Gala Season! Shaggy and Jewel Hit the Whitney, Henry Taylor and Pharrell Toast Gordon Parks, and More Juicy Art-World Gossip

Artnet News' gossip column "Wet Paint" reports on the Whitney Museum's 2026 annual gala, a major fundraising event. The author describes the scene: donors and celebrities like Jewel, Neil Patrick Harris, and Nigel Barker mingled with artists Julie Mehretu (the honoree) and Glenn Ligon. Notably, the 56 artists in the current Whitney Biennial were not invited due to limited seating, a policy confirmed by the museum. The evening raised $6.3 million, with individual seats costing $7,500.

Tess Jaray obituary

Tess Jaray, an Austrian-born British abstract painter known for her geometric, architectural-inspired works, has died at age 88. The article traces her artistic journey from a transformative trip to Italy in 1960, where she was deeply moved by Renaissance architecture, to her development of abstract paintings that evoked space and movement. It highlights key moments in her career, including a mural for the British Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal and a solo show at the Serpentine Gallery in 1988, as well as her Jewish family's escape from Nazi-occupied Austria and her upbringing in rural Worcestershire.

Exhibition | Judith Murray, 'Pure Pleasure' at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, New York, United States

Judith Murray's solo exhibition 'Pure Pleasure' is on view at Sundaram Tagore Gallery in New York. The show presents a selection of the artist's vibrant, abstract paintings that explore color, form, and sensory experience.

In Basel, a Dive into the Great Bath of Colors of Helen Frankenthaler

À Bâle, plongée dans le grand bain de couleurs d’Helen Frankenthaler

The Kunstmuseum Basel has opened a major retrospective of American painter Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011), a key figure in Color Field painting who is less known in Europe than her contemporaries Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. The exhibition was sparked by a 2024 donation of Frankenthaler's 1963 painting "Riverhead" from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and features around fifty works showcasing her signature soak-stain technique, in which she applied thinned paint to unprimed canvas using sponges, brooms, and scrapers. The show traces her career chronologically, highlighting influences from Old Masters and her physical approach to painting on the floor.

Vermont Visual Arts

The article is a roundup of visual art exhibitions and events across Vermont and neighboring New York and New Hampshire, compiled by the Vermont Visual Arts staff. It lists current and upcoming shows at venues including Espresso Bueno, Studio Place Arts, Bennington Museum, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, UVM Fleming Museum, The Hyde Collection, Hood Museum of Art, and others, with details on dates, artists, and locations. Featured exhibitions include silk screen prints by Jodi Whalen, acrylic paintings by Heidi Broner, a group show on Vermont farms, and a Pride-themed closing reception for "Gayzing" at Studio Place Arts.

7 D.C. art exhibits to catch this summer before they close

The article highlights seven art exhibitions in Washington, D.C. that are closing at the end of summer 2025, urging visitors to see them before they end. Featured shows include a retrospective of African American artist Alma Thomas at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a survey of contemporary Indigenous art at the National Museum of the American Indian, and a solo presentation of Yayoi Kusama's infinity rooms at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Other notable exhibits include a photography collection by Gordon Parks at the National Gallery of Art and a showcase of modern Latin American art at the Museum of the Americas.

The Short Circuit of Art in Venice. The Tensions at the Biennale Are Not Just Geopolitics

Il cortocircuito dell’arte a Venezia. Le tensioni alla Biennale non sono solo geopolitica

The article analyzes the recent tensions and controversies surrounding the 2026 Venice Biennale, which began with President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco's announcement in March that Russia, Iran, Israel, Ukraine, and Belarus would all be allowed to participate, framing it as a foreign policy gesture. This sparked immediate polarization, leading to two open letters from half the invited artists and curators demanding the exclusion of Russia, Israel, and the United States; the resignation of the jury a week before the opening over a decision to exclude countries under ICC indictment; and a historic strike by workers on May 8 that shut down many pavilions, merging protests against genocide with those against precarious labor conditions.

See exhibition by Erin Jane Nelson, ‘Living and Working,’ at UAB’s AEIVA through Sept. 26

The Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham presents “Living and Working,” a survey exhibition of artist Erin Jane Nelson, running through September 26. This is Nelson’s largest solo exhibition to date and her first survey, spanning a decade of her practice across photography, textiles, and ceramics. The exhibition will travel to the Knoxville Museum of Art in August 2027, and AEIVA is co-publishing an exhibition catalog with Institute 193. The opening reception is May 21, and free community programming includes summer drop-in tours, a pinhole camera workshop, Science Nights in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo, and a chamber music event.

