Whitney Biennial 2026: Care, Catastrophe, and Private Gestures

The Whitney Biennial 2026, the 82nd edition of the longest-running survey of American art, opened with a stripped-down, self-referential title and no subtitle, reflecting a moment of national self-questioning. The exhibition features 56 artists, duos, and collectives, with highlights including Agosto Machado's shrine sculptures dedicated to friends lost to AIDS, Emilie Louise Gossiaux's tender works about her guide dog London, and Michelle Lopez's apocalyptic video projection *Pandemonium*. Machado, a longtime downtown New York artist and caregiver, died shortly after the biennial opened, and his ashes are to be mixed with those of Marsha P. Johnson and spread in the Hudson River.

At MAXXI L'Aquila, exhibition dedicated to Ai Weiwei recounts catastrophes and memory

From April 29 to September 6, 2026, MAXXI L'Aquila presents "AI WEIWEI: Aftershock," an exhibition curated by Tim Marlow featuring approximately seventy works by Chinese artist, architect, and activist Ai Weiwei. The show spans his entire career, focusing on themes of earthquakes, wars, political repression, and memory. The centerpiece is the installation "Straight" (2009–2012), made from 150 tons of steel rods recovered from schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, displayed across three rooms. The exhibition is held at Palazzo Ardinghelli, a Baroque building that houses MAXXI L'Aquila and was itself restored after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, creating a dialogue between the works and the building's history of recovery.

It’s not all movies: LA’s art, museums and exhibitions are world class

Los Angeles is expanding its cultural offerings with several new and renovated art institutions. The Museum of AI Arts, called Dataland, is set to open this spring at the Grand L.A. complex, created by artist Refik Anadol. It claims to be the world's first museum dedicated to AI art, featuring immersive installations like an Infinity Room with AI-generated scents. Meanwhile, the Natural History Museum completed a $75 million renovation in 2024, adding a 60,000-square-foot wing and displaying a unique green-boned dinosaur named Gnatalie, along with Barbara Carrasco's previously censored mural. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is opening the David Geffen Galleries on May 4, a 110,000-square-foot space for its permanent collection.

What’s on for spring? Spiritualism and symbolic systems

This article surveys several spring exhibitions in Chicago that explore themes of spiritualism, symbolic systems, and interconnected consciousness. Featured shows include Mindy Rose Schwartz's "Countersealed" at M. LeBlanc, which uses deconstructed fur coats, wands, and twisted fiber sculptures to evoke rituals addressing ecological disaster and historical subjugation. Daniel G. Baird's "Margin" at Patron examines thresholds between material and spiritual realms through a gilded canoe, wax arm cast, and birchwood oar. Leah Ke Yi Zheng's "Change, I Ching (64 Paintings)" at the Renaissance Society presents 64 hexagram paintings on silk, connecting abstract minimalism with Eastern silk painting traditions.

Venice Biennale 2026: What are the major trends that will mark the 99 national pavilions?

Biennale de Venise 2026 : quelles sont les grandes tendances qui vont marquer les 99 pavillons nationaux ?

The article previews the 2026 Venice Biennale, highlighting key trends across its 99 national pavilions. Major themes include the hybridization of theater, dance, and performance, particularly in pavilions from Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Lithuania, where artists like Florentina Holzinger, Aline Bouvy, Miet Warlop, and Eglė Budvytytė use radical, body-centric works. Geopolitical engagement is also central, with the Ukrainian pavilion featuring Zhanna Kadyrova's work on resistance and the British pavilion exploring themes of exile and migration. Other notable pavilions include Spain's focus on imagery, a sound installation for the Vatican, a polyphonic piece for Romania, and a film on sign language song for Poland.

Lina Lapelytė Fills Hamburger Bahnhof with 400,000 Wood Blocks for Communal Building

Lithuanian artist Lina Lapelytė has filled Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof with 400,000 wooden blocks made of pine and spruce, creating a participatory installation titled “We Make Years Out of Hours.” Commissioned by Chanel, the work invites the public to build and rebuild structures from the 10-centimeter cubes. A series of weekly performances featuring a libretto by writers including Ocean Vuong, Etel Adnan, Forugh Farrokhzad, and Mahmoud Darwish will accompany the installation, which opens on May 1 and runs through January 10, 2027.

