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Dear Friends,
As we began a new year, we would like to to extend our gratitude to you—our collectors, artists, collaborators, and community—for being part of our journey.
2025 was shaped by meaningful conversations, ambitious exhibitions, and the continued belief in the power of art to connect, challenge, and inspire. We pushed our own boundaries by participating in seven art fairs, nationally and internationally.
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JANUARY: CRISTINA MITTERMEIER and ANTOINE ROSE
at WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM in DAVOS
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January 2025 began with two of our artists participating in the World Economic Forum.
Cristina Mittermeier was the keynote speaker and presented a large-scale exhibition based on her latest book, HOPE. She used the platform to discuss ocean health, biodiversity, and the importance of Indigenous knowledge in conservation efforts.
The exhibition featured images spanning over 120 countries, showcasing the beauty and fragility of ecosystems and the resilience of cultures in safeguarding their environments.
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Antoine Rose was featured at the Belgium House with King Philippe of Belgium, in attendance. Chosen by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister to exhibit his striking aerial photographs taken from a helicopter with an open door, his work showcased his unique perspective on humanity and the world from above.
The exhibition was part of the broader "Belgium House" program, which operated under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age," highlighting Belgian expertise in industry, sustainability, and the arts.
Known for capturing human activity from high altitudes, Rose's works were featured alongside discussions with global leaders such as Belgium's Prime Minister and NATO's Secretary General.
| Antoine Rose "Wintercolors" | |
FEBRUARY: CATHERINE YI-YU CHO WOO
LOVE, HARMONY, WIND and WATER
| Catherine Yi-yu Cho Woo "Various Gods of Wealth Mantra" | |
On Valentines Day, we opened a retrospective in homage and remembrance of Dr. Catherine Yi-Yu Cho Woo. (1935 — 2021) The exhibition "Love, Harmony, Wind and Water" honored the life and legacy of Dr. Woo, a pioneering scholar, artist, and master of Feng Shui.
Dr. Woo was the first Asian American woman to serve on the National Council on the Arts and NEA Ambassador for the Arts, she dedicated her life to teaching the 4,000-year-old practice of Feng Shui—the art of harmonizing environments through the flow of ch’i (qi), the balance of yin and yang, and the five elements. Believing there was no separation between art, life, and Feng Shui, her work embodied equilibrium and harmony.
As 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, we embrace the symbolic meaning of the power of the horse, representing bold action, freedom loving sprit, new beginnings and transformation.
| MARCH: PALM BEACH MODERN + CONTEMPORARY | |
In March 2025, we participated in Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, showcasing the works of Cristina Mittermeier, Carole Feuerman, Christian Voigt, Hugh Arnold and Osama Esber.
Cristina joined us for talks and a book signing of her recently released coffee table book, HOPE.
During the fair (and Palm Beach Boat Show) David Yarrow came to town and did a series of photo shoots in Palm Beach, from Wellington Polo to golf, photos on Worth Avenue and a special shot of the historic and chic Colony Hotel.
| David Yarrow, "Worth Avenue" | |
APRIL: DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSWORD - DPP
Numeraire Future Trends
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What do Cristina Mittermeier, Paul Nicklen, David Drebin, Osama Esber, Yasemin Aslan Bakiri have in common: DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSPORTS.
In 2025, Hilton Contemporary implemented a pioneering technology by Abu Dhabi-based Numeraire Future Trends, a company dedicated to preserving the legacies behind the art and luxury world.
Invented by world-renowned scientists and engineers led by art and luxury market experts, Numeraire offered us a patented suite of non-invasive, AI-powered digital fingerprinting and blockchain product passport technologies that tackle the global collectible market’s most critical challenges - authentication and provenance.
We began implementation of this technology to protect not only the works of our artists, but to protect the long term legacies of our collectors for generations to come.
| Dr. Marsha Lipton scanning (fingerprinting) a Paul Nicklen work for Digital Product Passport | APRIL : ART DUBAI DIGITAL | |
One week after Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, we repacked and arrived just in time for Art Dubai. We participated in the Digital section, exhibiting the works of Adonis, Boky Hackel-Ward and AI Digital artists Memo Akten and Katie Peyton Hofstadter featuring their seminal poetry, dance and art opus SUPERRADIANCE.
