The CART Department has organized an exhibition titled 'Ai Weiwei LEGO Story' at Free Parking in New York, running from April 24 to May 3, 2026. The show presents a focused selection of the artist's brick-based works, including pieces from his Zodiac and After series and his BMW art car, highlighting accumulation and repetition as core methods.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new David Geffen Galleries, a long, elevated concrete structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The building, more than 20 years in the making, replaces much of LACMA's mid-century campus with a single winding gallery that hovers above Wilshire Boulevard. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Sunday, followed by a two-week member preview, with the public opening scheduled for May 4. The project is the vision of longtime director Michael Govan, who sought to create a museum without hierarchy, placing objects from different geographies and time periods in dialogue. Artist Mariana Castillo Deball was commissioned to create a plaza installation that incorporates native animal tracks, Mesoamerican imagery, and the labor of migrant workers, reflecting themes of migration and cultural exchange.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has opened a new special exhibition titled "American 250: Common Threads." The exhibition features a wide range of artworks, including historic documents, quilts, prints, and contemporary pieces, all reflecting on the American experience and national identity. A notable interactive work by artist Basil Kincaid involves local quilters assembling fabric squares decorated by Arkansas students.
Artist Tammie Dupuis presents her installation "Continuality" at the Linfield Art Gallery, a show that centers on the sacred feminine and Indigenous spirituality. The exhibition features a large-scale lodge titled "Broken Made Whole," constructed from red-and-white quilted fabric to represent U.S. reservations, alongside circular paintings that utilize non-Eurocentric perspectives to explore the relationship between women and the lunar cycle.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) hosted a star-studded gala on April 16 to celebrate the opening of the David Geffen Galleries. The event drew a massive crowd of A-list celebrities, including Paris Hilton, Tom Hanks, Alicia Keys, and George Lucas, alongside city officials and museum leadership. Attendees gathered to preview the museum’s massive new exhibition space, designed by architect Peter Zumthor.
Art Basel has announced the 33 medalists for its 2026 Awards, a global initiative recognizing excellence across the contemporary art ecosystem. The awards span nine categories, including Emerging, Established, and Icon artists, as well as curators, patrons, and institutions. Notable honorees include Barbara Kruger, Howardena Pindell, and Jenny Holzer in the Icon category, alongside established figures like Arthur Jafa and Julie Mehretu. The selection process, led by a jury of nine international experts, emphasizes a cross-disciplinary and geographically diverse group with a strong representation from the Global South.
A group of 74 artists and curators invited to the 61st Venice Biennale have issued an open letter to the institution's president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco. The signatories are protesting the decision to relocate the Israeli Pavilion to the Arsenale, placing it in close proximity to the central exhibition 'In Minor Keys' curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. The letter demands the exclusion of official delegations from countries accused of war crimes—specifically Israel, Russia, and the United States—and accuses the Biennale of complicity through its silence on global atrocities.
Artist Linda Colletta has transformed her studio practice within Bridgeport’s historic American Fabric Arts building, a former lace factory, by blending painting with labor-intensive weaving. Drawing inspiration from the site’s industrial history and the teachings of Bauhaus artist Anni Albers, Colletta repurposes drop cloths and tears apart her own canvases to weave them back together. Her recent work explores the materiality of paint and the concept of "Thought Forms," a visual language for emotions influenced by early 20th-century Theosophy.
The Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh has announced a public conversation between its new Artistic Director, Anthony Elms, and renowned curator Hamza Walker to mark the institution's 50th anniversary. The event focuses on the evolution of artist-centered institutions and Elms's vision for the museum following his tenure as Chief Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania.
Samantha McCoy, the grand-niece of Jackson Pollock, has launched Argo Fine Arts, a new gallery model operating between Paris and New York. Making its high-profile debut at the 28th edition of Art Paris in the Grand Palais, the gallery is garnering attention for its impressive inventory, which includes works by Jackson Pollock, Cy Twombly, and Charles Pollock. McCoy has opted for an "ephemeral" gallery model that prioritizes artists and clients over permanent real estate, reflecting a strategic response to the current economic pressures facing traditional brick-and-mortar galleries.
The Venice Biennale has officially announced the list of invited artists for its 61st edition in 2026. The selection features a diverse global cohort including established figures like Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, and Carsten Höller, alongside influential collectives such as fierce pussy and blaxTARLINES KUMASI. The list also includes significant posthumous inclusions like Marcel Duchamp and Beverly Buchanan, signaling a curatorial approach that bridges contemporary practice with historical legacies.
