The Venice Biennale Is High Stakes. James Cohan Gallery Is All In

James Cohan Gallery, a mid-sized New York gallery, is representing four artists in the 61st Venice Biennale's central exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. The artists are Ranti Bam, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Kennedy Yanko, and Yinka Shonibare (whose Guest Artists Space Foundation is also participating). This marks a breakthrough for the gallery, which has more artists in the central exhibition than any of the four mega-galleries—Gagosian, Pace, David Zwirner, and Hauser & Wirth—none of which have as many. The gallery is investing heavily in production, logistics, travel, and events, including a luncheon at the St. Regis Hotel co-hosted with Salon 94 and Esther Schipper, and a dinner thrown by collector Pamela Joyner for Yanko.

Éliane Radigue, Electronic Music Pioneer, Dies at 94

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Éliane Radigue, a pioneering French composer and electronic music visionary, has died at the age of 94 in Paris. A student of musique concrète founders Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, Radigue became renowned for her meditative, long-form compositions created primarily on the ARP 2500 modular synthesizer. Her work, deeply influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, focused on the subtle, sculptural qualities of sound and "barely perceptible" sonic shifts.

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Beatriz González, a pioneering Colombian painter and one of the most important Latin American artists of the 20th century, died on Friday at her home in Bogotá at age 93. Her Zurich-based representative, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, announced her passing but did not specify a cause. González first gained fame in the 1960s by remaking art historical masterpieces by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci in a deliberately garish color palette, later pivoting in the 1980s to explicitly political works critiquing government violence in Colombia. Her career included major exhibitions at Documenta 14 in 2017, the Museum of Modern Art's 2019 rehang, and a retrospective that premiered at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo and will travel to the Barbican Centre in London and the Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo.

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Earlier this spring, artist Julia Isídrez led a guided tour at São Paulo's Gomide & Co. gallery for a joint exhibition with Maria Lira. The show highlights two artists from different generations and mediums—Lira from Brazil (painting) and Isídrez from Paraguay (sculpture, featured in the 2024 Venice Biennale)—who both engage Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous traditions from a contemporary perspective. Gallerist Thiago Gomide rejects labels like 'folk' or 'popular,' insisting it is simply an art exhibition. The article profiles a network of Brazilian dealers, including Vilma Eid of Galeria Estação and Antonio Almeida of Almeida & Dale, who have worked to revive interest in arte popular, a category historically applied to self-taught, Indigenous, and Black artists.

Michael Armitage in Venice, monumental and disturbing. What the exhibition at Palazzo Grassi looks like

Michael Armitage is the subject of a major solo retrospective at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, marking his largest exhibition in Europe to date. Organized by the Pinault Collection, the show features monumental paintings that blend African identity, local Kenyan chronicles, and mythological narratives. Armitage’s work is noted for its physical scale and its ability to transform the chaos of human affairs into a syncretic epic, utilizing traditional materials like Lubugo bark cloth to ground his contemporary subjects.

8 Must-See Solo Gallery Shows in December

Galerie magazine has curated a list of eight must-see solo gallery shows across the United States for December, highlighting exhibitions from New York to Los Angeles. Featured artists include Alex Da Corte, whose show at Matthew Marks Gallery presents 11 new sculptures in a narrative setting, including life-size self-portraits as the Pink Panther and Popeye; and Sylvia Snowden, whose exhibition "On the Verge" at White Cube in New York showcases 20 paintings from her career, exploring human struggles and joys through textured impasto works. Other notable shows include Marilyn Minter's portraits of celebrities at Regen Projects in Los Angeles.

A brush with… Rudolf Stingel — podcast

This podcast episode features an in-depth conversation with artist Rudolf Stingel, who discusses his irreverent approach to painting, his influences including Pablo Picasso and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and his friendships with artists like Urs Fischer and Maurizio Cattelan. Stingel reflects on his career from the 1980s onward, his exploration of painting across abstraction and photorealism, and his expansion into sculpture and installation. The episode also covers his current exhibitions: 'Vineyard Paintings' at Gagosian in London and his inclusion in 'Les yeux dans les yeux' at the Couvent des Jacobins in Rennes.

Frieze New York shows signs of stability in challenging US art market

Frieze New York (7-11 May) opens its 13th edition at The Shed with around 65 galleries, including mega-galleries Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, and White Cube. The fair arrives amid a turbulent art market: global art sales declined 12% in 2024 per Clare McAndrew's Art Market Report, and President Trump's tariff decisions have roiled the stock market. Frieze's owner Endeavor recently sold the fair to a new company founded by former CEO Ari Emanuel. Despite this, US fair director Christine Messineo expresses optimism, citing strong sales at Frieze Los Angeles in February. The Focus section features 12 emerging galleries, seven of which are first-time participants, including King's Leap, Management, Voloshyn Gallery (Kyiv), and Public Gallery (London).

