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Christian Marclay's latest supercut film, "Doors," is now on view at the Brooklyn Museum after stops in Boston and Europe. The 50-minute looped video compiles scenes of famous actors opening and closing doors from various movies, following the success of Marclay's 2011 hit "The Clock," a 24-hour video-clock that synchronizes on-screen timepieces with the viewer's actual time. The article critiques "Doors" as a less profound, more self-obsessed work that lacks the emotional resonance of its predecessor.

The 2026 Venice Biennale Is Quintessential Biennial Art

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Swiss-Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, opened in 2026. The main exhibition at the Arsenale and Giardini features works by artists such as Éric Baudelaire, Maria Magdalena Campos Pons, Mohammed Z. Rahman, Sohrab Hura, and Rose Salane, among others. The exhibition centers on themes of mourning, colonial history, slavery, and healing, with works like Baudelaire's video installation linking the flower trade to the transatlantic slave trade, and a tribute section honoring artists Beverly Buchanan and Issa Samb.

The Big Review | Lacma's David Geffen Galleries ★★★★

The Swiss architect Peter Zumthor's new $724 million building for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma), now called the David Geffen Galleries, has opened after nearly two decades of anticipation. The swooping concrete-and-glass structure is praised for its harnessing of natural light and horizontality, creating a stunning showcase for antiquities and inviting the city inside with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the La Brea Tar Pits and Wilshire Boulevard. The building performs best with sculpture and decorative objects, with standout works including Liz Glynn's "The Futility of Conquest" (2023) and Manjunath Kamath's "Vikatonarva" (2024).

art los angeles fall openings review

The article is a review of fall art openings in Los Angeles, written by Juliana Halpert for her Critics’ Table debut. Halpert surveys a range of exhibitions, including Calvin Marcus's show at Karma, Stanya Kahn's solo presentation, the Hammer Museum's "Made in L.A." biennial and its scrappier counterpart "Made in HelLA," Josh Smith's grim reaper paintings at David Zwirner, and Adam Alessi's show at Hoffman Donahue. She also recounts attending the Poetic Research Bureau's 25th anniversary party and fundraiser at 2220 Arts + Archives, where musician Jack Skelley performed. The review weaves a thematic thread of mortality and the macabre, noting how many shows this season engage with death, from fake blood and skulls to sinister landscapes.

carol bove guggenheim museum retrospective review

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has launched a major retrospective of Carol Bove, filling the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda with approximately 100 works spanning her career. The exhibition showcases Bove’s evolution from her early assemblages of driftwood, peacock feathers, and vintage books to her more recent large-scale, brightly colored steel sculptures. A defining feature of the show is Bove’s inclusion of "para-artworks"—pieces by other artists such as Lionel Ziprin, Agnes Martin, and Arnaldo Pomodoro—integrated into her own installations to highlight the influences and histories that inform her practice.

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The article reviews Stephen Shore's book *Early Work*, which collects photographs he took between the ages of 13 and 18, from 1960 to 1965. Despite his youth, the images display remarkable sophistication, a feat Shore attributes to an atypical childhood that included early access to cameras and a copy of Walker Evans's *American Photographs*. The book includes a "pre-history" essay in which Shore reflects on his formative influences, including time spent at Andy Warhol's Factory and a friendship with headmaster William Dexter, who deepened his interest in photography. The earliest image in the book is a portrait of Dexter taking a photograph, which Shore describes as a metanarrative of a photographer photographing a photographer.

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The article reflects on the responsibility of critical art writing in the Southeast, sparked by the announcement that Art Papers, an international art magazine based in Atlanta, will sunset in 2026 after 50 years. The author recounts a debate among local art workers about reviewing the forthcoming Minnie Evans retrospective organized by the High Museum of Art and traveling to the Whitney Museum, which he initially declined due to a conflict of interest with curator Katherine Jentleson. He ultimately agrees to write, emphasizing the need for Black scholars to engage with self-taught Black artists. The piece examines how Evans's narrative has been mediated through the lens of white photographer and art historian Nina Howell Starr, questioning the power dynamics and what remains unknown about Evans's own agency.

Is This What “Made in America” Looks Like?

