Meet The Met's New Photography Curator

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Oluremi C. Onabanjo’s new role, grants for Queens artists and orgs, the “pinkest pink” turns 10, and more art industry news.

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

Oluremi C. Onabanjo Joins The Met

Oluremi C. Onabanjo has been appointed as the new curator of photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A scholar deeply engaged with African and Black diasporic photographic histories, Onabanjo was born in London and raised across Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and the United States. She transitions to The Met from the Museum of Modern Art, where she has contributed to the photography department since 2021, curating exhibitions on artists such as Ernest Cole and Ming Smith. Her notable publications include Marilyn Nance: Last Day in Lagos (2022), which focuses on the Brooklyn photographer’s documentation of a 1977 Pan-African art festival. Onabanjo was awarded the Vilcek Foundation Prize for curatorial work in 2025, marking a significant achievement in her career.

Support for Queens Artists

Adelle Yingxi Lin, “Water Portraits” (2025) (photo Dan Devine, courtesy Queens Arts Fund)

Queens will see an infusion of $493,350 in grants awarded to 129 local artists, collectives, and nonprofit organizations. The funding, provided by the New York Foundation for the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, includes support for artist Adelle Yingxi Lin. Lin’s project focuses on transforming water quality data from Newtown Creek, a recovering Superfund site, into calligraphic textiles with local communities. This initiative highlights the intersection of ecological observation and cultural expression, as Lin explained to Hyperallergic. The complete list of grant recipients is available here.

Additional Developments

Melissa Chiu will depart from her leadership role at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, to assume the directorship at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. More details are available at Hyperallergic.
United States Artists has announced the recipients of its $50,000 Knight Arts + Tech fellowship: LIZN’BOW (Liz Ferrer and Bow Ty), Miguel Novelo, Rhonda Holberton, Taeyoon Choi, and Wes Taylor.
47 Canal, a gallery established 15 years ago and known for advancing the careers of artists like Anicka Yi, Josh Kline, and Janiva Ellis, is relocating to Chelsea. It will share a space with a new venture by Max Levai, heir to Marlborough Gallery. Despite the move, the gallery is expected to retain its name.
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has chosen Bryan Collier as this year’s artist honoree for the Carle Honors, recognizing his significant contributions to the art form.

Wildcard

Happy Birthday, “pinkest pink”! (image courtesy Stuart Semple)

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of his “pinkest pink” pigment, British artist Stuart Semple is gifting signed editions of the color, with one exception: Anish Kapoor. To acquire the pigment, buyers must confirm they are not Kapoor, who has exclusive rights to the “blackest black” since 2016. The vibrant pink powder can be used in various artistic mediums, and Semple hopes it demonstrates the joy of sharing colors with others.