Accumulations: A Conversation

On March 16, 2026, e-flux Screening Room presented “Viscosities,” a program of moving-image works by artist Lucy Beech, followed by a conversation between Beech, Lukas Brasiskis, and the audience. The discussion, edited for publication, explores Beech's concepts of accumulation and viscosity, drawing from Trisha Brown's 1971 performance *Accumulation* to describe how her work builds complex sequences through additive materials. Beech discusses her film *Flush*, which examines freemartin cows studied by eugenics-linked scientists, and its connection to endocrinology and IVF. She also addresses her reuse of materials, collaboration with James Richards on *A Map of the Pit*, and her film *Out of Body*, which uses imaging technologies to trace hidden industrial and biological flows, including urine-derived hormones from the Dutch program Moeders voor Moeders.

Emma and Chloe Fineman Talk Prosthetic Boobs, Bible Sluts, and Late-Life Lesbianism

Emma Fineman, a visual artist based in London, is presenting her first solo show at Alexander Berggruen gallery in New York, on view through June 24. The exhibition features 18 paintings that explore her queer identity and self-acceptance, drawing from Christian mythology and the Book of Genesis to celebrate female desire. In a conversation with her sister Chloe Fineman, a cast member on SNL, the two discuss their creative processes, the overlap between comedy and painting, and how they support each other through artistic blocks.

Bharti Kher Commissioned by Powerhouse Parramatta, Australia’s New Cultural Center Opening Later This Year

British-Indian sculptor Bharti Kher has been commissioned to create a monumental sculpture titled 'Tree of Life' for the entrance of Powerhouse Parramatta, a major new cultural center opening later this year in Parramatta, west of Sydney, Australia. The work, made of four stacked bronze and clay heads, is part of Kher's ongoing 'Intermediaries' series, which began in 2016 after she found a collection of broken clay figurines in her Delhi studio. The commission was reported by Art Asia Pacific, and Kher previously installed related public works in Central Park and at Harvard Business School.

In Turin, fashion photography is the protagonist of The Phair 2026. All the news of the seventh edition of the fair

A Torino la fotografia di moda è protagonista di The Phair 2026. Tutte le novità della settima edizione della fiera

The Phair, a photography fair in Turin, returns for its seventh edition from May 22 to 24, 2026, at the OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni. This year's edition focuses on fashion photography as an autonomous art form, featuring works by photographers such as Nanda Lanfranco, Giovanni Gastel, Françoise Huguier, Marco Glaviano, and Michelangelo Di Battista. Participating galleries include Photo & Contemporary, Ira Leonis, Deodato Arte, Jaeger Art, and many others. The fair also expands its curatorial committee with figures like Umberto Benappi, Emilio Bordoli, and Brandei Estes.

Roni Horn Returns to London with Seizure of Hope at Hauser & Wirth

Roni Horn returns to London for her first solo exhibition in a decade, titled *Seizure of Hope*, at Hauser & Wirth. The show features over 45 works on paper centered on the repeated phrase "I am paralyzed with hope," drawn from a performance by comedian Maria Bamford, alongside a cast-glass sculpture *Untitled ("What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?")* (2022). The drawings explore language, repetition, and the instability of meaning, with words shifting between clarity and abstraction through wax crayon layering. A limited-edition artist book of the same title will be released by Hauser & Wirth Publishers.

Turin's new art gallery is an apartment where works are displayed in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom

La nuova galleria d’arte di Torino è un appartamento dove le opere si espongono in cucina, bagno e camera da letto

The Italian branch of Paris-based gallery CiacciaLevi is relocating from Milan to Turin in September 2026, opening a new space that is an apartment where artworks will be displayed in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Founders Antoine Levi and Nerina Ciaccia, who first met and began their careers in Turin between 2005 and 2010, describe the move as both a professional and personal life choice, deepening their ties to the city where they previously worked with Galleria Franco Noero and a.titolo.

In Her First Solo Museum Show, Jordan Casteel’s Humanizing Portraits Get Even Closer An interview with the artist

Jordan Casteel is preparing for her first solo museum exhibition, "Jordan Casteel: Returning the Gaze," a 29-painting survey opening at the Denver Art Museum. The article traces her journey from a Yale School of Art graduate, where she painted nude black men with a focus on individuality and humanity, to a rising star in contemporary portraiture. Her career was launched by a 2014 solo show at Sargent's Daughters gallery, leading to a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem and representation by gallerist Casey Kaplan.

