ArtReview's editors have curated a list of 11 must-see exhibitions worldwide for May 2026, excluding Venice. Highlights include Audie Murray's solo show at april april in Pittsburgh, featuring works made with her own hair and breast milk; Delcy Morelos's monumental earthwork 'origo' at the Barbican Sculpture Court in London; and Bold Tendencies' 20th anniversary season in Peckham, titled 'Euphoria', with new commissions across multiple disciplines.
Pacita Abad, a Filipino artist who fled political persecution in 1970 and went on to create over 5,000 works, is finally receiving her first career retrospective. Organized by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the exhibition is now on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), featuring roughly 40 pieces that showcase her vibrant trapunto paintings—quilted canvases embellished with materials like buttons, beads, and shells. The show will travel to MoMA PS1 in New York and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto next year.
Philadelphia is set to launch a new contemporary art fair called Elsewhere on June 4, organized by Megan Galardi, founder of Blah Blah Gallery. The fair will take over the Yowie Hotel, a pair of 1900s rowhouses, featuring 26 galleries from cities including Los Angeles, Toronto, and London. Booth prices are kept low—around $3,000 for the largest rooms—and some exhibitors can sleep in their spaces to reduce costs. Participating galleries include Harlesden High Street, DARLA, and Blah Blah Gallery, with artists such as Patricia Renee’ Thomas, Emmanuel Massillon, and Qualeasha Wood. The fair also includes panels, DJ sets, reciprocal museum tours, and VIP studio visits.
Diego Marcon, a Milan-based artist working primarily in moving image, is gaining international attention for his unsettling and emotionally charged video installations. His work *Fritz* (2023), featuring a computer-generated boy slowly dangling from a noose while singing, exemplifies his method of dissecting genre cinema through animation, prosthetics, and pop culture references. Marcon has been featured in major exhibitions including the 59th Venice Biennale (2022), Fondazione Between Art and Film in Venice, and Kunsthalle Basel, with a new commission *Krapfen* touring internationally after premiering at the Renaissance Society in Chicago. His upcoming solo exhibition at the Consortium Museum in Dijon opens December 5, 2025.
Artist Lucy Raven has completed her film trilogy, "The Drumfire," with the release of Murderers Bar (2025). The 42-minute film documents the historic removal of four dams along the Klamath River, capturing the dramatic release of water and the restoration of a river system flowing from Oregon through Northern California. The work is currently on view at the Power Plant in Toronto and is scheduled to travel to the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston in May.
Cynthia Hawkins, a 76-year-old Black abstract painter, discusses her latest work and career in an interview with Cultured. She describes her ongoing "Maps Necessary for a Walk in 4D" series, which began in 1979, and her current exploration of a new iteration called "Fielding Space" or "Maps Fielding Space." Hawkins will be featured in the upcoming "Hard Art" exhibition at MoMA PS1 opening November 5, which places her work alongside over 40 other Black abstract artists including Sam Gilliam and Carolyn Lazard. She reflects on her early art experiences, from learning to draw Mickey Mouse with her father to rejecting paint-by-numbers, and her enduring fascination with color, particularly orange and yellow.
The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) has appointed Vancouver-based independent curator Kate Wong to organize the Curated Spotlight section of its upcoming Miami fair. Wong, formerly a curator at MOCA Toronto and founder of SITE Toronto, selected five galleries and nonprofit spaces—including EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Spill 180, El Consulado, Romance, and Southside Contemporary Art Gallery—to highlight emerging artists. The fair runs December 2 at Ice Palace Studios, concurrent with Art Basel Miami Beach.
The Toronto Biennial of Art has announced the details for its fourth edition, titled "Things Fall Apart," scheduled to run from September 26 to December 20. Curated by Allison Glenn, the exhibition will feature 30 artists and collectives, including Kent Monkman, Rebecca Belmore, and Dawoud Bey, with a heavy emphasis on new commissions. For the first time, the biennial is expanding its footprint beyond the Greater Toronto Area to include partnerships with institutions across Canada and international sites like Times Square in New York and the Anchorage Museum in Alaska.
A focused exhibition at Art Metropole in Toronto presents a selection of mail art submissions by the late transgressive artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge to the Canadian collective General Idea in the 1970s. Drawn from the National Gallery of Canada's collection, the show features letters, collages, photos, and ephemera that capture P-Orridge's early, boundary-pushing work with collectives like COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle.
The Gardiner Museum in Toronto has reopened after a 15-month, CA$15.5 million renovation of its ground floor spaces. The overhaul, led by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Andrew Jones Design with studio:indigenous, includes new collection galleries, a reworked entrance hall, a ceramics studio, and a community learning center. The renovation was funded by public and private gifts, including a CA$9 million donation from the Radlett Foundation that also added over 250 ceramic objects. A key addition is "Indigenous Immemorial," a permanent gallery dedicated to Indigenous clay art, developed by the museum's first curator of Indigenous ceramics, Franchesca Hebert-Spence, in collaboration with Indigenous artists and advisors.
