Art News Of The Week
Stories Every Artist And Art Lover Should Know
The art world is full of stories that remind us why creativity deserves our attention. Sometimes, they introduce us to artists whose work is finding a new audience. Other times, they bring forgotten histories into the spotlight, celebrate women shaping contemporary culture, or create exciting opportunities for artists to share their work with the world.
This week, we are celebrating women artists whose creativity is finding its way into public collections, exploring a major exhibition dedicated to a fascinating surrealist, and discovering a new project that brings together film, photography, sculpture, literature, and performance. We also have two important submission deadlines for artists who have been thinking about sharing their work with Women In Arts Network.
Whether you are an artist searching for your next opportunity, an art lover looking for something new to explore, or simply someone who enjoys discovering the people and ideas shaping the creative world, here are five art stories worth knowing this week.
1. Three Women Artists Join A Major Public Collection Through A New Frieze Fund
Art News: WAC x FAMM Fund | Frieze London 2026
There is something wonderful about seeing an artist’s work find a permanent home where it can be discovered, studied, and enjoyed by generations to come. At Frieze London this week, three women artists received just that kind of recognition through an exciting new initiative supporting women’s contributions to contemporary art.
The Women’s Art Collection at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, and the Female Artists of Mougins Museum in France have joined forces to establish the WAC x FAMM Fund. Launched in 2026, the fund supports the acquisition of artworks by women artists who are not yet represented in public collections in the UK.
For its first year, the fund acquired works by Atong Atem, Moumita Basak, and IyunOla Sanyaolu, bringing three distinctive artistic voices into this important conversation.
Atong Atem, an Ethiopian-born South Sudanese artist based in Melbourne, works across photography, video, and textiles. Her practice explores portraiture, identity, and cultural histories, often combining vivid imagery with thoughtful storytelling.
Moumita Basak, an Indian artist represented by Richard Saltoun Gallery, brings her own perspective to contemporary art through works that explore identity, memory, and the relationship between people and their surroundings. Her work Dualities was among the acquisitions highlighted at Frieze.
Nigerian artist IyunOla Sanyaolu, represented by Carl Freedman Gallery, creates paintings that move between figurative and abstract forms, exploring everyday experiences through an expressive visual language.
What makes this initiative especially lovely is its long-term vision. Acquiring an artwork is not simply about celebrating an artist in the moment. It also helps ensure that the work can be preserved, exhibited, researched, and encountered by audiences who might otherwise never discover it.
The fund’s launch is also part of The Women’s Art Collection’s 40th-anniversary celebrations, making this an especially meaningful milestone for an institution dedicated to championing women artists.
For anyone following contemporary art, this is a reminder that recognition can take many forms. Sometimes, it begins with a new exhibition or an award. Sometimes, it means making sure an artist’s work becomes part of a collection that will continue telling its story for years to come.
Congratulations to Atong Atem, Moumita Basak, and IyunOla Sanyaolu on this wonderful achievement.
2. Only One Week Left To Submit To Women In Arts Magazine’s Inaugural Issue
Open Call: Women In Arts Magazine, Issue 01 | Deadline: October 31, 2026
Every first issue carries a special kind of excitement. It marks the beginning of something new, brings together the voices that will shape its identity, and creates a little piece of history for everyone involved. At Women In Arts Network, we are getting ready for one such milestone as submissions for our very first print magazine enter their final week.
Women In Arts Magazine, Issue 01, will bring together 50 women artists from around the world, creating a shared space for different creative practices, personal perspectives, and artistic journeys.
With an open theme and no restrictions on visual art medium, the magazine welcomes artists working across painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, textiles, collage, ceramics, digital art, and more. Whether you are an emerging artist finding your voice or someone who has spent years developing a creative practice, this is an opportunity to share work that feels true to you.
The selected artists will have their work featured in print alongside their biographies and artist statements. Their practices will also be introduced to audiences through Women In Arts Network’s social media and newsletter, helping their work reach beyond the pages of the magazine.
