Galleries and museums in Gulf states like the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are reopening and projecting normalcy despite the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran, which has entered its fourth week. Major events like Art Dubai have been postponed, and institutions like the Sharjah Art Foundation have delayed gatherings, but many cultural venues are operating with adjusted formats or by appointment.
The article reviews the exhibition "Beyond the Stars" at Luhring Augustine Gallery, showcasing the work of artist Zarina Hashmi (known as Zarina). It highlights her spare, post-minimalist prints and sculptures that explore themes of mapping, home, and migration, rooted in her peripatetic life from pre-Partition India to New York. The show features 32 works that demonstrate her unique visual language, embedded in Urdu, South Asian histories, and mysticisms.
The article announces an exhibition titled "Picasso, Morandi, Parmiggiani – Still lifes" at the Istituzione Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice, running from May 7 to July 25, 2026. The show brings together three masters—Pablo Picasso, Giorgio Morandi, and Claudio Parmiggiani—to redefine the still-life genre through a curated dialogue of their works across six rooms. The exhibition is co-organized by Tornabuoni Art, the Musée national Picasso-Paris, and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, with Cécile Debray, president of the Musée national Picasso-Paris, serving as curator. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the show.
Four hooded thieves stole three valuable paintings from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation in Parma, Italy, in a swift nighttime heist. The stolen works include Paul Cézanne's 'Still Life with Cherries,' Henri Matisse's 'Odalisque on the Terrace, 1922,' and Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Les Poissons (Fish), 1917,' collectively worth millions of euros. The operation, described as highly structured and organized, took less than three minutes.
Artnet Auctions has three sales currently live: Post-War and Contemporary Art (through May 20), Contemporary Editions (through May 29), and Private Sales for immediate purchase. Three Artnet specialists highlight key lots: Robert Rauschenberg's 'Corridor (Hoarfrost)' (1978), Emily Mason's 'Express Report' (1988), and Andy Warhol's 'Double Mickey Mouse' (1981). The specialists discuss market trends, including the growing importance of artist foundations in supporting scholarship and market health, the rapid revaluation of post-war women abstractionists like Mason, and shifts in the prints market as consignors leverage demand.
The Guardian presents a photo essay capturing the most eccentric and memorable moments from the 61st Venice Biennale, running until 22 November 2026. Photographer David Levene documents installations including a concrete 'Origami Deer' evacuated from war-torn Pokrovsk, Ukraine, by artist Zhanna Kadyrova; a seagull that became a minor celebrity after nesting outside the Polish pavilion; and the Holy See pavilion's immersive sound installation curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers. Other highlights include the Egyptian pavilion's touch-and-smell 'Silence Pavilion' and a Polish pavilion film featuring deaf and hearing singers.
Pittsburgh's commercial gallery scene is experiencing a resurgence as the Carnegie International, the country's longest-running recurring exhibition, prepares to open its largest edition yet with 61 artists. Since the pandemic, several young gallerists with experience in New York and Los Angeles have opened spaces in the city, including Romance gallery (2023) by former Whitney curator Margaret Kross, and april april gallery (2024) relocated from Brooklyn by Patrick Bova and Lucas Regazzi. Longer-established galleries like Concept, Zynka, and James Gallery have welcomed these newcomers, with local figures such as collector Evan Mirapaul noting that Pittsburgh's robust arts ecosystem—including museums, universities, and nonprofits—has long lacked a strong commercial gallery presence.
London's Whitechapel Gallery has appointed economist Mariana Mazzucato as its first economist-in-residence, a three-year role aimed at rethinking how museums generate revenue and demonstrate social value. The gallery faces a £880,458 deficit, a 325% increase from the previous year, due to declining exhibition income, reduced trust and foundation funding, and cuts in Arts Council England grants. Mazzucato, a professor at University College London and director of the Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose, will advocate for treating culture as a strategic public investment.
Artist Tarek Atoui has been selected for the next Hyundai Commission in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, opening October 13 and running into April 2027. The Beirut-born, Paris-based artist is known for complex installations with specially designed instruments incorporating glass, water, or ceramics, activated by touch, breath, or motors. Curators Nabila Abdel Nabi and Dina Akhmadeeva will oversee the exhibition. Atoui has previously shown at S.M.A.K., Luma Westbau, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, and won the Suzanne Deal Booth/FLAG Art Foundation Prize in 2022.
A significant number of American art museums are currently without a permanent director, or will soon be. Recent departures include Sally Tallant from the Queens Museum to lead London's Hayward Gallery, and David Brenneman from Telfair Museums due to a medical condition. Other high-profile vacancies include the National Portrait Gallery, MOCA Los Angeles, the New Museum, the Portland Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Clark Art Institute, the Newark Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among many others across various budget sizes and regions.
British photographer Martin Parr, known for his highly saturated and often humorous snapshots of everyday life, died on December 6 at age 74 after a four-year battle with cancer. Parr's work, from his early black-and-white images of rural Yorkshire to his iconic color series like "The Last Resort" (1982–85) and "The Cost of Living" (1987-89), captured British eccentricities and social pretensions with a sharp, affectionate eye. He was a full member of Magnum Photos and his images, including those of mass tourism and consumerism, have been widely exhibited and collected.
