Backflips, boulders and dancing dogs: the images that shaped art photography – in pictures

A new exhibition at the Princeton University Art Museum, titled "Photography as a Way of Life," celebrates the photographers who helped establish art photography as a serious movement from the 1940s to the 1970s. The show features works by Minor White, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, and others, including images by Ming Smith, Donna-Lee Phillips, and Walter Chappell. The exhibition runs until September 7 and highlights how these educators and artists transformed photography's role in both the art world and higher education.

Beer With a Painter: Keith Mayerson

Hyperallergic interviews Los Angeles-based painter Keith Mayerson, who discusses his ongoing 'My American Dream' series—a cosmology of paintings blending American identity, activism, and popular culture. The conversation covers his early influences from comics, the Muppets, and Hunter S. Thompson, his transition from cartooning to painting, and his vibratory, swirling brushwork. Mayerson's work has been featured in the 2014 Whitney Biennial and is currently on view at the Aspen Art Museum and the Pollock-Krasner House.

Aspen Art Fair Names More Than 35 Exhibitors for 2026 Edition at Hotel Jerome

The Aspen Art Fair has announced more than 35 exhibitors for its third edition, returning to the Hotel Jerome from July 29 through August 1, 2026. This will be the first edition under director Kelly Cornell, who also leads the Dallas Art Fair. Newcomers include Albertz Benda, Friedman Benda, Library Street Collective, Monique Meloche Gallery, and R & Company, alongside returning galleries such as Marianne Boesky Gallery, Perrotin, Sean Kelly, and Galerie Gmurzynska. The fair will debut an outdoor sculpture garden and continue its Art Prize Program with residencies and commissions through Anderson Ranch Arts Center and Buckhorn Public Arts. It also coincides with the AIR festival organized by the Aspen Art Museum and partners with the Aspen Education Foundation to support local student artists.

Pittsburgh’s burgeoning gallery community readies for its moment in art world spotlight

Pittsburgh's commercial gallery scene is experiencing a resurgence as the Carnegie International, the country's longest-running recurring exhibition, prepares to open its largest edition yet with 61 artists. Since the pandemic, several young gallerists with experience in New York and Los Angeles have opened spaces in the city, including Romance gallery (2023) by former Whitney curator Margaret Kross, and april april gallery (2024) relocated from Brooklyn by Patrick Bova and Lucas Regazzi. Longer-established galleries like Concept, Zynka, and James Gallery have welcomed these newcomers, with local figures such as collector Evan Mirapaul noting that Pittsburgh's robust arts ecosystem—including museums, universities, and nonprofits—has long lacked a strong commercial gallery presence.

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit reopens, with the local community front and centre

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (Mocad) reopened on 25 April after over a year of renovations, unveiling upgrades to its 22,000-square-foot Midtown space—including a new learning space, air conditioning, and a large street-facing window—just in time for its 20th anniversary. The main building has been renamed after co-founder Julia Reyes Taubman. Co-directors Marie Madison-Patton and Jova Lynne have repositioned the institution as a civic space, emphasizing community engagement and local artists, with exhibitions such as Olayami Dabls: Detroit Cosmologies, Martha Mysko's Retail Therapy, and Carole Harris's This Side of the River.

‘Learning Exchange: Artists Matter’ Comes to Los Angeles

On Saturday, 2 May 2026, Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles hosted 'Learning Exchange: Artists Matter,' a gathering focused on how artists can build mentorship pathways, strengthen community partnerships, and expand arts access for young people. The event featured a conversation between Senior Director of Learning Debbie Hillyerd and artist Mark Bradford, who discussed his socially engaged practice, followed by testimonials from two young learners from the nonprofit Culture for One. The program marked the gallery's 10th anniversary of learning programs in Los Angeles and was held alongside the exhibition 'Destiny Is a Rose: The Eileen Harris Norton Collection.'