The art of chaos

The 61st Venice International Art Biennale has opened in Venice, running until November, amid unprecedented turmoil. The main exhibition, "In Minor Keys," was curated by Koyo Kouoh, who died of cancer shortly after presenting her vision featuring 111 artists including Carsten Höller, Alvaro Barrington, and Laurie Anderson. Her death has eliminated the Lifetime Achievement Award this year. Additionally, the Biennale faces a funding crisis as the EU threatens to withdraw its €2 million subsidy over Russia's participation with 38 artists following the invasion of Ukraine. Iran, Nigeria, and Israel are absent from their pavilions, while the US Pavilion, now organized by the American Arts Conservancy under inexperienced leadership, features self-taught artist Alma Allen.

Watching the Great Form Shatter

Der großen Form beim Zerbrechen zuschauen

Marc Brandenburg, a Berlin-based artist born in 1965, is the subject of a comprehensive survey exhibition titled "20th Century Debris" at the Berlinische Galerie. The show presents his meticulous pencil drawings on paper, which invert light and dark and are viewed under blacklight to create ghostly, dissolving images. Brandenburg's works fragment urban spaces, faces, and everyday objects into shimmering, unstable forms, drawing on photography and photocopying to produce a sense of eerie stillness and motion. The exhibition also includes his first films, tracing his stylistic evolution from early 1990s fragmented portraits to large-scale panoramic works with metallic surfaces.

L.A. vs. N.Y. vs. UK punks and so much more at a sprawling new Skirball exhibit

The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles opens a new exhibition titled "Outsiders, Outcasts, Rebels + Weirdos: Punk Culture 1976-86," tracing the evolution of punk music and culture over a decade. Featuring nearly 400 original fliers, posters, photographs, clothing, and pins, the show highlights punk's spread from New York to the UK and then to the West Coast, with a special focus on Los Angeles' contributions and the often-overlooked role of Jewish musicians and icons. The exhibition opens as punk celebrates its 50th anniversary, with events like the Sex Pistols' upcoming tour.

Block Museum exhibition features contemporary art by five MFA candidates

Northwestern University's Block Museum of Art is hosting the exhibition "We can make any two stories touch," featuring contemporary works by five second-year MFA candidates in the art theory and practice department: Lamia Abukhadra, Pegah Bahador, naakita f.k., Przemek Pyszczek, and Gabby Banks. The show, running through June 14, includes portraits, films, and mixed-media pieces. Gabby Banks presents three portraits of living Black figurative painters Kerry James Marshall, Jordan Casteel, and Amy Sherald, painted in their respective styles. Przemek Pyszczek explores legacy with works like "My Father Winning Gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics (No Boycott Version)" and a wooden Olivier salad sculpture. naakita f.k. addresses resource extraction in "Porous Bodies," using dust from deep-sea mining and copper mine samples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A Milano una grande mostra a Palazzo Reale racconta i Macchiaioli (e l’Italia del loro tempo)

A major exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan explores the Macchiaioli, the 19th-century Italian painting movement often seen as a precursor to Impressionism. The show brings together works by key figures such as Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Giuseppe Abbati, and Odoardo Borrani, alongside tangential artists like Giovanni Boldini, Federico Faruffini, and Gerolamo Induno. It traces the movement's origins at Florence's Caffè Michelangiolo, its epicenter at Castiglioncello under patron Diego Martelli, and its evolution from the 1850s through the 1870s, when the group's democratic ideals and en plein air techniques challenged academic conventions.

New Exhibitions Unveiled At Expanded Art Gallery

Newcastle Art Gallery in Australia has unveiled the first three exhibitions from its 2026 program, marking the first changeover since its major expansion reopened in February. The shows include "Multiverse," a survey of Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson featuring over 30 new and rarely seen works, including his first immersive installation; a debut solo exhibition by Newcastle-based artist Tiyan Baker; and "The Mordant Family Gift," presenting 25 works donated by philanthropists Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM from artists including Ian Abdulla, María Fernanda Cardoso, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.

Meet Ese Onojeruo: the exciting new talent behind the Venice Biennale’s British Pavilion

Ese Onojeruo has been appointed the Shane Akeroyd associate curator for the British Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale, working with Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid on her exhibition 'Predicting History: Testing Translation'. The show features Himid's paintings—including 'Boatbuilders', 'Architects', 'Chefs', 'Tailors', and 'Gardeners'—which depict two figures negotiating belonging in a place they did not originally come from. Onojeruo, who previously held roles at South London Gallery, Chisenhale, and Tate, describes the collaboration as a 'full circle moment', having discovered Himid's work only after her formal art education.

Newcastle Art Gallery unveils three new exhibitions

Newcastle Art Gallery in New South Wales, Australia, will open three new exhibitions on May 23, 2026, following its major expansion and reopening in February. The shows include the largest solo exhibition to date by Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson, titled "Multiverse"; the first institutional solo show by Tiyan Baker, "Mouth Mnemonica"; and "The Mordant Family Gift," featuring 25 works donated by philanthropists Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM. The gallery has already attracted over 80,000 visitors, surpassing its previous annual record.

