The Getty Center in Los Angeles has announced a temporary closure beginning March 15, 2027, to undergo its most extensive renovation since opening in 1997. The modernization project aims to enhance the visitor experience across the campus through a series of facility upgrades and reimagined spaces.
Anna Schachinger presents "Freischling" at Jacky Strenz gallery in Frankfurt, running from March 13 to May 23, 2026. The exhibition features 20 images documenting the show, with text available in both German and English.
Adrienna Matzeg’s solo exhibition "After Hours" at Abbozzo Gallery in Toronto presents embroidered textile works inspired by her late-night explorations of Kyoto, Tokyo, and Seoul during a July 2025 trip. The pieces capture quiet, illuminated scenes of convenience stores, markets, and roadside attractions, rendered on black linen with a diaristic, snapshot-like quality.
Joe Macken, a Queens resident, spent 21 years hand-assembling a vast 50-by-27-foot scale model of New York City, completing it in 2025. The model, built from cardboard, glue, and balsa wood, comprises 340 individual sections and is now on long-term display at the Museum of the City of New York in an exhibition titled "He Built This City: Joe Macken’s Model." Visitors can walk around the model and use binoculars to spot familiar buildings and neighborhoods.
The Mississippi Museum of Art is hosting "Love Is a Sensation," a major exhibition dedicated to the work of L.V. Hull, a self-taught Black artist who transformed her Kosciusko home into a vibrant, immersive art environment. The show features a diverse array of Hull’s assemblages and painted found objects, ranging from Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots to glass bottles and straw hats, many of which were preserved by the Kohler Foundation.
Art Fund, a British charity, launched the Empowering Curators program, a five-year initiative creating twenty multi-year curatorial roles for senior to mid-career professionals from global majority backgrounds. Ten initial fellows have been announced, with placements at major institutions including Tate Liverpool, the Whitworth Art Gallery, and Royal Museums Greenwich, where they will develop exhibitions, installations, and academic programs.
Brook Hsu's exhibition "The Barcelona Pavilion (including work by Georg Kolbe)" at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler in Berlin presents a series of works that interweave references to architecture, film, literature, and animal carcasses. The show's title alludes to Mies van der Rohe's iconic Barcelona Pavilion and the sculptor Georg Kolbe, whose work was originally installed there, while the list of pieces—ranging from paintings like "Daybreak:Orange Tree" to works dedicated to figures such as Anne Wiazemsky and Pasolini—creates a dense, associative network of cultural and personal memory.
During Fuorisalone 2026, Gucci presents "Gucci Memoria," an immersive exhibition curated by Demna at Milan's Chiostri di San Simpliciano. The project traces the House's 105-year history through a continuous narrative of installations across the cloisters, reflecting its evolving identity while staying rooted in its Florentine origins.
LA Timpa “Come Back” at Cell Project Space, London
LA Timpa has opened a new solo exhibition, "Come Back," at Cell Project Space in London. The show features a multi-channel video installation and sound work that continues the artist's exploration of the body, technology, and queer identity through digitally manipulated and visceral imagery.
Lancaster city's May First Friday 2026 features over 20 events, including exhibition openings, concerts, and performances. Highlights include a new exhibition 'Hybrids' by artist Jeremy Waak at Curio Gallery & Creative Supply, the Demuth Museum's 'Demuth Invitational: American Reflections' tied to the U.S. 250th anniversary, and the Lancaster Living Poetry Museum II with performers embodying poets at venues like the Lancaster Public Library and Lancaster Art Vault. Other offerings include salsa dancing at Binns Park, works by York County painters at The Framing Concept, and a show inspired by Yayoi Kusama at Friendship Heart Gallery + Market.
Ist Berlin doch noch nicht over?
Çağla Ilk, who curated the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale two years ago, has presented her plans as the new artistic director of the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. Her program reimagines theater from the perspective of visual art, signaling a major shift in the city's theater landscape. The announcement comes amid broader reforms in Berlin's theater scene, including Matthias Lilienthal's upcoming takeover of the Volksbühne, and was met with both anticipation and anxiety, reminiscent of Chris Dercon's failed tenure at the Volksbühne in 2017.
Wo bitte geht's zum nächsten Skandal?
The article reports on the 2024 Venice Biennale preview days, where the atmosphere is dominated by political protests, media stunts, and social-media pressure rather than the art itself. Incidents include a solidarity drone choir for Gaza, a Pussy Riot and FEMEN protest at the Russian Pavilion, and a planned demonstration near the Israeli Pavilion, all amplified by PR agencies and WhatsApp alerts. A journalist describes being pressured by editors to cover scandals and political controversies instead of art reviews, which they say no longer attract clicks.
