Kimball Art Center dives into sound experiences with new exhibit

The Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah, has opened a new exhibition titled (Re)sounding, running from May 15 to September 13. The show features 15 artists—including Jon Bernson, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Maria Chávez, Spencer Finch, Jónsi, Christine Sun Kim, Jacob Kirkegaard, Tuomas A. Laitinen, Christian Marclay, Milad Mozari, Andy Rappaport, Yuri Suzuki, and Mary Toscano & Andrew Rease Shaw—who create immersive audio-visual and interactive works that encourage visitors to think more intentionally about sound. Highlights include Bernson's installations addressing climate change through wetlands and glacial melt, and Cardiff & Miller's major installation from the acclaimed duo known for their immersive audio-visual pieces.

At the 2026 Met Gala, Black stars and socialites turned the human form into art

The 2026 Met Gala, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the theme 'Costume Art,' featured Black celebrities and socialites interpreting the human form as art on the red carpet. Notable attendees included Beyoncé in a skeletal silver gown by Olivier Rousteing, Colman Domingo inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rihanna in a custom Maison Margiela 'living sculpture' by Glenn Martens, and Venus Williams co-chairing the event while wearing a look referencing her own portrait by Robert Pruitt. Others like SZA, Tschabalala Self, and Cardi B offered surreal or literal nods to art history and body imagery.

Here is what you'll see at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art when it finally opens

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles will finally open on September 22, 2026, at Exposition Park. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the 300,000-square-foot spaceship-like building designed by MAD Architects will house a collection of over 40,000 objects, with 1,200 works on display across 30 galleries. The inaugural exhibitions span children's literature illustrations, manga and anime, comics, photography, cinematic storytelling, and classic American illustration, featuring artists from Norman Rockwell and Frida Kahlo to Jack Kirby and Alison Bechdel. A special cinema exhibition, 'Star Wars in Motion,' will showcase props and costumes from the first six films.

Summer Previews: The Season’s Most Anticipated Shows

Artforum's editors preview twenty-five anticipated institutional exhibitions opening worldwide between May and August. Highlights include "Fade" at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the latest in its career-making "F show" series featuring seventeen emerging artists of African descent; "Modernity and Opulence: Women of the Wiener Werkstätte" at the Jewish Museum in New York, showcasing over 180 women designers from Austria's famed atelier; "Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz" at the Hessel Museum of Art, exploring the intersection of Navajo weaving and microchip history; the 59th Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art, with 61 artists spread across Pittsburgh venues; and "Mary Ellen Carroll: How to Talk Dirty and Influence People" at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

What’s on now at San Francisco museums, May 2026

San Francisco museums are navigating a mix of upcoming exhibitions and financial challenges in May 2026. SFMOMA is closing "KAWS: Family" on May 3 and opening "Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal" from May 16 to September 13. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts has suspended operations due to funding issues, and SOMArts is also facing a budget gap. Meanwhile, the Museum of Craft and Design presents "Video Craft" through August 16, and the Letterform Archive hosts "Black Memory Scholar: The Language of Storytellers" and "Piet Zwart: Brand Architect." SFMOMA has announced three SECA award winners—CrossLypka, Em Kettner, and Chanell Stone—who will exhibit from December 2026 to May 2027, and the museum continues to showcase "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10" and new installations by Alexander Calder, Claes Oldenburg + Coosje van Bruggen, and Rose B Simpson.

Museum Exhibitions Opening This Summer in Central Texas

Museums across Central Texas are opening a slate of summer exhibitions, including the Blanton Museum of Art's "Art in Every Corner: The Works Progress Administration (1935-1943)," featuring prints and paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and Dorothea Lange. The San Antonio Museum of Art will present "Microhistories of the Andes" with Andean artifacts, while the McNay Art Museum hosts "Garden Party: Nature on Paper" with works by René Magritte and Winslow Homer. Women & Their Work in Austin will showcase "MARK," a group drawing exhibition by 25 Texas women artists.

Experience 'Mona Lisa' and Renaissance Art at Hong Kong Heritage Museum Exhibition Starting Tomorrow

The Hong Kong Heritage Museum is launching 'The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Meet Mona Lisa & Portraying the Renaissance' exhibition from May 1 to July 27. The show offers a multimedia immersive experience centered on Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' and features Renaissance art treasures on loan from French and Italian cultural institutions, including the Musée du Louvre and the Musée national de la Renaissance. The opening ceremony on April 30 was attended by Hong Kong Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law, French Consul General Christile Drulhe, and other dignitaries.

