Photographer Catherine Opie is everywhere all at once this spring

Photographer Catherine Opie is experiencing an extraordinary year in 2026, with multiple major exhibitions opening simultaneously across Europe and Los Angeles. A career-spanning survey at London’s National Portrait Gallery will travel to Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy, while other shows appear in Kassel, Germany, and Trondheim, Norway. In Los Angeles, her new exhibition “Holding Blue” opens May 28 at Regen Projects, featuring 44 images of Norwegian mountain landscapes shot over 20 days in early 2024, accompanied by nine ceramic sculptures. Her work also appears in group shows at the Autry Museum of the American West, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner. Opie, who retired from UCLA after serving as chair of the art department and teaching photography for more than 20 years, describes this period as the “Catherine Opie World Tour 2026.”

This week's openings in Parisian galleries

Les vernissages cette semaine dans les galeries parisiennes

This week's openings in Parisian galleries feature a wide range of exhibitions across the Marais, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and other districts. Highlights include Galerie Alain Margaron's group show "Du modèle à l'autoportrait" exploring the body in works by André Derain, Jean Hélion, Fred Deux, and Zoran Mušič; Kim Myoung Nam's first solo show at Galerie UNIVER / Colette Colla, presenting perforated paper pieces; and Galerie Wagner's collective exhibition dedicated to Latin American artists Milton Becerra, Olga Luna, and Claudia Lavegas. Other notable shows include Louis Pion's ink-on-envelope series at Galerie Incognito Artclub, Léonore Chastagner's raw ceramics at Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou, and solo presentations by Quentin Gouevic and Jérôme Zonder at Galerie Nathalie Obadia.

“Melting Glaciers, Water Futures from the Alps to the Nile” photo exhibition by Swiss photographer Pierre Jeanneret and Egyptian documentary photographer Roger Anis is a must see - Exhibitions - Al-Ahram Weekly

The article announces a photo exhibition titled "Melting Glaciers, Water Futures from the Alps to the Nile" at the Goethe Institute in Cairo, featuring Swiss photographer Pierre Jeanneret and Egyptian documentary photographer Roger Anis. Jeanneret's work documents the rapid melting of Swiss glaciers and its impacts on hydroelectric dams, tourism, and new landscapes, while Anis explores water, climate, and human resilience along the Nile. The exhibition is part of SABBART, a cultural initiative by EUNIC Cluster Egypt focusing on climate and environmental issues, and runs from 17 May to 4 June.

‘Like a Malfunctioning Theme Park Ride’: Banality and Body Horror at New York Art Week

New York Art Week featured a range of exhibitions that blended banality with body horror, drawing comparisons to a malfunctioning theme park ride. The article highlights several shows that juxtapose mundane, everyday objects with grotesque, unsettling imagery, creating a disorienting experience for viewers. Artists presented works that explore the fragility and absurdity of the human body, often using visceral materials and jarring installations to provoke discomfort and reflection.

See exhibition by Erin Jane Nelson, ‘Living and Working,’ at UAB’s AEIVA through Sept. 26

The Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham presents “Living and Working,” a survey exhibition of artist Erin Jane Nelson, running through September 26. This is Nelson’s largest solo exhibition to date and her first survey, spanning a decade of her practice across photography, textiles, and ceramics. The exhibition will travel to the Knoxville Museum of Art in August 2027, and AEIVA is co-publishing an exhibition catalog with Institute 193. The opening reception is May 21, and free community programming includes summer drop-in tours, a pinhole camera workshop, Science Nights in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo, and a chamber music event.

Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific opens at the V&A

The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London has opened 'Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific', a landmark exhibition drawn from the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). Featuring over 70 works by more than 40 artists from 25 countries, the show is organized in three thematic sections—Re-Visioning History, Enduring Knowledge, and Evolving Faith—and includes sculpture, photography, painting, ceramics, weaving, and body adornment. Many works are on view outside their home region for the first time. The exhibition runs until 10 January 2027.

Roberto Lugo brings monumental tribute to Puerto Rican culture to Manhattan park

Roberto Lugo has unveiled a monumental 20ft-tall urn titled *Capicú de Cariño (I Heard It Both Ways)* (2026) in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park, as part of his exhibition *Alfarero del Barrio (Village Potter)* commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy. The urn features portraits of prominent Puerto Rican figures including Bad Bunny, Sonia Sotomayor, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Roberto Clemente, and the artist’s own parents, Gilberto and Maribel Lugo. The installation also includes a 15ft-tall orange fire hydrant sculpture, *Para Los Días Caliente (This Is For The Hot Ones)* (2026), and several planters and domino tables, all designed to invite public interaction and community engagement.