Must-See National Pavilions at the 61st Venice Biennale

The 61st Venice Biennale features standout national pavilions from Japan, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Singapore, and India. Japan presents Ei Arakawa-Nash's 'Grass Babies, Moon Babies,' an interactive exhibition with hand-sewn baby dolls and sound pieces exploring queer parenthood and collective care. The Philippines showcases Jon Cuyson's 'Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig,' a solo show using 'mussel thinking' to highlight Filipino seafarers. Timor-Leste's 'Across Words' brings together three artists addressing ethnolinguistic diversity and cultural memory, while Singapore presents Amanda Heng's 'A Pause,' a feminist performance on vulnerability and resilience. India's pavilion features Ranjani Shettar's work, supported by Talwar Gallery.

The forgotten Chinese conceptualists: Melbourne show brings together works by New Measurement Group

An exhibition at Buxton Contemporary in Melbourne, titled "Poetry Goes No Further Than Language: a Historical Moment of Art Becoming Art Again," brings together the complete artistic output of the New Measurement Group, a pioneering Chinese conceptual art collective from Beijing, alongside four conceptual experiments by Shanghai-based artist Qian Weikang. Curated by Carol Yinghua Lu and artist Liu Ding, the show aims to reassess early Chinese conceptual art, featuring works by the New Measurement Group (Chen Shaoping, Gu Dexin, Wang Luyan), pieces from the New Wave art movement, and new commissions by Melbourne artist Darcey Bella Arnold. The curators faced challenges locating the group's five publications, including one purchased on eBay from Europe, and used re-enactment and re-fabrication to recreate lost works like Qian's "Ladder Poem" (1990).

11 Art Shows to See in the Hudson Valley in May 2026

The article surveys 11 art exhibitions opening across the Hudson Valley in May 2026, highlighting a regional preoccupation with structure, materiality, and resistance to singular narratives. Featured shows include "Surface, Structure, String" at Hudson Hall, a textile survey curated by Richard Saja with artists like Portia Munson and Laleh Khoramian; "Jose Picayo: 35 Years in Photographs" at Robin Rice Gallery; "The Linda McCartney Retrospective: From the Light" at the Fenimore Art Museum; "Carol Seitz: Growth in Difficult Places" at Convey/er/or; and "Stephen Olivier: Hazmat" at ASK in Kingston, among others.

4 exhibitions to visit this summer in London, Kyoto and Venice

The article highlights four art exhibitions to visit this summer across London, Kyoto, and Venice. In London, the Design Museum presents "Nigo: From Japan with Love," showcasing over 700 objects from the Japanese designer's three-decade career, including collaborations with Nike and Louis Vuitton. In Kyoto, the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art hosts "YBA & Beyond: British art in the 1990s from the Tate Collection," featuring works by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and other Young British Artists. At the Venice Biennale, Hong Kong artist Wallace Chan presents "Vessels of the Other World," a show of titanium sculptures inspired by sacred Catholic oils, curated by James Putman.

Previews: 61st Venice Biennale: In Minor Keys

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens amid global turmoil and internal controversy. Kouoh, who passed away in May 2025, conceived the exhibition around the metaphor of a "creole garden," emphasizing deep affinities between 111 artists from diverse locations such as Dakar, Beirut, and Salvador. The Biennale is overshadowed by recent geopolitical events, including US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, and faces protests: over 70 participating artists signed an open letter opposing the participation of Israel, Russia, and the US, while the Australian pavilion saw the reinstatement of Khaled Sabsabi after being dropped, and South Africa withdrew its official pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's femicide project, which she will still present independently.