The Venice Biennale has officially announced the 111 artists, duos, and collectives selected for the 61st International Art Exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys." The exhibition follows the vision of the late Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in May 2024 after conceptualizing the show and selecting the majority of its participants. The roster features a diverse global lineup including Wangechi Mutu, Kader Attia, Khaled Sabsabi, and Laurie Anderson, with a curatorial focus on quiet resistance, poetic improvisation, and the "lower frequencies" of social and psychic life.
The Denver Art Museum will open an exhibition titled 'Knife Fork Spoon: Everyday Tools, Extraordinary Design' in May 2026. The show explores the history, artistry, and innovation of flatware, featuring over 200 objects from the 19th century to the present, including newly commissioned works by contemporary designers and architects.
The Memphis Art Museum, designed by Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with archimania and OLIN, is taking shape ahead of its December 2026 opening. The 11,475-square-meter building along the Mississippi River features a glass facade, a public plaza shared with the historic Cossitt Library, a shaded courtyard, flexible gallery spaces, and a rooftop sculpture garden. The museum is among the first major US museums to use laminated timber construction. Updated renderings and construction images by Houston Cofield have been released, along with details of a curatorial shift that will organize the collection into 18 exhibitions focused on lived experience rather than traditional art historical chronologies.
A major exhibition tracing the evolution of the European art market from Greco-Roman antiquity to the 19th century is on view, featuring loans from institutions such as the Rubenshuis and the Princely Collections of Liechtenstein, including works by Titian, Rembrandt, Klimt, and Monet. Additionally, a show by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos at PM23 presents her monumental, participatory fabric sculpture *Valkyrie Venus*, created with over 200 contributors from Lisbon and Rome. A dedicated Cézanne exhibition at Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland highlights the artist's posthumous reputation, with early collectors like Rudolf Staechelin and Oskar Reinhart. Other notable exhibitions across Europe include Brancusi in Berlin, Brassaï in Stockholm, Canaletto and Bellotto in Vienna, and Hammershøi in Madrid.
Rigo Peralta Art Studio in Allentown, Pennsylvania, opened the "Hyperrealism & Realism" exhibition on a Friday night, featuring a diverse group of artists from the United States, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. Curated by Peralta and Ruddy Tavera, the show juxtaposes hyperrealistic and academic realist works, including pieces by Ismael Checo, Francisco Collado, Juanairis Collado, and others. The exhibition runs through February and aims to present a fresh artistic experience for the local community.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has opened a major fall exhibition titled "Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses," featuring roughly 80 garments and accessories from top Italian fashion houses such as Gucci, Pucci, Armani, Versace, Valentino, Ferragamo, Max Mara, and Missoni. The show juxtaposes these modern and contemporary designs with over 40 Renaissance, Mannerist, and Baroque artworks from the museum's collection, exploring how Italian couture has drawn inspiration from art history. A digital video installation by filmmaker Francesco Carrozzini and photographer Henry Hargreaves, using AI technology, humorously depicts models "invading" the museum, underscoring fashion's disruptive cultural power. Despite some pacing and spatial choreography issues, the exhibition makes a compelling case for fashion as high art.
This article compiles a list of open calls, residencies, and grants for artists and photographers with deadlines in late 2025 and early 2026. Opportunities include the Rotterdam Photo 2026 open call themed 'Echoes of Silence—War in the Artist’s Soul,' offering exhibition space in multiple European cities; the Innovate Grant awarding $1,800 each to one visual artist and one photographer; the Ah Haa School for the Arts' HAHA 2026 immersive installation opportunity; Decagon Gallery's Sanctuary open call with cash prizes; the Biafarin Awards providing $4,000 CAD in grants plus global exposure; PeepSpace's exhibition proposal call; and All About Photo's Nature Photography Contest.
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.
Turner Prize winner Jasleen Kaur has announced her first permanent public artwork, titled *Was.Is.Will.Be*, to be unveiled on 28 November at Southmere Lake in Cygnet Square, Thamesmead, southeast London. The sculpture is funded by housing association Peabody and was selected with input from a creative studio that includes five local residents, among them filmmaker Comfort Adeneye and painter Gonzalo Fuentes. Other project partners include Studio Danmole, Company, Place, and youth culture specialist Joseph Gray. The work incorporates fragments of local conversation and features the phrase 'horses are here' written in the sky.
Performa, New York's performance art biennial, returns for its 20th anniversary edition with a main slate of eight commissions, seven by women artists and one by a male-female duo. Projects include Ayoung Kim's live motion capture choreography exploring body doubles and digital avatars at Canyon, Diane Severin Nguyen's remix of Vietnam War-era protest songs with an 11-person supergroup at Bric, and Tau Lewis's staging of the Sumerian epic 'The Descent of Inanna' using textile sculptures and experimental opera at Harlem Parish. The biennial also features a Lithuanian Pavilion with Augustas Serapinas's mobile wooden shack and Lina Lapelytė's piece 'The Speech,' in which 270 children perform animal vocalizations at Federal Hall.
