Defiant women and daring paintings: Emin, Webster and Wylie create a buzz in the UK's exhibition calendar

The UK art scene is currently dominated by major survey exhibitions from three prominent female artists: Rose Wylie, Tracey Emin, and Sue Webster. Rose Wylie, at 92, makes history as the first woman painter to occupy the Royal Academy’s main galleries, while Tracey Emin presents a raw, thematic survey at Tate Modern reflecting on her life before and after cancer. Simultaneously, Sue Webster marks her institutional solo debut at Firstsite, showcasing a transition from her famous collaborative practice to deeply personal oil painting.

Thomas J Price, Artist Behind Viral Times Square Sculpture, Unveils New Bronze in London

Thomas J Price, Artist Behind Viral Times Square Sculpture, Unveils New Bronze in London

Thomas J Price has unveiled a monumental new bronze sculpture, *A Place Beyond*, at the entrance to the V&A East museum in London. The 18-foot-tall figure, his tallest work to date, depicts a young Black woman in contemporary clothing holding a cell phone, created from a composite of many individuals rather than a single model. The sculpture will greet visitors when the new museum branch opens next month.

‘The original triple threat’: two exhibitions celebrate Marilyn Monroe as creative pioneer

The British Film Institute (BFI) and the National Portrait Gallery have announced two major exhibitions to celebrate the centenary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth. The BFI will host a two-month film season titled 'Marilyn Monroe: Self Made Star,' featuring a comprehensive look at her filmography and a theatrical re-release of her final film, *The Misfits*. Simultaneously, the National Portrait Gallery will present 'Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait,' an exhibition exploring her influence on visual culture through works by artists like Andy Warhol and Richard Avedon, including rare photographs taken just before her death.

Met Museum to Stage Giacometti Show in Temple of Dendur This Summer

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced a rare exhibition of Alberto Giacometti’s sculptures to be staged within the iconic Temple of Dendur this summer. Titled “Giacometti in the Temple of Dendur,” the show will feature 17 works, including "Walking Woman (I)" and "Women of Venice," marking a significant departure for the ancient Egyptian site which seldom hosts temporary exhibitions.

Giacometti Meets the Gods in the Met’s Temple of Dendur Show

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced a landmark exhibition titled "Giacometti in the Temple of Dendur," which will place the Swiss sculptor’s slender, modernist figures within the museum’s iconic 1st-century B.C.E. Egyptian temple. Opening in June, the show features fourteen loans from the Fondation Giacometti alongside works from the Met’s permanent collection, including the placement of "Walking Woman (I)" inside the temple’s offering hall to mimic ancient cult statuary.

Beverly Buchanan’s Architecture of Care

Beverly Buchanan’s Architecture of Care

A major retrospective and a focused exhibition of artist Beverly Buchanan's work are now on view in Athens, Georgia, where she lived for many years. "Shacks, Stories, and Spirit: Beverly Buchanan’s Art of Home" at the Georgia Museum of Art features her canonical "Medicine Woman" sculpture, while "Beverly’s Athens" at the University of Georgia’s Athenaeum presents a rich archive of her ephemera, sketches, and community-focused works, marking the city's first institutional solo exhibitions of her art posthumously.

Spheres of influence: the Bauhaus’s radical female photographers – in pictures

An exhibition titled 'New Woman, New Vision: Women Photographers of the Bauhaus' opens at the Museum of Photography in Berlin. It focuses on the pioneering work of female Bauhaus photographers like Marianne Brandt, Lucia Moholy, and Gertrud Arndt, who used the camera to capture unconventional perspectives and explore artistic freedom during the Weimar Republic.

Pioneering Modernist Fahrelnissa Zeid Returns to the Spotlight in London

The Turkish-Jordanian modernist Fahrelnissa Zeid is the subject of a new solo exhibition titled "Immersion" at Dirimart London, curated by art historian Adila Laïdi-Hanieh. This marks the artist's first gallery solo show in the United Kingdom this century, featuring several works from her estate that have never been publicly exhibited. The selection spans various periods of her career, highlighting her transition from monumental geometric abstractions to her late-career expressionist portraits.

Two Maine museums will explore influence of a lesser-known Wyeth

The Farnsworth Art Museum, Colby College Museum of Art, and Brandywine Museum of Art are launching a collaborative exhibition titled "By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth." This landmark show is the first to focus exclusively on the creative legacy of Betsy James Wyeth, the wife of Andrew Wyeth, highlighting her work as a designer of immersive environments and her role in restoring historic properties like the Olson House and Brinton’s Mill. The exhibitions will feature Andrew Wyeth’s paintings alongside Betsy’s archival materials, maps, and collected objects.

A Data Analysis of the 2026 Venice Biennale Signals a Shift to the Present

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," marks a significant pivot from the historical revisionism of recent editions toward a focus on contemporary, mid-career artists. Posthumously realized based on the vision of the late Koyo Kouoh, the exhibition features 111 participants, including a notable inclusion of artist-led organizations from Africa. Data analysis reveals a balanced demographic split between the Global North and South, moving away from the retrospective focus of predecessors like Adriano Pedrosa and Cecilia Alemani to prioritize living artists and subtler, emotional themes.