Kent Monkman, a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation and a leading contemporary painter based between Toronto and New York, is the subject of a feature article discussing his career and his first major U.S. museum exhibition, "History is Painted by the Victors," opening at the Denver Art Museum. Monkman is known for epic, genre-bending canvases that subvert classical European painting traditions, particularly 19th- and 20th-century history painting, to expose colonial distortions and omissions. Central to his work is Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, his time-traveling alter ego who queers history and repositions Indigenous presence and agency. The article includes an interview where Monkman reflects on his upbringing in Winnipeg, his relationship to museums, and how painting serves as both a political tool and a method for processing historical trauma.
Tishan Hsu, a 74-year-old artist based in Brooklyn, is the subject of a feature article discussing his 40-year career exploring the boundary between the virtual and the physical. His current exhibition, "Emergence," at Lisson Gallery in New York (through Jan. 24), presents new biomorphic UV prints with silicone appendages that evoke fingers penetrating a computer screen. Hsu's interest in this territory began in the mid-1980s while working as a word processor on Wall Street, and his practice has consistently sought to give form to the paradox between bodily presence and virtual distance.
Untitled Art, Miami Beach has announced the 157 exhibitors for its 2025 edition, running December 3–7 on Miami Beach. The fair introduces a new “Artist Spotlight” section organized by artist Petra Cortright, alongside its main Galleries section and the reimagined Nest section curated by Jonny Tanna. Notable first-time exhibitors include Meliksetian | Briggs, PALMA, and Soho Revue in the main section, while several galleries have switched from NADA and Art Basel Miami Beach, including Kavi Gupta returning after a lawsuit hiatus. The fair also features Allison Glenn as curator of site-specific Special Projects.
Hyperallergic's editors and contributors have compiled their favorite art exhibitions of 2025, spanning cities across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Highlights include shows by Nan Goldin, Noah Davis, Stan Douglas, Yoko Ono, Tishan Hsu, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and a group exhibition on Japanese American women artists at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The list also features the Louvre's presentation of Cimabue, Fra Angelico's frescos in Florence, a durational performance by Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova in Los Angeles, and works by Cara Romero, Ruth Asawa, Huguette Caland, and H. C. Westermann.
Two free art exhibitions in New York City offer deep dives into the work of Pablo Picasso and William Kentridge. At Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue, "Picasso: Tête-à-tête" presents a selection of works spanning the artist's career, organized with his daughter Paloma Picasso, including never-before-seen pieces from her collection. The show highlights Picasso's stylistic diversity, his relationships with women like Marie-Thérèse Walter and Olga Khokhlova, and his playful resistance to being pinned down to a single style.
Boston Art Review (BAR) has published a guide to must-see museum exhibitions for fall 2026, highlighting major shows across the United States. The article curates a selection of institutional presentations that are expected to draw significant attention during the autumn season, though the specific exhibitions and venues are not detailed in the provided text.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled its new David Geffen Galleries, featuring an unconventional open-plan design that encourages non-linear exploration. The building's layout, which eschews traditional chronological narratives in favor of free-floating associations, has sparked debate among critics regarding its navigability and the restoration of key works like Alexander Calder’s "Three Quintains (Hello Girls)."
Art Toronto, Canada's oldest and largest international fair for modern and contemporary art, opens to the public on Friday with a strong focus on Indigenous artists. Over half of the fair's 100-plus booths feature works by Indigenous makers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. The fair includes a mix of Canadian, European, Latin American, and US galleries, with a dedicated 'Arte Sur' section highlighting Mexican and Central and South American art. Notable exhibitors include Ceremonial Art, Fazakas, Feheley Fine Arts, and N. Smith Gallery, showcasing works by artists such as Ningiukulu Teevee, Shuvinai Ashoona, Gerardo Ramírez, and Manuel Mathieu.
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto has received a major gift of 474 artworks from the late collectors Carol and Morton Rapp, including prints, photographs, sculptures, and artist books by 203 artists. Highlights include 13 screenprints by Andy Warhol, eight works by Robert Rauschenberg, nine by Jasper Johns, and pieces by Roy Lichtenstein, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Lee Bontecou, and David Hockney, as well as contemporary works by Kara Walker, William Kentridge, Yinka Shonibare, and Rachel Whiteread. The Rapps, who began collecting in the 1960s, had a long relationship with the AGO dating back to 1966.
The Contact Photography Festival, Canada's largest photography event, opens Friday in Toronto with over 160 exhibitions across eclectic venues including artist-run centers, commercial galleries, cafes, and a laundromat. Highlights include a towering portrait by Haitian-born artist Thandiwe Muriu on Spadina Ave., and a multi-site exhibition by Turner Prize-nominee Sin Wai Kin, featuring billboards and a two-channel video titled 'The Time of Our Lives.' The festival lost its long-time lead sponsor Scotiabank in 2024, resulting in a reduced budget and less public programming, but organizers remain committed to championing lens-based art.
