MOCAD Reopens with New Exhibitions from Detroit Artists

Detroit's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAD) has reopened after an eight-month closure for construction, unveiling four new exhibitions as part of its 2026 Spring Exhibition and 20th anniversary. The renovations include a new HVAC system, educational space, and windows that allow passersby to see inside. The building has been renamed the Julia Reyes Taubman Building in honor of the late co-founder, whose family contributed $1.8 million toward the $3 million first phase. Mayor Mary Sheffield toured the exhibitions at an April 23 media preview, praising the museum's role in community healing and access. Featured exhibitions include "Olayami Dabls: Detroit Cosmologies," the first retrospective of the artist's nearly 50-year career, showcasing his evolution from figurative acrylics to abstract collage.

Munnings Art Museum marks 65th anniversary with special exhibitions

The Munnings Art Museum in Dedham, England, is celebrating its 65th anniversary with two special exhibitions. 'Pictures from Private Collections' features rarely-seen works by equestrian artist Sir Alfred Munnings, loaned from private collections, while 'The Influence of John Constable' examines Constable's impact on Munnings' work, including sky studies and a presumed Constable sketchbook. The museum, formerly Munnings' home, also displays 150 permanent works and will host a side-saddle demonstration on May 30 honoring Lady Munnings.

How an Artist and Museum Conspired to Give a Delivery Worker What the Apps Won’t: PTO

Artist Fields Harrington, after witnessing a delivery worker get hit by a car in Brooklyn, began photographing the customized bikes of New York City's delivery workers, capturing their gloves, reflective tape, and cultural markers. His series is now featured in MoMA PS1's "Greater New York" exhibition. In a direct act of reciprocity, Harrington convinced the museum to rent a delivery worker's bike and pay its owner, Gustavo Ajche, his usual wage of $21.44 per hour during museum hours. For one week each month, the bike is displayed, and every 21 minutes and 44 seconds, a notification ding sounds, referencing the wage Ajche and his group Los Deliveristas Unidos fought for.

Treasures from the worlds of fashion and art collide at an extraordinary new exhibition in Lisbon

A new exhibition titled 'Art & Fashion' has opened at Lisbon's Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, curated by Eloy Martínez de la Pera Celada. It juxtaposes masterpieces from the museum's permanent collection—spanning ancient Egyptian artifacts to Rembrandt and Impressionist works—with historic and contemporary fashion pieces, including garments from Charles Frederick Worth, Yohji Yamamoto, Dries Van Noten, Alexander McQueen, and Sarah Burton's debut at Givenchy. The show is organized by regional provenance and temporarily replaces the museum's usual display while its Brutalist building undergoes renovation.

MAD, 제시카 리히텐스타인 개인전 'Jessica Lichtenstein: Rewilding'(5/30, 2026-4/18, 2027)

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York will present "Jessica Lichtenstein: Rewilding," the artist's first solo museum exhibition, from May 30, 2026, to April 18, 2027. The immersive installation transforms the third-floor gallery into a lush, overgrown terrain featuring thousands of digitally rendered female nudes that form forests, ruins, and flowering canopies. The exhibition is divided into four sections—Secret Garden, After the Fall, Leave Your Thoughts Here, and Shadow Play—and includes site-specific works like the 2026 piece "Secret Garden" and a 70-foot-long modular sculpture titled "Leave Your Thoughts Here" (2025).

Philadelphia museum brings Rocky statue inside after decades of tension

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has moved the iconic Rocky statue inside its premises, ending decades of tension between the museum and the beloved film prop. The statue, originally created for the 1976 film *Rocky* and long displayed at the museum's base, was relocated indoors as part of a new exhibition.

Philadelphia Museum of Art Launches Rocky Exhibition: A New Look at Monuments, Culture, and Legacy

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments” in April 2026, which examines the cultural significance of public monuments through the lens of the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa. Curated by Paul Farber and drawing on the work of Monument Lab, the show brings the iconic Rocky Statue inside the museum, placing it alongside classical and contemporary artworks by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, as well as historical objects spanning 2,000 years.