Alma Allen on Representing the US at the 61st Venice Biennale

ArtReview published a questionnaire sent to artists and curators participating in the 61st Venice Biennale (2026), featuring responses from Alma Allen, who is representing the United States at the Giardini pavilion. Allen gave cryptic, philosophical answers, declined to answer several questions, and criticized the art world establishment, calling outsider artists the most important and refusing to provide a framework for interpreting her work. The article includes details about her bronze sculpture "Not Yet Titled" (2023) and her reflections on US identity, violence, and bureaucracy.

The Carnegie International Tests What “We” Still Means in a Fractured World

The 59th edition of the Carnegie International, the oldest survey of contemporary art in the United States, opens at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, featuring 61 artists and collectives from around the world and 36 newly commissioned works. Curated by Ryan Inouye, Danielle A. Jackson, and Liz Park, the exhibition is titled “If the word we,” developed in collaboration with writer Haytham el-Wardany, and for the first time partners with local institutions including the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Kamin Science Center, Mattress Factory, and the Thelma Lovette YMCA to engage different segments of the city’s community.

Maine Institutions Dissect the American Semiquincentennial

Boston Art Review (BAR) has published an article examining how Maine-based cultural institutions are approaching the American Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026. The piece explores the programming, exhibitions, and institutional strategies being developed by museums and art centers across Maine to mark this milestone, focusing on how they interpret American history and identity through contemporary art.

Workers Push to Rename Wexner Center for the Arts Over Epstein Ties

Unionized staff at Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Arts, organized as Wex Workers United, have officially called for the renaming of the arts center and other campus buildings named after billionaire benefactor Les Wexner. The union argues that Wexner's name, due to his decades-long association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—who had power of attorney over Wexner's fortune—harms artists and community members. The call follows similar demands from the Ohio Nurses Association regarding the Wexner Medical Center and ongoing student protests, including an April 10 action where students covered Wexner's name on the art center's façade with a black tarp. OSU spokesperson Chris Booker noted that over 500 renaming requests have been filed under the university's official review procedure, while OSU President Ted Carter has emphasized that name changes require fact-finding and cannot be based on supposition.

Robert Lugo’s Colossal Ode to Puerto Rico Rises in Madison Square Park

Artist Roberto Lugo unveiled a two-part public monument to Puerto Rican culture in Manhattan's Madison Square Park on May 20. The installation includes a colossal ceramic urn titled "Capicú de Cariño (I Heard It Both Ways)" featuring hand-painted portraits of his parents, reggaeton star Bad Bunny, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, alongside a 15-foot-tall orange fire hydrant sculpture "Para Los Días Caliente (This Is For The Hot Ones)" that evokes his childhood summers in Philadelphia. Both works were commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy and will remain on view through December 6.

Who Gets to Define ‘American Art’? Inside the 2026 Whitney Biennial

The 2026 Whitney Biennial is currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, running from March 8 through August 2026. For the first time in the museum's history, the exhibition is co-curated by a Latina, Marcela Guerrero, who brings a new perspective to the prestigious show. Of the 56 artists featured, 16 are Latino, and the exhibition includes immersive installations with slimy green sculptures, lemongrass scents, and insect sounds, alongside works such as Leo Castañeda's video game "Camoflux: Levels & Bosses (Igapó)" and Gabriela Ruiz's "Homo Machina."

Tattoo artists bring fine art, live tattooing to Carbondale Arts Gallery

Carbondale Arts Gallery in Colorado opens “Visceral Alchemy: Fine Art + Tattoo,” an exhibition featuring over 20 tattoo artists from across the United States. Curated by Sarah Overbeck, the gallery’s marketing director, and local tattoo artist Matt Hays, the show highlights the dual creative practices of tattoo artists, showcasing their personal fine art in mediums such as wood carving, ceramics, painting, and drawing alongside their commercial tattoo work. A live-tattoo event at Carbondale’s Launchpad accompanies the exhibition, allowing visitors to observe artists working on clients in real time.

“Not for Sale”: Jingyi Yu’s New Exhibition Questions What Happens When Art Stops Trying to Be Useful

Photographer and curator Jingyi Yu, who earlier this year served as sole juror for the group exhibition "New Year, New [Me]ntal Issues" at A Space Gallery, now presents a new exhibition titled "Not for Sale," co-curated with Qi Ling and opening May 24. The show features work selected from an international open call that received nearly one hundred submissions from artists across the United States, China, Korea, and Europe, including London-based artist and animator Marian Obando. The exhibition centers on pieces made without strategic intention or commercial ambition—private, impulsive, or emotionally driven works that were never intended for public circulation.