Art Toronto's 2025 edition, running until October 26 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, features Indigenous art prominently across more than half of its 121 exhibitors. The fair includes a new Latin American section, Arte Sur, curated by Karen Huber, showcasing artists like Natalia Montoya and Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe. Canadian galleries such as Feheley Fine Arts, Ceremonial Art, Fazakas Gallery, and Patel Brown highlight Indigenous artists, with works ranging from beadwork and performance to mixed-media pieces that challenge stereotypes. Notable presentations include Jordan Bennett's reworked motorcycle and Nadia Myre's ceramic beadwork landscapes.
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.
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto is hosting a free opening party on April 24 for its new exhibition, 'Colourful Parachutes: Imagining Alternative Futures Through the Power of Play.' The exhibition features interactive installations by ten international artists, including Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Leisure, Robin Rhode, and Claire Greenshaw, designed to be touched, climbed on, and altered by visitors.
The Toronto Biennial of Art has unveiled the artist list and thematic framework for its 2026 edition, titled "Things Fall Apart." Curated by Allison Glenn, the exhibition will feature over 30 artists and collectives, including 17 new commissions that explore themes of syncopation, rupture, and the connective power of global waterways. For the first time, the biennial will expand its physical footprint beyond the Greater Toronto Area to include site-responsive projects in Detroit, New York, and Anchorage.
The 61st Venice Biennale, themed “In Minor Keys” by late curator Koyo Kouoh, emphasizes quiet reflection over spectacle. A collateral exhibition titled “Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice,” curated by the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA), runs through November 22, 2026, and features two Hong Kong-born artists: Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui. Ng’s installation *Laundry Nocturne* (2026) uses projections and sound to connect the shared laundry-drying traditions of Venice and Hong Kong, while Hui’s *I Would Like to Open a Window for You* (2026) incorporates wrought-iron window frames crafted with local metalsmiths. Both artists explore everyday experiences, memory, and quiet emotions, aligning with the Biennale’s call for a slower, more reflective engagement with art.
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has launched a dedicated exhibition to rediscover the work of Edna Taçon, a mid-century abstract artist who was once a prominent figure in the New York and Toronto art scenes. Curated by Renée van der Avoird, the show features collages, drawings, and paintings from the 1940s, a period when Taçon exhibited alongside Lawren Harris and was championed by Hilla Rebay at the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (now the Guggenheim). The exhibition was sparked by the discovery of a single work in the AGO’s holdings and a subsequent connection with the artist's grandson, sculptor Carl Taçon.
Art Toronto, Canada’s largest art fair, returns for its 26th edition (23–26 October) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with over 100 galleries. It debuts Arte Sur, a new curated section focused on Latin American art, organized by Mexico City-based curator and gallerist Karen Huber. The section features 11 galleries from across the Americas, including first-time participants from New York, Mexico City, Argentina, and Chile, showcasing more than 30 artists primarily from Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, and Peru.
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto is hosting 'Colourful Parachutes: Imagining Alternative Futures Through the Power of Play,' a group exhibition that centers children as active participants rather than passive observers. Curated by Frances Loeffler, the show features interactive works by artists including Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Leisure (Meredith Carruthers and Susannah Wesley), Claire Greenshaw, Rivane Neuenschwander, Harold Offeh, Sassa Linklater, Tobias Linklater, and Robin Rhode, with installations that invite climbing, drawing, playing, and touching. The exhibition draws inspiration from a 1968 show at Moderna Museet in Stockholm that transformed the museum into an adventure playground.
The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced the 56 artists, duos, and collectives participating in the 2026 Whitney Biennial, the 82nd edition of the landmark U.S. contemporary art survey. Co-curators Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer have chosen not to give the exhibition a thematic title, instead letting conversations with artists guide the selection. The roster includes well-known figures like Andrea Fraser, Kamrooz Aram, Precious Okoyomon, Pat Oleszko, and Julio Torres, alongside emerging talents and historical or overlooked figures such as Carmen de Monteflores, José Maceda, and Kimowan Metchewais. The exhibition opens March 8, 2026, occupying most of the Whitney's Manhattan building with performances, public events, and online programming.
The article previews several major biennials scheduled for 2026, including the 61st Venice Biennale, the 25th Sydney Biennale, and the 16th Gwangju Biennale. The Venice Biennale will proceed posthumously under the vision of curator Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2025; she was the first African woman appointed to curate the event. The Sydney Biennale, themed "Rememory" and inspired by Toni Morrison, will be directed by Hoor Al Qasimi, while the Gwangju Biennale will be led by Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen, focusing on collective artistic responses to global crises.