Paloma Elsesser, Joan Jonas, and Isha Ambani Descended Upon Beacon for a Day at Dia

On a warm spring Saturday, the Dia Art Foundation hosted its annual Spring Benefit at Dia Beacon, drawing a cross-disciplinary crowd of artists, curators, museum leaders, and fashion figures. The event celebrated the opening of seven major exhibitions across the Beacon campus, featuring works by John Chamberlain, Lee Ufan, Kishio Suga, and Jack Whitten, and marked the rollout of a new partnership with Chanel. Guests explored over 20 galleries, enjoyed a seasonal lunch amid Chamberlain's sculptures, and participated in a special children's program, all set within the former Nabisco box-printing factory along the Hudson River.

After dinosaurs, it’s spot the dog! But can a child really learn anything in a gallery?

Neil Osborne and his three-year-old daughter Daisy visit the National Museum Cardiff (NMC), where they explore both dinosaur exhibits and art galleries. Daisy, like many toddlers, engages with paintings by describing what she sees—calling a JMW Turner seascape "a fish." The article follows the author as she investigates whether children under five can learn from art in museums, speaking with parents and Catrin Rowlands, head of learning at NMC. NMC is one of 15 UK museums participating in Mini Wonders, a fully funded program by Art Fund and Nesta that offers eight-week courses for families from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing digital cameras and scrapbooks to encourage repeated museum visits and school readiness.

The Met Teams Up with Band-Aid on Art-Themed Adhesive Bandages

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Band-Aid have reunited for a second collaboration, releasing a new set of art-themed adhesive bandages in 2026. The bandages feature details from three flower paintings in the Met's collection: Claude Monet's *Water Lilies* (1919), Vincent van Gogh's *Irises* (1890), and Odilon Redon's *Bouquet of Flowers* (ca. 1900–1905). The 50-count assortment includes small, medium, and large fabric bandages packed in a collectible tin, available exclusively at Target for $7.29. The 2025 Hokusai collection, which sold out quickly, is also back on sale at major retailers.

Two Museums Take on Performative Masculinity, Looksmaxxing, Incels, and Other Macho Buzzwords That Don’t Belong There.

The Stedelijk Museum and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen have co-organized an exhibition titled "Beyond the Manosphere: Masculinities Today," which aims to critically examine contemporary masculinity and its online manifestations such as incels, looksmaxxing, and pickup artists. The show features works by artists including Reba Maybury and Richard Serra, and is curated by Melanie Bühler, with directors Rein Wolfs and Gianni Jetzer overseeing the project. The exhibition will travel from the Stedelijk to the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen later this year.

Sound-based Holy See pavilion opens at Venice Biennale as Vatican’s contemporary art ambitions grow

The Holy See's pavilion at the Venice Biennale has opened, featuring a sound-based exhibition titled "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul" (9 May–22 November). The show, inspired by the medieval Benedictine nun Saint Hildegard of Bingen, includes commissioned audio works by high-profile artists and musicians such as Brian Eno, FKA Twigs, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, and Precious Okoyomon. The exhibition takes place across two Venetian sites—the Mystical Garden of the Discalced Carmelite and the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice complex—and is co-organized by Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery, and curator Ben Vickers, in collaboration with Soundwalk Collective.

Archibald prize 2026: Jacob Collins portrait wins the Packing Room prize as finalists revealed

The Packing Room prize for the 2026 Archibald Prize has been awarded to Sean Layh for his portrait of actor Jacob Collins, titled 'The tragicall historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke'. The prize, worth $3,000, is chosen by Art Gallery of NSW staff who unpack and hang the exhibition. Layh, a self-taught Melbourne-based painter, drew inspiration from Collins' performance as Hamlet in a 2024 Melbourne Shakespeare Company production. The Archibald Prize main announcement, along with the Wynne and Sulman prizes, will take place on 8 May, with finalists including portraits of Bondi shooting hero Ahmed al-Ahmed, journalists Virginia Trioli and Jan Fran, surfer Layne Beachley, and artist Khaled Sabsabi.