The Trump administration has selected Mexico-based sculptor Alma Allen to represent the United States at the 61st Venice Biennale, with the pavilion organized by curator Jeffrey Uslip and sponsored by the newly formed American Arts Conservancy (AAC). The AAC, founded in July 2024 and based in Tampa, is run by executive director Jenni Parido, a pet foods entrepreneur with no prior art-world experience, and its board includes figures from construction, conservative media, and high-end event planning, raising questions about its qualifications for this high-profile role.
Lady Pink, a pioneering graffiti artist, is creating the inaugural mural commission for MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York. The mural, set to be unveiled on June 26, 2025, features a surreal composition of a stone foot, a subway platform, and the Brooklyn skyline, paying homage to the lost 5Pointz graffiti site. Lady Pink, who began tagging subway cars in 1979 and was included in MoMA PS1's 1981 'New York/New Wave' exhibition, is working on-site with assistants, using both brushes and spray paint.
President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and arts organizations across the U.S. are already feeling the impact. After a White House budget request in May that excluded the NEA, dozens of institutions received abrupt termination notices for their grant applications, with the NEA citing a shift in policy priorities to focus on projects reflecting the nation's artistic heritage as prioritized by the President. In protest, many senior NEA staff resigned or were asked to retire, leaving the agency in disarray. The cuts are part of broader federal efforts to defund cultural agencies, including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which has seen a 70-80 percent staff reduction and canceled over a thousand grants. Private foundations like the Mellon Foundation and the Helen Frankenthaler and Andy Warhol Foundations have launched emergency funding programs, but the consequences for artists, educators, and community organizations are immediate and destabilizing.
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation have announced an $800,000 fund to support 80 visual arts programs at small and mid-sized organizations across the United States. Each recipient, previously funded through the National Endowment for the Arts' Challenge America initiative, will receive $10,000 to advance projects stalled after the Trump administration suspended that federal program. The announcement comes amid broader cuts to federal arts funding, including the departure of all 10 NEA grant directors and the termination of grants for organizations like n+1, SculptureCenter, Queer Art, and A.I.R. Gallery, which received notices citing misalignment with the administration's priorities.
Sotheby's has secured a $70 million Alberto Giacometti sculpture, *Grande tête mince (Grande tête de Diego)* (1955), for its evening sale of Modern art on May 13 in New York. The bronze bust of the artist's brother Diego is the highest-priced lot known to be offered in the upcoming high-stakes auctions. Consigned anonymously from the collection of late real estate tycoon Sheldon Solow, the work is being sold by the Soloviev Foundation to raise funds for philanthropic activities, including support for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The sculpture, one of six casts, is described as the only 'richly painted' version and was included in Giacometti's 1956 Venice Biennale presentation.
Art Dubai, the UAE's premier art fair, opened its 20th edition as a scaled-down "Special Edition" from May 14–17 at Madinat Jumeirah, after being postponed due to the Iran–Israel war. For the first time, entry was free, and the lineup was pared to 50 galleries, most from the region, including Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Jeddah, Ramallah, and Dubai.
The article highlights 11 contemporary Emirati artists, providing an overview of their practices and significance within the Gulf's evolving art scene. It contextualizes this list against recent major events in the region, including the debut of Art Basel Qatar in early February and the subsequent U.S. attacks on Iran, which caused turmoil across the Gulf, disrupted airline operations, and forced Art Dubai to scale back its event to a smaller fair in mid-May. Artists and galleries in the Gulf also had to temporarily close.
Cosima von Bonin’s sculptures star in Loewe’s fall/winter 2026 runway show.
German artist Cosima von Bonin’s large-scale, fabric-based sculptures were integrated directly into Loewe’s fall/winter 2026 runway show during Paris Fashion Week. Creative director Jonathan Anderson placed her oversized, characteristically enigmatic soft sculptures—including a giant lobster and a crumpled cigarette—amidst the models, transforming the presentation into a moving exhibition. This collaboration continues Anderson’s practice of merging high art with high fashion on the runway.
South African visual activist Zanele Muholi has won the prestigious 2026 Hasselblad Award, one of the highest honors in photography. The award, which includes a cash prize and a major exhibition at the Hasselblad Foundation in Gothenburg, Sweden, recognizes Muholi's decades-long dedication to documenting and celebrating Black LGBTQIA+ communities in South Africa and beyond. Their powerful portraits and self-portraits challenge historical erasure and create a profound visual archive of resistance and existence.
The Museum MMK für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt is presenting an exhibition of work by American artist Trisha Donnelly. The show features a range of her untitled pieces from 2005 to 2025, including sculptures, photographs, and other media, drawn from her own studio and various international collections and galleries.