Virginia MOCA opens new building with bold show, 'The Pursuit of Happiness.'

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA) has inaugurated its new, expanded facility on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University. The opening is anchored by a major solo exhibition titled "The Pursuit of Happiness" by acclaimed contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney, alongside a group show, "Seamless: Art and Design." Abney’s exhibition features her signature large-scale, vibrant, and emoji-inspired works that explore the complexities of the American Dream, identity, and power structures through a lens of both visual seduction and narrative ambiguity.

Brandywine Museum of Art’s exhibition features a contemporary eye on still life

The Brandywine Museum of Art has announced a new group exhibition titled "Abundance/Excess: A Contemporary Eye on Still Life," featuring works by 10 contemporary artists. The show is divided into two thematic sections: "Abundance," which examines the history of wealth and commerce in America, and "Excess," which focuses on the environmental and social consequences of overconsumption. Curated by Kerry Bickford, the exhibition includes diverse media ranging from traditional painting to works made from discarded materials like trash-picked toys and grocery flyers.

The Met Appoints Oluremi C. Onabanjo as Curator of Photographs

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed Oluremi C. Onabanjo as Curator in its Department of Photographs following an international search. Onabanjo, who joins from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), will oversee exhibitions, acquisitions, and research for 20th-century and contemporary photography, with a specific emphasis on international practices in Africa and Asia. Her role includes the stewardship of the Walther Collection, a massive gift of over 6,500 works, and the preparation of a major exhibition scheduled for 2028.

Pictures: Art in Bloom at Orlando Museum of Art

The Orlando Museum of Art has launched its annual "Art in Bloom" festival, a multi-day event where floral designers create living arrangements inspired by specific works in the museum’s permanent collection and current exhibitions. Organized by the Council of 101, the showcase features floral interpretations of pieces by artists such as James Rosenquist, Beatriz Milhazes, and Howard William Mehring, alongside fashion displays, pop-up shops, and silent auctions.

These Are the 8 Best Fashion Museums and Exhibits in the World—From Rare Dior Pieces to Centuries-old Couture

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to unveil a massive 12,000-square-foot expansion of its Costume Institute galleries on May 10, 2026. The inaugural exhibition, "Costume Art," will explore the relationship between fashion and the human body by pairing historic garments with fine art from the museum's diverse collection. This high-profile opening will be preceded by the annual Met Gala, co-chaired by global icons including Beyoncé and Anna Wintour.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Appoints Oluremi C. Onabanjo as Curator in the Department of Photographs

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed Oluremi C. Onabanjo as a Curator in the Department of Photographs. Joining from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Onabanjo will focus on 20th-century and contemporary photography with a specific emphasis on international practices from Africa and Asia. Her responsibilities include overseeing the stewardship of the recently acquired Walther Collection and developing a major exhibition for 2028.

Pioneering US collector Albert Barnes turned down both of Van Gogh’s 'Starry Nights'

Albert Barnes, the pioneering US collector who built the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, twice declined the opportunity to acquire Vincent van Gogh's iconic 'Starry Night' paintings. Unpublished correspondence in the Barnes Foundation archives reveals that in 1923, agent Frank Washburn Freund offered Barnes *Starry Night over the Rhône* (1888), but Barnes did not pursue it; the painting later went to the Musée d'Orsay. In 1936, the Van Wisselingh gallery offered Barnes *Starry Night* (1889), but he again passed; it was eventually acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Despite these missed chances, Barnes was the first American to buy a Van Gogh, ultimately owning seven works by the artist, including *The Postman* and *Still Life*.

The Big Review | Jacques-Louis David at the Musée du Louvre, Paris ★★★★★

The Musée du Louvre in Paris has opened a major retrospective of Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), the greatest Neoclassical artist, marking his biggest survey in nearly four decades. The exhibition, mounted for the 200th anniversary of his death, comprises just over 100 works, including strategic loans from France and eight other countries, and complements the Louvre's own holdings. The show aims to redefine David beyond the Neoclassical label, presenting him instead as both a "realist" and an "idealist," and is compared to blockbusters like the Rijksmuseum's Vermeer show.

