Six environmental artists win this year’s Rewilding Art Prize

Six Canadian artists have been awarded the 2026 Rewilding Arts Prize, established in 2023 by the David Suzuki Foundation and Rewilding Magazine. The winners include Nicole McDonald-Fournier, whose project EmballeToi! repurposes old winter coats as plant-growing pots, and the Montreal/Toronto duo Masumi Rodriguez and Elena Kirby, who run community papermaking workshops using invasive plant species. The prize awards $2,000 to each artist and plans to feature their work in a future exhibition, following the inaugural winners' show at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.

N.Y.'s Met museum to add Japanese designer Tamae Hirokawa to collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will add garments by Japanese designer Tamae Hirokawa to its permanent collection. Seven bodysuits from her signature "Skin Series" line, which explores the concept of seamless knitwear as a "second skin," will be displayed in the spring 2026 Costume Art exhibition. Hirokawa joins fellow Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, and Hanae Mori in the museum's Costume Institute collection. The exhibition, held in new galleries adjacent to the Great Hall, pairs garments with artworks to highlight the relationship between clothing and the body.

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.

Shokkan at the ROM considers the sense of touch in Japanese art

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto presents "Shokkan," an exhibition curated by Akiko Takesue that explores the Japanese concept of touch in art. Despite the challenge of displaying tactile experiences behind glass, the show succeeds by featuring historic Japanese works—such as kimonos, tea bowls, ukiyo-e prints, and netsuke—alongside contemporary pieces by artists like Issey Miyake, Tabaimo, Makiko Hattori, and Emma Nishimura. Interactive stations allow visitors to handle replicas and less valuable objects, including samurai swords, scrolls, and netsuke, to physically engage with the theme.

Art House Productions presents "Playing Favorites"

Art House Productions in Jersey City, NJ, presents "Playing Favorites," a solo exhibition by artist Bryant Small, curated by Andrea McKenna. The show runs from May 2 to May 31, 2026, at the Art House Gallery, featuring a selection of Small's most cherished works, many never publicly exhibited before. The exhibition includes an opening reception on May 2 and an artist talk on April 17, with all artwork available for purchase in person and online.

Venus Lespugue

The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens presents "Jeff Koons: Venus Lespugue," an exhibition pairing Jeff Koons' monumental stainless steel sculpture *Balloon Venus Lespugue (Orange)* (2013–2019) with ten certified copies of Paleolithic Venus figurines from major European museums. The Koons work, on public display for the first time, is loaned from the Homem Sonnabend Collection and directly references the 28,000-year-old Venus of Lespugue carved from mammoth tusk ivory.

Due giovani artisti in una mostra a Matera si confrontano sulle tracce della memoria

The article reports on "Remain(s)," a dual exhibition at Momart Gallery in Matera, Italy, featuring young artists Luca Granato and Michela Rondinone. Curated by Antonella Marino, the show explores the aesthetics of fragments and memory through installations, sculptures, and video works. Granato's pieces address loss, migration, and climate change, while Rondinone's works focus on childhood, play, and relational practices. The exhibition runs until May 26, 2026.

Art Beat feature: A gallerist rooted in craft

Leana Hoadley has opened Hoadley Gallery West in downtown Edmonds, Washington, a boutique gallery specializing in handmade ceramics, jewelry, glass, and sculptural objects. The gallery builds on the legacy of the original Hoadley Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts, founded over 40 years ago by her aunt and uncle, Stephanie and Thomas Hoadley. After a winding career that included studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and working as a creative director for an AI company, a 2023 layoff prompted Hoadley to reassess her path and pursue opening her own gallery. The space features works including porcelain vessels by Thomas Hoadley made using the ancient Japanese Nerikomi technique, which are held in collections such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Art Gallery of Burlington opens vibrant spring exhibition you have to experience

The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) opens its spring exhibition "A material called Earth, Volume 1: The life of corners" on May 16th, featuring the immersive textile art of Argentinian artist Celina Eceiza. The installation transforms the main gallery with hand-dyed, stitched, and embroidered works, including sculptures ranging from palm-sized to near-monumental, and incorporates ceramics from the AGB's collection. A public opening on May 16th includes a talk and tour with curator Sylvie Fortin and the artist, plus free programming by artist Camila Salcedo and refreshments from local vendors.

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.