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A major retrospective of Chilean artist Lotty Rosenfeld's work is on view at Columbia University's Wallach Art Gallery through March 15. The exhibition, curated by Julia Bryan-Wilson and Natalia Brizuela, focuses on Rosenfeld's clandestine, antifascist art created during the Pinochet dictatorship, highlighting her use of coded public gestures—like altering street lane dividers into crosses and Xes—to build solidarity and protest political and economic oppression.

Taiwan revokes Sakuliu Pavavaljung’s National Award for Arts

Taiwan’s National Culture and Arts Foundation has revoked the National Award for Arts granted to artist Sakuliu Pavavaljung in 2018, ordering him to return the NTD 1 million prize. The revocation follows a Supreme Court ruling on 1 April that upheld a January 2025 conviction by the Pingtung District Court, which found the artist guilty of rape and sentenced him to four years and six months in prison.

art cecilia vicuna poetry chile sculpture

Cecilia Vicuña, the 77-year-old Chilean artist known for her ecologically and politically engaged practice, is profiled in her Tribeca home. The article describes her daily rituals of corpse pose and walks, her decades-long exile since the Pinochet coup, and her recent international acclaim including the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Biennale and the inaugural Icon Artist Gold Medal at Art Basel Miami Beach. A major solo show is on view at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and MOCA Los Angeles will unveil a new commission, “Quipu of Encounters: The Dream of Water,” following her selection as the first recipient of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize. The interview covers her studio practice, her focus on ecological collapse, and her work with Indigenous knotting traditions, poetry, and performance.

art jonathas de andrade brazilian artist studio

Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade discusses his collaborative, research-driven practice in a studio visit feature for CULTURED magazine. He describes working with actors, cart drivers, carrier pigeon racers, and zoo employees to create installations, photographs, and films that examine the architecture, labor, and history of northeast Brazil. This month, a Vatican-commissioned video installation about Brazilian activist nuns opens at MACRO in Rome, while a series of flags developed with canoeists on the São Francisco River is on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. De Andrade shares his daily rituals, inspirations, and the expansive definition of his studio—a sanctuary in Recife filled with collected magazines, images, and objects.

Ralph Lemon: The Physical Traces of Racism

Ralph Lemon's exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery presents 13 black-and-white photographs and three short videos focusing on sites in the Mississippi Delta connected to the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till. Rather than dramatizing the incident, Lemon records physical traces of the locations—such as Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market, the barn where Till was killed, the Tallahatchie River, and a funeral home—capturing dilapidated buildings and landscapes that suggest history slipping away. The show includes the titular video "From Out of Space" (2018–21), which offers closeups and drone footage of these sites, creating a meditative, detective-like examination of memory and erasure.

The 61st Venice Biennale: 'artists who confront difficult realities in unusual ways' at Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana

Curators Emma Lavigne and Jean-Marie Gallais have organized exhibitions for the Pinault Collection at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana during the 61st Venice Biennale, featuring artists Lorna Simpson, Paulo Nazareth, Michael Armitage, and Amar Kanwar. The shows respond to global tensions, with Nazareth using salt to trace a ghost ship referencing the slave trade, and Simpson creating nocturnal paintings and collages from Ebony and Jet magazines that explore identity and history. The exhibitions are part of the Biennale's broader global outlook, engaging with Venice's mercantile past and contemporary migration routes.

Pioneering Brazilian artist Lygia Pape's estate is now represented by Mendes Wood DM

Mendes Wood DM now represents the estate of pioneering Brazilian artist Lygia Pape (1927-2004), a central figure in the Concrete and Neo-Concrete art movements. The gallery, founded by Pedro Mendes, Felipe Dmab, and Matthew Wood, operates spaces in São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, and New York. It plans a career-spanning exhibition of Pape's work in São Paulo in April 2026, coinciding with SP-Arte and her centenary year, and will bring works to Art Basel in Paris this October. Pape's first retrospective in France, 'Tisser l'espace (Weaving Space),' opens next week at the Pinault Collection's Bourse de Commerce in Paris, running from 10 September to 23 February 2026.

Women on the Verge: Five Museums in Maine Showcase Nicole Wittenberg and Ann Craven

Five museums across Maine are simultaneously presenting exhibitions featuring the work of painters Nicole Wittenberg and Ann Craven, in a coordinated initiative titled "Women on the Verge." The participating institutions include the Portland Museum of Art, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, and the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland. Each venue is showing a distinct body of work by either Wittenberg or Craven, highlighting their vibrant, often nature-inspired paintings that explore themes of femininity, perception, and the natural world.