Artists Sell More Than $1 M. in Art at Sotheby’s in Support of a Debt-Free Yale MFA Program

A group of artists including Mickalene Thomas, Tammy Nguyen, and Richard Prince are donating works to a Sotheby’s contemporary art day sale next month, with proceeds expected to exceed $1 million. All funds will go toward making Yale University’s MFA art program tuition-free. The sale features works by Yale alumni both historical—Walker Evans, Josef Albers—and contemporary, such as Dominic Chambers and Do Ho Suh, whose $200,000–$300,000 piece is among the lots. The highest-estimated work is a Richard Prince photograph from his “Spiritual America” series, valued at $500,000–$700,000.

With more than 3,000 participating institutions, the European Night of Museums returns this Saturday, May 23

Avec plus de 3 000 institutions participantes, la Nuit européenne des musées revient ce samedi 23 mai

The 22nd edition of the European Night of Museums returns on Saturday, May 23, with over 3,000 institutions across France and Europe opening their doors free of charge from late afternoon. Many museums are offering special activities such as concerts, performances, games, guided tours, and walks. The youth program "La classe, l'œuvre!" will again involve primary, middle, and high school students acting as mediators for artworks they studied throughout the year. Highlights include exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou-Metz dedicated to François Morellet and Louise Nevelson, a concert at Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle's Cyclop in Milly-la-Forêt, a dance performance by Korean artist Eun-Me Ahn at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, and exhibitions at museums in Tours, Vernon, Rouen, and Sète, as well as a Brazilian ball at the Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes.

Dale Chihuly Is Synonymous With Seattle. But Venice Gave Him a Medium, a Career Blockbuster, and a Son.

Dale Chihuly returns to Venice with "Chihuly: Venice 2026," a public exhibition marking the 30th anniversary of his landmark 1996 project "Chihuly Over Venice." The new show features three large-scale glass sculptures installed along the Grand Canal, viewable from the Accademia Bridge, at Palazzo Franchetti, Palazzo Querini alla Carità, and Palazzo Balbi-Valier Sammartini. The article also recounts Chihuly's 1968 Fulbright-funded study at Venini, where he learned Murano glassblowing and embraced glass as his primary medium, and reveals that his son Jackson Chihuly was conceived in Venice after a party hosted by the late Paul Allen.

The US pavilion's curator on the controversial choice of Alma Allen for the Venice Biennale

The US pavilion at the Venice Biennale has selected Alma Allen, a Utah-born, Mexico-based sculptor, as its representative artist—a controversial and surprising choice given his relative obscurity compared to past pavilion artists. The selection process was unusually fraught: the first artist chosen was dropped before official announcement, and the announcement was delayed by the US government shutdown. The pavilion's curator, Jeffrey Uslip, discusses the exhibition titled "Call Me the Breeze," which will feature Allen's sculptures in stone, bronze, and wood that appear to defy their own weight, emphasizing artistic autonomy despite the State Department's framing of the choice as showcasing "American excellence."

Artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Who Grew Up in the Robert Taylor Homes, Returns to Chicago for New Exhibit

Chicago-born artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn, now based in Brooklyn, is opening his first museum show in his hometown at the National Public Housing Museum. Titled “Nathaniel Mary Quinn: A Love Letter to My Mother,” the exhibition runs from May 21 to August 23, 2026, and features 10 artworks alongside a recreation of his childhood living room in the Robert Taylor Homes. The show is dedicated to his late mother, who encouraged his early drawing on the apartment walls. Quinn, known for his collage-like portraits, recently created the album cover for the Rolling Stones’ upcoming album “Foreign Tongues.” The museum will also host community conversations about the history of the Robert Taylor Homes.

