Dahiye, il quartiere di Beirut che non esiste quasi più. Nelle foto di un artista italiano

Italian photographer Armando Perna (born 1981 in Reggio Calabria) has documented Dahiye, a southern suburb of Beirut known as Hezbollah's stronghold, using a digital camera hidden inside a car and controlled remotely via Bluetooth. His project, initiated in 2013 and exhibited in 2017 at the Fondazione Pino Pascali in Polignano a Mare (Bari), creates a street-view-style mapping of a neighborhood that has been heavily bombed by Israeli forces, most recently in the past weeks. The work was promoted by Planar gallery, founded by Antonio Ottomanelli, with Perna and Anna Vasta as part of the #showcase project.

Palate Cleansers at Frieze NY

Hyperallergic's coverage of Frieze New York and concurrent art fairs in the city frames the experience as overwhelming yet punctuated by standout works. Senior Editor Valentina Di Liscia compares the fair to an assembly-line salad, finding reprieve in art that evokes lush canopies, diaphanous portraiture, and ancestral gardens. The issue also includes dispatches from Future Fair, 1-54, TEFAF, NADA, and Independent Art Fair, alongside a tribute to Austrian performance artist Valie Export, who died at age 85, remembered for her radical feminist guerrilla performances that challenged the male gaze.

Finding art in the uncanny aesthetics of MAGA

Spielzeug gallery, founded in 2025 in Bushwick by Evan Karas and Eleanor Hicks, opened a pop-up show titled MAR-A-LAGO FACE on May 13 at a former restaurant on Allen Street in New York. The exhibition critiques the plastic-surgery aesthetics associated with Republican figures like Matt Gaetz, Laura Loomer, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kristi Noem, featuring works by queer, trans, and Latin American artists. The opening blurred the line between exhibition and party, with a DJ, themed drinks, and a bouncer checking bags.

Taos Art Museum The pull of the landscape

The Taos Art Museum has opened a new exhibition titled “Land, Legacy, and Perspective: Landscapes of Northern New Mexico” on May 12, 2026, in the Janis and Roy Coffee Gallery. Featuring 30 works from the museum’s permanent collection and select loans from private collections, the show includes paintings and works on paper by artists such as Ernest L. Blumenschein, Leon Gaspard, Gene Kloss, Barbara Latham, Joseph Henry Sharp, Victor Higgins, and E. Martin Hennings. Spanning the early to mid-20th century, the exhibition captures scenes of Taos Pueblo, adobe villages, Black Mesa, snowy mountain passes, and aspen groves in various media.

2 Cincinnati museums to feature Charley and Edie Harper's works this fall

Two Cincinnati museums will present simultaneous exhibitions dedicated to artists Charley and Edie Harper this fall. The Taft Museum of Art will host the first solo museum exhibition of Edie Harper's work, featuring over 100 pieces spanning her entire career. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Art Museum will mount the first full-scale retrospective of Charley Harper's paintings, with about 150 works on display, covering his career from early pieces to near his death. Both exhibitions open in October 2026, with the Taft's running through January and the Cincinnati Art Museum's through March.

Painting LACMA's David Geffen Galleries with Light, Shadow, and Color

LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries, designed by architect Peter Zumthor, feature custom-tinted concrete walls that break from traditional museum aesthetics. The walls are coated with a transparent, nano-scale mineral glaze developed by Zumthor and Swiss craftsman Marius Fontana, manufactured by German company Keim. The palette—dusky red, vibrant blue, and nuanced black—was inspired by ancient Indigenous American pigments prepared by artist Porfirio Gutiérrez for the museum's exhibition "We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art." Diana Magaloni, LACMA's Senior Deputy Director for Conservation, Curatorial and Exhibitions, led the conceptualization and application of the glazes, which are designed to enhance the building's interplay of light and shadow without obscuring its raw concrete surfaces.

Exhibition | Olivia Sterling, 'Jelly' at Dirimart Pera, Istanbul, Turkiye

Dirimart presents Olivia Sterling's first solo exhibition in Istanbul, titled 'Jelly,' at its Pera location from May 7 to June 14, 2026. The show explores themes of race, power, and desire through scenes involving food, the body, and stains, using fruit and dark colors as metaphors for consumption and objectification. Sterling's paintings incorporate letters that expose how race is constructed through language, while the title 'Jelly' evokes flexibility, fluidity, and a grotesque bodily quality that mirrors the instability of identity and social conventions.

