Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal Now Open at the Nasher in Dallas

Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal, a survey of the last 25 years of the Dallas-born artist's work, has opened at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas and runs through August 16. The exhibition features over 70 works across media, focusing on Nicosia's shift to sculpture in the 2010s and his move from elaborate staged photography to a solitary studio practice. It includes sculptures, drawings, and photographs that explore themes of time, memory, and surreal everyday reality, with highlights such as cast metal works and drawings tracing personal experiences of distance and duration.

The Kurators’ Art Dubai 2026 Highlights: Breaking Open the Art Fair Model

The 20th anniversary edition of Art Dubai 2026, held at Madinat Jumeirah, signaled a shift from a traditional art fair model toward an expanded cultural platform integrating exhibitions, institutional presentations, gallery booths, and public programming. Key highlights include the Dubai Collection's 'Made Forward' exhibition, which drew from over 20 private collections across the UAE to present works from West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia, and gallery presentations such as Adrian Pepe and Omar Al Gurg's sculptural systems using Awassi sheep wool at SOLO Bucharest, Lana Khayat's textile-based abstraction at Hafez Gallery, and Alisa Bagdonaite's digital art showcase at Dom Art Projects featuring artists Sofya Skidan, Michiko Tsuda, and Kirill Makarov.

Member's Spotlight Exhibition Opening Reception: Simon Robins: Sociable

The Contemporary Dayton is hosting a Member's Spotlight Exhibition titled "Simon Robins: Sociable," running from June 5 to June 27, 2026, with an opening reception on June 5 from 6-8 PM. The exhibition features paintings by Simon Robins that draw from public domain and found photographs sourced from digital archives, which he crops, recolors, and recontextualizes to create works that feel both familiar and elusive. Robins, a collections librarian and faculty member at the University of Dayton, uses his archival expertise to explore themes of social alienation, belonging, and the power dynamics embedded in historical image collections.

Museo Madre Naples: Maria Lai and Living Collapse between history, matter and memory

From June 25 to September 21, 2026, the Fondazione Donnaregina per le arti contemporanee presents the exhibition "Maria Lai: Being is Weaving" at the Madre museum in Naples, curated by Monica Amor and Carlos Basualdo in collaboration with the Archivio and Fondazione Maria Lai. The show traces the artist's six-decade career, highlighting her experimentation with sewing, collage, textiles, and orality, and includes a catalogue with contributions from multiple scholars. Concurrently, the museum hosts "Living Collapse," the second exhibition of the Premio Meridiana, curated by Samuele Piazza, featuring artists Andrea Bolognino, Effe Minelli, and Raffaela Naldi Rossano, which reinterprets the nativity scene tradition through contemporary practices.

From Brâncuși to Neo-Constructivism: National Museum of Contemporary Art opens new exhibition season

The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) in Romania will launch its new exhibition season on May 23, featuring seven exhibitions that highlight key figures in Romanian contemporary art. Central projects include "Campo Santo" by Călin Dan, a retrospective of Victoria and Marian Zidaru, and a show dedicated to neo-constructivist Roman Cotoșman. The season also includes an anniversary project marking 150 years since Constantin Brâncuși's birth, titled "BOÎTE. BOX. BRÂNCUȘI." The exhibitions span multiple floors and explore themes of memory, spirituality, abstraction, and contemporary reinterpretations of artistic heritage.

Acacia Marable at Night Gallery

Acacia Marable presents a solo exhibition at Night Gallery in Los Angeles, featuring a series of new works that explore themes of memory, domesticity, and the passage of time through layered, abstract compositions. The show includes 76 images documenting the installation, with no accompanying text descriptions, emphasizing a purely visual experience.

Here is what the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Chinese architects Lu Wenyu and Wang Shu will be about

Ecco di cosa parlerà la Biennale Architettura di Venezia 2027 dei curatori cinesi Lu Wenyu e Wang Shu

For the first time in the history of the Venice Architecture Biennale, two Chinese architects—Wang Shu (Pritzker Prize 2012) and Lu Wenyu—have been appointed as curators of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition, scheduled from May 8 to November 21, 2027. The duo, who co-founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997 and are partners in life and work, previously participated in the Biennale in 2010 under Kazuyo Sejima (receiving a Special Mention for their project "Decay of a Dome") and in 2016 under Alejandro Aravena. Their edition will follow the 2025 edition curated by Carlo Ratti and will be titled "Fare Architettura" (Doing Architecture), focusing on the coexistence of diversity in real reality.