"Eine kräftige Soldatin im Paillettenkleid"
Media reviews of the Venice Biennale's opening week offer contrasting takes on the German and US pavilions. Critics describe the German pavilion, curated by Sung Tieu and Henrike Naumann, as a dense, ironic East-West narrative that layers Nazi architecture with DDR prefab construction, creating what Jörg Häntzschel calls a "shockingly seamless symbiosis." The US pavilion, featuring sculptures by Alma Allen, is panned by Maximilíano Durón in ArtNews as politically timid and empty, lacking the clear colonial critiques of previous editions by Simone Leigh and Jeffrey Gibson.
Wie Artotheken Kunst zugänglich machen
Artotheken, or art libraries, are public institutions that lend artworks to anyone with a library card, making art accessible beyond the traditional museum or gallery system. In Germany, over 100 such artotheken exist, often housed in public libraries, art associations, or museums. The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek in Berlin, for example, has a collection of 2,000 works, with around 300 currently on loan to homes, doctors' offices, and law firms. The lending process is informal: borrowers can eat, drink, and even touch the works, and transport by bus or bike is encouraged. A jury selects up to 15 new works annually, and the collection includes major names like Roy Lichtenstein and Niki de Saint Phalle, though most users choose pieces based on personal connection rather than prestige.
Der unterschätzte Architekt der Avantgarde
The Fondazione Antonio Dalle Nogare in Bolzano is hosting a comprehensive retrospective dedicated to Ilja Sdanewitsch, known as Iliazd, a Georgian-Russian-French avant-garde polymath. The exhibition, titled "Toutité Iliazd. Die Erforschung der Form," showcases his diverse output as a writer, designer, and publisher who viewed the book as a primary art object. The display includes architectural reliefs, textile designs for Coco Chanel, and his significant collaborations with icons like Picasso and Duchamp.
Kunsthalle Mainz vor dem Aus?
The Kunsthalle Mainz is facing potential closure by the end of the year following the withdrawal of funding by the Mainzer Stadtwerke. The crisis is compounded by the departure of director Stefanie Böttcher, who is moving to the Kunsthalle Kiel, and the fact that her position has not been advertised for replacement. Despite its international reputation and successful recent exhibitions, such as the current Britta Marakatt-Labba retrospective, the institution lacks a secured financial future and a leadership succession plan.
"Sonne, Meer und Sicherheit"
The Art Cologne Palma Mallorca art fair has emerged as a strategic hub for wealthy German collectors, positioning the Mediterranean island as a safe and accessible alternative to more volatile global markets. While sales have been strongest in the lower price segments, the fair's revival highlights a trend toward 'lifestyle' art events that prioritize security and leisure. Simultaneously, the German art market faces a broader crisis of regionalization, where galleries are increasingly focusing on local buyers despite declining overall sales and a lack of transformative economic growth.
Was darf die Kunst?
German Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer has sparked a heated debate over artistic freedom after excluding three bookstores from the German Bookstore Prize due to undisclosed intelligence reports. The controversy has escalated into a broader confrontation with cultural institutions, highlighted by the Berlin Volksbühne's public criticism and Weimer's subsequent refusal to participate in a scheduled panel discussion. This incident follows a string of high-profile disputes regarding political expression in the arts, particularly concerning the Berlinale and documenta fifteen.
"Seide trägt Geschichten von 3000 Jahren"
Renowned artist Ai Weiwei has collaborated with the historic Italian textile house Rubelli to create a series of silk objects for Milan Design Week. The installation features intricate silk patterns incorporating the artist's signature political motifs, including handcuffs, surveillance cameras, and the Twitter bird. Despite his vocal criticism of the modern design industry as a profit-driven machine lacking ethics and philosophy, Ai was persuaded by Rubelli’s commitment to craftsmanship and their shared respect for the historical weight of the material.
"Warum müssen die Frauen nackt sein?"
A series of cultural controversies highlight growing tensions between artistic freedom and political pressure. In Germany, cultural minister Wolfram Weimer faces criticism for opaque funding decisions and alleged interference in jury processes, with critics arguing this undermines artistic freedom and free speech. Simultaneously, the European Media Art Festival in Osnabrück defends filmmaker Basma al-Sharif against accusations of antisemitism, illustrating how cultural funding can become a test of political ideology.