Design Museum Stages First-Ever Retrospective For Streetwear Pioneer Nigo

London's Design Museum is opening "NIGO: From Japan with Love," the first UK retrospective dedicated to Japanese designer Nigo, founder of streetwear brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE) and current artistic director of Kenzo. The exhibition, featuring over 700 objects including rare archival garments, a recreation of Nigo's teenage bedroom, and ceramics inside a life-size glass tea house, traces his career from 1980s Tokyo street culture to global fashion influence.

“Rising Up Rocky” Exhibition In Philadelphia Museum Of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened the exhibition “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments,” featuring the iconic bronze statue of Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer portrayed by Sylvester Stallone. The statue, which has long stood on the museum steps, was moved inside for the show, which also includes photographs of the historic Blue Horizon Gym and a tribute to boxer Joe Frazier. The exhibition runs until August, after which the statue will return to its outdoor perch.

EAT/ART Space to inhabit ETSU's Tipton-Ashe Galleries

EAT/ART Space, a collaborative project merging food and visual art, will take over ETSU's Tipton-Ashe Galleries. The initiative transforms the gallery into an interactive environment where visitors can engage with art through culinary experiences, blurring the lines between gallery viewing and dining.

A world record for Lena Cronqvist and several million-plus sales at Stockholms Auktionsverk’s spring art auctions

Stockholms Auktionsverk's spring auctions, The Modern Art Sale and The Contemporary Art Sale, achieved strong results including a world record for Lena Cronqvist's sculpture "Flicka med flätor och parasoll", which sold for nearly SEK 1.9 million. Other top sales included Andy Warhol's "Queen Elizabeth II" at SEK 2.5 million, Jean-Paul Riopelle's "Arthur" at SEK 1,875,000, and Warhol's triptych "Ingrid Bergman" at SEK 1.25 million. Karin Parrow also set a new personal record with "Kappseglingsdag" selling for SEK 231,250.

Why artists’ love for opera will never die

This article explores the enduring fascination that visual artists have with opera, tracing a historical lineage from figures like Oskar Kokoschka and David Hockney to contemporary practitioners such as William Kentridge and Tacita Dean. It examines how opera's fusion of music, drama, and visual spectacle has inspired artists to create set designs, costumes, and even direct productions, often blurring the boundaries between fine art and performance.

Jemima Wyman

Jemima Wyman's retrospective "Deep Surface" surveys three decades of her work exploring DIY aesthetics of concealment, protest iconography, and political solidarity. Born in Sydney and based in Los Angeles since 2004, Wyman is known for collages of masked protesters, activist signage, and street rally residues, as seen in works like *Aggregate Icon (RBW)* (2016) and *Mass Monument (Y & B)* (2018). The exhibition highlights her early inspiration from Fluxus, Minimalism, and Yayoi Kusama, as well as the influence of Brisbane's late-1990s art scenes and postcolonial Indigenous Australian art debates. Wyman, who has Indigenous (Palawa) heritage, uses camouflage and disguise to blur boundaries between visibility and concealment, figure and ground.

BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF CANADA BRINGS TWILIGHT TO THE VENICE BIENNALE

Abbas Akhavan, born in Tehran in 1977, represents Canada at the 61st Venice Biennale with an exhibition titled "Entre chien et loup" (Between Dog and Wolf). Commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada and curated by Kim Nguyen, the installation transforms the Canada Pavilion into a monumental Wardian case—a 19th-century plant transport device—converted into a greenhouse for Victoria water lilies. The lilies, native to South America and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova from seeds provided by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, reference their prominent display in the Crystal Palace during the 1851 Great Exhibition. The exhibition runs until November 22, 2026.

Museum Night 2026: Events in Belarus and Beyond

On May 16, 2026, Museum Night celebrations will take place across Belarus and beyond, with cultural institutions offering extended hours and special programs. Highlights include the National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Minsk hosting lectures, artist talks, and exhibitions such as “Forms and Shadows: Feminine” and “Difficulties of Translation,” while the National Art Museum explores the color blue through its program “Blue of Blue.” Literary museums dedicated to Maksim Bahdanovich, Yakub Kolas, and Yanka Kupala will feature space-themed activities, reenactments, and fashion shows, and the “Sula” History Park will offer an interactive journey called “Hunting the Dragon.”

St. Mary’s College Professor Of Art Sue Johnson Reveals D.C. Gallery Exhibition

Sue Johnson, professor of art at St. Mary's College, is presenting her second solo exhibition at gallery neptune & brown in Washington, D.C., titled “Blueprint for Happiness.” The show runs from May 16 through June 20, with an opening reception on May 16. Johnson debuts a new series, “My Teenage Years,” which builds on her earlier “Symmetrical Bodies” work and examines the pressures on women to conform to ideals of happiness and perfection in body image and domestic spaces, drawing on 1960s-70s material and commercial culture.

