A major retrospective exhibition dedicated to John Giorno, titled "The Performative Word," has opened at MAMbo, the Museum of Modern Art of Bologna. The show, curated by Andrea Bellini and Vincente Todolí, explores Giorno's multidisciplinary practice as a poet, artist, and activist, highlighting his collaborations and his innovative approach to making poetry a performative and visual experience.
Eyecatcher und Entdeckungen
The 42nd edition of Art Brussels has scaled down to 138 exhibitors from 165 in 2025, responding to a sluggish contemporary art market and economic uncertainty. The fair introduces a new section called 'Horizonte,' curated by Devrim Bayar of Kanal Centre Pompidou, featuring six large-scale installations including Pao Hui Kao's delicate paper-and-lacquer refuge and Oswald Oberhuber's €380,000 panoramic painting 'Paradiesgarten.' Galleries are now consolidated into one hall, with fewer blue-chip participants but a continued focus on living artists (95% of the 500 shown). Notable presentations include Xavier Hufkens' solo show of Cassi Namoda, Krinziger's works by Marina Abramović and Monica Bonvicini, and Richard Saltoun's historical mix of Fernand Khnopff, Everlyn Nicodemus, and Suzanne Van Damme.
The Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) in Ghent is hosting the exhibition "Inoubliables" (Unforgettables), on view until May 31, which highlights the work of women artists from the 17th and 18th centuries in the former Netherlands region. The show features about 40 female creators active between 1600 and 1750, including painters like Michaelina Wautier, Judith Leyster, and Rachel Ruysch, working in genres from portraiture and still life to engraving, lacemaking, and paper cutting. The exhibition aims to restore these women to their rightful place in art history.
A major retrospective of Alexander Calder's work is currently on view at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, marking the 100th anniversary of the artist's arrival in the city. The exhibition, running through August 16, 2026, presents a comprehensive overview of his career, featuring sculptures, drawings, archival material, and jewelry that highlight his innovative fusion of engineering and abstraction.
San Francisco's Asian Art Museum and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will host major exhibitions of Korean art this fall. The Asian Art Museum will present the first North American museum retrospective of monochrome master Ha Chonghyun, featuring over 50 works spanning six decades. SFMOMA will debut a special exhibition showcasing the personal art collection of BTS leader RM, juxtaposing over 150 pieces from his holdings with works from the museum's own collection.
The Turner Prize 2026 shortlist has been announced, featuring four artists: Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku. The exhibition will be held at MIMA (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art) from September 26, 2026 to March 29, 2027, with the winner revealed on December 10, 2026. The jury includes Sarah Allen, Jo Hill, Suk-Kee Lee, Alona Pardo, and Alex Farquharson as chair.
Detroit's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAD) has reopened after an eight-month closure for construction, unveiling four new exhibitions as part of its 2026 Spring Exhibition and 20th anniversary. The renovations include a new HVAC system, educational space, and windows that allow passersby to see inside. The building has been renamed the Julia Reyes Taubman Building in honor of the late co-founder, whose family contributed $1.8 million toward the $3 million first phase. Mayor Mary Sheffield toured the exhibitions at an April 23 media preview, praising the museum's role in community healing and access. Featured exhibitions include "Olayami Dabls: Detroit Cosmologies," the first retrospective of the artist's nearly 50-year career, showcasing his evolution from figurative acrylics to abstract collage.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new central building, the David Geffen Galleries, to the public. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor at a cost of $724 million, the 347,600-square-foot structure reorients the museum with a single, flowing second-story floor plan, eschewing a traditional main entrance or atrium to encourage wandering and serendipitous encounters with art. The galleries are named for major oceans and are designed to blend cultures and artworks from different eras.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts have launched a major collaborative exhibition titled 'A Nation of Artists.' Spanning both institutions, the show features over 1,000 works from 1700 to the present, drawing heavily from the private Middleton Family Collection. It coincides with the reopening of the PMA's newly renovated American art galleries and PAFA's restored Frank Furness-designed Historic Landmark Building.
Le Centre Pompidou s’exporte en Corée du Sud
The Centre Pompidou has opened a new satellite institution, the Centre Pompidou Hanwha, in Seoul, South Korea. The 11,000-square-meter venue, located in the 63 Tower and designed by the Wilmotte et Associés agency, is a partnership with the Hanwha Foundation of Culture and coincides with the 140th anniversary of Franco-Korean diplomatic relations. The opening was highlighted by a recent site visit from French President Emmanuel Macron and Centre Pompidou president Laurent Le Bon.
Anozero, a biennial art festival held in Coimbra's Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova, has opened a ghostly edition that uses installations—including Taryn Simon's sound piece of laments in multiple languages—to protest plans by the Portuguese government to redevelop the 17th-century convent into a hotel under its Revive programme. Festival co-founder Carlos Antunes threatens to cancel the biennial if the development proceeds, framing the event as a warning to the developer about the spirits that haunt the building.
