Art Movements: Why, Maurizio Cattelan, Why?

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Art Movements, published every Thursday afternoon, is a roundup of must-know news, appointments, awards, and other happenings in today’s chaotic art world.

Believe It or Not …

… Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet selling for $12 million to Ripley’s Believe It or Not! at Sotheby’s is somehow not the artist’s only news this week. The Renaissance Society in Chicago announced that Cattelan was selected to design the upcoming RenBen 2026, the organization’s annual artist-led fundraiser. Why on Earth would this beloved contemporary art kunsthalle, known for its boundary-pushing programming and earnestly experimental exhibitions, engage an artist responsible for some of the most conceptually vacant statements of our era? What will his chosen theme be? I ❤️ Capitalism? Past RenBens were conceived by artist Meriem Bennani and choreographer Adam Linder, shoes I don’t think Cattelan can fill.

Get the latest art news, reviews and opinions from Hyperallergic.

Say That Five Times Fast

Formerly known as the International Fine Print Dealers Association, the NYC organization has rebranded as the International Fine Prints and Drawings Association, officially welcoming drawings dealers into the mix for the first time. Unfortunately, this will do nothing to change the unwieldy acronym IFPDA, a perpetual bee in the bonnet of every copyeditor in arts journalism. We’re happy for y’all, though!

In case you missed it, Hyperallergic covered the auction circus this week, from the record-breaking, mildly nauseating Klimt sale to serious questions around the deaccessioning of masterpieces by the Phillips Collection.

Rothko’s “No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)” (1958) fetched $62M at Christie’s.

And This Week’s Winners Are …

Candida Alvarez, “Mary in the Sky with Diamonds (Mary en el cielo con diamantes)” (2005) (photo Valentina Di Liscia/Hyperallergic)

• Artist and known badass Candida Alvarez, whose work is pictured above, is one of 15 recipients of Anonymous Was A Woman’s 2025 award for women-identifying artists over 40. Others include Ambreen Butt, JoAnne Carson, Cecelia Condit, Lola Flash, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Michelle Marcuse, Park McArthur, Nicole Miller, Narcissister, Dhara Rivera, Linda Stark, Kunié Sugiura, Hong-Ân Trương, and Paula Wilson.
• The New York-based Venezuelan artist Javier Téllez received the Pérez Prize from the Pérez Art Museum Miami.
• With more than six decades in the art form under his belt, Joel Meyerowitz was recognized with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography distinction from the Sony World Photography Awards. Talk about well-deserved — I mean, the man has seen some things. And I’d give him the prize for this photo alone.

FYI

• James Cohan Gallery is now representing textile artist Claudia Alarcón and Silät, a collective of 100 weavers from the Wichí communities of northern Salta, Argentina.
• The Ford Foundation has two new trustees: artist Mark Bradford and Timothy F. Geithner, who served as US Treasury Secretary under Obama.
• Frieze Los Angeles released a list of 95 exhibitors participating in its upcoming February 2026 edition.
• Nicholas Polsky was elected chair of the board of trustees at Storm King Art Center.

God Help Us All

For reasons that remain mysterious, the British pop musician Robbie Williams is venturing into furniture design, partnering with the brand Moooi and the Standard Spa in Miami Beach to debut something called the “Introvert Chair” during Miami Art Week. First of all, this is not the best week of the year for introverts. Secondly, it is mostly just a chair, despite a press release’s unsettling promise of providing a “sculptural yet soothing” experience. As a fellow “I” on the Myers-Briggs, I do appreciate Robbie’s openness about his social anxiety, but does the chair come with an exit strategy for bad art-world small talk?

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