Gedi Sibony “The Invisible Point” at Greene Naftali, New York

Gedi Sibony presents "The Invisible Point" at Greene Naftali in New York, an exhibition featuring sculptures made from remnants and castoffs that aggregate toward the center of the gallery. The artist describes the process as adaptive, driven by intuitive momentum and organized through allegorical structure, with background landscapes depicting interacting beings that emerge from and create their own conditions.

Giorgio Vasari beyond the Lives: what the exhibition at the Capitoline Museums in Rome looks like

An exhibition titled "Vasari and Rome" has opened at the Capitoline Museums in Rome, running until July 19, 2026. Curated by Alessandra Baroni and promoted by Roma Capitale, the show features over seventy works—including drawings, prints, engravings, letters, medals, sculptures, and paintings—that trace Giorgio Vasari's relationship with 16th-century Rome. Sixteen autograph works and seven drawings are among the highlights, arranged in four sections that follow the chronology of Vasari's Roman sojourns, from his arrival in 1532 under Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici to his later engagements with patrons like Bindo Altoviti and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. The exhibition is staged in an intimate, chamber-like setting on the top floor of Palazzo Caffarelli, contrasting the small space with the vast theme of Vasari's role in papal Rome's political and cultural life.

Before the Myth, There Was Yoko Ono

The Broad museum in Los Angeles has opened "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind," the first solo museum exhibition in Southern California dedicated to the artist, musician, and activist. Spanning seven decades, the retrospective focuses on Ono's conceptual and participatory works—such as instruction pieces from her 1964 book "Grapefruit" and interactive installations like "Wish Tree" (1996)—rather than traditional art objects. Curators organized the show around themes of human responsibility, and deliberately delay the introduction of John Lennon until the exhibition's midpoint to emphasize Ono's independent career before her marriage.

Venice Biennale 2026 Roundup

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opened in May 2026 amid significant turmoil. The Austrian Pavilion features Florentina Holzinger's performance piece "Seaworld Venice," centered on a giant bell that chimes hourly. The biennale has been marked by the death of its curator, the resignation of the international jury over the inclusion of Russia and Israel, protests by Pussy Riot and the Art Not Genocide Alliance, and the cancellation of the South African Pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's "Elegy," which honors murdered women including a Palestinian poet. The US Pavilion's state-sponsored offerings have also drawn criticism.

Notte Europea dei Musei 2026: tornano le aperture serali con biglietto a 1 euro. Il programma

The European Night of Museums returns on Saturday, May 23, 2026, with participating museums across Europe opening their doors for special evening hours. In Italy, the Ministry of Culture organizes extraordinary openings from 8 PM to midnight at the symbolic price of 1 euro, alongside events in theater, music, dance, literature, and cinema. Highlights include Rome's Notte dei Musei (16th edition) with civic museums open until 2 AM, Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este in Tivoli offering evening access and contemporary performances, and the Royal Savoy Residences in Piedmont featuring guided tours, exhibitions, and family activities.

Yosra Mojtahedi, Iranian artist who moved from painting to astonishing living sculptures

Yosra Mojtahedi, artiste iranienne passée de la peinture à de stupéfiantes sculptures vivantes

Yosra Mojtahedi, an Iranian artist born in 1986, has transitioned from painting to creating stunning living sculptures. Her work, characterized by black and white contrasts, features sculptures that breathe, have hair, and incorporate torn tights and synthetic locks, evoking themes of identity, censorship, and bodily autonomy. She recently presented a spectacular installation titled "Isthme noir" at the Espace Monte-Cristo in Paris and an exhibition at the Abbaye de Maubuisson, where her spiritual universe unfolds across multiple rooms. Mojtahedi's practice includes sound elements in Persian or Kurdish, and she views her sculptures as "bodies" that are both intimate and political.

Would you sit on this? Australian designers take on the humble chair – in pictures

For the 10th edition of Melbourne Design Week, over 100 chairs by Australian designers are on display in an exhibition titled '100 Chairs', curated by Friends & Associates. Selected from an open call, each chair had to be made in Australia and functional for sitting. The designs range from traditional timber dining chairs to experimental pieces, including a chair that transforms into a table, a horse-shaped chair, and one with a satanic theme. The exhibition is held at South Magdalen Laundry, Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne until 24 May 2026.