The archive of the great architect Piero Portaluppi opens to the public: it happens at Villa Necchi in Milan

L’archivio del grande architetto Piero Portaluppi apre al pubblico: succede a Villa Necchi a Milano

The Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) has opened a new permanent archive space dedicated to the architect and intellectual Piero Portaluppi (1888-1967) inside Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, the architect's own masterpiece. The archive, acquired by FAI in December 2025 from the closing Fondazione Portaluppi, is housed in three attic rooms and includes thousands of original documents, drawings, photographic prints, sketchbooks, caricatures, postcards, and 16 mm film reels totaling eight hours of footage shot between the 1930s and 1960s. The collection also features Portaluppi's personal library of three thousand volumes and architecture journals, which will be made available for study in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archivistica e Bibliografica della Lombardia and the Politecnico di Milano.

Story of Max Peiffer Watenphul, the Bauhaus painter who found his new homeland in Italy

Storia di Max Peiffer Watenphul, il pittore del Bauhaus che trovò in Italia la sua nuova patria

A major retrospective titled "Max Peiffer Watenphul. Pittore del Bauhaus" has opened at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAMC) in Rome, curated by Gregor H. Lersch, director of the Museo Casa di Goethe. The exhibition explores the complex artistic journey of Max Peiffer Watenphul (1896–1976), a German Bauhaus-trained painter who found a second home in Italy. It highlights his multidisciplinary approach, his troubled painting style marked by unusual materials and scratched surfaces, and his deep connection to Italy, where he fled after Nazi persecution and where he lived until his death.

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.

Video interview with Cecilia Canziani and Chiara Camoni, curator and artist of the Italy Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

Video intervista a Cecilia Canziani e Chiara Camoni curatrice e artista del Padiglione Italia alla Biennale di Venezia

The article is a video interview with curator Cecilia Canziani and artist Chiara Camoni about the Italy Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. Camoni's installation, titled "Con te e con tutto," features large, monumental figures called "Sisters" that evoke ancient yet contemporary presences, created through a slow, collective, and materially responsive process. The pavilion is divided into two spaces: a vertical, sacred-like area and a horizontal, convivial one that includes a sub-exhibition called "Dialoghi." The project builds on years of friendship and collaboration between Canziani and Camoni, and involves a fluid community of international students, weavers, midwives, and artists working at Camoni's studio in Fabbiano, on the Apuan Alps.

Il grande artista Michelangelo Pistoletto apre un hotel d’arte a Biella

Michelangelo Pistoletto has opened Hotel Cittadellarte in Biella, Italy, within his Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto. The 31-room hotel houses the exhibition "L'ospite inatteso" by Giuseppe Stampone, curated by Ilaria Bernardi, with each room containing a unique artwork designed to be lived with rather than quickly viewed. The exhibition includes Stampone's "Fotocopie intelligenti" and large tapestries from the Brioni manufactory, addressing themes of migration, belonging, memory, and coexistence. The building was sustainably renovated with PNRR funds.

Nick Cave at the 2026 Biennale. Seven works between loss, memory and protest

Nick Cave è alla Biennale 2026. Sette opere tra perdita, memoria e protesta

Nick Cave presents "Two Points in Time at Once" at the 2026 Venice Biennale, a project spanning seven locations across Venice. The installation features a series of bronze works, including the "Amalgam" series (Seated, Origin, Plot, Resuscitation, Meditation) along with "Grapht" and "Siren." This marks a significant material shift from Cave's iconic fabric Soundsuits to bronze, exploring themes of loss, memory, trauma, and protest through a more static yet politically charged presence.

In her Venice exhibition, Hanna Rochereau wants to archive the archive

Nella sua mostra a Venezia, Hanna Rochereau vuole archiviare l’archivio

Hanna Rochereau (Paris, 1995) presents her first solo exhibition in Italy, titled "Data Divas," at Mare Karina gallery in Venice. The show explores archival systems through a dialogue between painting and sculpture: canvases depict orderly shelves and filing cabinets filled with impenetrable boxes, while sculptural elements—tailor's mannequins, scattered papers, open drawers—introduce disorder. Rochereau uses a restrained palette of white and wood tones, referencing early 20th-century cubist and metaphysical art, particularly Morandi. The exhibition runs until July 18, 2026.

