Behind every great artist... there is a great gallery. A look at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Dietro ogni grande artista… c’è una grande galleria. Un punto sulla Biennale Arte 2026

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" (May 9 – November 22, 2026), features over 90% living artists, a significant shift from recent editions focused on historical rediscoveries. Curated by the late Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025), the first African woman to lead the Biennale, the exhibition includes 111 artists, with a majority of women (64 vs. 48 men) and the highest percentage of African-born artists ever (20%). Notable participants include Nick Cave, Carsten Höller, Alfredo Jaar, and Kader Attia, with a focus on mid-career and established figures rather than emerging or deceased artists.

Sketches of Spain at arms: Sim, the anarchist illustrator who drew the civil war from the frontline

The Guardian reports on José Luis Rey Vila, known as Sim, an anarchist illustrator who documented the Spanish Civil War from the frontlines in Catalonia. His bold, colorful sketches captured street battles, militias, nurses, and milicianas, and were widely reproduced in booklets and exhibitions, raising international awareness before Picasso's Guernica. After the war, Sim fell into obscurity and died in near-anonymity in 1983. Now, on the 90th anniversary of the conflict, Barcelona's Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) is exhibiting 40 recently acquired Sim illustrations, highlighting his role as a key visual chronicler of the conflict.

New media art fair launches second edition in Busan, questions the genre's direction

The Loop Plus media art fair has launched its second edition in Busan, South Korea. The fair, dedicated exclusively to new media art, is confronting fundamental market challenges, specifically the public and collector uncertainty about whether such technologically dependent works can be owned and collected. It aims to build the market and ecosystem for the genre.

The great Anselm Kiefer arrives in Valencia for an exhibition. There is a rare work for the first time in Europe

Il grande Anselm Kiefer arriva in mostra a Valencia. C’è un’opera rara per la prima volta in Europa

German artist Anselm Kiefer is coming to Valencia for the first time, inaugurating the temporary exhibition program at the CAHH – Centro de Arte Hortensia Herrero. The show, curated by Javier Molins, will run from April 29 to October 25 at the Palacio de Valeriola, featuring Kiefer's works in dialogue with the permanent collection. A highlight is "Danaë," a monumental painting over 13 meters wide that depicts the interior of Berlin's Tempelhof airport and references the myth of Danaë; this work has only been shown once before, in New York in 2022, and is now on view in Europe for the first time.

And We Shall Go Through Their Hills Without Much Delay

This article documents three journeys into and out of Yunnan, China, spanning from 1874 to 2023. It begins with British interpreter Augustus Raymond Margary's failed colonial expedition to establish a trade route, which ended in his violent death and contributed to unequal treaties opening Southwest China. It then follows a Naxi student named Xueshan in 1937, whose railway journey introduced modern timekeeping to the region, and finally describes the construction of the Burma Road, a critical WWII supply route. The narrative concludes with the artist Cheng Xinhao retracing these routes on foot from Kunming toward Burma over a year and a half, reflecting on history, bodily experience, and the layers of infrastructure that have reshaped the landscape.

In Barcelona, the Joan Miró Foundation celebrates 50 years. All the planned initiatives

A Barcellona la Fondazione Joan Mirò festeggia 50 anni. Tutte le iniziative in programma

The Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an extensive program of exhibitions, concerts, performances, and public initiatives. The festivities begin on June 11 with the exhibition "Poetry Has Just Begun: 50 Years of the Miró," a retrospective tracing the foundation's history and its role in the international art system. Other highlights include "Miró and the United States" in autumn, exploring the artist's dialogue with post-war American avant-garde figures like Louise Bourgeois, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, organized in collaboration with the Phillips Collection in Washington. In March 2026, the foundation will unveil a new permanent collection layout based on Miró's creative processes and open the Garden of the Cypresses, a previously inaccessible historic area on Montjuïc.

