It took about 1.5 days to feel not optimistic about 2026. We had the NYC mayor for like 12 hours before things went shit. It feels futile to talk about much more than what regime change looks like in the Western Hemisphere, because in my lifetime the regime changes in Latin America at the hands of the American hegemony was replaced by America’s hegemonic desires in the Middle East. But here we are again, a return to form. It escalated fast, and what looked like the dying days of MAGA now feels like chaotic, unhinged and desperate flailing of a lonely old man who has conceded that the world will fall into a 3-pronged tyrannical leadership group where China takes Taiwan, Russia gets eastern Europe again and we play emperor to our hemisphere. Not to mention Israel, Gaza, Iran in turmoil… I wanted to preface that writing about art in times like this, to make a list of “shows to be excited about” is understood to be on the periphery of public consciousness at the moment.
But that is what we do. We talk, make and curate art to make sense of the world around us, to make meaning, find meaning, understand consequence and find a commonality with others. Or try to. Try to… maybe that can be the theme of 2026… let’s try to understand each other.
What I wanted to share, and where this 3-Dot to Start 2026 column began before the attack on Venezuela this weekend was some of the shows, exhibitions, installations, artists that had us getting excited for the beginning of 2026 in what seemed like a subdued end of 2025… the first was William Eggleston's The Last Dyes at David Zwirner in NYC, featuring new dye-transfer prints from one of the greatest of American photographers… obviously, the Voice of Space: UFOs and Paranormal Phenomena at the Drawing Center is one of the top shows in the city that you need to see, because as we have noted, we need more UFO’s in art… there is Brazilian artist Larissa de Souza at albertz benda, an “on paper” show at Hashimoto Contemporary, Marcelle Reinecke at Monya Rowe, the Ali Eyal show at Ghebaly is on through the end of January, Tschabalala Self is painting a facade at the newly to be re-opened New Museum…Nicolas Party is tackling the subject of dead fish at Karma, which feels a bit on the nose for America… Eric White will be at GRIMM in March with his cinematic flourishes… if you can wait until March, MoMA will open Frida and Diego The Last Dream, which is kinda the namesake of this magazine so go see that… the trusty Whitney Biennial opens in March, too, which, sort of like the top of this post, feels outdated as soon as it opens but still a standard-bearer of American biennials and we always pay attention…
In Los Angeles, Night Gallery kicks off the year with Farley Aguilar, Charlie James has Glenn Hardy Jr, Vielmetter has Hayv Kahraman, Good Mother has Rabi Towing, but the show that is really on our radar is the exquisite Village Square exhibition at LACMA, which “brings together nearly 50 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from the Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection in a celebration of art and community”... it is the final chance to see the collection together before it is gifted to museums across the country with 6 works staying at LACMA in their collection… the master of the real, Sayre Gomez, will open at David Kordansky, which always feels like a moment when he graces his city with his version of the landscape… Richard Heller Gallery will be hosting the US debut of Nieves González in late spring, which has garnered more attention after her cover artwork for Lily Allen…
In Paris, you have Joseph Cornell’s studio re-created by Wes Anderson with Gagosian, and Semiose is hosting Stefan Rinck’s Paddling Between Two Realities… in Brussels, Sune Christiansen will be hosted by our friends at Alice Gallery… MARUANI MERCIER has a brilliant showcase planned called The Glass Dream Game, the first solo exhibition of Æmen Ededéen (Joshua Hagler)...
Georg Wilson at Pilar Corrias in London is a must-see, and Modern Art not only has the closing of Joseph Yaeger’s new show, but the opening of Linder’s 4th exhibition with the gallery, Where the tongue slips it speaks truth… after her blockbuster at the Hayward in 2025, this gets the ball rolling on the year quite well… and if you would allow us to look to July, one of the shows of the year will be the Tate Modern’s major exhibition on Cuban-American Ana Mendieta… a real trailblazer who could save the year…
Aryz Brindis show the Granollers Museum, Spain is one of those shows that proves the graffiti, street and mural artist is one of the best contemporary talents we have, especially in his fine art forays… the CAN art fair is heading to Madrid in March, too, where they will hold it down with the help of The Unibrow’s own Sasha Bogojev…
Speaking of us… we have the Issue 02 launch on March 26, 2026 at the Francis Kite Club in New York… stay tuned…
Text by Evan Pricco