56 participating artists, duos and collectives revealed for 2026 Whitney Biennial

The Whitney Museum of American Art has announced the 56 artists, duos, and collectives participating in the 2026 Whitney Biennial, the 82nd edition of the landmark U.S. contemporary art survey. Co-curators Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer have chosen not to give the exhibition a thematic title, instead letting conversations with artists guide the selection. The roster includes well-known figures like Andrea Fraser, Kamrooz Aram, Precious Okoyomon, Pat Oleszko, and Julio Torres, alongside emerging talents and historical or overlooked figures such as Carmen de Monteflores, José Maceda, and Kimowan Metchewais. The exhibition opens March 8, 2026, occupying most of the Whitney's Manhattan building with performances, public events, and online programming.

The Rembrandt robber: five takeaways from an insider’s book on a notorious art thief

Myles Connor, an experienced career criminal, stole Rembrandt's "Portrait of Elsbeth van Rijn" from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on April 14, 1975, using the painting as leverage in another crime. In his new book "The Rembrandt Heist," Anthony Amore—director of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—analyzes Connor's motivations and methods, presenting five key takeaways from the heist.

Portland Art Museum’s Black Art and Experiences Galleries Are an Art World Game Changer

The Portland Art Museum has launched its new Black Art and Experiences Initiative, a permanent, multigallery project that debuts with the reopening of the Rothko Pavilion. The initiative includes four galleries dedicated to Black art, community reflection, artist residencies, and partnerships with Black-led organizations, guided by local Black artists, curators, and advocates. It follows a series of earlier exhibitions—including 'Constructing Identities' (2017), 'All Things Being Equal' (2018), and 'Black Artists of Oregon' (2023)—that built momentum toward this institutional commitment.

In 1960s New York, three single mothers bought a house together and turned it into a thriving live/work space

A new documentary film, *Artists in Residence*, premiered on November 14 at the DOC NYC film festival, telling the story of three single mothers—painters Lois Dodd and Eleanor Magid and the late sculptor Louise Kruger—who bought a former factory in New York's East Village in 1968. Denied a mortgage because single women could not apply for credit until 1974, they secured a loan from their landlord and transformed the building into a live/work space where they raised their children and pursued their art. The film, produced by Katie Jacobs, explores how each woman prioritized her creative practice while contributing to the city's cultural fabric.

World Economic Forum and J. Paul Getty Trust bring art world leaders together to find ‘Connection in Times of Division’

The World Economic Forum and the J. Paul Getty Trust co-hosted a "cultural table" dinner for art world leaders on 23 October at the Hotel Le Meurice in Paris, themed "Bridging Worlds: Culture as a Force for Connection in Times of Division." The event, held in the Pompadour Room—where Pablo Picasso celebrated his 1918 wedding—was co-hosted by Getty president Katherine Fleming and WEF arts head Joseph Fowler, and marked the first collaboration between the two organizations. Fowler described the initiative as a global movement to place culture at the heart of systemic change, while Fleming emphasized art's unifying power and its measurable health benefits.

Tehching Hsieh: ‘I didn’t try to be a superman, my work is not about heroism’

Tehching Hsieh, the pioneering performance artist known for his extreme durational works, has opened his first retrospective, 'Lifeworks 1978-99', at Dia Beacon. The exhibition follows his gift of 11 major works to the institution last year and features six spaces designed to convey the relative time of his performances—including his five one-year pieces (Cage Piece, Time Clock Piece, Outdoor Piece, Rope Piece, No Art Piece) and the Thirteen Year Plan—using spatial measurements to represent 'art time' and 'life time'.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings of the Week (11/03—11/09)

After reopening, Joslyn Art Museum breaks visitor records, earns national acclaim

The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, has broken visitor records and earned national acclaim in its first full year after reopening with a 42,000-square-foot addition. The new Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion, designed by Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, opened in September 2024 and added 16,700 square feet of gallery space, 15,400 square feet of public gathering space, and new gardens. Through September 2025, the museum welcomed 159,420 visitors, on track to surpass 200,000—a milestone only reached a few times before, typically due to blockbuster traveling exhibitions like the Tutankhamun Treasures or Dead Sea Scrolls shows.