The Carnegie International Tests What “We” Still Means in a Fractured World

The 59th edition of the Carnegie International, the oldest survey of contemporary art in the United States, opens at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, featuring 61 artists and collectives from around the world and 36 newly commissioned works. Curated by Ryan Inouye, Danielle A. Jackson, and Liz Park, the exhibition is titled “If the word we,” developed in collaboration with writer Haytham el-Wardany, and for the first time partners with local institutions including the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Kamin Science Center, Mattress Factory, and the Thelma Lovette YMCA to engage different segments of the city’s community.

Tang Museum presents Pursuing Possibilities: Explorations in Glaze

The Tang Museum at Skidmore College will present 'Pursuing Possibilities: Explorations in Glaze,' a student-curated exhibition running from May 30 to September 12, 2026. Organized by Emily Lin, the 2025–26 Charina Endowment Fund Endowed Intern, the show features works from the Tang collection that examine the chemical composition of ceramic glazes and their expressive possibilities. Lin used X-ray fluorescence to analyze glazes and consulted with ceramics professor Matt Wilt, bringing together art history, chemistry, and studio practice.

The Holy Spirit in a Rapture of Pain

Der Heilige Geist im Schmerzrausch

Florentina Holzinger's "Pfingstspiel" (Pentecost Play) is a multi-hour performance staged across two locations in Austria—the Wiener Eislauf-Verein in Vienna and Schloss Prinzendorf—as a satellite event to her contribution to the Venice Biennale. The work features extreme physical stunts, including a performer rappelling down a hotel facade, a car drifting with Holzinger on its roof, and a crucifixion scene, all drenched in blood, pain, and religious imagery. The performance, presented only once before 700 guests as part of the Wiener Festwochen, is described as a brutal, uncompromising marathon that pushes the boundaries of live art.

Robert Lugo’s Colossal Ode to Puerto Rico Rises in Madison Square Park

Artist Roberto Lugo unveiled a two-part public monument to Puerto Rican culture in Manhattan's Madison Square Park on May 20. The installation includes a colossal ceramic urn titled "Capicú de Cariño (I Heard It Both Ways)" featuring hand-painted portraits of his parents, reggaeton star Bad Bunny, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, alongside a 15-foot-tall orange fire hydrant sculpture "Para Los Días Caliente (This Is For The Hot Ones)" that evokes his childhood summers in Philadelphia. Both works were commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy and will remain on view through December 6.

Ten artists serving life have a story to tell. It’s on the walls of this Center City art gallery.

Ten artists serving life sentences at SCI-Phoenix, a Pennsylvania state prison, have their work on display at Morton Contemporary Art Gallery in Philadelphia in an exhibition titled "The Weight of Time." The show is co-curated by artist Keith Andrews, who has been incarcerated for nearly 30 years, and gallerist Debbie Morton. Andrews' painting "Defiant Mercy" explores themes of time, isolation, and confinement, reflecting his own experience. The exhibition includes nearly 50 works by ten artists, each accompanied by biographies detailing their lives inside and outside the carceral system.

Widline Cadet brings first solo U.S. show to Milwaukee Art Museum

Widline Cadet presents her first solo U.S. museum exhibition, "Currents 40: Widline Cadet," at the Milwaukee Art Museum, on view through August 9. The show features her hypnotic triptych of photographs, her debut photography book "Seremoni Disparisyon (Ritual [Dis]Appearance)," and works across photography, installation, video, and ceramic that explore Black femininity, Haitian folklore, and the immigrant experience. Cadet, born in Haiti and raised in New York, has gained prominence through residencies at the Studio Museum in Harlem and publications in The New Yorker and Aperture Magazine.

130+ Artists Illuminate the Vast Creative Possibilities of the Nightlight

DUDD LITE, a collaboration between design collective Dudd Haus and The Future Perfect gallery, presents over 130 artist-designed nightlights on view through June 26. Curated from nearly 400 open-call submissions, the exhibition transforms a mundane household object into a canvas for small-scale sculptures made from stained glass, wood, sea shells, ceramic, cotton, and more. Featured artists include James Burial, Chris Wolston, Nicholas Holmes, and Mikei Huang, among others.

Seattle galleries launch Seattle Art Fair alternative

Two prominent Seattle galleries, Traver Gallery and Greg Kucera Gallery, are launching a new art fair called Assembly to coincide with the 10th edition of the Seattle Art Fair in July. Assembly will take place at West Canal Yards from July 23-26, featuring 10 to 15 invited galleries from the Pacific Northwest and Dallas, with a more intimate, curated approach and significantly lower participation costs ($3,000–$6,500 per gallery versus $25,000+ at SAF). The fair is invitational, uses vacant spaces around a central atrium instead of traditional booths, and plans to redistribute ticket and booth revenue to participating galleries.