Of course, the paintings of 95 year old poet Adonis stole the show. In fact, on January 1st, 2026, we celebrated the 96th birthday of this venerable icon who has become part of the literary history of not only the 20th century, but has grown even stronger in the 21st.
Born in 1930, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber) revolutionized and modernized Arabic poetry. A perennial contender for the Nobel Prize, he has been compared to the T.S. Eliot of the Arab world. Most people had no idea he is also a fine artist whose work draws on not only his own, but also pre-6th century classical poetry.
| Sculptor Boky Hackel-Ward was in attendance, featuring her SILENTIUM AURUM series of Galvanized Steel sculptures with 24k Gold Leaf and LED Lighting. | The AI duo of Ferdi Alici and Eyul Duranagac Alici, formally known as OUCHHH, made their second appearance at Art Dubai Digital with the powerhouse Turkish gallery, DG Art. Their exhibition turned into a special friendship that our galleries are now exploring partnership in 2026. So many good things happened in Dubai! | |
Mid May transported us to PHOTO LONDON at the Somerset House. a magnificent neoclassical building, what was once a Tudor Palace, in the heart of London.
Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier joined us in London for talks and special events hosted by wealth management firm Julius Baer.
The exhibition was a combination of the best works by both artists. The standout image at the show was Cristina's BEAR DUET, a photograph of two bears wading through a river with a dense forest of trees in the background, a departure from Cristina's portraits of indigenous tribes.
| Cristina Mittermeier, "Bear Duet" | |
One of the most interesting evenings was a panel discussion with Colin Butfield, co-founder and Executive producer of Studio Silverback, and co-founder of the Netflix series Open Planet. He produced the feature documentaries David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet and Breaking Boundaries, writing and producing many high profile events (often with Sir David Attenborough) on the climate and nature crisis. Paul and Cristina were definitely in their element!
And another highlight was CEO of Numeraire Future Trends, Dr. Marsha Lipton, spending the entire week with us scanning and fingerprinting every one of Paul and Cristina's works on exhibition at Photo London to create the Digital Product Passports (DPP) for authenticity and provenance. It was an exciting week to be in the city of London.
| Paul Nicklen, Dr. Marsha Lipton (Numeraire) and Cristina Mittermeier | | |
After Photo London, we returned to a flooded basement in our River North gallery caused by a burst pipe from the construction next door. The demolition of the 152 year-old building which was built right after the Great Chicago Fire (our gallery shares a wall with) nearly put us out of business for a few months.
Art was falling off our walls and the construction company built a fence which blocked the view of our entrance from Wells Street. It was a challenge but after almost 14 years in our space, we were not going to let a setback like that slow us down.
We postponed a scheduled exhibition for photographer David Drebin the first week in June and rescheduled the show for October, which turned out to be a blessing!
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On the bright side, the construction of the new building is due to be finished the end of 2026. It will be a members only supper club called The Lake - designed by New York based Robert A.M. Stern Architects. We are looking forward to the new building finished and open for business.
P.S. This is how we felt - like David Drebin's "Hanging On"
| | David Drebin, "Hanging On" | | |
The last week in July took us to our favorite Rocky Mountain resort of Aspen. The Intersect Aspen art fair gave us the needed lift to go on after the debacle of our unwanted construction.
Our beautiful team embraced the western beauty of Aspen as we prepared for our 7th year in the Aspen Ice Garden.
Both David Drebin and Cristina Mittermeier joined us for the fair. We debuted David works in Aspen, while Cristina Mittermeier was awarded Intersect Aspen’s Best Artist Award. Both artists were also invited to give talks, making this year’s fair especially memorable.
| | OCTOBER: DAVID DREBIN | CINEMATIC DREAMS | | David Drebin with Holly Hunt in front of his lightbox "ESCAPE TO PARIS" | | |
OCTOBER: DAVID YARROW | THE COLLECTION
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And then came David Yarrow, his first visit to Chicago after two years. The last time was when we held a fundraising dinner for ALS with former Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus. Sorry coach! We truly love you! But very happy to see the Bears shining bright again!
The highlight of the evening was raising thousands of dollars for the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center, a not-for-profit that brings child protection, law enforcement and healing services together under one roof to respond to, treat and ultimately prevent child abuse.
The room was overflowing with friends and fans of David Yarrow. In fact, the turnout was so strong that calling it “standing room only” would be an understatement.
