Your Summer Guide: 20 Art World Highlights Not to Miss

ARTnews has published a summer guide highlighting 20 art world events and exhibitions not to miss in the coming months. Featured highlights include the opera 'El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego' at the Metropolitan Opera, the 'Costume Art' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Björk show titled 'echolalia' at the National Gallery of Iceland, a book on the Venice Biennale by Massimiliano Gioni, Raven Halfmoon's 'Flags of Our Mothers' at Ballroom Marfa, a Pierre Huyghe exhibition at Fondation Beyeler Basel, a James McNeill Whistler retrospective at Tate Britain, and the inaugural Medina Triennial in New York.

‘Something Missing?’ Absence is emotional with Sophie Calle’s new show

Sophie Calle's latest exhibition, 'Something Missing?' at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen, explores themes of absence, loss, and disappearance through works spanning 1979 to 2023. The show features series such as 'Because' (2018-2023), where embroidered felt sheets hide photographs; a response to Picasso's works swaddled during Covid lockdowns; 'The Blind' (1986), in which people born without sight describe beauty; and 'Voir la mer' (2011), capturing Istanbul residents seeing the sea for the first time. Calle's characteristic wit and emotional depth turn voids into vantage points, inviting viewers to confront what is missing.

New Art Center and Hidden Gems: A Weekend Full of Surprises in Bruges

Nouveau centre d’art et pépites cachées : un week-end plein de surprises à Bruges

Bruges, the Flemish city known for its medieval charm and UNESCO World Heritage status, has inaugurated a new art center called BRUSK in spring 2026. Located in the museum district, the building designed by Robbrecht en Daem and Olivier Salens features a monumental 350-square-meter fresco by French artist Laure Prouvost titled "The Whispering Walls Rêve," which references the city's past and present. The center also includes a conservation and research facility, with free access to the ground floor. The article proposes a weekend itinerary starting at the Grand-Place (Markt) and highlights Bruges as a hub for contemporary creation alongside its historic treasures.

There Is No Separation. In Conversation with Alice Maher   by Frank Wasser

Alice Maher, one of several Irish artists at the 61st Venice Biennale, presents three works in the Arsenale as part of the group exhibition “In Minor Keys,” curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. Her presentation includes a reconstructed 1996 installation *Les Filles d’Ouranos*, a new series of drawings and sculptures titled “The Sibyls” (2025), and a collaborative textile piece *The Map* (2021) made with Rachel Fallon. In a conversation with Frank Wasser, Maher discusses the political conditions surrounding this year’s Biennale, including institutional resignations, debates over national representation, and the inclusion of the Israeli and Russian pavilions.

7 D.C. art exhibits to catch this summer before they close

The article highlights seven art exhibitions in Washington, D.C. that are closing at the end of summer 2025, urging visitors to see them before they end. Featured shows include a retrospective of African American artist Alma Thomas at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a survey of contemporary Indigenous art at the National Museum of the American Indian, and a solo presentation of Yayoi Kusama's infinity rooms at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Other notable exhibits include a photography collection by Gordon Parks at the National Gallery of Art and a showcase of modern Latin American art at the Museum of the Americas.

150 photos depict 185 years of the US mining industry in world-first historical exhibition

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will present "Beneath the Surface," a world-first photographic exhibition dedicated to 185 years of the U.S. mining and natural resource extraction industries. Featuring 150 images from 100 photographers, the show spans from California Gold Rush daguerreotypes to 20th-century industrial documentation, including works by Dorothea Lange and Lewis Wickes Hine. The exhibition will be on view at the National Gallery from May 23 to August 23, 2026, before traveling to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

Singapore Art Museum at 30: tough decisions

The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is celebrating its 30th anniversary while navigating the challenges of its 2022 relocation to Tanjong Pagar Distripark, a remote industrial building that has drawn mixed reactions—some visitors find it too inaccessible, while younger audiences applaud the move away from the colonial civic district. Director and CEO Eugene Tan defends the decision, citing the building's high ceilings and flexible spaces as ideal for contemporary art, and announces a fifth gallery opening by 2026 that will bring total exhibition space to 3,800 square meters. The museum also plans to experiment with open-air exhibition techniques in the new space, aiming to reduce energy demands.

Museum exhibitions to coffeehouse chats: How to celebrate America 250 this summer

The article outlines various events and exhibitions in Washington, D.C., celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States this summer. Highlights include the "In Pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness" exhibit at the National Museum of American History, featuring 250 objects from 1776 to the present; a Gen-Z-focused coffeehouse chat at Tudor Place; exhibitions at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, including "Ms. Americana" and "Burnished: Pueblo Pottery"; and the Spirit of America Festival at the National Archives, showcasing rare documents.

BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF CANADA BRINGS TWILIGHT TO THE VENICE BIENNALE

Abbas Akhavan, born in Tehran in 1977, represents Canada at the 61st Venice Biennale with an exhibition titled "Entre chien et loup" (Between Dog and Wolf). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and curated by Kim Nguyen, the installation transforms the Canada Pavilion into a monumental Wardian case—a 19th-century plant transport device—converted into a greenhouse for Victoria water lilies. The lilies, native to South America and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova from seeds provided by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, reference their prominent display in the Crystal Palace during the 1851 Great Exhibition. The exhibition runs until November 22, 2026.

ENTRE PERRO Y LOBO CANADA LLEVA EL CREPUSCULO A LA BIENAL DE VENECIA

Abbas Akhavan, born in Tehran in 1977, will represent Canada at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with an exhibition titled "Entre chien et loup" (Between Dog and Wolf). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and curated by Kim Nguyen, the Canada Pavilion is transformed into a monumental Wardian case—a 19th-century plant transport device—serving as a greenhouse for Victoria water lilies. The seeds were germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the installation will be on view until November 22, 2026.

First Zurbarán exhibition at the National Gallery

The National Gallery in London has opened the first monographic exhibition in the UK dedicated to Francisco de Zurbarán, a leading 17th-century Spanish painter. The show brings together exceptional loans from public and private collections across the UK, Europe, and the United States, including works displayed together for the first time in over a century. Highlights include life-size depictions of saints, soaring altarpieces, and contemplative still lifes, with the exhibition running until 23 August.

Artist to Watch: Hugo Toro Explores Origin, Belonging, and Identity in Emotionally-Charged Paintings

French-Mexican artist Hugo Toro is debuting his first solo art exhibition in the United States at Perrotin New York on May 20, 2026. The show features over a dozen paintings and sculptures that explore themes of origin, belonging, and identity, with water serving as a recurring metaphor for memory. Toro, who also works in architecture and interior design, describes his creative process as instinctive, starting from emotional impulses and moving from abstraction toward figuration.