Anna Marzuttini and Giovanni Fredi ”SOUVENIR·SUBVENIRE” at SMDOT/Contemporary Art, Udine

SMDOT/Contemporary Art in Udine, Italy, presents a two-person exhibition titled "SOUVENIR·SUBVENIRE," featuring previously unseen works by Italian artists Anna Marzuttini and Giovanni Fredi. Marzuttini contributes large canvases and wall-hanging ceramic works, while Fredi's pieces are also on view, with both artists' research expressed through different media but converging on a shared conceptual plane.

Due giovani artisti in una mostra a Matera si confrontano sulle tracce della memoria

The article reports on "Remain(s)," a dual exhibition at Momart Gallery in Matera, Italy, featuring young artists Luca Granato and Michela Rondinone. Curated by Antonella Marino, the show explores the aesthetics of fragments and memory through installations, sculptures, and video works. Granato's pieces address loss, migration, and climate change, while Rondinone's works focus on childhood, play, and relational practices. The exhibition runs until May 26, 2026.

Young Cham artist revives fading Muslim traditions through first solo exhibition

Young Cham artist Kaeu Sreypeou has opened her first solo exhibition, titled "Remembering," at SNA Arts Management in Phnom Penh, running from May 21 to August 8. The show features 18 acrylic paintings that depict traditional Cham Muslim ceremonies, such as the Mawlid Festival and the Tolak bala cleansing ritual, which are now practiced by only a few communities in Cambodia. Sreypeou, a 2023 graduate of the Royal University of Fine Arts, draws on her own memories and participation in these rituals to document and preserve Cham cultural identity.

Jaime Vallardo Chavez Announces International Exhibitions

Jaime Vallardo Chavez, known as 'El Artista de las Monedas Mundiales,' has announced a series of international exhibitions across Peru, France, Italy, and Colombia, alongside the launch of his traveling museum initiative 'Cruzada y museo itinerante del Continente Americano el Bicentenario de America.' The exhibitions include venues such as Museo Amano in Lima, the Bienal de Biarco in Colombia, the Salon d'Automne in Paris, the MAXXI National Museum in Rome, the Naval Museum of the Caribbean in Cartagena, and the Carrousel du Louvre. The traveling museum project, developed during the pandemic, commemorates bicentennial anniversaries of independence across the Americas and has gathered over 600 participating artists.

Inside Show of Strength: Women Artists Reimagine Goa’s Historic Aguad Port and Jail

Over 30 women artists have transformed Goa's historic Aguad Port and Jail complex into a large-scale exhibition titled 'Show of Strength: Contemporary Women Artists at Aguad.' Curated by Samira Sheth, the show features 37 women artists from Goa working across painting, sculpture, textile, photography, installation, and digital media. The exhibition, which opened in March to coincide with Women's History Month, uses the 17th-century heritage site—once a place of control and confinement—as an integral part of the artistic experience, with works exploring themes of feminine power, resilience, memory, and healing.

Lélia Demoisy at Domaine de Chamarande: an exhibition exploring forest narratives — our photos

French artist Lélia Demoisy presents a solo exhibition titled 'Récits de forêts' at the Domaine départemental de Chamarande in Essonne, running from May 10 to August 30, 2026. The show features sculptures, installations, and landscape interventions across the estate's orangery, park, and grounds, exploring the memory of forests, natural materials, and the interactions between species. Works such as 'Laissés sur la rive,' 'Le Foyer,' and 'Cedrus deodara – Forêts futures' use wood, fibers, charcoal, and animal tracks to probe themes of repair, regeneration, and the boundary between life and endurance.

Ashfika Rahman's art lands in New York Times Critics' Top 6

Bangladeshi visual artist Ashfika Rahman has been recognized by The New York Times as one of the six must-see shows at the Venice Biennale, with her work "Than Para — No Land Without Us" featured in the collateral exhibition "Still Joy — From Ukraine into the World." The installation, presented by the PinchukArtCentre and curated by Björn Geldhof and Oleksandra Pohrebnyak, incorporates thousands of small temple bells gathered from different spiritual traditions and draws on testimonies from Ukraine as well as the struggles of Indigenous communities in Bangladesh's Hill Tracts.