Nude Performance at MFA Boston Confronts One of Art’s Oldest Tropes

Artist Xandra Ibarra staged her performance "Nude Laughing" (2014–) at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on April 16, appearing nude except for a breastplate and yellow heels while dragging a nylon stocking stuffed with blonde wigs and fake breasts. She moved through the galleries, laughing hysterically, and ultimately collapsed in front of Paul Gauguin's painting "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" (1897–98). The performance was part of the exhibition "Subvert, Repair, Reclaim: Contemporary Artists Take Back the Nude," which features 12 artists critiquing racial, gender, and power hierarchies in Western art history. The event sparked heated debate on the museum's Instagram, with hundreds of commenters arguing about its legitimacy and obscenity.

The World's First Museum of A.I. Art Will Open in Los Angeles as the Art World Ponders Questions of Ethics and Sustainability

Dataland, billed as the world's first museum dedicated to A.I.-generated art, will open on June 20 in downtown Los Angeles. Founded by digital artists Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkiliç, the 35,000-square-foot museum is located in the Grand LA complex designed by Frank Gehry. Its inaugural exhibition, "Machine Dreams: Rainforest," features immersive, multisensory installations powered by an open-access A.I. model called the Large Nature Model, trained on millions of nature images. The exhibition includes soundscapes incorporating oral histories of the Yawanawá people and the last recorded call of the extinct Kaua‘i ‘ō‘ō bird.

Valerie Mercer and the Long Work of Putting African American Art Where It Belongs

Valerie Mercer, the lead curator of African American art at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), has spent over two decades building a collection that now includes more than 700 works. Last fall, the museum unveiled a major reinstallation titled "Reimagine African American Art," moving African American art from scattered locations to the heart of the institution, near Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals. The rehang traces a lineage from 19th-century painters like Robert S. Duncanson to modern innovators like Sam Gilliam, covering key cultural movements such as the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement.

Leaky Berlin Modern Museum’s Opening Delayed Until 2030

The opening of the Berlin Modern Museum, a planned extension of the Neue Nationalgalerie, has been delayed until 2030 due to significant moisture damage and microbial contamination in its foundation, floors, roof coverings, and exterior walls. Originally laid in February 2024 with a projected 2027 opening, the museum's construction costs have surged from 200 million to 507 million euros, according to Monopol. A spokesperson for the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation stated that repairs are underway but will push completion back by approximately eight months.

New US exhibition explores power of monuments – with help from Rocky

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," which uses the iconic Rocky Balboa statue as a focal point to explore the power and meaning of monuments across two millennia of boxing and celebrity culture. Curated by Paul Farber, co-founder of Monument Lab, the show features ancient sculptures, 19th-century works, images from boxing's golden age, and contemporary pieces by artists including Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Glenn Ligon. The Rocky statue, placed on the museum's steps in 1982, attracts an estimated 4 million visitors annually, rivaling the Statue of Liberty.

'Evidence of Us' by E. Tyler Burton at the County Museum

The San Bernardino County Museum presents 'Evidence of Us,' a new exhibition by artist E. Tyler Burton, running from May 9 through September 6. The show features sculptures, projections, textile installations, cyanotypes, and participatory elements that explore the material record of contemporary life, using everyday items like plastic bottles, clothing, and packaging as artifacts. An opening reception will be held on May 9 from 3–6 p.m.

In Dancehall and Reggaetón’s Evolution, MCA Chicago Charts a Global Awakening

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has opened "Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón," an ambitious exhibition exploring the historical evolution of dancehall and reggaetón as cultural movements and their influence on contemporary art. Curated by Carla Acevedo-Yates, the show features over 40 international artists including Isaac Julien, Edra Soto, Alberta Whittle, Carolina Caycedo, supakid, and Lee "Scratch" Perry, tracing the genres' roots from Afro-Caribbean traditions through their emergence in Jamaica, Panama, and Puerto Rico to global mainstream dominance by figures like Daddy Yankee and Bad Bunny.

The Long-Awaited Reopening of the Musée Bonnat

La réouverture attendue du Musée Bonnat

After fifteen years of closure, the Musée Bonnat (now renamed Bonnat-Helleu) in Bayonne, France, has finally reopened. The closure was initially due to structural problems, including collapsing skylights and leaks, and even before that, much of the collection had been inaccessible. The renovated museum now features a new extension built from a former school, housing the public reception area, an exhibition space, a courtyard with a café terrace, and storage. The galleries display the museum's full holdings, including Rubens sketches, terracottas from the Paul Cailleux collection, and works by Léon Bonnat himself.

