Annikka Olsen

When Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened its doors in 2011, it didn’t occur to Moshe Safdie—founding partner of Safdie Architects, the firm behind the original campus—that he would also be the one to helm its expansion. When the museum founded by Alice Walton was unveiled, Safdie was in his early 70s, and multi-decade plans for potential expansion and updates were made with the idea that they would be executed by the next-gen of museum stewards. But Walton had another idea.

Ahead of the 17th edition of Independent, a key trend has already emerged among the exhibitors. No less than six galleries will be presenting solo booths dedicated to Asian artists—from a rising artist making their U.S. debut to a pivotal figure of 20th-century Korean geometric abstraction.