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Entrepreneur Erik Severinghaus, Board Member of the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center (CCAC)
(and he climbed Mount Everest!) talking about the CCAC
| David Yarrow signing his monograph "The Collection" | |
One week later, my resilient team boarded a plane and arrived in Dubai to prepare for the Dubai Editions art fair in conjunction with Dubai Design Week.
We had two days to prepare the booth - showing David Yarrow in Dubai for the first time, along with hyperrealistic sculptures by Carole Feuerman, acrylic water sculptures of Sophia Collier, David Gamble, Jeff Koons' Gazing Ball Series, Boky Hackel-Ward, and introducing French artist Marie Piselli.
Sophia Collier's water sculptures and Carole Feuerman's swimmer sculptures were the most photographed and talked about on social media.
In fact, while we were showcasing Carole Feuerman's sculptures in Dubai, the artist was quietly working on the most important museum exhibition of her career at the HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER in Baku, Azerbaijan. The museum, rated one of the top ten most beautiful museums in the world was designed by one of the greatest architects of our time, Zaha Hadid, We will be sending a separate email about Carole's exhibition in Baku.
| Carole Feuerman "Serena," "Contemplation" and "Mini Quan" at Editions Dubai | David Yarrow "Ferrari" and "The Killer" | Yasemin Aslan Bakiri Glass sand metal wall hangings at Abu Dhabi Art | |
Abu Dhabi happens to be one of the most forward moving cities in the world. The Department of Culture and Tourism, know as DCT, has been working tirelessly to turn Abu Dhabi into an art and cultural mecca.
Saadiyat Island, the home of Abu Dhabi Art, is nothing more than a campus of museums. From the Louvre Abu Dhabi (another one of the most beautiful architectural structures in the world) to the new teamLab Phenomena, with future additions as the Zayed National Museum (designed by architect Norman Foster) Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (designed by Frank Gehry) and Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.
We featured the works of Istanbul-based glass artist Yasemin Aslan Bakiri. Her woven hanging sculptures with metal threads and hot glass were the star of the show. The Royal Family was so taken by her works that they purchased two of her TREE OF LIFE wall hangings in both green and clear glass, along with two of her metal woven "Healing Bowls."
In addition, two of poet Ana Castillo's original works were also acquired by another member of the Royal Family. Ana's SPIRAL TREE OF LIFE and her most sought-after image DOVE DRESS.
| Ana Castillo, "Dove Dress" | Dr. Marsha Lipton with Yasemin Aslan Bakiri at Abu Dhabi Art | We also introduced the works of multidisciplinary French artist, Marie Piselli, with her series of miniature paintings titled BOUNDLESS COLOR. More about Marie in the next newsletter. | |
Marie Piselli seated in front of her series BOUNDLESS COLOR
and David Gamble's "Andy Warhol's Living Room"
| | DECEMBER: CONTEXT | ART MIAMI | | |
After an electrifying year of exhibitions and art fairs, the light at the end of the tunnel was near. We returned home just in time for Thanksgiving and departed for Miami 3 days later for our biggest show of the year, Art Miami.
We ended the year with the largest exhibition of David Yarrow's works in an art fair to date. Of course, the reception was astounding. Yarrow is a true celebrity. People were standing in line for his book signing – and in awe of this charismatic artist. An artist he is. David Yarrow takes art to another level. Decades from now, he will be remembered as one of the most colorful and charismatic characters of the 21st century.
| Arica Hilton, Jordan Belfort,(The Wolf of Wall Street) David Yarrow | | |
To say 2025 was a whirlwind is an understatement. It was an adventure we will never forget.
In a year of contrasts and upheaval in the world, and especially the art world, rather than step back, we chose to move forward in full force. And I have to say, it worked. We acquired new friends, partners and collectors around the globe.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to share a dynamic program of exhibitions and projects in the year to come, and we look forward to welcoming you into the gallery soon to share food, wine and art.
From all of us at Hilton Contemporary, we wish you a joyful, healthy, and abundant 2026.
We are deeply grateful for your support and engagement. May you have a year full of beautiful art!
With my warm regards,
Arica
Arica Hilton, CEO & Founder
Hilton Contemporary
716 N. Wells
Chicago, IL 60654
312.852.8200
arica@hiltoncontemporary.com
www.hiltoncontemporary.com
second location:
Hilton Contemporary
Morgan Arts Complex
3622 S. Morgan Street
Chicago, IL 60609
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