What not to miss at Frieze New York 2025

Frieze New York 2025 will take place from 7 to 11 May at The Shed, featuring over 65 leading contemporary art galleries from more than 25 countries. The fair offers collectors access to blue-chip works by major artists and pieces by emerging talents, alongside amenities such as the US debut of Korean luxury beauty brand The Whoo showcasing three South Korean female artists, and a Ruinart champagne bar with a commissioned installation by artist Sam Falls. Notable booths include Mendes Wood DM presenting a new sculpture by Sonia Gomes and works by Kishio Suga, a joint presentation by Apalazzogallery and Emalin featuring Augustas Serapinas, and Tina Kim Gallery highlighting a multigenerational selection of women artists including Maia Ruth Lee.

Opportunities in May 2026

Hyperallergic's May 2026 Opportunities Listings compile residencies, fellowships, grants, and open calls for artists, writers, and art workers. Featured opportunities include the Center for Craft's Craft Archive Fellowship, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation's Fellowship for Distinction in Fine Crafts and Design, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum's Robert Motherwell & Renate Ponsold Fellowship, the Bennett Prize for women figurative realist painters, the Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture residency, the Wassaic Project's Haunted Barn Open Call, the Jonathan and Barbara Silver Foundation's Grant for Writing on Sculpture, the Academy of American Poets' James Laughlin Award, and VIA Art Fund's Artistic Production Grants.

Was in den Museen läuft

Munich's art festival "Various Others" kicks off this week with major city museums participating. The Pinakothek der Moderne presents "Reflexion," a group show of 100 works across fine art, architecture, graphic design, and design by artists including Isa Genzken, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Piet Zwart, and Ettore Sottsass. The Alexander-Tutsek-Stiftung celebrates its 25th anniversary with a glass-focused exhibition featuring Monica Bonvicini, Tony Cragg, and Laure Prouvost. The Villa Stuck reopens after renovation with four shows: Philipp Messner's sculptures, Ilit Azoulay's macro-film installation, a returning Franz von Stuck painting, and Delschad Numan Khorschid and Jan-Hendrik Pelz's migration-themed "Zehn Leben." The Lenbachhaus presents "Ein Ferngespräch. Szenen aus der Weimarer Republik" with works by Jeanne Mammen, Gabriele Münter, and Christian Schad. Museum Brandhorst's "Carrying" addresses the history of the Maxvorstadt art district, once site of a military barracks built by Ottoman prisoners. The Eres Stiftung continues "Seeing the Unseen" on quantum physics. The Flux meeting space, designed by Morag Myerscough, moves indoors at the Pinakothek der Moderne.

6 musées incontournables à visiter à Venise

Beaux Arts Magazine highlights six must-visit museums in Venice, including the Palazzo Ducale, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Pinault Collection venues Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. The article notes that during the Biennale, the city is filled with free pavilions, but the main museums have high entry fees, offset by passes like the Venice Museum Pass (€59) and Venice City Pass (€119). It also mentions a current Marina Abramović exhibition at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, marking her as the first living female artist honored there.

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German installation artist Henrike Naumann has passed away at the age of 41 following a battle with cancer. At the time of her death, Naumann was preparing for the pinnacle of her career: representing Germany at the upcoming 61st Venice Biennale. The German pavilion organizers have confirmed that they will work closely with her studio team to realize her finalized artistic vision for the exhibition as planned this May.

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Konstantina Krikzoni's solo exhibition "ARMATURA" at L'Appartement in Geneva presents a new suite of paintings born from a period of intense solitude. The works explore painting as a medium for self-expression, using the metaphor of an armature—the metal framework that supports sculptures—to represent an inner structure of fortification, endurance, and survival. The paintings feature elusive female figures and landscapes rendered with delicate layers of pigment, evoking ancient myths and goddesses, with works like *Warrior I* (2025), *L.K. I Killed the Pink* (2025), and the titular *Armatura* (2025) conveying emotional rawness and psychological drama.

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Carly Murphy, Christie’s head of client strategy for the Americas, is leaving the auction house to join Art Basel as global head of collector and institutional relations, a newly created position. She will report to Vincenzo de Bellis, the fair’s chief artistic officer and global director of fairs, and begins later this month. The move comes as the art market faces slowing sales, with global art and antiques sales falling 12% in 2024 to $57.5 billion, according to the latest Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report.

