5 free exhibitions to enjoy without cost during the May long weekends

5 expositions gratuites pour profiter sans frais des ponts du mois de mai

Beaux Arts Magazine highlights five free exhibitions to enjoy during the long weekends of May 2026 in France. The selections include "Diseuses de silence" at Espace Monte-Cristo in Paris, featuring 21 female sculptors such as Prune Nourry and Niki de Saint Phalle; a retrospective of Ernest Pignon-Ernest at Musée Ziem in Martigues; and the first French retrospective of Peruvian photographer Javier Silva Meinel at Maison de l'Amérique latine in Paris. Other venues mentioned are the Musée Ziem and the Magasins Généraux in Pantin, offering diverse contemporary art experiences without admission fees.

FAD’s Fab Five: 5 Must-See Highlights at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Lee Sharrock selects five must-see highlights at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in 2025. The Biennale runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at the Giardini, Arsenale, and various Venetian venues. Featured highlights include Marina Abramović's historic exhibition "Transforming Energy" at the Gallerie dell'Accademia—the first major show for a living woman artist there—the Holy See Pavilion's "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul" with artists like Patti Smith and Brian Eno, and Lubaina Himid's British Pavilion presentation "Predicting History: Testing Translation."

PATRICK HERON: Early works, 1950-54

Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert presents a focused exhibition of Patrick Heron's early works from 1950 to 1954, tracing the British modernist's decisive shift from figuration to abstraction. The show brings together pieces from the artist's estate, including several never before exhibited, alongside loans from museums and private collections, highlighting a formative moment in post-war British art. Key works such as 'Christmas Eve: 1951' and 'Black Fish on Blue Table' demonstrate Heron's evolving visual language, influenced by the School of Paris and encounters with Braque, Matisse, and Bonnard.

Sarah Lucas Unveils VENUS VICTORIA at the New Museum’s Bowery Plaza

The New Museum has unveiled "VENUS VICTORIA," a new public sculpture by British artist Sarah Lucas, inaugurating the museum's outdoor plaza at the junction of Bowery and Prince Street in downtown Manhattan. The sculpture, which features Lucas's signature Bunny figure seated atop a giant washing machine, was selected by an all-artist jury including Teresita Fernández, Joan Jonas, Julie Mehretu, Cindy Sherman, and Kiki Smith. It opens on May 12, 2026, and will remain on view for two years as the first of five commissions dedicated to public sculpture by women artists.

Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ will head to Japan this summer in rare loan

The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague has announced it will lend Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (around 1665) to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan, this summer. The rare loan is made possible because the Mauritshuis will close from August 24 to September 20 for building alterations. The painting last traveled internationally in 2012-14 for a world tour, and its only recent trip was a short loan to the Rijksmuseum in 2023 for a Vermeer survey exhibition. The exhibition in Osaka will be organized by the Asahi Shimbun, a major Japanese media organization that also sponsored the earlier tour, and will help fund the Mauritshuis's renovations and a new education center.

The National Gallery of Canada, commissioner of Canada's participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, unveils the exhibition Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup

The National Gallery of Canada has unveiled the exhibition "Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup" for the Canada Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2026. The site-specific installation reimagines the pavilion's architecture as a Wardian case, a precursor to the terrarium used to transport plants across the British Empire, featuring a custom pool with giant Victoria water lilies. The artist replaced the facade with glass panels, making the plants visible from outside, and the installation is framed by additional sculptural works. The exhibition is curated by Kim Nguyen and accompanied by a fully illustrated publication.

Floral photography makes space for grief at Plug In ICA

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg is presenting 'Transcendence,' a dual exhibition pairing Sheila Spence's 'Lexicon of Loss'—floral prints made by pressing roses on a flatbed scanner—with 'Observance,' a video installation by the late Toronto artist April Hickox, who died in 2025. The two artists, who first met at the Banff Centre in 1989, reconnected four years ago after both experienced profound loss: Spence's long-term partner died, and Hickox faced a cancer diagnosis. Their collaboration, conceived during daily conversations, brings together works that explore grief through botanical imagery and moving image.

San Francisco’s de Young Museum opens revamped Native American art galleries

San Francisco's de Young Museum will unveil its newly reinstalled galleries of Native American art on August 26, following a years-long overhaul led by a group of predominantly Native curators. The reimagined spaces, called the Arts of Indigenous America galleries, feature contemporary works alongside historical pieces—some over 1,000 years old—as well as recent acquisitions and new commissions. One gallery focuses on Native California with rotating regional exhibits, while another covers all of North America, with ceramics, textiles, paintings, beadwork, and basketry arranged thematically. The museum consulted the communities of origin for historical pieces, as required by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and invited members to help interpret the works.

SCULPTURE IN THE GARDEN: THE STORYTELLERS

The article titled 'SCULPTURE IN THE GARDEN: THE STORYTELLERS' appears to be about a sculpture exhibition or installation set in a garden context, focusing on narrative-driven works. The text is heavily corrupted and unreadable due to encoding issues, but the title and fragmentary content suggest it covers a group of sculptors or a specific show where artworks function as storytellers within a natural setting.

AT A LOW FLAME. CLAY AND NATURAL FIBERS IN THE WORK OF IBERO-AMERICAN ARTISTS

A MEDIA LUMBRE. BARRO Y FIBRAS NATURALES EN LA OBRA DE ARTISTAS IBEROAMERICANOS

The exhibition 'A media lumbre' presents a collection of works by Ibero-American artists that engage with materials and knowledge historically considered minor arts, such as ceramics, clay, wool, textiles, embroidery, and natural fibers. The show integrates sound and oral tradition as tools for transmitting memory, drawing inspiration from communal gatherings like the 'filandones.' It unfolds across four autonomous exhibitions in Valencia, Mallorca, Aragon, and Catalonia, connecting urban museums like the IVAM with rural contexts.

One Art One Community: Exhibit illustrates the transformative power of art among the incarcerated

An unconventional art exhibition titled “One Art One Community” is on display at Case Western Reserve University’s Wade Park Community Engagement Center, featuring 46 works by 16 incarcerated artists from Grafton Correctional Institution. Curated by Eric Gardenhire, who directs the prison’s arts and crafts program, and co-curated by Megan Alves, the show replaces traditional artist statements with “Community Voice labels” written by Cleveland residents impacted by incarceration, including formerly incarcerated artist Gwendolyn Garth. The exhibit opened on October 30 and aims to bridge the gap between inmates and the broader community.