A World-Class Art Museum Arrives in the Texas Hill Country

A new museum called Arthouse is opening in Marble Falls, Texas, on April 25, 2026, during the town's Paint the Town Festival. Its inaugural exhibition, "Words Matter," features text-based artworks by artists including Faith Ringgold, Ed Ruscha, Terry Allen, and Jenny Holzer, drawn from the collection of oil and gas entrepreneur Mickey Klein and his wife Jeanne, who are longtime art collectors named to ARTnews' Top 200 Collectors list. The building, designed by Lake Flato, is a limestone and metal structure on Main Street that will serve as both a public gallery and an office.

Mayor Mary Sheffield visits the newly renovated Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, or MOCAD

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield toured the newly renovated Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) on April 23, 2026, accompanied by Co-Directors Marie Madison-Patton and Jova Lynne, and Board Chair Charles Boyd. The renovation includes the renamed Julia Reyes Taubman Building, new large windows, an HVAC system, and a bar area, with exhibitions featuring works by Olayami Dabls, Carole Harris, and Martha Mysko.

I wanted to hate the new LACMA. Then I went back

The article describes the author's evolving impression of the newly opened David Geffen wing at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), designed by architect Peter Zumthor. Initially visiting at 11am, the author found the $724 million, 110,000 sq ft building to be a "dismal, dated, inelegant brute," with thick bronze windows, dark concrete slabs, and bunker-like galleries. However, returning at 4pm, the author experienced a transformation: golden afternoon light warmed the concrete, illuminated the interiors, and revealed the building as a "brilliant innovation and true gift to the city." The article details the building's 20-year design evolution, challenges including fossil discoveries on site, and Zumthor's public frustrations with the compromised details.

Cy Twombly | Untitled | Art & Prints

This article is a listing for Cy Twombly's artwork "Untitled" (1960-61), a graphite and wax crayon on paper piece offered at Christie's. It provides a detailed biography of the artist, noting his birth in Lexington, Virginia, his studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Art Students League of New York, and Black Mountain College, and his permanent move to Rome in 1957. The listing includes his major exhibitions, such as retrospectives at MoMA and the Whitney Museum, and highlights his high auction record of $70.5 million for "Untitled" (1970) at Sotheby's in 2015.

Curator shares Figge exhibition highlights and visit planning tips

Vanessa Sage, a curator at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, appeared on the local TV show Quad Cities Live to promote the museum's current exhibitions and offer practical advice for visitors. She discussed highlights of the shows on view, what makes them meaningful, and how to navigate multiple exhibitions without feeling overwhelmed, including recommendations on where to start and how much time to allocate.

First Comprehensive Museum Retrospective For Detroit Artist And ‘Bead Man’ Olayami Dabls

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) will present "Olayami Dabls: Detroit Cosmologies," the first comprehensive museum retrospective for Detroit artist Olayami Dabls, running from April 25 to July 12, 2026. Dabls, who began his career as a curator at the Afro-American Museum in Detroit (now the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History), traces his artistic journey to a transformative moment in the 1970s when he opened a box of African masks that his colleagues feared to handle. This experience led him to investigate how Hollywood and popular culture had demonized African material culture, associating it with horror movies and voodoo, and inspired decades of work as an artist, storyteller, cultural historian, and civic champion.

"Bertille Bak: Voices from the Earth" exhibition at the Vincenzo Vela Museum

From 26 April 2026 to 10 January 2027, the Vincenzo Vela Museum in Ligornetto, Switzerland, presents "Bertille Bak: Voices from the Earth," the first major solo exhibition in Switzerland of French artist Bertille Bak. The show brings together works from the past fifteen years that combine cinema, visual arts, and field research, focusing on marginalized communities and themes of labor, identity, and resistance. Bak, born in Arras in 1983, creates video installations and narrative devices through long immersions in communities, with her work held in collections such as the Centre Pompidou and the Collection François Pinault.

Au musée Picasso, l’artiste africain-américain Henry Taylor dévoile sa peinture d’un quotidien troublé par la violence

The Musée Picasso in Paris is hosting a retrospective of African American artist Henry Taylor, running until September 6. The exhibition centers on Taylor's 2007 painting *From Congo to the Capital, and Black Again*, a bold reimagining of Picasso's *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon* that replaces the original figures with darker-skinned women and introduces Josephine Baker and a white man's arm. The show follows the museum's series on African American painting, after Faith Ringgold in 2023 and ahead of a Harlem Renaissance exhibition in 2027.