The Major Exhibitions at LUMA Arles in France: Zaha Hadid, Gerhard Richter and Patti Smith

Le grandi mostre al LUMA di Arles in Francia: Zaha Hadid, Gerhard Richter e Patti Smith

LUMA Arles in France will launch a new exhibition cycle on May 1, 2026, followed by a second series starting July 4. The program, presented by CEO Mustapha Bouhayati and artistic director Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, includes a major show of Gerhard Richter's "Overpainted Photographs" in the Frank Gehry-designed tower, a Zaha Hadid retrospective titled "I Think There Should Be No End to Experimentation" marking the tenth anniversary of her death, and a centennial celebration of the influential art magazine Cahiers d'Art. The exhibitions aim to bridge visual arts with music, performance, and live events, bringing together voices from diverse geographies and disciplines.

What else is happening

Was sonst noch geht

Ahead of the Gallery Weekend Berlin (May 1–3), the city is buzzing with parallel exhibitions that extend far beyond the official gallery circuit. The fourth edition of the Sellerie Weekend opens over 75 independent Off-Spaces from April 30 to May 3, featuring performances, curated tours, and a kickoff event with artist Sophia Süßmilch at the Spoiler project space. The Paper Positions art fair returns to Tempelhof Airport (April 30–May 3) with 70 international galleries specializing in works on paper, including artists like Annegret Soltau, Una Ursprung, and Stefanie Moshammer. Meanwhile, the art initiative House presents the group show "Gravity Ease Contract" in the Berghain heating plant hall (May 1–24), curated by David Douard, with works by Susan Philipsz, Julia Scher, and others. Finally, collectors Karen and Christian Boros unveil "Berlin Bunker #5" in their bunker-turned-museum, featuring recent acquisitions by Pol Taburet, Sung Tieu, and Jill Mulleady.

10 exhibitions to look out for in May

Warren Feeney's article highlights 10 exhibitions opening in May 2026, primarily in Christchurch, New Zealand. Featured shows include Stone Maka's 'MONO' at Jonathan Smart Gallery, exploring Tongan tapa cloth traditions; Jess Nicholson's 'Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)' at CoCA Toi Moroki, focusing on Ngāi Tahu culture and land connections; and a group exhibition 'Indigo' at Art on the Quay, featuring seven Central Otago artists. Other notable shows include Jane Barry, Sandra Hussey, and Laurie Roodt's 'Three Exhibitions' at Chambers Art Gallery, and Stephanie Postles' 'What These Walls Remember' at City Art Depot's new Up Stairs space.

Birmingham Museum of Art to unveil new Black American art exhibition

The Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA) announced it will unveil a landmark exhibition titled "Roll Call: Two Hundred Years of Black American Art" in September 2026. The show features 99 works drawn entirely from the museum's permanent collection, tracing two centuries of Black artistic production. Organized in four thematic sections—The Ground We Stand On, Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility, What Freedom Feels Like, and In the Heart of It All—the exhibition highlights the museum's history of collecting Black art, which began in 1971 and now includes over 1,000 works by 250 Black artists. The exhibition coincides with the museum's 75th anniversary and runs from September 26, 2026 to January 17, 2027.

As Told By: Slavs and Tatars at Rossi & Rossi

Slavs and Tatars, the research-based art collective, opened their first solo exhibition in Hong Kong titled “胡 ( هو / who) are you?” at Rossi & Rossi, running until May 9, 2026. The show gathers iconic projects and new commissions across various media, playfully probing the philosophical question of identity and belonging. Co-founder Payam Sharifi discusses works such as the handblown glass melon sculptures in "Dark Yelblow" (2025), which explore cultural stereotypes and the figure of the Other, and the "Love Me, Love Me Not" series, which recovers original place names and scripts to reveal the layered complexity of empires.

lina lapelytė fills hamburger bahnhof with 400,000 cubes, inviting visitors to build and sing

Lithuanian artist Lina Lapelytė has filled Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof museum with 400,000 lightweight foam cubes, creating an interactive installation titled "The Singing Cube." Visitors are invited to stack, carry, and rebuild the cubes while participating in collective singing performances, transforming the museum into a participatory sound and sculpture environment. The installation evolves over time through the collaborative actions of participants, blending architecture, music, and social interaction.