See Inside the Belarus Free Theatre’s Venice Exhibition on Art Under Authoritarianism

The Belarus Free Theatre has opened an exhibition titled “Official. Unofficial. Belarus.” at La Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia, marking Belarus's first presence at the Venice Biennale in six years and its first appearance not as a state but as a self-governing cultural body. Curated by Daniella Kaliada, the show features Belarusian artists working across painting, installations, and large-scale sculptures, aiming to make the experience of living under authoritarianism viscerally legible through works that explore surveillance, repression, and bodily experience.

Hisae Ikenaga ”Anatomies of Use” at KIOSK, Ghent

From April 4, KIOSK in Ghent presents a new solo exhibition by Hisae Ikenaga titled "Anatomies of Use." The Mexican-Japanese artist brings together sculptures, assemblages, and collages that rework industrial materials and everyday objects into hybrid forms, blending ceramic fragments with a visual language that balances functionality and abstraction.

Tattoo artists bring fine art, live tattooing to Carbondale Arts Gallery

Carbondale Arts Gallery in Colorado opens “Visceral Alchemy: Fine Art + Tattoo,” an exhibition featuring over 20 tattoo artists from across the United States. Curated by Sarah Overbeck, the gallery’s marketing director, and local tattoo artist Matt Hays, the show highlights the dual creative practices of tattoo artists, showcasing their personal fine art in mediums such as wood carving, ceramics, painting, and drawing alongside their commercial tattoo work. A live-tattoo event at Carbondale’s Launchpad accompanies the exhibition, allowing visitors to observe artists working on clients in real time.

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock opens annual youth exhibition

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock opened its 65th annual Young Arkansas Artists exhibition on Saturday, showcasing over 50 student artworks selected by a panel of museum and art professionals. The exhibition, on view through July 26 at the Robyn and John Horn Gallery, features four works per grade from kindergarten through 12th grade, using media ranging from charcoal and watercolor to linoleum print and glazed ceramics. Awards included $25 gift certificates to BLICK Art Materials for each featured student, a $200 award for submitting educators, and special recognitions such as the Mid-Southern Watercolorists' Suzann Waggoner Memorial Award and the AMFA Docents' Recognition Award. Best in Class winners, like kindergartner Levi Splawn and fifth grader Blair Allen, received free summer camp sessions at the museum.

On the Pistoia Apennines, OCA - Oasy Contemporary Art opens the new season with Arne Quinze

OCA - Oasy Contemporary Art and Architecture in the Pistoia Apennines has opened its 2026 season, featuring Belgian artist Arne Quinze. Quinze presents the outdoor installation *Ceramorphia* (previously shown at the 2024 Venice Biennale) and the solo exhibition *I'm a Gardener*, which includes paintings and works on canvas. The installation, made of ceramic forms, reinterprets nature rather than copying it, while the exhibition explores the relationship between humans and biodiversity. The season began on April 25, 2026, under the artistic direction of Emanuele Montibeller.

Gyeongnam Art Museum to host Picasso film screening and talk program May 27

The Gyeongnam Art Museum in South Korea will host a special film screening and curator talk on May 27, 2025, as part of its ongoing Picasso Ceramics exhibition and Korea's monthly Culture Day program. The event, titled Picasso Film Room, features the 1954 documentary "Meeting Picasso" by Italian filmmaker Luciano Emmer, which shows Pablo Picasso creating ceramics and drawings in real time. Following the screening, curator Kim Ju-hyun will lead a discussion on Picasso's artistic legacy and the significance of the exhibition.

Karen Swami - En galerie

Karen Swami is making a name in contemporary ceramics with works that combine clean lines, technical innovation, and striking surface effects, earning recognition from collectors and major institutions. At Galerie Minsky in Paris, she reinterprets the Japanese art of kintsugi: instead of highlighting cracks with gold, she grows porcelain flowers from the fissures, transforming repair into a vital, organic gesture. The exhibition, titled "Karen Swami. Hana is the new Kintsugi," runs at Galerie Minsky, 37 rue Vaneau, Paris 7e.