Bavarian police seized forged artworks falsely attributed to Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Juan Miró, Amedeo Modigliani, and Frida Kahlo in coordinated raids across Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein on October 15. The operation targeted a 77-year-old German man and ten suspected accomplices, who are accused of conspiring to commit fraud with art forgeries. The main suspect attempted to sell two fake Picasso paintings—including a portrait of Dora Maar—out of a car boot, prompting a buyer to alert authorities. Other seized works include a copy of Rembrandt's *The Syndics*, offered for SFr 120 million, and pieces falsely attributed to Anthony van Dyck, with prices ranging from €400,000 to €14 million.
The article reports on "MONUMENTS," a major exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles and the nonprofit Brick. The show features 10 decommissioned Confederate monuments, some splashed with protesters' paint, alongside works by 20 contemporary artists including Hank Willis Thomas and Karon Davis. It was assembled by curators Hamza Walker, Hannah Burstein, Bennett Simpson, Paula Kroll, and artist Kara Walker, and has been in development for nearly eight years, spurred by events such as the 2015 Charleston church massacre, the 2017 Charlottesville riot, and the 2020 George Floyd protests.
The article serves as an exhibition guide for 'The Honest Eye' show, focusing on Camille Pissarro's life and work after he moved to Éragny-sur-Epte, Normandy, in 1884. It details how Pissarro settled his family there after struggling to afford rent in Pontoise, painting in his garden, fields, and barn-turned-studio. The guide highlights specific paintings like 'The Delafolie Brickyard, Éragny' (1885), 'View from My Window in Cloudy Weather' (1886–88), and 'Vegetable Garden, Overcast Morning, Éragny' (1901), discussing his techniques, subjects, and personal challenges such as chronic eye infections. It also notes his relationships with neighbors like Delafolie and fellow Impressionist Claude Monet, as well as his role in his children's artistic education.
Sylvio Perlstein, the Belgian art collector and jeweller, died at age 94 in Antwerp, where he was born in 1931. A third-generation gem-cutter from a diamond dynasty, he fled the Nazis with his Jewish family to Brazil as an infant, reinventing himself as "Sylvio." His collecting began as an adolescent in Rio, where he bought a strange painting from a florist. Over decades, he amassed a major collection of 20th-century avant-garde art, befriending artists like Man Ray and Yves Klein, and acquiring works by René Magritte, Marcel Broodthaers, and Pablo Picasso. He was known for his discerning eye, seeking works that were "esquisito"—weird, strange, and different—rather than conventionally beautiful.
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.
Lisa Phillips, the director of the New Museum in Manhattan since 1999, will retire in April 2026 after the completion of an $82 million expansion designed by OMA and Cooper Robertson. The expansion, which doubles the museum's exhibition space, is set to reopen this autumn, marking the culmination of Phillips's transformative 26-year tenure. She will become director emeritus and curate an exhibition on the Bowery's artistic history.
This fall, galleries and museums across the United States are presenting a series of exhibitions centered on Black life, ranging from historic pioneers to contemporary voices. Highlights include Athi-Patra Ruga's immersive installation 'Lord, I gotta keep on (movin')' at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, which imagines a queer Black nation called Azania; 'Edmonia Lewis: Indelible Impressions' at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center, showcasing the 19th-century sculptor's Neoclassical works; and 'Data Consciousness: Reframing Blackness in Contemporary Print' in New York, inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois's data visualizations. Other notable shows include 'A Taste of Beauty' at the Crocker Art Museum, featuring carved African spoons, and the reopening of the Studio Museum in Harlem, alongside the global energy of Art Basel Miami Beach.
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has unveiled a major new commission in Kyiv, Ukraine, titled 'Three Perfectly Proportioned Spheres and Camouflage Uniforms Painted White,' on view until November 30. The site-specific installation, commissioned by the non-profit cultural platform Ribbon International, features three spheres wrapped in camouflaged fabric dotted with animal images, responding to escalating global armed conflicts. Ai recently traveled to the front line of the war in eastern Ukraine near Kharkiv, meeting Ukrainian fighters and cultural figures, and also planted sunflower seeds and buttons in a field there as a ceremonial act.
Two of New York City's most influential contemporary art institutions, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the New Museum on the Bowery, are set to reopen this autumn after major architectural transformations. The Studio Museum will unveil its first purpose-built facility, an 82,000 sq. ft seven-story building on West 125th Street designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson, featuring expanded exhibition space, artist studios, and a "reverse stoop" for public programming. The New Museum will debut a seven-story expansion to its flagship building at 235 Bowery, doubling its exhibition space and reinforcing its role as a hub for experimental art.