India at Venice Biennale 2026 curtain raiser: Many voices, one resonance

India has announced its participation in the 61st Venice Biennale with the India Pavilion exhibition titled 'Geographies of Distance: Remembering Home,' curated by Amin Jaffer. The exhibition, presented by the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Ministry of Culture, will feature works by five artists: Alwar Balasubramaniam, Ranjani Shettar, Sumakshi Singh, Skarma Sonam Tashi, and Asim Waqif. It will run from May 9, 2026, with previews from May 6-8. The pavilion is supported by Isha Ambani, chairperson of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, and Sunil Munjal, founder of Serendipity Arts Foundation. Additionally, on May 8, Kochi-Muziris Biennale president Jitish Kallat will announce the curator for its seventh edition.

designboom radar: exhibitions to see around the world this may

Designboom has published its monthly roundup of must-see art exhibitions around the world for May 2026. Featured shows include Nick Doyle's 'Collective Hallucinations' at Perrotin, Nicola Turner's 'Time’s Scythe' in collaboration with Annely Juda Fine Art at YSP, and Katharina Grosse's 'I Set Out, I Walked Fast' at White Cube. The article also includes a tribute to Georg Baselitz, the influential German painter who recently passed away at 88, and a guide to the 61st Venice Art Biennale 2026.

Expansive Exhibition Highlights U.S. History Through ‘A Nation of Artists’

The United States is marking its 250th anniversary in 2026 with a major collaborative exhibition titled *A Nation of Artists*, presented simultaneously at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). The show features over 1,000 works—paintings, photographs, sculptures, and decorative arts—spanning from the late 18th century to the present, including more than 120 rarely seen pieces from the Middleton Family Collection, one of the country's most significant private holdings of American art. PAFA organizes the works thematically around westward expansion, industrialization, and globalization, while PMA, celebrating its 150th anniversary, presents a chronological survey from 1700 to 1960, highlighting international exchange, technological innovation, and shifting cultural economics.

Marianne Vitale exhibition and performance in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents "Marianne Vitale: On Liberty: A Summoning," an exhibition and performance project at SPACE gallery in downtown Pittsburgh, running from May 1 to October 11, 2026. Guest curated by Benjamin Tischer of New Discretions, the project explores the layered social and cultural history of the 818 Liberty Avenue building, a former hub of nightlife, performance, and queer gathering. Vitale's work incorporates sculpture, painting, film, and live activations, using decommissioned locomotive parts and industrial debris to engage with post-industrial America. The exhibition transforms into a functioning club during select Final Fridays, drawing on the site's history as home to venues like Pegasus Lounge, a key LGBTQ+ space during the AIDS crisis.

Building Worlds

Welten bauen

Lina Lapelytė has transformed the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin into a mutable landscape of wooden blocks for her second Chanel Commission. The installation, titled "Welten bauen" (Building Worlds), invites visitors to actively shape the space, incorporating elements of poetry, song, and community. The work draws inspiration from Paul Hindemith's 1930s children's singspiel "Wir bauen eine Stadt," which was banned by the Nazis and led to Hindemith's emigration.

The Biennale of Quiet Tones

Die Biennale der leisen Töne

The 61st Venice Biennale's main exhibition, titled "Gardens, Processions, Art as Expression of Lived Realities," places humanity at its center. Curators revealed minimal biographical details for the 111 participating artists, only noting the oldest (Marcel Duchamp, born 1887) and youngest (Mohammed Z Rahman, born 1997), signaling a deliberate shift away from individual fame toward collective experience.

New exhibition at Buxton reveals insights into Chinese conceptual art

The University of Melbourne's Buxton Contemporary has opened a new exhibition titled "Poetry goes no further than language," which examines the emergence of conceptual art in China during the mid-1980s and early 1990s. Featuring works by the Beijing collective New Measurement Group and Shanghai artist Qian Weikang, the show also includes a new commission by Victorian College of the Arts graduate Darcey Bella Arnold. Curated by Dr. Carol Yinghua Lu, Director of Beijing's Inside-Out Art Museum, together with artist Liu Ding, the exhibition brings previously inaccessible or little-known works to Australia for the first time.

