FOCUS New York 2026 sees the fair partnering with around 40 leading galleries from across the globe to explore the theme of ‘Human-Technology Coexistence.’ Featuring the work of emerging and established artists, the art featured at FOCUS will probe art’s evolving relationships with AI, robotics and other digital formats, asking how far art can venture into new technologies while preserving the perspective of the organic mind. Some of the most exciting work to explore these ideas will be presented by a member of the J-pop boy band Kis-My-Ft2. "FiNGAiSM" by Kento Senga is a project that blends sculpture, custom sneakers, and 3D animation. Another major project includes an offering from Nedko Water intended to provoke conversation about the rising tides that threaten the island of Manhattan through climate change.

Participating artists and galleries will be organized into four main sections:

– Emerging Galleries: Featuring galleries founded within the last 10 years, this section offers an overview of emergent artistic practices across Asia. Each booth will present a curated slate of up to three artists. FOCUS Foundation provides dedicated support for participating galleries in this category, elevating the access to international networks and audiences for these crucial incubator spaces.

– Diversity in Asia: Resisting the notion that there is any single definition of ‘Asian art,’ this section presents a wide range of nationalities and artistic approaches to reflect the dazzling plurality of contemporary Asian art, from references to deep cultural heritage to the ways they blend with modern pop culture.

– Digital & AI: This section highlights the practices of creators who work on the cutting-edge of art and technology, such as digital artist Taezoo Park, and multimedia artist Michael Romeo (aka Night Shining). This year, through a special collaboration with LG Electronics, the section further expands to embrace AI conceptual practices, shaped by the theme of Technology & Human Creativity. Incorporating digital tools like generative AI and interactive media, these artists exhibit a relentless push towards new forms of expression.

– Craft: This section centers on the craft of being an artist, with an emphasis of process over product, and human warmth. Within a working studio environment, visitors will observe the artist’s hand and mind at work. It presents visitors with a front row seat for how ideas are developed and how artworks coalesce through community interaction. This section will feature an arrangement of tables showcasing work from Clay Studio in Philadelphia, among others.

Through a stimulating series of talks and conversations, the fair will foster dialogue about and among Asian cultures. Esteemed speakers will examine the richness of Asian aesthetics and its resonances in contemporary life, potential pathways for gaining greater exposure, and the collective power in the presence of Asian artists. The lineup of participants taps into New York’s deep well of art expertise and includes:

– Garry Ho, founder of Queer Art Hub

– Heather Hubbs, executive director of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA)

– Emilia Kabakov, Soviet-born American artist and dealer

– Venjhamin Reyes, Filipino American interior design and architecture photographer

– Charles A. Riley II, director of the China Institute Gallery in New York

This edition of FOCUS involves partnerships with Asia Society, Asia-centric galleries in New York City such as YveYANG, Jakupsil, Galerie Shibumi, and Lan-Space, as well as leading art spaces and institutions from across Asia and Europe, such as SGK Galerie (India) and Ikseon Arts Center (Korea). With the aim of making space for lesser-represented artists and galleries, the fair includes many participants who are exhibiting in New York City for the first time, such as:

– Gallery Belle Vie (Korea): This gallery will present works by Kim Joohyun, a painter who works with the canvas laid horizontally and translates sensory encounters with nature into layered, process-driven abstractions, and Gammanzi, an artist who combines printmaking logic with painterly improvisation, creating texture through drybrushing and the application of a sooty type of Korean inkstick (meok).

– CDA (Korea): Artists represented by this gallery include DuRi Baek, whose presentation of natural scenes in green and yellow acrylic at Art Jakarta last year was fully sold out, and JaeBum Joo, who previously collaborated with the blockchain network CONX on a Web3-based collaborative art model with automated revenue distribution.

– Third ART Gallery (Japan): On view are works by Itoshi Sakhrani, an abstract artist of Japanese, British, and Indian descent known for his colorful abstract paintings and commercial projects such as a TV commercial for ‘PARCO CITY SPRING’, artworks in the lobby and guest rooms of the Rinn Kyoto Station hotel, and a mural for the Matsumoto Kiyoshi flagship store in Tokyo.

– Yoko Koga (Japan): This painter of portraits, still lifes, landscapes and murals was one of the artists who worked on Loving Vincent (2017), the Oscar-nominated animated film that was painstakingly composed of 65,000 hand-painted frames.

A broad range of pan-Asian nationalities will be on display, including solo presentations by Turkish artists. Luxembourg-based Erna Uçar, whose works are graphic and tactile, employs the textures of sand, graphite, and raw canvas into her work. Abstract painter Gülşen Pazarbaşı will present work inspired by the cultural heritage of her hometown Antakya.

One East Asia, a Singapore gallery specializing in Southeast Asian art, presents the works of four Filipino artists: Abi Dionisio, who evokes the female experience through a signature mix of paint and embroidery; Demi Padua, who produces trompe l’oeil paintings of faces masked with a collage of items, suggesting fragmented identities; iSko Andrade, whose paintings are similarly photorealistic, often incorporating textile elements and meditating on the symbolism of a single object; Shannah Orencio, whose richly rendered images of lush flora and vintage heirlooms express subtly shifting states of mind.

As the sole Asia-focused contemporary art fair in New York, FOCUS fills a gap in the art world capital’s programming landscape, establishing a vibrant nexus that will offer visitors access to compelling new voices, and illuminating insights into the Asian art market.

Main partner TEO NOMAD is a hybrid, experimental model developed in partnership with FOCUS Art Fair, designed to extend the lifecycle of contemporary artworks beyond the traditional art fair format. Rather than limiting exposure and sales to a four-day event, this model integrates a curated retail platform that continues to showcase and sell works within a shared, immersive space in New York City—allowing each piece a longer "breathing" period and sustained audience engagement. As part of this extended showcase, FOCUS is bringing three celebrated voices in modern craft to TEO NOMAD: light sculpture artist Ango World, art furniture artist Ryu Jong Dae, and artist Kim Jong Min of Superposition. Through this collaboration, FOCUS Art Fair brings internationally recognized exhibitors into a dynamic environment where art and retail intersect, amplifying visibility while creating ongoing commercial opportunities beyond the constraints of a conventional fair.

Lead Sponsor LG Electronics USA will infuse its award-winning TV and Home Appliance technologies into various elements of FOCUS. Together, FOCUS and LG present the Technology & Human Creativity section alongside the FOCUS Studio – a space that merges the everyday warmth of LG SIGNATURE home appliances and the creative spirit of an artist's studio. The works on view are presented in stunning 4K clarity on LG OLED TVs including a unique experience with LG's one-of-a-kind Transparent OLED TV, the LG OLED T. Other LG products will also be integrated into the artistic landscape of the show.

The Technology & Human Creativity section brings together some of the most compelling voices currently working at the intersection of art and technology. Hwia Kim presents an interactive work driven by a pedestrian-tracking algorithm, also featuring LG gram laptops delivering visuals. What If utilizes LG's Transparent OLED TV (LG OLED T) to create an immersive underwater world, where romantic sea creatures drift through ambient sound. Joining the programme are Sehun Choi, who explores the boundaries of architecture and AI, motion designer Shane F, among others.

FOCUS Studio reimagines a domestic living space as an artist's creative environment. Drawing on the dual meaning of 'studio' – a place of everyday life and a space of artistic practice – FOCUS Studio rediscovers familiar home appliances through the lens of art, in collaboration with illustrator Lee K.

FOCUS New York 2026 marks the 12th iteration of the international series – previously organized in London, Paris, and Seoul – and promises to be a must-see event for collectors and curators, for enthusiasts of Asian art and for those who wish to learn about its richness.