From July 29 to August 1, the Aspen Art Fair takes over the historic Hotel Jerome, in the spectacular setting of the Colorado Rockies, for Aspen Art Week, an unmissable event on the international calendar that attracts artists, curators, gallery owners and collectors to this mountain town every summer. 

This third edition is overseen by the fair's co-founder, Bob Chase, owner of the Hexton Gallery in Aspen, alongside the new director, Kelly Cornell. The concept remains that of a boutique and intimate fair, where international galleries exhibit both in custom-built booths and directly in hotel rooms, giving the event an experiential dimension unusual for this format. 

The first two editions have already brought together more than 7,000 collectors, curators, artists, and cultural players. Access remains selective, however: the fair operates by invitation only, and nearly 90 galleries have applied to participate this year. The 2026 list thus includes more than 35 exhibitors, from newcomers like Friedman Benda and Library Street Collective, to established galleries such as Perrotin, Sean Kelly, and Marianne Boesky Gallery, and local galleries like Hexton Gallery and Galerie Maximillian. 

The fair is part of a broader Aspen Art Week program, blending art, design, fashion, architecture, film, and panels with outdoor experiences such as morning swims in the Roaring Fork River and hikes. It runs concurrently with Intersect Aspen, another art and design fair held at the Aspen Ice Garden.

Southern Guild is holding booth B11 for its third consecutive participation: the first since the opening of its permanent space in Tribeca in April. At its booth, the gallery brings together twelve artists around the themes of identity, memory, and the transformation of matter. 

Tschabalala Self, a newcomer to Southern Guild, continues her exploration of figuration through the accumulation of materials. Roméo Mivekannin subverts classical Western painting, echoing the Vodou cosmology of Benin. Nandipha Mntambo questions the boundaries between the human body and animal matter. Zanele Muholi documents Black LGBTQIA+ lives, also in connection with an off-site exhibition and his nomination for the 2026 Hasselblad Award. Napoles Marty, winner of the Frieze LA Impact Prize, sculpts figures poised between reality and fiction, drawing on Cuban culture. Lebohang Kganye constructs postcolonial narratives through staged photography. Dominique Zinkpè draws on the Vodou traditions of Benin for politically engaged sculpture. Justine Mahoney paints about psychic integration and dialogue with the unconscious. Jozua Gerrard captures the intimacy of a post-internet world. Usha Seejarim repurposes domestic objects to explore gender and work. Chidy Wayne explores inner conflict and resilience through her art. Finally, newcomer Chloe Chiasson re-enchants queer Texas childhood.
Twelve practices, one common thread: that of artists who, each in their own way, make memory and heritage the raw material of their art.

This presentation in Aspen is part of a particularly busy year for Southern Guild, which follows up with Armory New York (September 24–27), Frieze London (October 14–18) and Paris Photo (November 12–15), while continuing its programming in Cape Town with the exhibitions of Simphiwe Buthelezi and Alexandra Karakashian in September.

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