Dirimart London has opened 'Immersion,' the first UK gallery exhibition this century dedicated to Turkish-Arab modernist Fahrelnissa Zeid. Curated by Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, the show focuses on her most innovative decades from the 1940s to 1960s, featuring works from Istanbul, London, Paris, and Ischia, with several pieces on public view for the first time.
The article previews nine major art and fashion exhibitions scheduled for 2026 across Europe and the United States. Highlights include the V&A's first UK survey of Elsa Schiaparelli, tracing her radical approach to couture; ICA Miami's immersive Dolce&Gabbana showcase celebrating Italian craftsmanship; the Met's comprehensive Raphael exhibition featuring over 170 works; the Musée d'Orsay's exploration of Renoir's joyful modernity; and Palais Galliera's look at 18th-century fashion's lasting influence.
Valerie Mercer, the lead curator of African American art at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), has spent over two decades building a collection that now includes more than 700 works. Last fall, the museum unveiled a major reinstallation titled "Reimagine African American Art," moving African American art from scattered locations to the heart of the institution, near Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals. The rehang traces a lineage from 19th-century painters like Robert S. Duncanson to modern innovators like Sam Gilliam, covering key cultural movements such as the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement.
MIT's List Visual Arts Center celebrated its 40th anniversary on April 10, 2026, with performances, receptions, and the opening of a new exhibition titled "Performing Conditions," which explores work, debt, and labor. Housed in the Wiesner Building designed by I. M. Pei, the museum manages public art across MIT's campus, including works by Olafur Eliasson and Sanford Biggers, and runs a Student Lending Art Program that loans about 700 works annually. An anonymous donor has launched a $1 million matching challenge grant for conservation of the public art collection.
Perrotin in Paris Marais is presenting 'Soulages-Hartung: Affinités électives,' an exhibition exploring the friendship and artistic dialogue between Pierre Soulages (1919–2022) and Hans Hartung (1904–1989). The show features a never-before-screened filmed interview from the Fondation Hartung-Bergman, along with archival documents and rarely seen studio tools. It highlights their shared concerns as postwar abstract painters, their mutual support and gift exchanges—such as Soulages's walnut stain piece given to Hartung in 1948—and their contrasting approaches, with Hartung's explosive gestures versus Soulages's measured structures. The exhibition also reveals their lesser-known use of blue in the 1980s.
Fondazione Bvlgari scommette sulla Biennale di Venezia: oltre al padiglione ai Giardini, una mostra alla Biblioteca Marciana
Fondazione Bvlgari is making its debut at the Venice Biennale with a collateral exhibition at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, featuring site-specific works by Monia Ben Hamouda and Lara Favaretto. The show runs from May 9 to November 22, 2025, alongside the 61st International Art Exhibition. Ben Hamouda presents 'Fragments of Fire Worship,' neon sculptures in the Vestibule that explore language and cultural heritage, while Favaretto installs the final edition of 'Momentary Monument – The Library' in the Salone Sansovino, inviting public consultation of donated books. Additionally, Bvlgari has a pavilion in the Giardini featuring Canadian artist Lotus L. Kang, as part of a three-edition partnership with the Biennale through 2030.
Pandolfini Auction House is hosting a solo exhibition titled "Giardino Alchemico" (Alchemical Garden) by French artist Julie Hamisky at its Milan office during Design Week 2026, from April 22 to 26. The exhibition, created in collaboration with Mitterrand gallery, features sculptures and botanical jewelry made through electroplating—a process that preserves organic matter like flowers and leaves in metal. Key works include "La Géante" (2024), an enlarged poppy sculpture, and "Aqua" (2024), a chandelier of galvanized plant elements, alongside wearable jewelry pieces.
A new exhibition titled 'Art & Fashion' has opened at Lisbon's Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, curated by Eloy Martínez de la Pera Celada. It juxtaposes masterpieces from the museum's permanent collection—spanning ancient Egyptian artifacts to Rembrandt and Impressionist works—with historic and contemporary fashion pieces, including garments from Charles Frederick Worth, Yohji Yamamoto, Dries Van Noten, Alexander McQueen, and Sarah Burton's debut at Givenchy. The show is organized by regional provenance and temporarily replaces the museum's usual display while its Brutalist building undergoes renovation.
Diario del Salone – Tag eins
The author begins a daily diary from the Milan Design Week, navigating the sprawling Fuorisalone exhibitions that run parallel to the Salone del Mobile furniture fair. The overwhelming experience prompts a search for genuine innovation amid a sea of installations merging fashion, art, and design, leading to the first lesson of the week: accepting the inevitability of missing out on some events.
Alzueta Gallery in Barcelona is presenting 'T-10 Project', an exhibition by artist Andrea Torres Balaguer. The show is part of the gallery's ongoing program, which spans five locations across Barcelona, Madrid, Casavells, and Paris, and includes exhibitions, art fairs, residencies, and collaborative projects.