Guggenheim New York Announces Spring and Summer Public Programs

The Guggenheim New York has announced its spring and summer 2026 public programs, featuring a range of events including a performance lecture by LG Guggenheim Award recipient Trevor Paglen on May 18, a conversation between artist Carol Bove and curator Katherine Brinson on June 2, and the annual Museum Mile Festival on June 9. Other highlights include Late Shift evening events with live music, family-friendly activities like Stroller Hour and Art Cart, Teen Circle and Teen Tuesdays, and a screening of Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno's video work "Zidane, a 21st century portrait" in celebration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Poet-in-Residence Patrick Rosal will also launch summer activations.

Everything You Need to Know About LACMA’s New David Geffen Galleries

LACMA has opened its new David Geffen Galleries, a single-story building spanning Wilshire Boulevard that houses the museum's permanent collection spanning 6,000 years of art. The galleries feature a revolutionary curatorial approach organized around bodies of water—Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian, and Pacific—creating nonhierarchical displays that mix works across time and geography, such as 17th-century Dutch paintings alongside 20th-century photography. The building also includes 3.5 acres of shaded public space below, outdoor sculptures by artists like Alexander Calder and Jeff Koons, and a 220,000-square-foot pavement artwork by Mariana Castillo Deball.

Parrish Art Museum Summer 2026 Guide

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, has announced its Summer 2026 guide, detailing a robust schedule of exhibitions and public programs running through August. Highlights include "Regeneration: Long Island’s History of Ecological Art and Care" featuring 11 intergenerational artists, a solo presentation of Sanford Biggers titled "Drift," and exhibitions of works by Ellsworth Kelly and Will Ryman. The museum also offers a wide range of events such as docent-led tours, art workshops for children, therapeutic programs for Alzheimer's patients and cancer survivors, and member mornings.

The Holy See Pavilion asks Venice Biennale Visitors to Slow Down and Listen, and Other News.

The Holy See's pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul," a multi-sensory exhibition centered on deep listening and inspired by Hildegard von Bingen, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers with Soundwalk Collective, featuring new commissions by 24 artists including Patti Smith, Brian Eno, FKA twigs, and Dev Hynes across two Venetian sites. Separately, Chanel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation have launched the Chanel Culture Fund Fellowship, a transatlantic curatorial program for postgraduate scholars at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. In other news, a father-daughter duo from New Jersey pleaded guilty to a $2 million counterfeit art scheme involving forged works attributed to Andy Warhol, Banksy, and others; Vienna's Burgtheater is offering guided scaffolding tours of Gustav Klimt's early ceiling paintings during restoration; and the sixth edition of the Head Hi Lamp Show opens in New York.

No Hay Banda: Vandria Borari, Petra Feriancová, Karoliina Hellberg, and Sofia Silva, 29th May – 26th June 2026, CFA, Milan, Italy. Private View: 28th May 2026.

CFA in Milan presents "No Hay Banda," a group exhibition running from 29 May to 26 June 2026, featuring four international artists: Vandria Borari (Brazil/Germany), Petra Feriancová (Slovakia), Karoliina Hellberg (Finland), and Sofia Silva. The show brings together ceramicist and Indigenous activist Borari, whose work includes the Yupirungáwa series and the Fluid Forest project; Feriancová, a Slovak artist who represented the Czech and Slovak Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale; and Hellberg, a Finnish artist who recently won the Visual Artist Award from the Marcus Collins Memorial Fund. The private view is scheduled for 28 May 2026.

FAD’s Fab Five: 5 Must-See Highlights at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Lee Sharrock selects five must-see highlights at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in 2025. The Biennale runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at the Giardini, Arsenale, and various Venetian venues. Featured highlights include Marina Abramović's historic exhibition "Transforming Energy" at the Gallerie dell'Accademia—the first major show for a living woman artist there—the Holy See Pavilion's "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul" with artists like Patti Smith and Brian Eno, and Lubaina Himid's British Pavilion presentation "Predicting History: Testing Translation."

