Wafaa Bilal: 2025 Established Artist of the Year

Image: Wafaa Bilal (b. 1966, Najaf, Iraq; lives in New York, NY), Domestic Tension, 2007. © Wafaa Bilal, courtesy of the artist.

EFA Studio Member Wafaa Bilal was named ARTnews’ 2025 Established Artist of the Year.

“For nearly two decades, Wafaa Bilal has put his body on the line for his art-making. “Indulge Me” at the MCA Chicago, the first major survey for the Iraqi American artist, showcased how his work highlights the tension—implicit at times, explicit at others—between what is perceived to be a conflict zone and what is perceived to be its inverse, a “comfort zone.”

Much of his work examines the role of the United States in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. “I watched the terror unfold on a small TV in my studio apartment in Lakeview, and I knew the world would never be the same,” he has said. An even more personal reality—the 2004 killing of his brother by a remotely operated drone in Iraq—has further informed his practice…

…Bilal’s art has contended with that powerful inquiry for years, making it prescient in our current moment, in which conflicts in many corners of the world are seen at a remove by many.”

Bundith Phunsombatlert: Transtrack

EFA Studio Member Bundith Phunsombatlert’s multimedia installation Transtrack is on view at Transmitter.

November 15–December 21, 2025
Opening Reception: November 15, 6–8 PM

Transmitter
1329 Willoughby Avenue, 2A
Brooklyn, NY 11237

Hours: Saturday–Sunday, 1–6 PM

Building on Phunsombatlert’s community-centered practice and ongoing exploration of oral immigration histories gathered from local elders, the exhibition invites participants from diverse backgrounds to share memories of landscape and migration, fostering moments of cross-cultural connection. Transtrack transforms the idea of a train platform into multisensory space where the voices of elderly immigrants recount life journeys, weaving an immersive landscape of sound and story.

Read more in the Press Release.

Cui Fei: Recent Museum Exhibitions & Acquisitions

Work by Cui Fei, courtesy of China Institute

EFA Studio Member Cui Fei is featured in group exhibitions, and her work was recently acquired by two museums.

Exhibitions

Metamorphosis: Chinese Imagination and Transformation
Curated by Dr. Susan L. Beningson
September 10, 2025 - January 11, 2026

This exhibition highlights works by 28 contemporary artists of Chinese descent exploring personal, cultural, historical, and material metamorphosis. For more information on the exhibition and public programs, visit the website

China Institute
100 Washington St, New York, NY 10006

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Walking Their Own Paths: Women Calligraphers in Contemporary Taiwan
Curated by Dr. LU Hui-Wen
September 4 - November 30, 2025

Fei’s work is included in this exhibition, featuring 59 artists from Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, Iran, the UK, and France. Read more here. 

Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center
No. 100, Daren Rd., Dayuan Dist., Taoyuan City, Taiwan

Museum Acquisitions

Study for Vermicular Calligraphy I and Tracing the Origin IX_I  series have recently been acquired by the Harvard Art Museums.

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Tracing the Origin IX_I_iv  has been acquired by the RISD Museum.

Whitney Oldenburg: left behind at MOCA Jacksonville

Whitney Oldenburg, Feeding Frenzy, 2022, tickets, rock, wood, aluminum, resin, string, staples, helmets, ear plugs, cloth, zipper pulls, red yeast rice, glue mixture.

MOCA Jacksonville is pleased to present the first institutional survey of the work by Jacksonville native and EFA Studio Member Whitney Oldenburg (b. 1987).

Whitney Oldenburg: left behind
On View: November 20, 2025 – April 19, 2026

The exhibition left behind presents a selection of Oldenburg’s recent sculptures, accompanied by a special presentation of the artist’s drawings.

Oldenburg’s sculptural works begin with fragments from repurposed consumer items, remnants from older work, and her own discarded personal belongings; materials that already carry traces of use, and memory, that she seeks to sublimate in her practice. Acting as a conduit for a profound reflection, this materiality is transformed with the presence of other unhampered materials that will define the unexpected final shapes and textures her work adopts. With this process, the artist directs our attention to the complex relationship we have with the objects that we surround ourselves with in our contemporary culture; and invites us to explore, with her, the way we form attachments to objects, gadgets, articles, and things, and how we allow these to become a symbolic part of us. In this way, Oldenburg’s practice invites us to reflect on the complex interplay between material possessions, social dynamics, and value systems, as she gently probes the looming transition away from a future dominated by extractive processes and an overwhelming saturation of disposable technology, toward a more mindful, less consumption-driven social paradigm.

This exhibition was curated by Senior Curator Ylva Rouse. All works courtesy of the artist and CHART Gallery, New York. Special thanks to Clara Ha, and the Eden Arts Foundation.

Camille Eskell: One Thousand and One Threads

EFA Studio Member Camille Eskell’s solo show opens at KAPOW Gallery on Friday, September 5.

On view: September 5 – 28, 2025

Opening Reception:
Friday September 5th, 6 – 9 pm

VIP Preview – Thurs. Sept. 4th (please call for appointment)

KAPOW
23 Monroe Street
New York, NY 10002

Melissa Joseph: Tender

Melissa Joseph with her Brooklyn Museum commission, Tender. Photo: Paula Abreu Pita

EFA Studio Member Melissa Joseph Scales Up Poignancy in Public Spaces With ‘Tender’

“It is not always easy for an artist to meet the demands of public scale—especially when their practice is grounded in material intimacy, process and the translation of deeply personal narratives. But Melissa Joseph, an artist who has rapidly gained recognition in recent years for her use of wool felt in work that reanimates emotional moments drawn from her family archive, was up for the challenge. Even as her mode of work lends itself to more contained formats that echo the quietness of memory through touch and introspection, she accepted commissions at the Brooklyn Museum and art storage firm UOVO’s Brooklyn location that showcase her work in expansive form designed for broader public engagement.

Reflecting her rising visibility not only in the market but also in institutional circles, Joseph participated in the Art Production Fund’s Art in Focus program at the Rockefeller Center. This year, she was awarded the prestigious UOVO Prize in partnership with the Brooklyn Museum—an annual honor that recognizes an emerging Brooklyn-based artist with a solo exhibition at the museum, a $25,000 cash award and a large-scale billboard presentation at UOVO’s Bushwick facility, on view through June 2026.”

Read more