Un big della fotografia del Novecento è in mostra a Venezia: tanti scatti inediti

A major exhibition dedicated to 20th-century photography master Horst P. Horst has opened at Le Stanze della Fotografia on San Giorgio Maggiore Island in Venice. Titled "La Geometria della Grazia" (The Geometry of Grace), it is the largest and most significant show ever devoted to the photographer, featuring over 400 works—about half of which are exhibited for the first time. The display pairs original vintage prints with archival materials such as period magazines, preparatory drawings, sketches, letters from Coco Chanel and Salvador Dalí, and slide projections. The exhibition is organized into eight sections exploring Horst's constant search for balance and proportion, moving beyond his famous fashion photography for Vogue to highlight the classical and modernist influences in his work.

The Biomorphic Sculptures of Alma Allen in the U.S. Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Art Biennale (Amid Controversy)

Le sculture biomorfiche di Alma Allen nel Padiglione USA alla Biennale d’Arte di Venezia 2026 (tra le polemiche)

Alma Allen, a self-taught American sculptor, has been selected to represent the United States at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with the exhibition "Call Me the Breeze." The pavilion, curated by Jeffrey Uslip, will feature site-specific biomorphic sculptures that explore the concept of "elevation" through a hybrid creative process combining pre-industrial carving and hand-modeling with advanced robotic sculpting. Works will incorporate local American materials such as walnut burl, Cantera green volcanic rock, and Yule marble from Colorado, and the pavilion is tied to America250, the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

France reopens its historic pavilion at the 2026 Venice Art Biennale after restorations with artist Yto Barrada

La Francia riapre il suo storico padiglione alla Biennale Arte 2026 dopo i restauri con l’artista Yto Barrada

France will reopen its historic pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale (May 9–November 22, 2026) after restoration, with Franco-Moroccan artist Yto Barrada (b. 1971) presenting the immersive textile-based project "Comme Saturne," curated by Myriam Ben Salah. The exhibition uses the "dévoré" technique—acid selectively corrodes fabric—as a metaphor for destruction and creation, featuring a goat-skin kite, a Room of Folds with wool drapery that fades in natural light, a Laboratory inspired by Saturnalia, and a Study Room linked to Barrada's garden of dye plants in Tangier, culminating in the Room of the Devoured where chemically attacked material fragments into an aesthetic of wear and formlessness.

The Myth of Sandokan on Display in Monza Between History and Imagination. The Curators Speak

Il mito di Sandokan in mostra a Monza tra storia e immaginario. Parola ai curatori

A new exhibition titled "Sandokan. La Tigre ruggisce ancora" has opened at the Reggia di Monza, exploring the enduring myth of the fictional pirate Sandokan, who first appeared in Italian serialized fiction in 1883. Curated by Francesco Aquilanti and Loretta Paderni, the show brings together ethnographic materials, costumes from the 1970s television series, weapons, books, illustrations, and archival items, including the original Dayak collection donated by Sir Charles Brooke to the King of Italy. The exhibition traces Sandokan's evolution across literature, comics, film, and television, presenting him as a layered, ambivalent hero—both ruthless pirate and justice fighter—whose story remains relevant today.

Color in Full Bloom: Chihuly Transforms Meijer Gardens

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will host "CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens" from May 2 to November 1, 2026, featuring the largest exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work ever held at the institution. The show includes 12 large-scale outdoor installations, over 80 indoor glass pieces, and 40 related drawings, with a 30-foot tower and glass boats in the Japanese Gardens. This marks the third Chihuly exhibition at Meijer Gardens, following shows in 2002 and 2010, and is one of only two 2026 exhibitions of the artist's work worldwide—the only one in America.

Exhibition | Daniel Crews-Chubb, 'Pareidolia' at MASSIMODECARLO Pièce Unique, Pièce Unique, Paris, France

MASSIMODECARLO Pièce Unique in Paris presents 'Pareidolia,' an exhibition of new paintings by London-based artist Daniel Crews-Chubb. The show explores the psychological phenomenon of pareidolia—the brain's tendency to see faces in random patterns—through heavily layered works created with hands, ink, oil, sand, and collage. Three paintings are featured: 'Immortal XXXVIII' and 'Immortal XXXIX' (2026), large-scale works drawing on cultural memory of ancient sculpture, and 'Mask XXIV' (2026), which tests the minimal cues needed for facial recognition. Crews-Chubb's process involves building up and tearing back surfaces over weeks, with charcoal lines added last to define emergent figures.

