Betye Saar’s Birthday Present

Betye Saar, the iconic assemblage artist, is donating her collection of Black dolls to the New York Historical on the occasion of her 100th birthday. The article also covers strong performance art at the Venice Biennale, including works by Florentina Holzinger and Miet Warlop at the Austrian and Belgian pavilions, amidst a fraught edition marked by the death of artistic director Koyo Kouoh, canceled pavilions, and protests. Additional features include a review of Ceija Stojka's exhibition at the Drawing Center and a profile of sculptor Edmonia Lewis.

How Betye Saar Set Black Dolls Free

An exhibition at the New York Historical celebrates Betye Saar’s promised gift of her collection of over 100 Black dolls to the institution, coinciding with her upcoming 100th birthday. The show, on view through October 4, features dolls alongside Saar’s paintings, prints, and sculptures, including works like “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima” (1972) and “Indigo Mercy” (1975). Saar began collecting Black dolls in 1949 and has incorporated them into her art since the 1970s, using watercolors during the COVID-19 pandemic to reimagine them in mystical scenes.

Celebrated in the 1970s, American artist Nancy Graves returns to the spotlight at Ceysson & Bénétière

Célébrée dans les années 1970, l’artiste américaine Nancy Graves retrouve la lumière chez Ceysson & Bénétière

Beaux Arts Magazine reports on a resurgence of interest in American artist Nancy Graves (1939–1995), highlighted by a new exhibition at Ceysson & Bénétière. Graves, who worked across painting, sculpture, film, and stage design, was a rising star in the 1970s—exhibiting at MoMA and the National Gallery of Art, and becoming the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art at age 29. The article traces her career from studying literature at Vassar and art at Yale, to her brief marriage to sculptor Richard Serra, and her pioneering use of NASA satellite imagery and natural history themes in works like her life-size camel sculptures.

One Fine Show: “Paula Rego, Dance Among Thorns” at MUNCH in Oslo

MUNCH in Oslo presents "Paula Rego: Dance Among Thorns," the first comprehensive museum survey of the Portuguese-British artist in the Nordic region and her largest since the 2021 Tate Britain retrospective. The exhibition brings together over 140 works spanning seven decades, from early abstract political collages to the grotesque papier-mâché tableaux of her final years. A central section traces previously undocumented links between Rego and Edvard Munch, including the discovery of a never-before-exhibited work by Rego's son, Nick Willing. Highlights include Rego's monumental "Oratorio" (2008-09) and "The Dance" (1988), which curator Kari J. Brandtzæg connects to Munch's "Dance of Life" (1898-1899).

In London, Churchill's astonishing talent as a painter celebrated by an unprecedented retrospective

À Londres, l’étonnant talent de peintre de Churchill célébré par une rétrospective inédite

The Wallace Collection in London is hosting the first major posthumous retrospective of Winston Churchill's paintings, titled "Winston Churchill: The Painter." Running until November 29, 2026, the exhibition features nearly 60 still lifes and landscapes, many from private collections rarely shown publicly. Churchill took up painting in 1915 after the Dardanelles disaster and used art as a therapeutic escape from the pressures of politics and war, producing luminous, impressionistic works inspired by Monet, Cézanne, and Renoir.

8 Mind-Bending Digital and Art Exhibitions To Visit

LUXUO highlights eight immersive exhibitions that integrate digital technologies, AI, and sensory engagement to redefine contemporary art experiences. Featured venues include DATALAND in Los Angeles, the world's first museum dedicated to AI-generated art, opening in June 2026 with its inaugural show "Machine Dreams: Rainforest"; the Museum of the Future in Dubai, which uses narrative simulations to explore speculative futures; and Moco Museum Amsterdam's "Digital & Immersive Art" by Studio Irma, focusing on interactive light-based installations. Other exhibitions blend projection mapping, 3D environments, and data-driven installations to transform how audiences perceive and interact with art.

The Invincible Spirit of Edmonia Lewis

The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, has opened "Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone," the first major retrospective of the 19th-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis, who was of Black and Indigenous (Mississauga-Tuscarora) descent. The exhibition displays 30 of her Neoclassical white marble sculptures alongside archival materials and works by other artists, organized into four thematic rooms that explore antislavery, Indigenous artistic worlds, her studios in Rome, and religion and mythology. Co-organized with the Georgia Museum of Art, the show emphasizes Lewis's dual heritage without conflating the two identities, featuring extensive text and quotes from the artist herself.

Ain Bailey “The Jamaica Project” at Camden Art Centre, London

Camden Art Centre in London announces a major new exhibition by London-based composer, artist, and DJ Ain Bailey, featuring a new commission in Gallery 3. The commission is the latest installment of a film trilogy begun in 2021, rooted in Bailey's biography and centered on her personal history.