At the Every Woman Biennial, Joy Becomes a Form of Resistance

The sixth edition of the Every Woman Biennial opened at New York's Pen + Brush gallery, featuring hundreds of works by women and nonbinary artists in a densely hung, salon-style exhibition. The event, which began as a one-night pop-up in 2014, has grown into a major intergenerational showcase, mixing emerging artists with established names like Swoon and Mickalene Thomas, and includes performances and installations.

Picasso and Africa in dialogue at Beijing museum - China Daily

The National Art Museum of China in Beijing has launched "Wood and World," an exhibition that juxtaposes Pablo Picasso’s 1970 painting "Man and Woman with a Vase of Flowers" with dozens of traditional African wooden sculptures. By placing these works side-by-side, the show highlights how the exaggerated and deconstructed forms of African art served as a foundational influence for Picasso’s African period and the eventual birth of Cubism.

Why do we like watching women die, asks Marina Abramović in Copenhagen

Marina Abramović has unveiled her latest immersive exhibition, "Seven Deaths," at Cisternerne in Copenhagen, a subterranean former reservoir. The installation features seven films where Abramović reimagines the tragic ends of famous operatic heroines—such as Tosca and Madame Butterfly—originally made famous by Maria Callas. Accompanied by actor Willem Dafoe, Abramović uses these cinematic vignettes to explore themes of heartbreak, endurance, and the cultural fascination with the "tragic feminine."

LEONORA CARRINGTON THE VITRUVIAN WOMAN IN LUXEMBOURG

The Musée du Luxembourg in Paris has opened the first major exhibition in France dedicated solely to the work of surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. Titled 'The Vitruvian Woman,' the show presents 126 works and frames Carrington as a model of innovation and harmony, a deliberate counterpoint to Leonardo da Vinci's 'Vitruvian Man.' It explores her artistic journey from her Celtic origins and discovery of Italian Renaissance art to her pivotal involvement with Surrealism in France and her final years in Mexico.

Exhibition | Everlyn Nicodemus, 'Without History' at Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Everlyn Nicodemus presents 'Without History' at Goodman Gallery in Cape Town, marking her first solo exhibition with the gallery and a rare return to the African continent since the 1980s. The show, organized in partnership with Richard Saltoun Gallery, features major bodies of work including the 'Woman in the World' cycle and the 'Wedding' series. These works, created while Nicodemus lived across Europe, explore themes of trauma, gender, and spiritual survival through a practice that blends painting with deep archival research and social anthropology.

Berlin exhibition focuses in on women photographers of the Bauhaus

The Museum für Fotografie in Berlin is hosting a major exhibition titled "New Woman, New Vision," featuring approximately 300 photographs by 29 women associated with the Bauhaus. The show aims to dismantle the persistent myth that female students at the influential German school were restricted to the weaving workshop. By showcasing works from figures like Lucia Moholy, Ise Gropius, and Marianne Brandt, the exhibition highlights how women were integral to the school’s photographic documentation and its development as a standalone artistic medium.

Elizabeth Blackadder exhibition to showcase 'meaningful' 50 year collaboration with Scottish studio

Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios is launching a major exhibition titled "Elizabeth Blackadder: Her Life in Colour" to celebrate the late artist’s 50-year collaboration with the tapestry studio. The show features over 30 tapestries and hand-tufted rugs, headlined by the debut of a newly created rug based on Blackadder’s 1975 painting, "The Red Bouquet." The exhibition also incorporates works from the Royal Scottish Academy’s collection to provide a comprehensive look at her legacy.

JoEllen Brydon explores her late mother’s work as an advice columnist in Art Gallery of Peterborough exhibition

The Art Gallery of Peterborough is set to host "Elizabeth Thompson Advises," a multimedia exhibition by Cavan-based artist JoEllen Brydon running from April to June 2026. The show centers on the work of Brydon’s late mother, Jean Armstrong Brydon, who wrote a progressive advice column for The Globe and Mail under the pseudonym Elizabeth Thompson between 1966 and 1978. The exhibition integrates original letters and columns with JoEllen’s bold paintings, audio recordings, and short films to bring these mid-century narratives to life.

New exhibit honors groundbreaking Pueblo potter Jody Folwell

The New Mexico Museum of Art has launched "O’Powa O’Meng: The Art and Legacy of Jody Folwell," the first solo exhibition dedicated to an Indigenous woman in the institution's history. This career retrospective, organized in collaboration with the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Fralin Museum of Art, features over 30 works by the Santa Clara Pueblo potter. The display includes a newly debuted piece, "Buffalo Hunt," and highlights Folwell’s innovative use of relief techniques and narrative surfaces that address contemporary political and social issues.

‘The sharp perception only a woman can bring to observing other women’: Dorothy Bohm’s photographs go on show at Lee Miller’s former home

A new exhibition titled 'About Women' featuring seven decades of work by photographer Dorothy Bohm opens at Farleys House & Gallery, the former home of photographer Lee Miller. The show highlights Bohm's female-focused street photography, spanning from black-and-white to color work, and draws a direct connection to Miller's legacy.