Buxton Unveils Chinese Conceptual Art Exhibition

The University of Melbourne's Buxton Contemporary has opened "Poetry goes no further than language: A historical moment of art becoming art again," an exhibition examining the emergence of conceptual art in China during the mid-1980s and early 1990s. It features works by the Beijing collective New Measurement Group and Shanghai artist Qian Weikang, alongside a new commission by Victorian College of the Arts graduate Darcey Bella Arnold. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Carol Yinghua Lu, Director of Beijing's Inside-Out Art Museum, and artist Liu Ding.

At Alserkal Avenue’s Deja Vu, UAE galleries find strength in collaboration

Alserkal Avenue in Dubai has launched "Deja Vu," a multi-gallery exhibition bringing together 20 UAE-based galleries at the Concrete venue, running until May 8. Curated by Zaina Zaarour with co-curators Kevin Jones and Nada Raza, the show features works including German artist Michael Sailstorfer's installation of a car fuel tank, reflecting anxieties around fuel prices and geopolitical uncertainty. The exhibition emerged from urgent community meetings after the Iran war disrupted the spring art season, which typically includes Art Dubai and collector visits. Participating galleries include 16 from Alserkal Avenue, plus Nika Project Space, Total Arts at The Courtyard, Tabari Artspace, and Iris Projects, with many works priced under $10,000 to facilitate sales.

In Minor Keys: The 61st Biennale di Arte Venezia Opens Under Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025).

The 61st Biennale di Arte Venezia opens under the posthumous curatorial vision of Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025), the late Cameroonian-born curator who reshaped contemporary African and diasporic art discourse. The central exhibition, spanning the Giardini and Arsenale, features 111 participants including artists, collectives, and artist-led organizations from across the Global South, with works in textiles, film, sculpture, and performance that interrogate colonialism, migration, and ecological repair. The Biennale is also marked by a pronounced presence of African and diasporic narratives across national pavilions, including several first-time pavilions from the African continent.

Nasan Tur Collects Contributions for 'Archive of Feelings' for Manifesta 16

Nasan Tur sammelt Beiträge für "Archiv der Gefühle" zur Manifesta 16

Berlin-based artist Nasan Tur is calling on people from the Ruhr region and beyond to submit contributions to his "Archive of Feelings" via an online portal. The project is part of his commissioned work for the 16th edition of the nomadic biennial Manifesta, which opens on June 21 across several cities in the Ruhr area. Tur's installation, titled "Elevation," will be housed in St. Gertrud Church in Essen, where excerpts from anonymous submissions—expressing hopes, fears, wounds, ideas, wishes, and everyday observations—will be carved into old church pews.

“Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes” at Marres, Maastricht

Seven artists with roots in West Africa—Yacine Tilala Fall, Selly Raby Kane, Maguette Dieng, Ican Ramageli, Hamedine Kane, Eva Diallo, and Babacar Traoré Doli—have jointly created a multi-sensory total installation at Marres in Maastricht. Titled “Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes,” the exhibition incorporates sculpture, sound, textiles, and video, connecting Zikr chanting of mantras, daily life in the Medina, and the trees of the dry landscape.

Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art highlights dynamic spring exhibition season

The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs, Florida, has launched a dynamic spring 2026 exhibition season featuring four shows that highlight regional artists and student creativity. Exhibitions include "Richard Heipp: Reliquaries & Artifacts" (through July 26), which uses hyper-realistic paintings to explore how museums shape cultural memory; "Dallas Jackson: Unsung Heroes, The Fabric of America" (through June 14), a mixed-media tribute to overlooked community figures; and "David Anderson: Now and Again" (through June 14), presenting eight newly acquired works never before publicly exhibited. The season also includes student-focused programming from kindergarten through middle school.