‘How can nudity be so provocative?’ Florentina Holzinger on rocking Venice with naked jetskiers, human bells and urine divers

Florentina Holzinger, an Austrian dancer and choreographer known for provocative, physically extreme performances, is representing Austria at the Venice Biennale with a new work titled *Seaworld Venice*. The piece features naked performers on a barge in the lagoon, including a woman suspended upside down inside a cast-iron bell hoisted by a crane, a guitarist rocking at a vertiginous height, and a vocalist screaming like Yoko Ono. Holzinger’s previous opera *Sancta* included a climbing wall, nuns on roller skates, and a pregnant pope on a robot arm, and has toured European opera houses for two years.

The archive of the great architect Piero Portaluppi opens to the public: it happens at Villa Necchi in Milan

L’archivio del grande architetto Piero Portaluppi apre al pubblico: succede a Villa Necchi a Milano

The Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) has opened a new permanent archive space dedicated to the architect and intellectual Piero Portaluppi (1888-1967) inside Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, the architect's own masterpiece. The archive, acquired by FAI in December 2025 from the closing Fondazione Portaluppi, is housed in three attic rooms and includes thousands of original documents, drawings, photographic prints, sketchbooks, caricatures, postcards, and 16 mm film reels totaling eight hours of footage shot between the 1930s and 1960s. The collection also features Portaluppi's personal library of three thousand volumes and architecture journals, which will be made available for study in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archivistica e Bibliografica della Lombardia and the Politecnico di Milano.

ArtPhilly Presents “What Now: 2026”

ArtPhilly has announced the inaugural edition of its city-wide festival, "What Now: 2026," scheduled to open on May 27, 2026, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the United States. The five-week event will feature over 30 newly commissioned projects by Philadelphia-based artists, including performances, installations, and podcasts, staged across festival districts in public spaces and institutions. The festival is led by Creative and Executive Director Bill Adair and Curatorial and Deputy Director Tania Isaac, with a curatorial committee of 17 local curators selecting works that explore the nation's past, present, and future.

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.

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley Expands THE DELUSION Beyond the Gallery with New Interactive Online Game

Serpentine has launched "I DIDNT REALISE YOU THOUGHT LIKE THAT," a new online game and critical thinking tool by artist and game designer Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley. Available from May 21, 2026, on web and mobile platforms, the project extends the world of Brathwaite-Shirley's acclaimed "THE DELUSION" and explores polarization, identity, and social connection beyond the gallery. Developed with nonprofit Beyond Code Collective and supported by Glass Castle Foundation, the game places players in a post-apocalyptic universe where they encounter fictional characters and make decisions that shape narratives and determine multiple endings, drawing on real-world materials from news cycles, social media, and community testimonies.

Fractured Horizons Returns to NYCxDesign 2026 with Imaging After Images, Marking Its Second International Spotlight at the Festival

Fractured Horizons: Imaging After Images, the second edition of VSDesign's international exhibition series, returned to the NYCxDesign Festival in 2026, running for a week in New York. Organized by VSDesign in partnership with RAC Studio and Asia Design Week, the exhibition featured 60 works by artists and designers from across Asia and North America, spanning architecture, urbanism, product design, visual communication, and interactive media. The show explored how images no longer simply depict space but actively produce, operate, and regulate it, treating the image as a spatial mechanism rather than a neutral surface.

A Roma si celebra il fotografo riminese Marco Pesaresi a 25 anni dalla morte: docu-film e mostra

Rome is celebrating the work of Rimini-born photographer Marco Pesaresi (1964–2001), 25 years after his death, through two events organized by the photography training center Daylight School, led by Marco Sconocchia. A documentary film titled "Il granchio nudo – La storia di Marco Pesaresi," produced by Riccardo Caccia and Michela Fragomeni and directed by Marta E. Antonioli and Elena Padovan, will be screened on May 21 at Nuovo Cinema Aquila. The film features unpublished materials, including Pesaresi's diaries and poems, and includes interviews with those who knew him. A group exhibition, "UNDERGROUND. Il mondo sotto. Omaggio a Marco Pesaresi," opens May 29 at Daylight School, reinterpreting the themes of his photobook "Underground" through the eyes of 15 photographers.

Buongiorno Ceramica! 2026 is underway. All the unmissable events of the twelfth edition

Al via Buongiorno Ceramica! 2026. Tutti gli eventi da non perdere della dodicesima edizione

The twelfth edition of "Buongiorno Ceramica!" will take place on May 23-24, 2026, transforming historic centers, museums, and workshops across Italy into open-air laboratories. The event spans from Piedmont to Sicily, featuring exhibitions, installations, guided tours, performances, tastings, and gastronomic events. Highlights include the Ceramiche Sonore competition in Castellamonte, the Museo della Ceramica's tribute to Marco Levi in Mondovì, and open studios in Montelupo Fiorentino, with participation from 60 cities organized by the Associazione Italiana Città della Ceramica.