One selected artist will receive the Women In Arts Magazine Award, which includes a $500 cash prize, a four-page spread in the issue, and a published interview. The inaugural issue will be juried by Charuka Arora, founder of Arts to Hearts Project, whose work has consistently focused on creating opportunities and visibility for women artists.
The open call welcomes eligible women artists aged 18 and above from anywhere in the world, including women-identifying and non-binary artists. Applicants may submit up to three artworks for a $35 submission fee.
If you have been thinking about submitting but have not quite taken that final step, consider this your gentle reminder. You do not need to create an entirely new body of work or wait until your practice feels perfectly established. Choose the pieces that best represent you, prepare your application, and give your work the opportunity to be considered.
There is only one week left before submissions close on October 31, 2026. We would love to see the different voices, stories, and creative perspectives that will help shape this first issue.
3. Leonor Fini’s Surreal World Comes To Life In A Major German Retrospective
Exhibition: Leonor Fini. Magically Surreal | SCHIRN Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany
Some artists create worlds that feel entirely their own, filled with mysterious figures, dreamlike settings, and characters who seem to exist somewhere between mythology and reality. Leonor Fini was one of them.
On October 23, SCHIRN Kunsthalle Frankfurt opened Leonor Fini. Magically Surreal, the first major retrospective dedicated to the artist in Germany. Bringing together around 100 works, the exhibition offers a closer look at an imaginative practice shaped by dreams, mythology, masks, costumes, and questions of identity.
Born in 1907, Fini developed a distinctive artistic language that moved between Surrealism, symbolism, fantasy, and theatrical imagery. Her paintings frequently feature enigmatic women, fantastical creatures, and settings that feel as though they have emerged from another world.
What makes her work especially fascinating is the way she approached the female figure. Rather than simply presenting women as passive subjects, Fini often portrayed them as powerful, independent, and mysterious characters who appeared to command their own worlds. Her figures might be sphinxes, priestesses, or dreamlike beings, inviting viewers to reconsider familiar ideas about identity and femininity.
Fini’s creativity also extended well beyond painting. She designed costumes, explored photography, and worked with masks and books, moving between different disciplines while maintaining a visual identity that was unmistakably her own.
The retrospective brings together paintings, drawings, photographs, costumes, masks, and books, allowing visitors to experience the breadth of her work. Rather than focusing on a single aspect of her practice, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the many layers of an artist who refused to be confined to one category.
Her story is particularly interesting because Fini maintained her artistic independence even while moving within the wider Surrealist scene. She built her own creative world, developed her own visual language, and created work that continues to feel fresh and intriguing today.
For anyone who loves art that invites interpretation, this exhibition is well worth exploring. Fini’s paintings reward a closer look, revealing new details and imaginative possibilities the longer we spend with them.
Running until February 21, 2027, Leonor Fini. Magically Surreal offers audiences an opportunity to discover an artist whose work deserves a place in wider conversations about modern art.
4. Only Two Weeks Left To Submit To Cats, Dogs & Stories
Open Call: Cats, Dogs & Stories | Juried Virtual Exhibition by Women In Arts Network | Deadline: November 9, 2026
Some of our most meaningful memories involve the animals who share our lives. A cat curled up beside us while we work, a dog greeting us at the door, or the memory of a beloved companion can hold a special place in our hearts. These moments may seem ordinary, but artists have a beautiful way of turning them into stories worth sharing.
That is the idea behind Cats, Dogs & Stories, the latest juried virtual exhibition from Women In Arts Network. With submissions open for the next two weeks, the exhibition invites women and non-binary artists from around the world to explore the many ways cats and dogs find their way into our lives, memories, cultures, and creative practices.
Perhaps your work captures the playful personality of a pet. Perhaps it reflects the comfort of companionship, a childhood memory, or the experience of sharing your home with an animal who has become part of the family. You might even approach the theme through humour, imagination, symbolism, or an unexpected artistic interpretation.