Alserkal Art Month (April 18–May 18, 2026) in Dubai features a district-wide initiative of exhibitions and events, anchored by the group show "Déjà Vu" at Concrete, Alserkal Avenue (April 25–May 8). Curated by Kevin Jones, Nada Raza, and Zaina Zaarour, the exhibition brings together over 50 artists from 20 UAE-based galleries, centering on themes of memory, displacement, and cultural inheritance. The article profiles 12 standout artists, including Shahpour Pouyan and Juma Al Haj, whose works translate these tensions into materially inventive and conceptually rigorous practices.
Tate Britain will stage "The 90s: Art and Fashion" in autumn 2026, guest curated by Edward Enninful, featuring nearly 70 artists, designers, and photographers including Steve McQueen, Damien Hirst, Alexander McQueen, and Vivienne Westwood. The exhibition explores how the decade reshaped British cultural identity through art, fashion, and social commentary, highlighting DIY anti-fashion aesthetics and themes of identity, race, class, and representation. Separately, Gagosian opened a new ground-floor flagship at 980 Madison Avenue in New York, replacing its longtime sixth-floor space after 37 years. A rare 17th-century Mughal astrolabe is heading to Sotheby's London with a £1.5–2.5 million estimate. Fondazione Sozzani launched an award for emerging creative talent. A Manhattan federal jury ordered art publisher Michael McKenzie to pay $102.2 million in damages to the Morgan Art Foundation for producing unauthorized works by Robert Indiana.
Eileen Harris Norton, a foundational figure in the Los Angeles art scene, is being celebrated with a major exhibition of her collection at Hauser & Wirth. The show, "Destiny Is a Rose: The Eileen Harris Norton Collection," features over 80 works, many from her home, highlighting her five-decade commitment to collecting artists who were often her friends and neighbors, particularly women, artists of color, and Southern California-based artists.
The Dia Art Foundation and the Sam Gilliam Foundation have announced Edgar Calel as the winner of the 2026 Sam Gilliam Award. The Guatemala-based artist and poet, born in 1987 in Chi Xot (San Juan Comalapa), will receive $75,000 and participate in a public program at a Dia location this fall. Calel, of Maya Kaqchikel heritage, works across painting, drawing, sculpture, and performance, and is known for monumental installations reflecting Mayan cosmovision and themes of ownership and stewardship. He was selected by a panel including Dia curators Jordan Carter and Matilde Guidelli-Guidi, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Annie Gawlak, Shanay Jhaveri, and Clara Kim.
Art Dubai has released a revised exhibitor list for its 2026 edition, which was rescheduled to May 15–17 following regional instability caused by the US-Israel war in Iran. The fair will feature 50 galleries at Madinat Jumeirah, down from its original roster after approximately 75 participants—including major Indian and Western galleries—withdrew due to scheduling conflicts and logistics. To support those remaining, the fair has introduced a flexible fee structure where galleries pay a percentage of sales capped at the original stand cost.
Yuko Mohri, a Japanese sculptor known for her assemblages of fruit and found objects, has won the Calder Prize, awarded by the Calder Foundation with a $50,000 prize. Mohri, who represented Japan at the 2024 Venice Biennale, has seen her career accelerate with international museum shows, including a recent exhibition at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, which will travel to Centro Botín. She also has upcoming shows at the Bass museum in Miami, the Barbican Centre in London, and her first US gallery exhibition at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York. The prize includes a residency at Atelier Calder in Saché, France.
Spielzeug Gallery, a nomadic curatorial project founded by Evan Karas, opened a temporary brick-and-mortar space at 131 Chrystie Street in New York through a collaboration with 1 Day at a Time, an enterprise that helps nomadic creatives secure footholds in the city. The inaugural exhibition, “TOYS! TOYS! TOYS!”, featured works by Thomas Liu Le Lann, Josh Rabineau, and Michelle Im, exploring themes of control, psychosexuality, and the interplay of objects and space. The gallery’s model, described as an “itinerant fantasy,” has previously staged shows in venues including a Czech bunker, a party bus, and a Bushwick apartment.
Diego Marcon, an Italian video artist known for his uncanny and meticulously crafted films, is gaining significant attention in the United States. He recently had his first American solo show at the Renaissance Society in Chicago and is preparing for another at the New Museum in New York. His work, such as the video "La Gola" (2024), features hyper-realistic, inanimate busts with animated eyes that speak about bodily experiences, blending narrative with structuralist film techniques. Marcon's films often explore family dynamics and the materiality of film, creating dreamlike experiences that haunt viewers.
The Barnes Foundation has promoted Will Cary to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, where he will oversee new revenue initiatives, the Calder Gardens partnership, and a newly formed Brand department. Bukia Vakhania Gallery (formerly Gallery Artbeat) is opening a Berlin location on January 15 with a solo show by Nina Kintsurashvili. Heritage Auctions reported $2.2 billion in sales for 2025, its highest-ever annual total, driven by coins, comics, sports memorabilia, and illustration art. Antenna Space will open a Hong Kong outpost in March 2026, directed by Jeff Li. A Deloitte Private and ArtTactic report reveals that 50% of non-bank art lenders experienced loan defaults in 2024, up from 17% in 2023.