Four Dozen Artists Celebrate Marine Wildlife and Lore in ‘Common Waters’

Arch Enemy Arts in Philadelphia is presenting 'Common Waters,' a group exhibition running from June 5 to July 5, featuring 60 artists from around the world. The show celebrates marine wildlife and lore through square-format works that range from fantastical depictions of coral-haired sirens and octopuses to miniature paintings and sculpted paper reliefs of sea turtles. A portion of sales proceeds will be donated to PangeaSeed, a non-profit that uses art to advocate for ocean conservation.

Who the great jazz musician Miles Davis was, 100 years after his birth

Ecco chi era il grande musicista jazz Miles Davis a 100 anni dalla nascita

Miles Davis, the legendary jazz trumpeter and composer, is commemorated on the centenary of his birth. The article traces his career from his early days with Charlie Parker's bebop quintet in 1944, through his pioneering of cool jazz with "Birth of the Cool" (1949) and modal jazz with "Kind of Blue" (1959), to his later fusion experiments with electric instruments and funk-rock on albums like "Bitches Brew" (1970). It also highlights his lesser-known work as a painter, creating abstract, expressionist works influenced by Kandinsky, Basquiat, and Picasso, which were only exhibited after his death.

Sculpture as a Form of Architecture: Happening at the Foundation of Super Artist Anish Kapoor in Venice

La scultura come forma di architettura. Succede alla Fondazione del super artista Anish Kapoor a Venezia

Anish Kapoor has opened a major solo exhibition at Palazzo Manfrin in Venice, a 16th-century building he purchased in 2018, now home to his foundation. The show, running until August 8 during the 61st Venice Biennale, spans over fifty years of his practice, featuring models, studies, and installations that blur the line between sculpture and architecture. Works include the Monte Sant'Angelo metro station in Naples, the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower for the 2012 London Olympics, the inflatable concert hall Ark Nova, and the environmental installation Temenos. The palazzo itself remains under restoration, with exposed construction elements and workspaces visible, reinforcing the exhibition's theme of continuous transformation.

The great artist who designed precious rings for an Italian brand inspired by crabs

La grande artista che ha disegnato preziosissimi anelli per un brand italiano ispirandosi ai granchi

American multidisciplinary artist Pae White has collaborated with Milanese jewelry house Maison Vhernier to create a limited-edition ring collection inspired by crabs and marine life. The collection was unveiled in Venice during the launch days of the Venice Biennale, following a preview in Los Angeles at collector Eugenio Lopez's home. White drew inspiration from crab exoskeletons and shells found on the California coast, working with Vhernier's master artisans in Valenza to produce ten ring designs—each limited to two pieces—featuring abalone mother-of-pearl, jade, rock crystal, sapphires, and diamonds set in white gold.

You can retrace the entire career of the legendary designer Alessandro Mendini in this exhibition in Verbania

Si può ripercorrere tutta la carriera del mitico designer Alessandro Mendini in questa mostra a Verbania

A new exhibition titled "Alessandro Mendini. COSE. Stanze come mondi" has opened at Villa Giulia in Verbania, Italy, running until September 27. Curated by art historian Loredana Parmesani, the show condenses the career of legendary designer Alessandro Mendini (1931–2019) into seven rooms, each centered on one of his iconic objects—such as the Poltrona di Paglia (1974) and the Poltrona di Proust (1978)—alongside 130 total pieces including drawings, paintings, and texts. The selection was made with Mendini's daughters Elisa and Fulvia, and the layout follows the villa's 19th-century plan, turning each space into a distinct chapter of his creative journey.

L’arte italiana del Dopoguerra va in asta da Sotheby’s a Milano: tutti i nomi più attesi

Sotheby's will hold a live auction of Modern and Contemporary Art at Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan on May 27, 2026, featuring major Italian post-war artists. Highlights include works by Lucio Fontana, Giorgio Morandi, Carla Accardi, Alighiero Boetti, Emilio Vedova, Salvo, Piero Dorazio, and Tancredi, many appearing at auction for the first time. Key lots include Fontana's "Concetto Spaziale, Attese" (1965-66, estimate €700,000-1,000,000) and a Yves Klein monochrome from 1959.

