Post-Paintings, Pyrex Bowls, and Dollar-Store Flowers: Our Critic’s Guide to Art on the UES Right Now

Eliza Douglas makes her New York solo debut with 'Ghosts' at Gagosian's Park Avenue outpost, featuring layered paintings that incorporate UV-printed portraits of her aunt, UFO journalist Leslie Kean, over reworked canvases previously shown at the shuttered Air de Paris gallery. The exhibition runs through July 31, 2026, alongside concurrent shows at Gagosian's Madison Avenue space featuring Marcel Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg, and a pairing of David Hammons with Jannis Kounellis at White Cube on the Upper East Side.

balenciaga decade of demna

At Kering's historic Laennec headquarters in Paris, the exhibition "Balenciaga by Demna" presents a self-curated retrospective of the designer's decade-long tenure at the house, from 2015 through 2025. Open by appointment through July 9, the show features 101 objects including complete looks, accessories, and provocations drawn from 30 collections, alongside audio narration using an AI rendering of Demna's voice. The exhibition serves as a capstone before Demna transitions to his new role as creative director of Gucci, while Pierpaolo Piccioli prepares to take over at Balenciaga. Highlights include a metallic gold ballgown shaped like a Ferrero Rocher candy, a hyperrealistic mannequin of muse Eliza Douglas, and the Spicy Chili Chips Bag clutch.

Still Thinking About the Fall 2026 Runways? Here Are 8 Can’t-Miss NYC Exhibits to Dress Up and See This April

New York City’s April art calendar features a diverse array of major institutional shows and gallery exhibitions, ranging from Italian Renaissance masters to contemporary experimental collectives. Highlights include a massive Raphael retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first major U.S. museum exhibition for Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck, and the 82nd edition of the Whitney Biennial featuring 56 multidisciplinary artists.

Pussy Riot Shows Art by Russia’s Prisoners in New Protest Exhibition

Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova co-curated "Resistance Imprisoned," a protest exhibition at Ritsch-Fisch Galerie in Strasbourg, France, featuring artwork created by people currently or formerly imprisoned in Russia, including Ukrainian civilians. The show opened April 19 and runs through May 31, timed to coincide with the first month of the Venice Biennale, which opens May 9. Works include a pen sketch by Lyudmila Razumova, a photojournalist arrested for anti-war graffiti in 2022 and serving a seven-year sentence, alongside pieces by other political prisoners and Ukrainian POWs. The exhibition aims to highlight the human cost of Russia's war and its participation in international cultural events.

The Antwerp Six and the Problem of Now

A new exhibition at MoMu in Antwerp, guest-curated by Geert Bruloot, explores the enduring legacy of the 'Antwerp Six'—a group of visionary designers who graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s. The show features dedicated rooms for members including Walter Van Beirendonck and Dirk Van Saene, showcasing their distinct aesthetics ranging from maximalist rave-wear to surrealist runway recreations. It traces their journey from a self-funded trip to a London trade fair in 1986 to becoming global icons who challenged the dominance of Parisian couture.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painting thought to be lost for decades goes on display in Basel

A long-lost Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painting, *Tanz im Varieté* (Dance at the Varieté, 1911), has gone on display at the Kunstmuseum Basel after being rediscovered and purchased at auction. The work, previously known only through photographs, was sold at Ketterer Kunst in Munich for around €7 million to the Im Obersteg Foundation, which loans its collection to the museum. The painting depicts a cakewalk dance and had not been exhibited since 1923 in Berlin. Its provenance includes ownership by a German collector during the Nazi era, when Kirchner's art was deemed 'degenerate,' and damage by French soldiers who discovered it in a crate after World War II.

“Gucci Memoria” at Chiostri di San Simpliciano, Milan

During Fuorisalone 2026, Gucci presents "Gucci Memoria," an immersive exhibition curated by Demna at Milan's Chiostri di San Simpliciano. The project traces the House's 105-year history through a continuous narrative of installations across the cloisters, reflecting its evolving identity while staying rooted in its Florentine origins.

"Hier darf laut gelacht werden"

During the opening week of the Venice Biennale, multiple reports detail controversies surrounding the Israeli and Russian pavilions. According to Hyperallergic, artist Belu-Simion Fainaru of the Israeli pavilion threatened legal action against the Biennale after the jury sought to exclude Israel and Russia from prizes over alleged human rights violations, citing antisemitism and nationality-based discrimination. This may have prompted the jury's sudden resignation. Meanwhile, taz reports that Russia's pavilion is a macabre 'dance of death' blending techno and political denial, while Israel's pavilion faces a 'silent boycott' and social ostracism. Zeit describes protests by Pussy Riot and Femen outside the Russian pavilion as a defining image, with activists chanting 'blood sticks to the art of this country.'

Imagining the Manosphere as a Kinder, Gentler Place

Two new art exhibitions are tackling the aesthetics and ideology of the online "manosphere," a network of communities promoting hypermasculinity and often misogyny. The shows, 'The Manosphere: A New Hope?' at the New Museum and 'Soft Boys' at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, use video, sculpture, and installation to dissect this digital subculture and its visual language.

For this 2026 too, the Fuorisalone is full of fashion. Here are the events halfway between fashion and design

Anche per questo 2026 il Fuorisalone è pieno di moda. Ecco gli eventi a metà strada tra fashion e design

The 2026 Fuorisalone in Milan continues to be a major platform for the convergence of fashion and design. Numerous fashion brands are presenting immersive installations, special collections, and cultural formats across the city, transforming urban spaces into narrative environments. Key presentations include YOOX's digital installation with Keta Bart, Gucci's archival project by Demna, Prada's symposium curated by Formafantasma, and new collections from Armani, Fendi, Dior Maison, and Louis Vuitton.

In post-'revolution' Bangladesh, a photography festival questions how to rebuild after ruin

The Chobi Mela, a Dhaka-based international photography festival, is taking place in Bangladesh amid political upheaval following the 2024 'Monsoon Revolution' that toppled the authoritarian government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Co-organized by photographer and curator Munem Wasif with Sarker Protick, the festival explores themes of revolution, rebuilding, and historical repetition through themed exhibitions and solo shows by international and Bangladeshi artists, including Bani Abidi, Myriam Boulos, and Mong Mong Shay. The event occurs at a tense time, with mob violence targeting arts groups in December 2024 drawing UN condemnation, yet organizers insist on addressing the region's current crises.