Echoes in the Present.
On October 1st, 2025, Saatchi Yates unveiled an exhibition by conceptual artist Marina Abramović at their St. James gallery in London. The show revisits the ephemeral, transforming two of Abramović’s performance videos — ‘Blue Period’ and ‘Red Period’ — into a collection of 1,200 monochromatic stills.
The Armory Show 2025 opened with a renewed sense of purpose, marking the arrival of New York’s fall art season with a fair that feels less like spectacle and more like a global conversation. Over 230 galleries from more than 30 countries converge at the Javits Center. The fair was divided into seven sections: Galleries, Solos, Focus, focusing on artists and galleries from the American South, Function, a new section for 2025 curated by Ebony L. Haynes which explores the intersection of art and design, Presents, spotlighting emerging galleries no more than ten years old, Platform, showcasing large scale sculpture and installations, and Not-For-Profit.
Anne Imhof, the German artist known for her large-scale, immersive performance pieces, returned to New York after nearly ten years with Doom: House of Hope, her largest show to date. Curated by Klaus Biesenbach and running for a week at The Park Avenue Armory, Doom brought together a cast of nearly sixty actors, dancers, and musicians into a three-hour marathon performance loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Here, however, the story was told in reverse—beginning with the doomed lovers’ suicide and culminating with their first encounter—set not in Verona but in an unplaceable dreamscape of American youth.
Julian Schnabel at Pace Gallery, all images by Hannah Zhang for Art Observed
The 21st edition of ZonaMACO, Latin America’s foremost art fair, opened Wednesday to a distinctly energized atmosphere, marking what many participants noted as the strongest opening day in recent years. The fair’s yearly evolution reflects Mexico City’s solidified position as a vital node in contemporary art’s global circulation, with significant sales and institutional presence marking the first day. Surrounding the fair, satellite events filled the city with activity, from exhibition openings to performances and parties.
The National Portrait Gallery has curated an exceptional collection of Francis Bacon’s works from the 1950s onwards, featuring sitters such as Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach, and a roster of Bacon’s close friends. Francis Bacon: Human Presence showcases over 55 portraits, alongside letters and photographs sourced from private collections and Bacon’s Soho studio. The exhibition, on display from October 10th to January 19th 2025, offers a profound reflection of Bacon’s artistic ecosystem, charting the evolution of this enigmatic artist. Curated by Rosie Broadley, the exhibition presents a comprehensive exploration of Bacon’s intricate relationships and his distinctive approach to portraiture.