In a Rome exhibition, an artist draws his own atlas: the body becomes world

In una mostra a Roma un artista disegna un proprio atlante: il corpo diventa mondo

Luca di Luzio's exhibition "Atlas ego imago mundi" at Palazzo Mattei in Rome, hosted by the Italian Geographical Society, presents a personal geography where the artist's body becomes landscape and world. Curated by Anna Cestelli Guidi, the show features around 40 maps, three large canvases, and a handmade book created between 2015 and 2023. Di Luzio uses his body as a palette, pressing skin directly onto paper or canvas to generate imaginary territories that merge sensory experience with artistic expression, referencing Merleau-Ponty's philosophy and Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

Habib Hajallie’s Meticulous Ballpoint Pen Drawings Examine the Depths of Emotion

Habib Hajallie, a Kent-based artist of Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage, presents a new solo exhibition titled "Black & Blue" at Larkin Durey in London. The show features meticulous ballpoint pen drawings on found fragments of philosophical and historical texts, exploring themes of memory, connection, and loss. For this series, Hajallie switched from black to blue ink as he grapples with the stillbirth of his daughter and the loss of his sister four years ago. Works include self-portraits and depictions of Black cultural figures, conveying emotions such as despair, confusion, numbness, and care.

Sotheby’s Summer Sale Gathers $433.1M, Thanks To Rothko Painting

Sotheby’s summer contemporary auction in New York raised $433.1 million, far exceeding the $186.1 million from its comparable sale last year. The highlight was the $85.8 million sale of Mark Rothko’s *Brown and Blacks in Reds* (1957) from the estate of late dealer Robert Mnuchin and his wife Adriana, whose 11 blue-chip works fetched $166.3 million against a $130 million estimate. Other top lots included Jean-Michel Basquiat’s *Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown)* at $52.7 million and Willem de Kooning’s *Untitled III* at $26 million.

Inspiring Connections

An exhibition titled "Jean F. Watson: An Artistic Legacy" at the City of Edinburgh showcases over 40 historical and contemporary Scottish artworks acquired through the Jean F. Watson Bequest Fund. Featured artists include Arthur Melville, JD Fergusson, Anne Redpath, Joan Eardley, Eduardo Paolozzi, Elizabeth Blackadder, Alison Watt, and Leena Nammari, among others. Highlights include Fergusson's "The Blue Hat, Closerie des Lilas," Blackadder's "Irises," and a pandemic-inspired installation by Virginia Hutchison. The display spans drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture across 250 years.

Kiss Me, Beneath the Milky Twilight

The article reviews the exhibition "Ahhh! Beije-me" (Ahhh! Kiss me) at Martins & Montero gallery in São Paulo, featuring the late Brazilian artist Hudinilson Jr. (1957-2013). The show presents works from the 1970s and 1980s, including photocopies, stencils, paintings, and personal objects from the artist's apartment, which was closed by his family for twelve years after his death. Highlights include a billboard artwork "Zona de tensão," newly discovered gouache and pastel works on photocopies of Michelangelo's "David," and stencil matrices made from laundry detergent boxes used in street graffiti. The exhibition also incorporates furniture, decorative objects, and photographs by Mauro Restiffe documenting the apartment before its dismantling.

Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography features two members and a guest artist

Gallery 14 Fine Art Photography in Hopewell, New Jersey, will host a group exhibition from May 16 through June 14, featuring two member artists and one guest artist. The show includes John Stritzinger's series 'Trees Find A Way,' which captures trees in urban and rural settings; Dutch Bagley's 'What In The World,' a self-taught photographic exploration of environment and diversity; and guest artist Elvira Peretsman's 'The Fractured Perspective,' which uses experimental in-camera techniques to reveal abstract geometric forms. A meet-the-artists reception is scheduled for Sunday, May 17 from 1 to 3 p.m.

2026 Future Fair: Everything You Need To Know About the Art Fair Before It Opens Next Month

Future Fair, a contemporary art fair focused on community and emerging talent, will hold its sixth edition at Chelsea Industrial in New York from May 14 to 16, 2026. The fair brings together nearly 70 exhibitors, including brick-and-mortar galleries, artist-run initiatives, and collaborative platforms from nine countries, with nearly half hailing from the New York tri-state area. Highlights include the return of the Pay-It-Forward Fund, which allocates 15% of annual profits as grants to participating galleries and dealers, and a VIP preview day on May 13.

What Does the Future Hold for Female Collectors? We Got a Sneak Peek.

CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson hosted a panel discussion at Christie’s Rockefeller Center with collectors Tiffany Zabludowicz, Sophia Cohen, and Victoria Rogers, exploring the evolving role of women in the art market. The event coincided with Christie’s Marquee Week sales, which included a record-breaking $1.1 billion night, and featured works from the collections of legendary female patrons such as Agnes Gund, Marian Goodman, Lorinda de Roulet, and Marilyn Arison. Guests viewed masterpieces on display and received remarks from Christie’s Senior Vice President Isabella Lauria, who is leading the 21st Century Sale on May 20.