Moss & Freud review: film exploring unlikely friendship ultimately fails to scratch the surface

The film *Moss & Freud*, directed by James Lucas, explores the unlikely friendship between supermodel Kate Moss (played by Ellie Bamber) and painter Lucian Freud (Derek Jacobi) in 2001 London. The story centers on Moss's desire to sit for the reclusive portraitist, culminating in Freud's unflattering *Naked Portrait 2002*. However, the film glosses over Freud's darker reputation—his punishingly long sittings, cruelty, and violent tendencies—portraying him instead as a benign, eccentric old man. It also fails to deeply investigate Moss's character or the exploitation within the fashion industry, relying on weak scripting and forced parallels between Moss and Freud's ex-wife Lady Caroline Blackwood.

LACMA Expands Local Access Initiative with New Museum Partners and Exhibitions

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has expanded its Local Access program, adding three new museum partners: the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) University Art Gallery, the Millard Sheets Art Center at the LA County Fair, and the Ontario Museum of History & Art. Supported by the Art Bridges Cohort Program, the initiative brings exhibitions sourced from LACMA's permanent collection to communities across Southern California. The program's latest exhibition, 'Act on It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles,' opens at the Vincent Price Art Museum on September 27, exploring the legacy of the historic Brockman Gallery and its role in the Black Arts Movement.

Pearlstein Gallery Opens Fall Exhibition Exploring Systems and Structures in Contemporary Art

The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design has announced its Fall 2025 exhibition, "Of the Grid: Systems + Structures in Contemporary Art," running from October 14 to December 15. The show features 36 artists working across media including photography, video, drawing, weaving, sculpture, embroidery, printmaking, painting, book arts, and interactive installation, with works that use the grid as a formal, conceptual, or narrative device. Co-curated by gallery director Mark Stockton and Cindy Stockton Moore, the exhibition includes a dynamic mix of Philadelphia-based and international artists, with highlighted pieces such as Jacob C. Hammes's IKEA-hacked fountain, Anne Schaefer's optical color window installation, and a suspended quilt by Jody Graff.

UC Davis Artist, Sociologist, Ph.D. Student Reflect on ‘Breathe' Exhibition at Manetti Shrem Museum

Three UC Davis scholars—artist and professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, a sociologist, and a Ph.D. student—reflect on the exhibition 'Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice' at the Manetti Shrem Museum. The show, curated by Glenn Kaino and Mika Yoshitake, combines climate change and social justice themes through works like Jin-me Yoon's video installation 'Turning Time (Pacific Flyways),' 2022. Kemp incorporates the exhibit into her course, using breathwork and dance to engage students with Black literature and visual art, culminating in a student performance at the museum on November 13.

NEXT in the Gallery: October arts are all about play

October arts in Pittsburgh focus on play and legacy, with several gallery openings and retrospectives. GalleriE CHIZ hosts "Celebrating the Art and Life of Ellen Chisdes Neuberg" on Oct. 3, showcasing the late artist and gallery owner's bold Abstract Expressionist works. The Pittsburgh Glass Center presents "Idea Furnace Retrospective" (Oct. 3, 2025–Jan. 19, 2026), featuring alumni like Renee Cox and Alisha Wormsley. James Wodarek's "Industria Nova" at Atithi Studios reimagines industrial forms, while the Cooley Gallery pairs "Felt-Occurrence" with "Continuing a Legacy of Classical Painting," linking three generations of American landscape artists from Frank DuMond to James Sulkowski.

Simone Leigh’s largest exhibition yet to explore ‘art made under fascism’

Simone Leigh will present her largest-ever exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in late 2027, featuring new monumental bronze and ceramic sculptures alongside film installations. The show, curated by Tarini Malik, will explore the theme of architecture and art created under fascist regimes, with Leigh citing the current political climate in the United States as a driving influence. Leigh, who represented the US at the 2022 Venice Biennale and won the Golden Lion, has noted that some artist commissions have been stalled or canceled due to anti-DEI policies.

From Dior's golden coat to landscape jewellery at Christie's: where the worlds of art and luxury collide this autumn

The article highlights two luxury-art crossovers this autumn: Jonathan Anderson's debut Dior menswear collection for spring/summer 2026, presented in Paris, and Natasha Wightman's new jewellery collection displayed at Christie's London. Anderson's show reimagined Dior's iconic women's silhouettes for men, featuring a standout €200,000 coat embroidered with ancient Indian mukesh work that took 12 artisans 34 days to create. Wightman's jewellery incorporates bog oak, a semi-fossilised wood from British fens, carved into pendants celebrating the country's remaining temperate rainforests.