Shirin Neshat's Venice exhibition explores identity, exile and a social media tragedy

Shirin Neshat presents a new film trilogy, *Do U Dare!*, at the 16th-century Palazzo Marin in Venice alongside the Biennale. The work explores exile, fractured identity, and power through a female protagonist whose public isolation transforms into empowered expression in private. The trilogy is directly inspired by the story of Nasim Aghdam, an Iranian American known as the 'YouTube Shooter,' who in 2018 attacked YouTube's headquarters before taking her own life. Neshat interprets Aghdam's double life as a recluse and a social media star, focusing on the unstable boundary between self and performance in digital culture.

Who’s Showing What—and What They Love—at Market Art Fair

Market Art Fair in Stockholm celebrated its 20th edition, the largest to date with 150 exhibitors, after moving from Liljevalch’s to Magasin 9, a former warehouse at the city’s port. The fair, founded in 2006 as a joint Nordic initiative, expanded its scope in 2025 to include international presentations. During the preview day, Malin Ebbing captured exhibiting artists, gallerists, and notables with her Polaroid, asking about their work and favorite booths. Artists such as Arvida Byström, Hans Berg, Sigrid Soomus, and Gabriel Karlsson discussed their artistic expressions and discoveries at the fair, with many gallerists reporting significant sales.

The Met Gala May Be Over, But the Museum's New Exhibit Will Celebrate Costumes as Art all Year

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled "Costume Art," curated by Andrew Bolton, which pairs historical and contemporary garments with artworks from the museum's collection spanning 5,000 years. The exhibition is housed in the new 12,000-square-foot Condé Nast Galleries and runs from May 10, 2026 to January 10, 2027. It was launched in conjunction with the 2026 Met Gala, co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with celebrities like Emma Chamberlain, Naomi Watts, and Hunter Schafer wearing looks inspired by masterpieces in the Met's collection.

The 2026 Met Gala Theme and Dress Code, Explained

The 2026 Met Gala, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, is set for tonight with the theme "Costume Art" and the dress code "Fashion is Art." The event, which takes place annually on the first Monday in May, serves as a high-profile fundraiser for the Costume Institute and a fashion spectacle. Co-chairs include Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour. The theme is tied to the Met's upcoming exhibition of the same name, which will debut the Costume Institute's first permanent galleries—the Condé M. Nast Galleries—and explore "the centrality of the dressed body" by pairing garments with art spanning 5,000 years.

In a Rome exhibition, an artist draws his own atlas: the body becomes world

In una mostra a Roma un artista disegna un proprio atlante: il corpo diventa mondo

Luca di Luzio's exhibition "Atlas ego imago mundi" at Palazzo Mattei in Rome, hosted by the Italian Geographical Society, presents a personal geography where the artist's body becomes landscape and world. Curated by Anna Cestelli Guidi, the show features around 40 maps, three large canvases, and a handmade book created between 2015 and 2023. Di Luzio uses his body as a palette, pressing skin directly onto paper or canvas to generate imaginary territories that merge sensory experience with artistic expression, referencing Merleau-Ponty's philosophy and Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

Art Museum of Southeast Texas opens two new exhibitions tonight exploring Texas waterways and history

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) opens two new exhibitions today: "Julius Stockfleth: Dawn of a Century" and "Bill Pangburn: Printed Traces - A Neches River Journal." The Stockfleth exhibition features early Texas artist Julius Stockfleth's paintings of the 1900 Galveston hurricane and Texas coastal history, marking a homecoming as his work was first shown at AMSET in 1987. The Pangburn exhibition presents a new series of large-scale abstract woodcut prints inspired by the Neches River. Both run through July 5, with a free public reception tonight and a musical performance by composer Nathan Felix on May 30.

Art diary: Generations of Indian art converse at this showcase in Delhi | Hindustan Times

An ongoing group exhibition titled 'Echoes of Past and Future' at Divine Art Gallery in Delhi brings together 48 artworks by 48 artists, spanning generations of Indian modern and contemporary art. The show features works by masters such as Anjolie Ela Menon, Manu Parekh, and Himmat Shah alongside contemporary voices like Ashok Bhowmick and Bhaskar Rao, aiming to create a dialogue between past and present artistic expressions.

New Joyful Noise exhibition coming to Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral will host a new art exhibition titled 'Joyful Noise' from May 16 to October 25, featuring works by international artists including Denzil Forrester, Christine Sun Kim, Yuri Suzuki, Sokari Douglas Camp, Phyllida Barlow, Caroline Walker, Tim Etchells, and Emeka Ogboh. The exhibition reimagines the biblical call to 'make a joyful noise unto the Lord' and spans painting, sculpture, video, text, and sound, with installations both inside and outside the cathedral. Highlights include Tim Etchells' neon piece 'Songs (2026)' in the North Porch, Phyllida Barlow's six-metre-high sculpture 'untitled: megaphone (2014)' on Choristers' Green, and Emeka Ogboh's outdoor choral sound installation 'Abide with me (2026)' featuring the Salisbury Cathedral Choir. Entry is included with cathedral admission and free for local residents in SP1 to SP5 postcode areas.

Here are the photos of the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (the one full of nude performers that it is forbidden to photograph)

Ecco le foto del Padiglione Austria alla Biennale di Venezia (quello pieno di performer nude che è vietato fotografare)

The Austrian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "Seaworld Venice" and curated by Nora-Swantje Almes, features provocative performances by artist and choreographer Florentina Holzinger. The installation includes four distinct nude female performances: a performer acting as a bell clapper on the hour, a female Deposition of Christ scene with three women on a rotating vertical structure, a nude woman riding a jet ski in circles, and a reenactment of Giorgione's Sleeping Venus in a urine-filled tank. The pavilion has become the most talked-about and Instagrammed at the Biennale, drawing long queues despite a ban on photography.

Gallery 100 Presents “Juxtaposition,” a Textile Art Exhibition

Gallery 100 in Chelsea, Michigan, will present “Juxtaposition,” a textile art exhibition featuring quilted photographic works by fiber artist Charlotte Wyche, from May 12 through July 5, 2026. An opening reception on May 14 offers guests a chance to meet the artist and view her work, which blends traditional quilting techniques with photographic inspiration to create layered, tactile compositions.

Art exhibition in Idlib brings together Syrian artists under unity theme

An art exhibition titled “When the Guns Fall Silent” opened in Idlib, Syria, at the National Museum hall, organized by the Syrian Artists Union. The four-day show features around 70 works by both professional and emerging artists from across Syria, with the first two days dedicated to established painters and the final two to emerging talent. Participants include Mai Halawani from Homs and Doaa Abboud from Tartous, who see the event as a rare chance to reconnect with the artistic community after years of isolation.