Gallery Weekend Berlin 2026 features over 50 galleries across the city, with a strong emphasis on painting. The event, founded in 2005 by a cooperative of local gallerists as an alternative to traditional art fairs, this year confirms the lasting power of painting despite its original anti-painting ethos.
MSCHF, the Brooklyn-based art collective known for viral stunts like the Big Red Boot and a Damien Hirst dot-selling ATM, has unveiled a new participatory sculpture titled *King Solomon's Baby* (2025). The work is a large-scale polystyrene foam and paint sculpture that will be progressively dismembered and sold in thin slices as more buyers join. Priced at $100,000 for a single buyer, the cost drops as more participants purchase shares, down to $100 each if 1,000 people buy in. Sales open July 10 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, with the fully deconstructed work on view July 13.
The Art Students League of New York, founded in 1875, is celebrating its 150th anniversary with an exhibition titled "Shaping American Art: A Celebration of the Art Students League of New York at 150." The show features 87 works by famous alumni and instructors, including Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Norman Rockwell, Tony Smith, and Robert Rauschenberg, drawn from the school's collection and supplemented by loans. Curated by Esther V. Moerdler and Ksenia Nouril, the exhibition spans the school's main gallery, lobby, registration office, and café, highlighting the League's unique open-enrollment, non-degree atelier model that has instructed some 200,000 students since its founding.
The article highlights 10 exhibitions to see in June 2025, curated by editors. Key shows include the Serpentine Pavilion in London, designed by Dhaka-based architect Marina Tabassum, titled "A Capsule in Time" (6 June–26 October), a semi-open wooden structure inspired by South Asian tent designs that engages with light and public activation. Another featured exhibition is Hiền Hoàng's "Garden of Entanglement" at FOAM Amsterdam (6 June–ongoing), presenting works that explore trauma's imprint on human bodies and nature, including a soundscape installation developed with scientists and a VR piece on the Agarwood tree.
The 59th Carnegie International, titled "If the word we," has opened at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, marking North America's longest-running exhibition of international art. Featuring 61 artists and collectives from countries including Brazil, Benin, China, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, Taiwan, and South Africa, the exhibition explores the theme of "we" as an evolving proposition. It includes nearly 40 newly commissioned projects—the largest number in the International's history—spanning painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video, and theater. Notable works include Jonathan González's performance "The Strikebreakers" and Georges Adéagbo's installation "Le Socialism Africain," which uses discarded objects to examine Western power and colonial legacies in Africa.
The Hole gallery and artist Barry McGee have transformed a shuttered 99 Cents Only store in Mid-City Los Angeles into a massive, temporary art installation titled "99CENT." The exhibition preserves the original infrastructure of the discount store—including its blue-and-white tiling, checkout lanes, and aisle signage—to house a dense collection of sculptures, paintings, and mixed-media works. Hundreds of artists, ranging from established figures in the graffiti scene to emerging students, contributed to the project, which features everything from tagged bridal gowns to foam sculptures.
This fall, Seattle's visual arts scene is exceptionally strong, with a curated guide highlighting 16 must-see exhibitions across the city. Notable shows include Matthew Deane Parker's 'Hard Body' at Gallery 4Culture, featuring foam boulders sculpted by an artist with multiple sclerosis; Rob Rhee's 'Crossings' at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, using dried gourds; and Stefan Gonzales's 'Unclassified Materials' and 'Quarry,' which reimagine land art through a decolonial lens. Other highlights include Rodney McMillian's 'Neighbors' at the Henry Art Gallery, 'Woven in Wool' at the Burke Museum showcasing Coast Salish weaving, and a trio of Indigenous-focused shows at the Frye Art Museum featuring Camille Trautman, Priscilla Dobler Dzul, and a survey of the late Beau Dick.
A Visual Journey Through 150 Years of the Legal Aid Society
The New York Historical Society has unveiled a special exhibition, "Delivering Justice: 150 Years of The Legal Aid Society," chronicling the history and impact of the nation's largest public defense provider. The display features archival photographs, newspaper clippings, and artwork that trace the organization's evolution from its 1876 founding as a small office aiding German immigrants to its modern role in landmark cases, including its defense of Attica prison uprising leaders and a recent lawsuit against brutality at Rikers Island.
Wohin auf der Potsdamer Straße?
The article previews the Gallery Weekend Berlin, focusing on the Potsdamer Straße art scene. It highlights several exhibitions, including Adam Gordon's "Months Turn to Years" at Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, which transforms the space into a secluded enclave with quiet paintings. Other featured shows include luminous color experiments, soap foam as an art form, and works exploring identity.
Club Rhubarb, a nomadic art project founded by artist-turned-curator Tony Cox, has opened its third location in a two-floor house across from the New Museum in New York. The current exhibition, 'I am so pretty,' features the mixed-media works of artist Brock Enright, including paintings built with wood, acrylic, foam, and found objects, as well as video works and an installation of altered electronic guitars. The show also includes a bathroom installation called 'BBC Brocks Bijou Cinema,' screening Enright's short films from the 2000s that document his former business of staging fake kidnappings for clients.
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.