Exhibition | Everlyn Nicodemus, 'Without History' at Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Everlyn Nicodemus presents 'Without History' at Goodman Gallery in Cape Town, marking her first solo exhibition with the gallery and a rare return to the African continent since the 1980s. The show, organized in partnership with Richard Saltoun Gallery, features major bodies of work including the 'Woman in the World' cycle and the 'Wedding' series. These works, created while Nicodemus lived across Europe, explore themes of trauma, gender, and spiritual survival through a practice that blends painting with deep archival research and social anthropology.

The International Jury of the Biennale Arte 2026

The International Jury for the Biennale Arte 2026 has been announced, with Solange Oliveira Farkas serving as president. The jury includes curators Zoe Butt and Elvira Dyangani Ose, each bringing extensive experience in contemporary art from the Global South, biennial curation, and institutional leadership. Farkas is the founder of Associação Cultural Videobrasil, Butt founded the in-tangible institute, and Dyangani Ose is artistic director of the 2nd Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial and former director of MACBA Barcelona.

Exhibition | Andrea Torres Balaguer, 'T-10 Project' at Alzueta Gallery, Séneca, Barcelona, Spain

Alzueta Gallery in Barcelona is presenting 'T-10 Project', an exhibition by artist Andrea Torres Balaguer. The show is part of the gallery's ongoing program, which spans five locations across Barcelona, Madrid, Casavells, and Paris, and includes exhibitions, art fairs, residencies, and collaborative projects.

Auntiescapes at Load Gallery asks: Can the hyperreal impact social reality?

The article covers the exhibition 'Auntiescapes' at Load Gallery in Barcelona, featuring the work of Singaporean artist Wenhui Lim, who works under the moniker niceaunties. The show includes a central AI-powered mirror that transforms viewers into the face of an Asian auntie, offering blunt, loving remarks, alongside surreal digital landscapes like Auntlantis and Auntiecity that reimagine aunties as protagonists in fantastical worlds. Lim, a former architect, uses AI and editing software to create these hyperreal, expansive works.

Philippine art goes on tour this May

Manila Calling, a traveling art exhibition organized by Manila Collective Inc., launches this May, connecting Manila, Barcelona, Madrid, and Tokyo. The project transforms traditional exhibition spaces into a hybrid of gallery, curated gift shop, and street-level art party, featuring 70 creatives from the Philippines, Spain, France, Italy, and Japan. Participating artists submitted original artworks translated into a unified silk textile installation, alongside limited-edition prints, zines, apparel, and collectible objects. The tour includes stops in Barcelona (May 15-16), Madrid (May 19-20), a month-long exhibit at Centro de Turismo Intramuros in Manila (June 6-27), and a Tokyo stop with a closing celebration in Barcelona in July. A pop-up gift shop in Comuna, Makati precedes the tour on May 8-10.

Lisa Lundgren, 'Solo Exhibition' at Alzueta Gallery, Séneca, Barcelona, Spain on 9–31 Jul 2026

Alzueta Gallery in Barcelona is presenting a solo exhibition by artist Lisa Lundgren from July 9 to 31, 2026. The gallery, founded by Miquel Alzueta, is a significant player in contemporary art with multiple international locations.

'Parallel Route 01' at Alzueta Gallery, Séneca, Barcelona, Spain on 2–30 Jun 2026

Alzueta Gallery in Barcelona is presenting the exhibition 'Parallel Route 01' from June 2 to 30, 2026. The gallery, founded by Miquel Alzueta, operates from five locations and runs a program of exhibitions, art fairs, and artist residencies.

Exhibition in Barcelona explores an artist's journey into nature

The Vila Casas Foundation has launched a major retrospective of Esther Boix at the Espais Volart gallery in Barcelona, marking the centenary of the artist’s birth. Featuring 180 works, the exhibition traces Boix’s evolution from early figurative portraits and social realism to her later, more abstract explorations of nature and ecology. The show highlights her role in the anti-Franco movement, her involvement with the Postectura group, and her significant contributions to art education through the founding of the L’ARC school.