Michel Bassompierre (1948-2026)

French sculptor Michel Bassompierre has died at age 78. Known for his monumental bronze and marble animal sculptures—polar bears, gorillas, elephants, pandas, and horses—he depicted them in moments of rest and balance, simplifying forms in the tradition of François Pompon. Bassompierre studied at the École des beaux arts de Rouen under René Leleu, taught applied arts, and later worked with foundries including Venturi Arte in Italy. His major exhibitions include "Fragiles colosses" at the Jardin des plantes in Paris (2019) and a show at the Musée Despiau Wlérick (2021). In February 2025, the municipality of Vertou announced plans for a Michel Bassompierre museum, slated to open in 2028. He was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2010, received the Légion d'honneur in January 2025, and was promoted to Officier des Arts et des Lettres on April 1, 2025.

Art Basel’s ‘Basel Exclusive’ Initiative Asks Galleries to Withhold at Least One Work from PDF Previews, and Other News.

Art Basel is launching a new initiative called "Basel Exclusive" for its June 2026 Switzerland fair, asking exhibitors to withhold at least one key work from pre-fair digital PDF previews to encourage in-person viewing. Around 170 of 232 exhibitors, including major galleries like Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, and David Zwirner, have already adopted the program. Separately, Tate Britain announced the 2026 Turner Prize shortlist featuring artists Simeon Barclay, Tanoa Sasraku, Kira Freije, and Marguerite Humeau, with the exhibition opening at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) in September. The Museum of Sonoma County will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's land art installation "Running Fence" with a major exhibition opening June 27.

Elizabeth Hawes exhibition shows how forgotten designer influenced radical fashion

The Cincinnati Art Museum will host "Elizabeth Hawes: Radical American Fashion," the first major museum exhibition dedicated to the early 20th-century designer, running from April 24 to August 2. Curated by Cynthia Amnéus, the show features over 50 garments from the 1920s through the 1960s, drawn largely from the museum's collection of 23 Hawes pieces—the second-largest after the Met's Costume Institute. Hawes, a Vassar graduate who worked as a Paris copyist before becoming disillusioned with the fashion industry, advocated for comfort, personal identity, and gender-fluid clothing, and wrote nine books critiquing fashion's commercial cycle.

Want a sneak peek at Springfield Art Museum's progress? Take a tour

The Springfield Art Museum, closed for over a year for renovations and expansion, is offering guided hard hat tours starting April 25, 2026. Led by Museum Director Nick Nelson and Foundation Executive Director Kate Francis, the free tours require advance registration and safety gear, and will run on select Saturdays through August and Tuesdays through September. The project includes a new special exhibition gallery, collection study room, and a naturalized creek and trail, with a second phase pending city funding.

Whitney Biennial 2026

The 2026 Whitney Biennial, curated by Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, has received generally lukewarm responses from critics, a notable shift from the more intense takedowns and boycotts that characterized recent editions of the exhibition. Left-oriented critics have criticized the curatorial framework as indeterminate and evasive, particularly in light of the Whitney Museum's controversial board decisions, including the recent closure of the museum's Independent Study Program.

Ces 5 créatrices « inoubliables » à découvrir absolument à Gand

The Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) in Ghent is hosting the exhibition "Inoubliables" (Unforgettables), on view until May 31, which highlights the work of women artists from the 17th and 18th centuries in the former Netherlands region. The show features about 40 female creators active between 1600 and 1750, including painters like Michaelina Wautier, Judith Leyster, and Rachel Ruysch, working in genres from portraiture and still life to engraving, lacemaking, and paper cutting. The exhibition aims to restore these women to their rightful place in art history.

The new London museum that looks like a ‘reconstructed Toblerone’

The V&A has opened a new outpost in east London's Lower Lea Valley, a former industrial area transformed into a cultural quarter after the 2012 Olympics. The museum, described as looking like a 'reconstructed Toblerone', is the latest addition to the 'Olympicopolis' vision, which aimed to create a cultural legacy akin to west London's Albertopolis. The article, written by Catherine Slessor in The Guardian, offers a mixed review: praising the beauty and craftsmanship of the galleries while criticizing overuse of trendy phrases like 'lived experience' and 'transcultural identities'.