The Almine Rech gallery in Brussels is presenting a solo exhibition of work by Korean artist Ha Chong-Hyun from April 22 to June 27, 2026. The show will feature his signature 'Conjunction' series and recent works that continue his exploration of materiality and abstraction.
The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, the world's longest-running photography fair, takes place April 22-26, 2025 at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. The 2026 iteration features exhibitors from around the world, including new participants like Galerie Sophie Scheidecker, Ruiz-Healy Art, and Leica Gallery New York, alongside returning galleries such as Augusta Edwards Fine Art and IBASHO. The fair introduces a new solo presentation sector called Focal Point, designed by architecture firm Oficina.la, and will host the Aperture Portfolio Prize for the first time. Over a third of exhibitors are women-led or founded, and Latin American photography is prominently featured. Events include AIPAD Talks, the AIPAD Award, and the AIPAD Lifetime Achievement Award, with MUUS returning as Lead Cultural Partner.
La réouverture attendue du Musée Bonnat
After fifteen years of closure, the Musée Bonnat (now renamed Bonnat-Helleu) in Bayonne, France, has finally reopened. The closure was initially due to structural problems, including collapsing skylights and leaks, and even before that, much of the collection had been inaccessible. The renovated museum now features a new extension built from a former school, housing the public reception area, an exhibition space, a courtyard with a café terrace, and storage. The galleries display the museum's full holdings, including Rubens sketches, terracottas from the Paul Cailleux collection, and works by Léon Bonnat himself.
Vu[e]s de dos. Une figure sans portrait
The exhibition "Vu[e]s de dos. Une figure sans portrait" at Les Franciscaines in Deauville, running from February 28 to May 31, 2026, explores the artistic motif of figures seen from behind. Curated by director Annie Madet-Vache, the show was inspired by a small painting from the museum's own collection, André Hambourg's *L'Enterrement de Poincaré*. Unable to secure loans of iconic works such as those by Friedrich, Delacroix, Ingres, or Vermeer, Madet-Vache instead displays large black-and-white reproductions of these masterpieces alongside contemporary works they inspired, turning the absence of the originals into a conceptual strength.
The Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver is presenting a major solo exhibition titled "Photolithics" by artist, curator, and scholar Tania Willard. The show, on view from March 7 to May 24, 2026, is a decade-long survey featuring new and existing works that demonstrate Willard's innovative use of photographic printing and presentation techniques.
Yelena Popova's solo exhibition 'Moments of Grace' opens at Osnova gallery's new space in Valencia, Spain, marking a decade of collaboration between the artist and the gallery. The show brings together works from several of Popova's major series, including 'Painting Installations' (2012-2017), 'Evaporating Paintings', 'Post-Petrochemical Paintings', and three jacquard-woven tapestries, tracing her practice over the past fifteen years. Popova approaches each project as part of an interconnected body of work, comparing her logic to garden cultivation—a layered, cyclical process. Her cross-disciplinary research focuses on the material conditions of painting, exploring temporal transformations like evaporation, oxidation, and decay, as well as the dynamics between image, surface, and space.
The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, will open two exhibitions in May 2025: "Architecture of the Dalí" on May 2, tracing the museum's history from its 1980s origins to its current bayfront structure, and "Dalí in America" on May 9, featuring over 70 works exploring Salvador Dalí's vision of the United States. Other notable openings include "Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan" at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art (May 9), multidisciplinary artist Babs Reingold's solo show "After Venus" at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg (May 15), and "Cigars! Photography, Industry, and Identity" at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, commemorating Ybor City's cigar-rolling history. Additional events include Florida NOW at Florida CraftArt, Charles Morrison's "Head in the Sky, Feet on the Ground" at the Morean Center for Clay, and a photography contest sponsored by FloridaRAMA and St. Petersburg Month of Photography.
Two solo exhibitions by artists Josefina Auslender and Billy Gerard Frank are on view in Woolwich and Portland, Maine, through mid-May. Auslender's "La Chimera de Oro (The Golden Chimera)" at Sarah Bouchard gallery features new ink-on-paper drawings exploring themes of artistic truth and the seductive danger of commercial success, while Frank's show at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design (ICA at MECA&D) addresses the legacy of slavery through multimedia installations.
暗闇をくぐってみたら Part1 竹内公太展「のののののまつり」@ 市原湖畔美術館
The Ichihara Lakeside Museum, currently under renovation since late 2025, will partially reopen on May 1, 2026, with a theater-style series of solo exhibitions titled "Kōta Takeuchi: Nononononomatsuri" as its first installment. Artist Kōta Takeuchi, born in 1982 in Hyogo Prefecture and based in Fukushima, presents new video installations created during a four-month residency in Ichihara, where he visited over 70 stone monuments across the city—including horse-headed Kannon statues, Koyasu statues, and war memorials—to explore themes of parallel bodies and possession. The exhibition features works such as "Disassembly of the Sansha-za" (2013–2023), "Cement Thief" (2024), and "Sigh of the Ground" (2022), with a map showing the locations of the documented stone monuments.