Fort Worth African American Museum to officially open in June with joint exhibition

The Fort Worth African American Museum and Cultural Center will officially open on June 12 with its inaugural exhibition, "All ’N All: Artists Embracing Community," in partnership with Kinfolk House and the National Juneteenth Museum. The show features paintings, photographs, and mixed-media works by 11 North Texas artists exploring memory, culture, and the Black experience, and is part of the larger Freedom Vibes festival running June 11-20. The museum, which has been in development since 2020, secured its final funding from the Fort Worth City Council in January and purchased a 5,000-square-foot building on East Rosedale Street last summer.

SPAIN ORIOL VILANOVA AND THE ABOLITION OF THE MUSEUM AND THE ARCHIVE

The Spanish Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "Los restos," a project by Catalan artist Oriol Vilanova, curated by Carles Guerra. The installation transforms the pavilion into an anti-museum or pseudo-museum, featuring Vilanova's collection of postcards sourced from flea markets over more than twenty years. The work critiques traditional archival systems through accumulation, repetition, and fragmentation, and includes a publication and a performative action titled "El fantasma de la libertad" (2026), inspired by Luis Buñuel, which will take place across the Giardini and Arsenale.

Spain: Oriol Vilanova and the Abolition of the Museum and the Archive

ESPANA ORIOL VILANOVA Y LA ABOLICION DEL MUSEO Y EL ARCHIVO

The Spanish Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "Los restos," a project by Catalan artist Oriol Vilanova, curated by Carles Guerra. The installation transforms the pavilion into an anti-museum or pseudo-museum, featuring over twenty years of postcards collected from flea markets, arranged in a wall-based accumulation that challenges linear narrative and archival hierarchy. The project also includes a publication and a performative action titled "El fantasma de la libertad" (2026), inspired by Luis Buñuel, which will take place across the Giardini and Arsenale through unannounced encounters.

Artist to Watch: Hugo Toro Explores Origin, Belonging, and Identity in Emotionally-Charged Paintings

French-Mexican artist Hugo Toro is debuting his first solo art exhibition in the United States at Perrotin New York on May 20, 2026. The show features over a dozen paintings and sculptures that explore themes of origin, belonging, and identity, with water serving as a recurring metaphor for memory. Toro, who also works in architecture and interior design, describes his creative process as instinctive, starting from emotional impulses and moving from abstraction toward figuration.

Grove Gallery to host ‘In the Absence of Space’ exhibition

Grove Gallery in Evanston, Illinois, will host a group exhibition titled 'In the Absence of Space' from May 30 to June 28, with an opening reception on June 6. The show features artists who explore how minoritized and underrepresented communities respond to exclusion and invisibility by creating their own spaces of presence, connection, and community. The exhibition is presented by Evanston ASPA in partnership with Evanston Latinos, Aloha Center Chicago, Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum, Shorefront Legacy Center, and Evanston Made.

Sacramento art exhibit puts a SMASH!-ing spotlight on piñata culture

A new art exhibition titled 'SMASH! A Piñata Exhibition' has opened at Prism Art Gallery in Midtown, Sacramento, curated by Bridgett Rex and Vianne De Santiago. Running through May 30, the show features piñatas created by amateurs, professional makers, and multidisciplinary artists, exploring the cultural and emotional significance of piñatas beyond their role as party decorations. The exhibition will conclude with a public smashing of selected piñatas. Artists such as Andres Alvarez and Gilbert Rangel contributed works that incorporate personal and cultural narratives, using materials like corn husks and tissue paper to reflect on heritage, memory, and community.

Art and Light Gallery to host ‘Natural Form’ exhibition

Art & Light Gallery in Greenville will host 'Natural Form,' an exhibition opening June 2 and running through June 27, featuring abstract works by Allison James, Bethany Mabee, and Morgan Walker. The show explores organic shapes and patterns found in nature, with each artist drawing from personal experiences—James from motherhood, Mabee from interior design, and Walker from her father's Parkinson's disease and her own mental health struggles. An opening reception will be held June 5.