Carole Harris’ Origin Story in “This Side of the River” at MOCAD

The article reviews Carole Harris's solo exhibition "This Side of the River" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), curated by Abel Gonzalez Fernandez. The show features twenty fiber pieces and archival materials spanning from 1966 to the present, tracing Harris's creative evolution and her responses to Detroit's social and urban changes. It highlights early works like "Potpourri" (1976) and "Black Jack" (1976) from her 1977 debut at Gallery 7, a Black Power-era space founded by Charles McGee, and later pieces such as "Down the Road a Piece" (2003) that mark her shift toward improvisational, abstract compositions.

Art Leven First Nations And Australian Fine Art Auction Opens This Week - Scoop

Art Leven, a Sydney-based gallery focused on First Nations art, is opening its First Nations and Australian Fine Art Auction and Exhibition, headlined by the private collection of the late Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO and Sir Nicholas Shehadie AC OBE. The exhibition runs from 15–19 May 2026 at Art Leven's new Woolloomooloo gallery, with the live auction on 19 May at Artspace. The sale includes approximately 115 artworks, with 79 from the Bashir-Shehadie collection, featuring works by Balang John Mawurndjul AM, Arthur Boyd, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Albert Namatjira, and others. The collection reflects decades of travel to remote art centres and close relationships with artists, supported by archival material like handwritten notes and early catalogues.

Karmic Modernism. In Conversation with Elizabeth Englander by Nick Irvin

Elizabeth Englander, an artist working primarily in assemblage with materials like children's furniture, nutcrackers, and old clothing, discusses her recent exhibitions and spiritual approach to art in an interview with Nick Irvin for Flash Art. The conversation covers her show "The Elizabethan Lumber Room" (2026) at a. SQUIRE in London, the modular barrister's bookcase inherited from her mother, and her "Parinirvana" series (2025) that explores themes of death and sacred art through papier-mâché, paint, and mylar. Englander also references influences such as Constantin Brâncuși, her graduate advisor Tom Weaver, and Erwin Panofsky's writings on tomb sculpture.

Artist Murari Jha sculpts memory and home in his New Delhi exhibition

Artist Murari Jha presents *The Future of Nostalgia*, a solo exhibition at Nature Morte in New Delhi, running through May 17, 2026. The show features abstract sculptures in stone, bronze, wood, brass, aluminum, and synthetic putty that explore themes of home, migration, memory, and belonging. A live durational performance is scheduled for May 16, with Jha describing the gallery as a stage and his sculptures as performative objects. The works are deliberately untitled to invite viewers to become co-creators of meaning.

Exhibition | 'New Voices in Paris Now: Between Memory and Matter' at Alisan Fine Arts, Alisan Atelier, Hong Kong

Alisan Fine Arts is presenting 'New Voices in Paris Now: Between Memory and Matter' at Alisan Atelier in Hong Kong as part of its 45th anniversary programme. The exhibition features four contemporary Chinese artists—Li Donglu, Qi Zhuo, Shi Qi, and Yao Qingmei—who currently live and work in Paris. Each artist explores themes of memory, cultural identity, and material transformation through diverse media including oil painting, eroded film, paper reliefs, and blown-glass sculptures. The show runs parallel to 'The Chinese Avant-Garde in Paris' at the gallery's Central location, both part of the French May Arts Festival.

An Ancient Ballad at Emami Art Brings Generations of Artists Together in Kolkata

A new group exhibition titled 'An Ancient Ballad' opens at Emami Art in Kolkata on 22 May 2026, bringing together 12 artists across generations. The show examines recurring motifs of nature, the human body, and animal forms in modern and contemporary art through photography, painting, printmaking, textile, ceramics, and sculpture. Historical works by L. M. Sen and K. C. Pyne are displayed alongside contemporary artists including Arunima Choudhury, Ajit Kumar Das, Alakananda Sengupta, Raja Boro, and Rahul Sarkar, creating an intergenerational dialogue on memory, mythology, and lived experience.

What We Saw at Buffalo Prescott’s 'Vernal 2026'

Buffalo Prescott’s Detroit headquarters is hosting 'Vernal 2026,' a spring-inspired contemporary arts exhibition running through June 27, with a public opening on May 22. The exhibition features works by resident artists including Jessica Wildman Katz, Halima Afi Cassells, Cyrah Dardas, Sara Nickleson, and Tony Printz, alongside metro Detroit and international artists. Highlights include Katz's botanical rabbit sculpture 'Kindling,' Cristina Umaña's whimsical 'Mesa De Centro' (a stack of white tables with human-like limbs), and Amelia Burns's photographic diptych 'Evil Eye' and 'Evil Eye Transmuted onto Organza, 2026,' which explores contemporary American culture through collage.