The New Exhibitions of the Pinacoteca Agnelli and the New Public Works on the Lingotto Park-Track: The Photos

Le nuove mostre della Pinacoteca Agnelli e le nuove opere pubbliche sulla pista-parco del Lingotto: le foto

The Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin has launched a new exhibition program that includes the first major institutional retrospective in Italy dedicated to Swiss photographer Walter Pfeiffer, titled "In Good Company," running until September 13, 2026. Curated by Nicola Trezzi and Simon Castets, the show features over 100 photographs from the 1970s to today, blending iconic and unseen works that explore queer eroticism, everyday artifice, and collaborative image-making. Concurrently, the museum presents "Modigliani sottopelle. Quattro capolavori" as part of its "Beyond the Collection" series, placing four masterpieces by Amedeo Modigliani—including a loan from the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and works from the Centre Pompidou—in dialogue with the permanent collection. Curated by Pietro Rigolo and Beatrice Zanelli, the exhibition takes an interdisciplinary approach combining art history, diagnostics, and scientific research, using an algorithm to analyze canvas weaves and propose a new dating for the iconic "Nu couché" acquired by Giovanni and Marella Agnelli in 1960.

Milan Design Week 2026: A Guide to What to See in the Brera District

Milano Design Week 2026: guida alle cose da vedere nel distretto di Brera

The Brera Design District has unveiled its extensive programming for Milan Design Week 2026, featuring over 300 events and 217 showrooms under the theme "Essere Progetto." Key highlights include Yinka Ilori’s immersive installation for Veuve Clicquot, a major showcase of Uzbek craftsmanship at Palazzo Citterio curated by Kulapat Yantrasast, and Sara Ricciardi’s large-scale inflatable installation at the Pinacoteca di Brera. To manage the high volume of visitors, organizers have introduced the "Fuorisalone Passport," a digital platform designed to streamline entry and registration across various locations.

The Synthesis of Poetry and Violence: Inside the New Exhibitions at the Pinault Collection in Venice

La sintesi tra poesia e violenza. Ecco come sono le mostre alla Pinault Collection di Venezia

The Pinault Collection has unveiled its 2025 exhibition program across its two Venice venues, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. This year, the institution opts for a multi-artist approach rather than a single-artist takeover, featuring Michael Armitage and Amar Kanwar at Palazzo Grassi, alongside Lorna Simpson and Paulo Nazareth at Punta della Dogana. The exhibitions focus heavily on global perspectives, spanning from Kenya and India to Brazil and the United States, addressing contemporary social tensions through diverse media.

Pinakothek in Munich Returns Nazi-Looted Painting by Lesser Ury to Jewish Heirs

The Pinakothek museums in Munich have restituted a painting by German-Jewish Impressionist Lesser Ury to the heirs of its original owner, Berlin banker Curt Goldschmidt. The work, 'Interior with Children (The Siblings),' was sold at a forced auction in the 1930s after the Goldschmidt family bank collapsed under Nazi economic policies.

Hotel Room Transforms into Media Art Exhibition Space

South Korea's only media art fair, Loop Plus, was held from April 23 to 26 at the Grand Josun Busan Hotel in Haeundae, Busan. The fair transformed 26 hotel rooms on the 13th floor into exhibition spaces, featuring media artworks from 19 international galleries including Tang Contemporary Art, Esther Schipper, Chiwen Gallery, and Baek Art. Highlights included a 38-minute video installation by Russian artist group AES+F titled *‘Inverso Mundus’*, presented by Tang Contemporary Art, which humorously subverts societal absurdities. The event also included artist booths for Kang Lee-yeon and Lucia Levolino, and institutional booths for the Justice Foundation and Gwangju Media Art Platform. A related festival, Loop Lab Busan 2026, runs until June 28 across multiple venues in Busan.

art heist genre film tv books guide

This article from Cultured explores the history and evolution of the art heist genre across film, television, and books. It traces the genre's origins from the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa by Vincenzo Peruggia to its appearance in 19th-century detective serials by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and later in French New Wave noirs and slick 1990s heist films. The piece highlights recent entries like Kelly Reichardt's film *The Mastermind* starring Josh O'Connor, and compiles a list of key works including *Animal Crackers* (1930), *How to Steal a Million* (1966), *The Thomas Crown Affair* (1968/1999), and *Hudson Hawk* (1991), noting how the genre reflects changing attitudes toward wealth, crime, and the sublime power of art.

Michael Armitage and the Feverish Memory of Images

Michael Armitage und das fiebrige Gedächtnis der Bilder

The British-Kenyan painter Michael Armitage is the subject of a major solo exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, part of the Pinault Collection. The showcase features new works, including the titular painting "52,000 Years," which references prehistoric cave art while weaving together themes of political unrest, the refugee crisis, and lush landscapes. Armitage’s technique is noted for its use of Lubugo bark cloth, a traditional Ugandan material that adds a tactile, irregular dimension to his complex figurative compositions.