The Yale Center for British Art is set to debut its 2023 acquisition, Rina Banerjee’s monumental sculpture "Take me, take me, take me . . . to the Palace of love," in a dedicated exhibition running from February to July 2026. The work is a translucent, pink cellophane reimagining of the Taj Mahal, suspended from the ceiling and filled with a mix of colonial relics and mass-produced consumer goods like plastic beads and foam balls.
The Daegu Photo Biennale in South Korea, now in its 10th edition, tackles the Anthropocene through the lens of symbiosis, featuring three main exhibitions: 'The Pulse of Life', 'The Origin of the World', and a solo show by Rinko Kawauchi titled 'M/E On this Sphere Endlessly Interlinking'. Artistic director Emmanuelle de l’Ecotais, a former curator at Centre Pompidou and Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, leads the biennale, which includes 80 artists in the main exhibition and 75 in the special exhibition, alongside emerging artist showcases, a symposium, a photobook exhibition, and a portfolio review, all spread across 4,000 square meters at the Daegu Culture and Arts Center.
The Whitney Museum of American Art is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Meatpacking District building by inviting visitors to experience Mary Heilmann's installation "Long Line" on the fifth floor. The work features a large-scale mural of sea green and foamy white waves, accompanied by whimsically colored boxy chairs that visitors can rearrange. The installation, which runs until January 19, 2026, encourages rest and contemplation, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the Hudson River. Curator Laura Phipps notes that Heilmann, who created the inaugural commission "Sunset" for the building in 2015, has long prioritized visitor comfort and seating in her work.
Phyllida Barlow's posthumous exhibition "Disruptor" at Wolterton Hall in Norfolk transforms the 18th-century Palladian mansion with her signature chaotic sculptures made from cheap materials like latex, cardboard, foam, and plywood. Works such as "Untitled: Stacked Chairs" and "Loaf" are installed throughout the stately home, clashing with its opulent interiors and historic treasures. The show, curated by artistic director Simon Oldfield, also includes a concurrent solo exhibition by Daisy Parris titled "Fist Full of Dreams."
On April 26, 2025, the School of the Arts held its annual MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, featuring twenty-nine emerging and established artists. Curated by Amal Issa, the show spans a wide range of mediums including installations, videos, paintings, drawings, and sculptures, with many works exploring themes of memory, ancestry, and identity. Notable pieces include Maya Dixon's immersive installation using gourds and found objects, Daniel Castro's surreal cityscapes, and Ridwana Rahman's interactive carpet piece that invites reflection on direction and prayer.
The Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul is hosting 'Inside Other Spaces: Environments by Women Artists, 1956-1976,' an exhibition that reconstructs immersive room-scale works by 11 women artists from underrepresented regions. Co-curated by Andrea Lissoni and Marina Pugliese, the show traces two decades of experimental environments made from light, sound, plastic, and foam, which anticipated installation and media art. The Seoul edition features a new version of Jung Kang-ja's 1967 work 'Muche-jeon (Incorporal Exhibition),' a smoke-filled chamber that evokes the tension of 1970s authoritarian Korea.
Unseen photo fair is returning to Amsterdam under new management and in a new venue, five years after its commercial entities filed for bankruptcy in early 2020. Founded in 2012 by Foam photography museum, Vandejong Creative Agency, and Platform A, the fair was acquired later in 2020 by Art Rotterdam, with its director Fons Hof now overseeing the relaunch. The 13th edition will take place from 18 to 21 September at the NDSM Loods, a 20,000 sq. m former shipyard in Amsterdam Noord, featuring expanded curated sections and a new contemporary art segment called Unfold.
The Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Massachusetts, will debut the exhibition “Father” by internationally acclaimed artist Diana Markosian, running from May 29 to September 13. The show uses photography, archival materials, video, and text to document Markosian’s journey to reconnect with her estranged father, exploring themes of family, memory, and identity. Curated by Anahit Gasparyan, the exhibition is co-produced by Les Rencontres d’Arles and Foam, Amsterdam, and sponsored by the JHM Charitable Foundation. A private member preview on May 28 will feature a conversation between the artist and curator.
The article reports on 'Still Joy — From Ukraine Into the World,' a collateral exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale presented by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation and PinchukArtCentre. The show features works by Ukrainian artists including Malashchuk & Khimei, Simone Post, and Zhanna Kadyrova, exploring themes of joy, survival, and resilience amid war. Highlights include a two-channel video juxtaposing a Kyiv rave before and after Russia's full-scale invasion, letters from Ukrainian soldiers printed on foam panels, and installations that transform everyday objects into meditations on sweetness and endurance.
Lisa Jarrett's first solo museum exhibition in Oregon, "Tenderhead," opens at an unspecified venue on May 21, 2026. The show features new works and site-responsive installations that explore Beauty Supply stores and salons as critical intersections of Black life, migration, and diaspora. Jarrett uses materials like pink kanekalon hair, pigment prints, foam rollers, and lace, treating the Beauty Supply as her art supply store and a living archive of memory and community.
Kunsthalle Bern is hosting a significant solo exhibition of the late artist Lin May Saeed, running from March 6 through May 10, 2026. The presentation features a comprehensive selection of Saeed’s signature styrofoam reliefs and sculptures, documented through extensive installation photography by David Aebi in collaboration with the artist's estate and Jacky Strenz gallery.