Christopher Payne's exhibition "Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne" at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum showcases 72 large-format photographs documenting active American factories and manufacturing processes. The trained architect turned photographer spent a decade visiting dozens of production sites across the United States, from the New York Times printing plant in Queens to the Bollman Hat Company in Pennsylvania, capturing workers' craftsmanship and the intricate steps involved in making everything from Peeps candies to jet engines. The exhibition is organized into three sections—traditional handcraft, large-scale production, and cutting-edge technologies—and coincides with the Smithsonian's celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary.

It’s Gabriele Münter’s World, We’re Just Living in It

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is hosting "Contours of a World," a retrospective dedicated to Gabriele Münter, a co-founder of the Blue Rider group. The exhibition moves beyond the shadow of her long-time partner Wassily Kandinsky, showcasing her distinct approach to German Expressionism through photography, intimate domestic scenes, and vibrant landscapes. Unlike her contemporaries who leaned toward total abstraction, Münter utilized bold outlines and layered compositions to create a dynamic, phenomenological experience of seeing.

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J. Hoberman's new book, *Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York Avant-Garde—Primal Happenings, Underground Movies, Radical Pop*, offers a sweeping cultural history of the downtown New York scene in the 1960s. The book centers on figures like Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, and Jack Smith, weaving together experimental films, happenings, music, and the chaotic energy of the era. Hoberman, a longtime critic and curator, draws on his personal connections to the scene, including his mentorship under Mekas, and will present a selection of shorts from the book at Anthology Film Archives in June.

mierle laderman ukeles maintenance artist documentary review

A new documentary titled "Maintenance Artist," directed by Toby Perl Freilich, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film chronicles the career of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, who coined the term "Maintenance Art" in a 1969 manifesto to elevate everyday domestic and civic labor into art. It follows her decades-long collaborations with New York City agencies, including her seminal "Touch Sanitation Performance" (1979–80) with the NYC Department of Sanitation, and her ongoing struggle to realize the installation "Landing: Cantilevered Overlook" (2008) at Freshkills Park. The documentary weaves together archival footage, interviews, and analysis of second-wave feminism, conceptual art, and urban bureaucracy.

This Liminal Moment

The article reviews the exhibition "MONUMENTS" at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the Brick in Los Angeles, which addresses the legacy of Confederate monuments through contemporary art. It highlights Cauleen Smith's installation "The Warden" (2025), which features a live-feed of the decommissioned Confederate sculpture "Vindicatrix" (also known as "Miss Confederacy") by Edward V. Valentine, originally atop the Jefferson Davis Memorial in Richmond, Virginia. The exhibition is curated by Hamza Walker, Kara Walker, and Bennett Simpson.

Review | Raphael, a master of serenity, is the artist we need right now

Art critic Philip Kennicott reflects on the profound psychological impact of Raphael’s Renaissance masterpieces, specifically citing the 'Madonna of the Meadow' in Vienna and the 'Alba Madonna' in Washington, D.C. He describes how these works possess a unique ability to cure 'museum fatigue' and mental clutter, offering a sense of serenity and clarity that feels particularly necessary in the current cultural climate.

Review: The new LACMA is divisive. It’s also ambitious, disorienting — and radically alive

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled its $724-million David Geffen Galleries, a massive concrete structure designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor that spans Wilshire Boulevard. Replacing several older pavilions, the new building rejects traditional museum conventions like white-cube galleries and encyclopedic organization in favor of a sinuous, organic form that emphasizes light, atmosphere, and a visceral connection to the surrounding landscape.

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The 2026 Whitney Biennial, curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, features 56 artists and collectives without a unifying theme or title. The review describes the exhibition as intentionally incoherent, reflecting America's current state of irrationality and violence. Notable works include Oswaldo Maciá's scent-based 'Requiem for the Insects', Zach Blas's apocalyptic AI installation, Emilie Louise Gossiaux's sculptures honoring her guide dog, Ash Arder's multimedia works exploring ecology and infrastructure, and Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien's politically charged diorama 'For a Just War Against America'. The show's atmosphere is dominated by clanging percussion, ominous drones, and discordant sounds, with a general tenor of unease.