The international jury of the 61st Venice Biennale has excluded the Israeli and Russian pavilions from consideration for official prizes, citing that countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court will not be eligible. Israel’s foreign ministry condemned the decision as a political boycott, and Israeli representative Belu-Simion Fainaru called it a hostile act that exceeds the jury’s mandate. The Biennale’s president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, has distanced the institution from the jury’s action, insisting the exhibition remain open to all nations recognized by Italy.
Deux natures mortes hollandaises du XVIIe siècle acquises par le Getty
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has acquired two 17th-century Dutch still-life paintings by Pieter Claesz and Jan Davidsz. de Heem, masters of the genre. The works, including de Heem's "Vase en verre avec fleurs et fruits," were purchased on the New York art market and fill a gap in the museum's Dutch still-life collection, which previously lacked examples by these two artists.
A painting by Mark Rothko was sold for nearly $86 million at auction. The sale, conducted by an undisclosed auction house, achieved a price within the upper range of expectations for the artist's mature abstract works, reflecting sustained demand for top-tier modern art.
Les frigos en danger
The article reports on the deteriorating condition of Les Frigos, a historic artist studio complex in Paris that has been left neglected and abandoned. Once a vibrant hub for contemporary artists, the site now faces an uncertain future due to lack of maintenance and institutional support.
The article presents a thematic tour through six exhibition rooms dedicated to still life painting, focusing on works by Giorgio Morandi and Pablo Picasso. Each room explores a different conceptual angle: the grammar of objects in Morandi's metaphysical still lifes, the poetic dimension of Picasso's cubist compositions, contemporary vanitas motifs, the anti-Albertian nature of the genre, the interplay of presence and erasure, and the dislocation of form in Morandi's etchings. The exhibition draws on art historical references from Norman Bryson and Cesare Brandi to frame the evolution of still life from tradition to radical abstraction.
Le Palais des Papes d’Avignon renonce à l’exposition de Macha Makeïeff
The Palais des Papes in Avignon has cancelled its planned summer exhibition, 'Les Choses divines – Inventaire fantaisiste,' conceived by French director, scenographer, and visual artist Macha Makeïeff. The cancellation, officially attributed to a combination of administrative, technical, and budgetary constraints, may also be linked to the recent municipal election that saw Olivier Galzi succeed Cécile Helle as mayor.
Yto Barrada has been selected to represent France at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with her exhibition "Comme Saturne" (Like Saturn) in the French Pavilion. The installation features rebellious stage curtains hiding wasp nests and a copper daguerreotype plate of a planet, a large rock, a Wheel of Fortune, and a nostalgic vanitas arrangement around a missing mirror frame. Curated by Myriam Ben Salah, the show explores textile and natural dyeing, with three cabinets addressing the transmission of know-how, migration of plants and people, postcolonial history, and Enlightenment imperialism. A central room displays 70 pieces forming a symmetrical frieze of red natural dyes, while a black monochrome patchwork highlights the difficulty of achieving black in dyeing. Barrada is the fifth woman to represent France at the Biennale.
The Musée de l'Image d'Épinal is presenting a comprehensive exhibition on Belgian artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972), widely credited as the inventor of the graphic novel in 1918 with his wordless narratives composed of black-and-white woodcuts. The show, curated by Samuel Dégardin, brings together loans from major institutions and a private collection to reveal the full breadth of Masereel's practice, which spanned drawing, animation, painting, theater, ceramics, tapestry, and satirical press illustration. It highlights his pacifist activism during World War I, his collaborations with writers such as Stefan Zweig and Romain Rolland, and his humanist vision of a unified Europe.
Victorien Bornéat has published a manifesto arguing that French cultural democratization policy, rooted in André Malraux's vision of making masterworks accessible to all, has failed. He cites budget cuts by regional presidents Laurent Wauquiez and Christelle Morançais, police raids on bookshops like Violette and Co, and statistical studies showing that working-class audiences still do not spontaneously attend theaters, museums, or opera. Bornéat contends that the policy's emphasis on direct confrontation with canonical works ignored the need for cultural codes and institutional literacy, creating an exclusion that politicians now exploit for electoral gain.
A new permanent home for animation cinema, the Cité internationale du cinéma d'animation, will open in Annecy, France, on June 19, 2025, just before the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Housed in a restored 19th-century horse stable (haras) listed as a historic monument, the 54-million-euro project includes a 450 m² permanent museum, a 332-seat cinema, temporary exhibition spaces, educational workshops, artist residencies, and image-education facilities. The city of Annecy contributes 30 million euros, with additional funding from the Haute-Savoie department, the state, and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Designed by architecture firm dd.a and landscape architect Philippe Deliau, the center aims to be a hybrid, year-round hub for animation, blending heritage, creation, and transmission.