A $1B Evening With Nicole Kidman

Hyperallergic's newsletter reports on a record-setting $1 billion evening sale at Christie's on May 18, which included works by Jackson Pollock and Constantin Brancusi alongside Hollywood star Nicole Kidman. Other stories cover an exhibition at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center celebrating Black American artists in Paris, a painted book cover trend analyzed by Tara Anne Dalbow, a Gaza Square sculpture unveiling in Paterson, New Jersey, and a performance event by Bahar Behbahani on Governors Island.

May You Live in Less Interesting Times

The international jury for the Venice Biennale has collectively resigned just before the press preview, following their announcement that countries accused of crimes against humanity—specifically Israel and Russia—would be excluded from award consideration. The jurors did not provide an explicit reason for their resignation. Meanwhile, Russia's return to the 61st Venice Biennale will involve workarounds to comply with international sanctions, including restricted pavilion access. The article also highlights a widely-read essay by Hakan Topal on the financialization and 'administrification' of American art schools and academia.

Dubai wants to put on a brave face by announcing a new digital art museum

Dubaï veut donner le change en annonçant un nouveau musée d’art numérique

Dubai has announced plans for a new Museum of Digital Art (MODA), designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the firm behind the Burj Khalifa. The five-story museum will be located in the DIFC Zabeel District and feature permanent and temporary exhibitions, immersive experiences, educational spaces, and a digital twin for global access. The announcement comes amid regional turmoil, including Iranian missile and drone strikes on the UAE in March 2025 that damaged infrastructure, disrupted tourism, and reduced the 20th edition of Art Dubai from 120 galleries to just 50 stands.

Orsay inaugure une salle destinée aux œuvres « MNR »

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris has opened a new dedicated gallery, Room 10b, to display works from its MNR (Musées nationaux Récupération) collection—artworks looted or acquired under dubious circumstances during the Nazi era. The room features detailed labels and educational texts, with some works shown verso to reveal provenance labels. The initiative is funded by the American Friends of the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie with €1 million over four years, and includes a fake Monet, a Degas subject to a restitution claim, a Rodin sculpture, and a debated Cézanne. The museum's provenance research team, led by Inès Rotermund-Reynard, collaborates with the French Ministry of Culture's M2RS mission.

Au Louvre, l’ambitieuse restauration du cycle de Marie de Médicis

The Louvre Museum in Paris is undertaking an ambitious restoration of Peter Paul Rubens's monumental cycle of 24 paintings depicting the life of Marie de Médicis. The project, which will take four years and cost €4 million funded by the Société des Amis du Louvre, begins this autumn with the paintings being restored in situ in the Médicis Gallery. The gallery will close in May to prepare the space as a restoration workshop, where two teams of 10–15 restorers will work simultaneously on cleaning, relining, and filling gaps. The last major restoration of the cycle dates to the 1950s, and recent diagnostics revealed yellowed varnish, discordant repaints, and flaking paint layers that risk irreversible loss.

Henrike Naumann Stared Down a Divided Germany’s Past While Eyeing Our Troubled Present

Henrike Naumann, a German artist known for using secondhand furniture and design to explore political extremism and consumer capitalism, is profiled in ARTnews. The article recounts her first US exhibition, “Re-Education” at SculptureCenter in New York in 2022, where she created installations referencing the January 6 Capitol attack, juxtaposing Federal-style office furniture with a Flintstonian mancave and chairs arranged by ideological subtext. The show gained unexpected attention when German media covered it, linking her small hometown of Zwickau with New York, and she later visited Thomas Hart Benton’s murals at the Met to understand American power and aesthetics.

Yu Ji’s Democratic Play

Yu Ji's solo exhibition at PPOW, New York, titled "Origin of the Tiger," presents sculptures and collages created after a residency she organized in Phnom Penh that offered art education to children. The show features works like reed mats with snail shells, a Sony Trinitron looping video, collaged drawings incorporating Cambodian children's art, and composite sculptures such as chairs with concrete knee casts and a figure inspired by a misattributed sixth-century Krishna statue. The exhibition draws on a Khmer folktale about transformation and includes audio of children reciting the story, though the children appear more as muses than collaborators.