Nancy Holt review – cosmic thrills as the universe’s hidden power is unleashed

The Guardian reviews a major UK exhibition of land artist Nancy Holt (1938-2014) at Goodwood in West Sussex, the largest show of her work to date. The exhibition features two large outdoor installations—Ventilation System, a metallic tubular structure resembling building lungs, and Hydra’s Head, six concrete pools arranged like the Hydra constellation in a chalk quarry—alongside indoor photographs, diagrams, and light works. The review praises the cosmic scale and bodily connection of the outdoor pieces but finds the indoor works less effective at conveying Holt’s themes of universal vastness and interconnectedness.

summer group shows julien nguyen kyoko idetsu reviews

The article reviews two summer group shows in New York. At 56 Henry, "Small Format Painting," curated by painter Josh Smith and actor/former gallerist Leo Fitzpatrick, features 34 artists working on identical 10x8 inch canvases, including blue-chip names like Nate Lowman and emerging talents. At Matthew Marks Gallery, Julien Nguyen presents a solo show of compact oil-on-copper paintings, inspired by Rembrandt's techniques and featuring his muse Nikos.

Surprised by Jack: A Review of “Jack Whitten: The Messenger” at MoMA in New York

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is hosting "Jack Whitten: The Messenger," the largest survey ever mounted of the late abstract artist Jack Whitten, who died in 2018. The exhibition features 175 works spanning his sixty-year career, from early quasi-representational pieces to his innovative "slab" paintings made with a custom squeegee device and his later "tesserae" works that mimic glass tiles using acrylic paint. The show includes archival audio of Whitten discussing his creative process, which blended philosophy, craft, and science, and is curated by MoMA's Michelle Kuo, who knew Whitten personally.

Black.2; Family Values; Studio Exhibition

Amelia Winata reviews three concurrent group exhibitions in Melbourne galleries: 'Black.2' at Void_Melbourne (15 Nov–20 Dec 2025), 'Family Values' at Futures (6 Dec–20 Dec 2025), and 'Studio Exhibition' at Haydens (6 Dec 2025). The article opens with a metaphor comparing the gallery-goer's experience to the rescue ship Carpathia navigating icebergs, reflecting the glut of end-of-year group shows in Melbourne's commercial spaces. Winata visits each space, describing the deco-chic building housing Void_, the formalist black-themed works by artists like Nick Devlin, Elvis Richardson, Sarah Goffman, and Suzie Idiens, and the broader context of Melbourne's gallery scene.

The Sticky Politics of Wall Texts

A critic's visit to the 36th Bienal de São Paulo led to a pointed critique of the exhibition's didactic strategy. The show, curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, featured floor-mounted placards with QR codes, poorly placed basic labels, and extremely lengthy omnibus section texts, creating a frustrating experience that oscillated between providing too little and too much information.

What is the international exhibition of the Venice Biennale like? Review of "In minor keys" by Koyo Kouoh

Com’è la mostra internazionale della Biennale di Venezia? Recensione di “In minor keys” di Koyo Kouoh

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In minor keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens to the public on May 9 amid controversies including the absence of the president's name in the colophon at the Arsenale entrance. The exhibition, organized by Kouoh's team (Rory Tsapayi, Siddharta Mitter, Marie Helene Pereira, Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, and Rasha Salty), unfolds across the Giardini and the Arsenale's Corderie, featuring works that balance strength and beauty with a harmonious mix of voices and themes. The Giardini section is particularly compelling, with a non-linear, polycentric layout that feels like a living organism, while the Arsenale offers further depth.

How to Extract the Story of Appalachia

The artist collective GRIT has issued a sharp critique of Fia Backström’s exhibition, "The Great Society," currently on view at the Queens Museum. The authors argue that Backström, a European artist, engages in "extractive" storytelling by focusing exclusively on trauma, environmental disaster, and poverty in West Virginia. They contend that the exhibition’s aesthetic choices—such as inverting landscape photographs and omitting human subjects—flatten the region's complexity into a spectacle of misery that alienates the very community it claims to represent.

Exhibition review: Relic at 28 Broad Street - Nottingham Culture

An immersive pop-up exhibition titled 'Relic' is on display at 28 Broad Street in Nottingham City Centre, led by local street artist Kid30 and featuring collaborators Detail, Ging, Boaster, Grim Finga, Dizzy Ink, Lambhorse, and 2 Foot. The exhibition transforms a partially renovated building into a dystopian 'museum of found objects from the after years 2035-2055,' combining sculpture, audio production, and parody to critique consumer culture and envision a bleak future. Highlights include a pirate radio soundtrack, a model village by Roadman Rails, and satirical reimaginings of brands like Apple, Netflix, and Coca-Cola.