Tra i mosaici di Ravenna parte una grande festa dedicata al fumetto

Ravenna is hosting the fifth edition of the Coconino Fest, a major Italian festival dedicated to contemporary graphic novels, running from May 30 to June 2, 2026, with a preview on May 29. The festival's headquarters will be the MAR – Museo d’Arte della città di Ravenna, featuring exhibitions by international artists including David Prudhomme, Olivier Schrauwen, Miguel Vila, and Japanese manga artist Yamamoto Miki. The Biblioteca Classense will host an exhibition by Lebanese artist and performer Mazen Kerbaj. The program includes talks, book signings, and interdisciplinary events blending comics with music, theater, and performance, such as a dialogue between Vinicio Capossela and David Prudhomme on Greek Rebetiko music, and a tribute to Miles Davis by trumpeter Paolo Fresu and cartoonist Paolo Parisi. A collaboration with the Ravenna Festival will present a theatrical adaptation of a graphic novel by Chiara Lagani and Mara Cerri.

Get a first look at the immersive art exhibit that takes over 80 rooms in a shuttered downtown L.A. hospital

The 'Hospital of Emotions' is an immersive art exhibition occupying 80 rooms across four floors of the shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles. Running from May 27 through July 31, the 45,000-square-foot show features over 70 artists whose works are organized into emotional departments such as grief, fear, hope, joy, and sadness. Installations incorporate the hospital's existing fixtures—surgical lights, beds, IV bags—transforming former medical spaces into interactive art experiences, including a life-size Twister game, ceramic egg-covered walls, and neon-lit beds.

Carbondale Arts Gallery exhibition “Kindred Spirits” closes after month of portraying artistic friendship

The two-person exhibition “Kindred Spirits” at Carbondale Arts Gallery closed on May 21 after a month-long run, featuring ceramic artist Christine Anderson and abstract painter Benjamin Strawn. The artists, who have been friends since meeting as students at the University of Denver over 40 years ago, displayed their work together for the first time in a joint show, with Anderson’s ceramic sculptures occupying the center of the gallery and Strawn’s abstract paintings lining the walls.

Arte in Situ Vodnjan 2026: final artists’ exhibition at

The eighteenth edition of the international art symposium Arte in Situ is taking place from 25 to 28 May 2026 at Casa Rosina in Vodnjan, Croatia. Organized by artist Solidea Guerra and co-organized by the Tourist Board of the Town of Vodnjan, the event brings together artists from Croatia and Austria, including Elisabeth Melkonyan, Boris Kačić, Snježana Pokos-Vujec, Nela Marušić, Dunja De Martini, Vesna Kuharić-Ternovec, Solidea Guerra, and Boris Roce. The symposium concludes on 28 May with a vernissage at 6 p.m., presenting works created during the residency. Founded in 2004 as a ceramics meeting, Arte in Situ has expanded to include painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, and mixed media, hosting over 200 artists over the years.

“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.

Understanding human emotions through art

An exhibition titled “Seri: Woman Perspective – Voice of Our Time” at 22Hale Street Heritage Gallery in Ipoh, Perak, brings together 10 women artists showcasing 24 paintings and six ceramic- and clay-based sculptural works. The show explores the psychology of art, emotional expression, identity, and social reflection. A parallel talk, “From Pain to Healing: The Art of Emotional Recovery,” was given by Health Ministry psychology officer Rahilah Abdul Rahim, who introduced the Art Drawing House-Tree-Person (ADHTP) technique and color-based exercises as therapeutic tools for accessing and understanding emotions.

‘These artists have much to say’: Longview art museum exhibit gives voice to ‘Native Perspectives’

The Longview Museum of Fine Arts in Texas will open 'Native Perspectives: America 250' on May 23, running through September 12. The exhibition celebrates indigenous voices from across the American South as part of America's 250th anniversary, featuring ceramic traditions, contemporary painting, beadwork, and mixed media works from 11 artists representing 13 tribes including Caddo, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Seminole. Co-curator and Caddo artist Chase Kahwinhut Earles, whose work is held in 32 national museums including the Smithsonian, describes his personal journey of rediscovering Caddo pottery traditions and applying them to contemporary art.

‘Borderless’ art exhibit celebrates Asian and Pacific Islander heritage in Brentwood

The Brentwood Arts Exchange is hosting 'Borderless,' a mixed-media art exhibit celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, running through May 30. Curated by ceramics artist and art teacher Akemi Maegawa, the show features works from artists including Mei Mei Chang, Julia Chon, Jeff Huntington (JAHRU), Jun Lee, and Tang, representing Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The exhibit includes oil portraits, 3D masks, found-object installations, sculptures, and woodblock prints exploring themes of identity, migration, and cultural fluidity. On May 9, the artists participated in a talk as part of the Gateway Open Studios Tour, a one-day annual art event spanning multiple Maryland communities.