“Related Stories”—A Visual Dialogue On Memory And Experience

A new contemporary art exhibition titled “Related Stories” opens today at the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Hatzimichali” in Athens’ Plaka district, running from May 22 to July 12, 2026. Curated by Stavroula Pisimisi, the show brings together three Greek artists—Eleftheria Kousiaki, Kostas Nikakis, and Efi Tsoulouchopoulou—whose works span photography, graphite drawings, ink on fabric, polyptychs, artist books, paintings, and ceramic objects, creating a multilayered dialogue on materiality, gesture, memory, and transformation.

The paintings Jannis Psychopedis never let go

Seventy works kept for decades in the studio of painter Jannis Psychopedis form the core of a new retrospective at the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation Museum in Athens, tracing the artist’s journey from 1962 to the present. Titled 'Jannis Psychopedis: Landscapes of Memory. The Ones I Kept,' the exhibition gathers paintings and mixed-media works that rarely appeared in public and were never intended as an archive. Psychopedis said he always saved 'two or three works from every period,' preserving them as 'support for the next movement' and as a record of life, art and experience. Emerging during the liberal climate of the 1960s, the artist belonged to the pioneering New Greek Realists and painted the tensions of a society shaped by advertising, consumerism and political upheaval.

Tweed Gallery's Winter: Art and Transformation

Three exhibitions will open at Tweed Regional Gallery on Friday 29 May as part of the Gallery's 2026 winter program. The program includes the group exhibition 'Indelible: The Poetry of Decay' alongside solo exhibitions by regional artists Antoinette O'Brien and Luke Close (Githabal), spanning ceramics, painting, and multidisciplinary practice. A curator preview talk, live performance, and opening celebrations will accompany the openings.

An exhibition of works by Mykhailo Riasnianskyi, People’s Artist of Ukraine, is currently being held in Mykolaiv

An exhibition of works by Mykhailo Riasnianskyi, People’s Artist of Ukraine, is currently on display at the V. Vereshchahin Art Museum in Mykolaiv, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth. The show features paintings from the museum’s collection and opened with speeches from local officials and artists, including Yevhen Horburov and Dmytro Artym. Riasnianskyi, who died in 2001, was a veteran of World War II, a longtime teacher, and the first artist from the Mykolaiv region to receive the title of People’s Artist of Ukraine.

Emporia Arts Council to host Deon Morrow exhibition, artist reception in June

The Emporia Arts Council will host a new exhibition titled "Movement" by artist Deon Morrow at the Trusler Gallery in the Emporia Arts Center, opening May 26 and running through June 27. An artist reception is scheduled for June 5 from 5 to 6 p.m., with additional viewing during Emporia's First Friday activities. Morrow's work explores memory, emotion, and the intangible movements of life—relationships, memories, and experiences—using layered color and gesture rather than literal representation.

20 artisti lavoreranno in 20 paesini remoti di 20 regioni italiane. La rassegna che porta l’arte contemporanea nei borghi torna per il settimo anno

The seventh edition of "Una Boccata d'Arte," an initiative by Fondazione Elpis, will bring contemporary art to 20 remote villages across all 20 Italian regions. Twenty artists, each paired with a curator, will create site-specific projects that will be inaugurated simultaneously on June 20-21, 2026, and remain on view until October 4. A key innovation this year is that artists and curators spent extra time engaging with local communities before designing their works, fostering deeper connections. Examples include Greek artist Vasilis Papageorgiu transforming a traditional tablecloth from a resident of Tredozio, and Francesco Alberico collaborating with a socio-health facility in Bressanone to create a bird-themed installation.

He’s Royal: Kingsley George Lawton Cooper

The 19th Annual African American Fiber Art Exhibition opened on April 29 in Charleston, South Carolina, featuring over 70 artists from 22 states under the theme 'Regal Threads: The Majesty of Blue and Purple.' Curated by Torreah 'Cookie' Washington, the juried exhibition explores the spiritual and historical significance of blue and purple in African diasporic traditions. Among the works is Donnette Cooper's quilt 'He's Royal: Kingsley George Lawton Cooper,' honoring her late brother Kingsley, who died in June 2024, incorporating the adinkra symbol Nyame Nwu Na Mawu and referencing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eulogy.

‘Remembering’ Exhibition Revives Cham Culture Through Art

The 'Remembering' exhibition at Kiripost in Phnom Penh showcases contemporary artworks that revive and celebrate Cham culture, a minority ethnic group in Cambodia. The show features paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media pieces by local artists who draw on Cham traditions, textiles, and historical narratives to preserve and reinterpret their heritage.