Amoako Boafo Drew on Venice’s Rich Creative Heritage for His First Solo Show in Italy

Amoako Boafo, the Ghanaian artist known for his finger-painted portraits of stylish Black sitters, opened his first solo show in Italy at the Museo di Palazzo Grimani in Venice during the 61st Venice Biennale. Titled "It doesn’t have to always make sense" and produced by Gagosian, the exhibition runs through November 22 and features Boafo's paintings alongside works by friends and collaborators, including poems by Raphael Worlasi Langani and a sculpture made with Stephen Allotey. The show also includes a video documenting Boafo's life and a "heroine wall" of portraits honoring women he admires, such as curator Koyo Kouoh.

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.

Cyborg Butterfly: Threshold | YOSHIAKI NAKAMURA

Japanese artist Yoshiaki Nakamura presents 'Cyborg Butterfly: Threshold', an exhibition featured on Ocula. The show explores the intersection of technology and nature through hybrid butterfly forms, blending organic and mechanical elements in a visual meditation on transformation and boundaries.

Racheal Crowther “Liquid Trust” at Chisenhale Gallery, London

Chisenhale Gallery in London is hosting the first institutional solo exhibition by artist Racheal Crowther, titled "Liquid Trust." The show explores themes of governance, surveillance, and institutional power, examining how these systems intertwine with structures of care. Crowther repurposes technical apparatus and industrial objects that carry memories of their institutional past, highlighting the enduring influence of bureaucracy on everyday life.

Gabriel Abrantes “Bardo Loops” at Gasworks, London

Gasworks in London is presenting "Bardo Loops," the first UK solo exhibition by artist and filmmaker Gabriel Abrantes. The installation spans four screens and features two animated ghosts who argue, reconcile, and sing laments, blending ironic humor with melodrama. The dialogue incorporates autobiographical elements from Abrantes's life alongside broader themes like climate change.

Arch Enemy Arts’ Common Waters Examines Ocean Life Through Contemporary Art

Arch Enemy Arts presents "Common Waters," a group exhibition that explores ocean life through contemporary art. The show features works by multiple artists who use diverse media to examine marine ecosystems, environmental concerns, and humanity's relationship with the sea.

‘Garden of Life’: immersive Monaco exhibition blends eastern wellness with mixed-media art

An immersive exhibition titled 'Garden of Life – A Wellness Journey Through Art' has opened in Monaco, blending the mixed-media artwork of international artist Fiona Tan with the serene environment of L&L Wellbeing, a luxury Japanese-inspired head spa. The exhibition, running until July, transforms the holistic wellness space into a living gallery, featuring Tan's complex works that combine digital techniques with traditional craftsmanship, including velvet, silk, gold leaf, and diamond dust. Tan, also a certified holistic health coach, creates pieces intended to serve as therapeutic tools, engaging viewers through neuro-aesthetics to promote mental peace and reflection.

Exhibition reveals the artistic world of celebrated couple

An exhibition at the China National Academy of Painting showcases over 30 artworks, calligraphic scrolls, opera costumes, and documents from the collection of celebrated couple Wu Zuguang (1917–2003), a renowned scholar and dramatist, and Xin Fengxia (1927–98), a master of Pingju Opera. The works were donated by their son, Wu Huan, in 2025, adding to the family's history of public cultural preservation—Wu Huan's grandfather and father previously donated 241 artworks to the Palace Museum, and Xin Fengxia donated her stage costumes for research.

Three new exhibitions open at BRAF

The Boothbay Region Art Foundation (BRAF) has opened three new exhibitions for summer, running through June 21. The shows include the Spring Members' Show featuring a wide range of media from regional artists, a solo exhibition of Maine landscape oil paintings by local artist Charles Nowell, and an Eco-Art exhibition curated by the Boothbay Region Climate Action Team that addresses environmental stewardship and climate resilience. An opening reception is scheduled for June 5.

Thurso art exhibition will showcase ‘creativity, intellect and determination’ of Barrogill Keith

An exhibition titled 'The Life and Art of David Barrogill Keith' will open on June 6, 2026, at the North Coast Visitor Centre in Thurso, Scotland. The show celebrates the work of local artist David Barrogill Keith (1891-1979), who trained as a lawyer before studying painting in Paris and Edinburgh, served in World War I, and later became a solicitor and sheriff-substitute while maintaining a prolific painting career. Curated by High Life Highland’s archive service at Nucleus in collaboration with collector Robert Maitland, the exhibition features original artworks, archival materials, and personal items from Keith’s family archives.

This art exhibition celebrates lazy days and doing nothing

Irish comics artist Niall Breen is debuting his exhibition "Lazy Days with Dog & Frog" at Heartware Store and Gallery in Singapore from 29 May to 26 July 2026. The show features his beloved dog and frog characters, which have gained a large social media following for their raw, relatable depictions of everyday life, quiet moments, and the simple act of doing nothing. Alongside the artworks, visitors can purchase exclusive merchandise, including limited-edition woven throws, and attend an artist talk on 30 May 2026.