Exhibition | Anna Freeman Bentley, 'Conduits' at Lehmann Maupin, 501 West 24th Street, New York, United States

British painter Anna Freeman Bentley presents 'Conduits,' a solo exhibition of new works at Lehmann Maupin's 501 West 24th Street location in New York. The show features her signature architectural interiors and liminal spaces, rendered in vibrant, gestural oil paintings that explore themes of transition and perception.

Gallery 1882 bringing work of contemporary artists from around the country to Chesterton

Gallery 1882, located in Chesterton, Indiana, is hosting a new exhibition featuring contemporary artists from across the United States. The show brings together a diverse range of works, highlighting emerging and established talents in a local gallery setting.

Is Museum Wall Text the Next Political Battleground?

The Smithsonian Institution has altered or removed interpretive wall text that accompanies artworks on display, according to a New York Times report. Critics argue these changes amount to self-censorship, suggesting the institution is bowing to political pressure by softening or eliminating contextual language that could be seen as controversial.

The Women of Grigory Gluckmann on Display at the Archaeological Museum of Aosta

Le donne di Grigory Gluckmann in mostra al Museo Archeologico di Aosta

The Museo Archeologico Regionale di Aosta is hosting the first Italian exhibition dedicated to Grigory Gluckmann (1898–1973), a Belarusian-born American painter. Curated by Daria Jorioz and Valeria Gorbova, the show, titled "Grigory Gluckmann. Tra luce e grazia," runs until June 2, 2026, and features works centered on the female figure. Gluckmann's career spanned Russia, Berlin, Florence, Paris, and the United States, and his style blends Renaissance techniques with modern sensibility.

Arte Museum, BTS team up for immersive "Arirang" exhibition in Las Vegas, Busan and New York

Digital art venue Arte Museum, operated by Seoul-based design company d'strict, has partnered with K-pop group BTS for a large-scale immersive exhibition titled "Arte Museum X BTS The City Arirang." Inspired by BTS's new album "Arirang," the exhibit debuted on Wednesday at the museum's Las Vegas branch and will run through June 17, with subsequent openings in Busan on June 5 and in New York at a later date. The show features five original media artworks—including "No. 29," "Body to Body," "Swim," "2.0," and "Into the Sun"—alongside an updated "Arirang Wave" installation, an interactive "Live Sketchbook" space, and a BTS-themed cafe. It is part of the band's "The City" project, which extends the concert experience into local venues during their "Arirang" world tour.

New temporary art exhibition revealed in Albuquerque

A temporary public art exhibition titled “Fantastic Animals from Mexico: Alebrijes and Nahuales” has opened in downtown Albuquerque, featuring eight sculptures each nearly 20 feet tall. The works are installed along Route 66 near the 8th Street roundabout and are inspired by Mexican magical realism, celebrating the cultural legacy of Mexican artisans. The sculptures are illuminated at night and will remain on display through July 17.

Regional photographers celebrate 250 years of America with local touch

The Cumberland Valley Photographers Exhibition, now in its 93rd year at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, has adopted a theme centered on the United States' 250th anniversary. The show features submissions from artists across Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C., exploring the nation's history through photography. Works range from historic landmarks and portraiture to mixed-media and digitally manipulated images, blending past and present.

AMERICA 250: Exhibit at Longview museum showcases Native American art for U.S. 250th anniversary

The Longview Museum of Fine Arts in Texas has opened a new exhibition titled "Native Perspectives: America 250" in celebration of the United States' 250th anniversary. The show features works by artists from 13 different Native American tribes, including paintings, baskets, beadwork, and ledger art—a form that references the forced relocation of Indigenous peoples to reservations. Executive Director Tiffany Jehorek notes that the exhibit incorporates personal histories, such as ledger entries tied to artist Mabel Carr's mother, and aims to highlight Indigenous legends like Bigfoot and werewolves that predate European settlement. The exhibition runs through September 12 and includes related events such as a panel discussion, curatorial remarks, and a Caddo pottery workshop led by artist and co-curator Chase Kahwinhut Earles.

Local gallery presents 'America 250'

The article reports that a local gallery is presenting an exhibition titled 'America 250', likely in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. The show features works that explore American history, identity, and culture through the lens of regional artists.