Finnish up! Claire Aho’s colour revolution – in pictures

A new exhibition titled 'Colour Me Modern: Claire Aho and the New Woman' is being presented at the Hundred Heroines Museum in Stroud, UK. The show celebrates the pioneering work of Finnish photographer Claire Aho, highlighting her vibrant, cinematic, and witty use of color in postwar fashion, advertising, and portrait photography.

Monopol is giving away 1 × 2 tickets for "Arv og miljø" at the Schaubühne Berlin

Monopol verlost 1 × 2 Tickets für "Arv og miljø" in der Schaubühne Berlin

The Schaubühne Berlin is hosting the Norwegian production "Arv og miljø" (Will and Testament) as part of the Festival Internationale Neue Dramatik (FIND). Based on Vigdis Hjorth’s controversial novel, the play follows Bergljot, a woman who confronts her estranged family during an inheritance dispute over summer houses, leading to a harrowing clash over suppressed childhood memories and the nature of truth.

Yoshiko Shimada: Selfless Devotion / Loving Care @ Ota Fine Arts

嶋田美子：滅私｜愛護 @ オオタファインアーツ

Ota Fine Arts in Tokyo is hosting a solo exhibition by Yoshiko Shimada titled "Selfless Devotion / Loving Care," running from March 14 to May 16, 2026. The exhibition features a significant selection of Shimada’s seminal works from the early 1990s, including "A Woman Shooting II," "A House of Comfort," and "Tied to Apron Strings." These pieces utilize photography, installation, and found objects to confront difficult historical narratives.

Haiti’s Visionary: Edouard Duval-Carrié previews Venice-Bound work in Little Haiti

Haitian-American artist and curator Edouard Duval-Carrié has been selected to represent Haiti at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled "Smaller Keys." Ahead of the exhibition, he is opening his Little Haiti studio for a rare one-night preview on Friday, April 24, organized alongside the Tout-Monde Art Foundation. The preview includes a conversation with art historian Erica Moiah James and features works that were not sent to Venice but share the same themes of Haitian history, African connections, and diaspora. Duval-Carrié's Biennale theme centers on the question, "What did Africa bring to the world?" His selection was posthumously confirmed from the notes of chief curator Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman appointed to the role, who passed away last year.

Ghosts, nudes and lesbian pageant queens: highlights from NYC’s Photography Show – in pictures

Aipad: The Photography Show is taking place at the Park Avenue Armory in New York from April 22-26, 2026, featuring works from over 70 galleries. The exhibition highlights include Bill Brandt's 1952 nude, Rania Matar's portrait of a young woman in Lebanon, and Zanele Muholi's 2009 portrait of a lesbian pageant queen, alongside works by Tania Franco Klein, Ruth Thorne-Thomsen, and others that explore themes of identity, anxiety, and alternative realities.

A Poetic Tribute to Ona Judge Is Coming to Philadelphia

A new public art installation titled "Sail Through This to That" by conceptual artist indira allegra will debut on May 28 at Philadelphia's Spruce Street Harbor as part of the new ArtPhilly festival. The work features a trio of neon-colored schooner sails mounted on the historic vessel North Wind, commemorating the 1796 escape from enslavement of Ona Judge, who fled the household of George and Martha Washington.

LIVING LEGENDS LAXMA GOUD & THOTA VAIKUNTAM Film Screenings & Art Exhibition

Laasya Art is hosting a special exhibition in Palo Alto featuring the works of two of India’s most prominent contemporary artists, Laxma Goud and Thota Vaikuntam. The event includes the premiere of two original short films produced by the gallery, "Zauq: The World of Laxma Goud" and "Thota Vaikuntam: The Making of the Telangana Woman," which explore the personal histories and creative processes of these masters.

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The 61st Venice Biennale is taking shape as national pavilions announce their participants and curatorial themes for the 2026 edition. Russia has confirmed its return to the Giardini with a multidisciplinary exhibition titled “The Tree is Rooted in the Sky,” following its 2022 withdrawal and the 2024 loan of its pavilion to Bolivia. The upcoming edition, themed “In Minor Keys,” will proceed under the vision of the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in 2025 after becoming the first African woman appointed to helm the prestigious event.

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Curator and artist Christine “C.” Finley has launched the second edition of the Whitney Houston Biennial, an all-female contemporary art survey titled “Greatest Love of All.” Hosted at a chashama space in Manhattan, the exhibition features 125 women artists in a salon-style presentation. The show serves as a scrappy, inclusive alternative to the Whitney Museum’s official biennial, emphasizing female legacy by requiring each participant to submit a text honoring a woman who paved the way for them.

thomas j price tallest sculpture va east 2753490

British artist Thomas J Price has unveiled his largest sculpture to date, an 18-foot bronze titled 'A Place Beyond', outside the forthcoming V&A East in London. The monumental work depicts a fictional woman in everyday attire, continuing Price’s practice of using unidealized figures to critique the traditions of classical sculpture and challenge viewer biases. The installation serves as a public precursor to the museum's official opening on April 18, 2025.