There is no single way to tell a story through art, and that is what makes this theme so inviting. We want to see the personal details, emotions, and perspectives that make each artist’s interpretation unique.
As a virtual exhibition, Cats, Dogs & Stories also creates an opportunity for selected artworks to reach audiences beyond geographical boundaries. Women In Arts Network has presented more than 15 virtual exhibitions featuring over 800 artists, creating spaces where creative voices can come together and reach new audiences.
The open call welcomes women and non-binary artists aged 18 and above from anywhere in the world. Artists can submit up to three artworks for a $15 submission fee, with an optional artist interview feature also available.
If you have a painting, photograph, illustration, sculpture, or another artwork inspired by cats and dogs, this could be a lovely opportunity to share the story behind it. Your work does not need to be a traditional pet portrait. It could capture a feeling, a memory, a little everyday moment, or an entirely imagined world.
There are just two weeks left to submit before the November 9 deadline. We look forward to discovering the stories artists have to share and seeing the many ways this familiar theme can inspire something unexpected.
5. Alice Diop Celebrates Black Women’s Creativity At Art Basel Paris
Exhibition: Geste de Consolation | Palais d’Iéna, Paris, France
Art can be a way of documenting the world, but it can also create space for experiences, perspectives, and creative voices that deserve to be heard. At Art Basel Paris this week, French filmmaker Alice Diop has brought these ideas together through an ambitious multidisciplinary project celebrating Black women’s creativity.
Presented by Miu Miu as part of Art Basel Paris’s public programme, Geste de Consolation, which translates to Gesture of Consolation, runs at the Palais d’Iéna from October 21 to 25. It marks Diop’s first major venture into exhibition-making, allowing her to extend her cinematic practice into a space that brings together different forms of artistic expression.
The project explores how Black women have been represented throughout history and how art can open up new ways of seeing, remembering, and understanding their experiences. Rather than presenting a conventional exhibition of paintings, Diop has created an experience that moves between film, photography, sculpture, literature, poetry, dance, music, and performance. The different elements come together like scenes in a film, inviting visitors to move through the space and discover connections between the works.
The project brings together creative voices including photographer Zanele Muholi, sculptor Simone Leigh, choreographer Nadia Beugré, and musician and composer Angel Bat Dawid with her ensemble, Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty. Each brings a different perspective and creative language to the exhibition. Their work creates a conversation across disciplines, showing how artistic expression can take many forms while still connecting through shared questions, experiences, and ideas.
One particularly interesting element is Chambre à soi, a space inspired by Diop’s personal library. Filled with books that have influenced her thinking, it offers visitors a glimpse into the ideas, writers, and creative voices that have helped shape her perspective. What makes the project so compelling is the way it brings these different influences together without reducing them to a single story. Instead, visitors are invited to experience a carefully arranged journey through images, words, sounds, and movement.
For Diop, whose filmmaking has explored questions of identity, memory, and representation, the exhibition offers a new way to share her creative vision. It also highlights the exciting possibilities that emerge when artists move beyond the boundaries of a single medium.
As the art world continues to embrace multidisciplinary practices, Geste de Consolation is a reminder that exhibitions can be more than collections of objects. They can become spaces for conversation, discovery, and new ways of experiencing art.
Until Next Week…
From three women artists entering a major public collection to Leonor Fini’s extraordinary surrealist world, this week’s stories remind us that there is always something new to discover in art. Across exhibitions, collections, and multidisciplinary projects, women artists continue to bring fresh perspectives to the conversations shaping contemporary culture.
And for artists looking for opportunities to share their own work, there are two important dates to keep in mind. Submissions for the inaugural issue of Women In Arts Magazine close on October 31, while Cats, Dogs & Stories welcomes submissions until November 9.
We hope this week’s stories have introduced you to an artist you would love to learn more about, inspired you to explore an exhibition, or encouraged you to take the next step with your own creative practice.
The art world is always changing, and there is always another story waiting to be discovered. We will be back next week with more artists, exhibitions, opportunities, and creative moments worth knowing about.
