Kunsthaus Paradiso is Born in Venice: Italian Art Has a Home, Despite the Biennale

Nasce a Venezia la Kunsthaus Paradiso: l’arte italiana ha una casa, malgrado la Biennale

A new project called Kunsthaus Paradiso has opened in Palazzo Molin Querini in Venice, running from May 4 to May 31 in conjunction with the Venice Biennale. Founded by curator Caroline Corbetta, the initiative evolved from her earlier Crepaccio project (2012–2016) in Milan and the Padiglione Crepaccio, which debuted at the 2013 Biennale Arte curated by Massimiliano Gioni. Kunsthaus Paradiso focuses on Italian and Venice-based artists—including Thomas Braida, Fabio De Meo, Caterina Rossato, Ornella Cardillo, Alessandro Miotti, Melania Fusco, Mauro Campagnaro, Marta Spagnoli, Barbara De Vivi, Spazio Punch, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Mattia Sinigaglia, and the collective Scafandra—offering a platform for emerging and local talent during the Biennale.

Florence welcomes the great artist Georg Baselitz with a major exhibition at the Museo Novecento

Firenze accoglie il grande artista Georg Baselitz con una grande mostra al Museo Novecento

The Museo Novecento in Florence has opened "Avanti!", a major retrospective dedicated to German artist Georg Baselitz, featuring 170 works on paper spanning his career from the 1960s to the present. Curated by Sergio Risaliti and Daniel Blau, the exhibition is the first in Italy to focus on Baselitz's graphic output, including woodcuts, linocuts, and etchings, alongside sculptures and installations that explore themes of the human body, war, and inversion.

New art exhibition to open this summer as part of Glasgow International 2026

A new two-person exhibition titled "Painting, our mutual friend" will open at Glasgow Print Studio on June 4, 2026, as part of Glasgow International 2026. Featuring artists Lorna Robertson and Andrew Cranston, who are life partners, the show runs through August 1 and includes etchings, monoprints, watercolours, and oil paintings that explore their individual and shared experiences. The works were developed through experimental residencies at the studio between 2025 and 2026.

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.

Celestial wildlife paintings plus ceramics at featured art show starting May 16

Artist Sarah Soward and ceramist Hillary Klem will be featured in a joint show at the Redlands Art Association starting May 16, with an open house on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Soward presents multiple series including "Starry Nights" acrylic paintings inspired by constellations, surrealist works imagining origin stories for animals, and laser-cut bee designs aimed at raising awareness of endangered species. Her artwork was previously selected for the Lunar Codex's "Legends of the Moon" capsule sent to the moon in 2022, and she has won "Best of Show" at the National Orange Show.

Since 1968, Protests Have Revealed the Real Impact of the Venice Biennale

The article recounts the 1968 protests at the Venice Biennale, where artists, students, and activists clashed with police over the event's perceived ties to bourgeois power and capitalist commodification. It draws parallels to the 2024 Biennale, where groups like Art Not Genocide Alliance, Pussy Riot, and Femen demonstrated against the participation of Russia and Israel, while artists staged strikes and performances like the Solidarity Drone Chorus to highlight the Gaza conflict.

L'excellent rapport de la commission d'enquête sur la sûreté des musées est paru

A French parliamentary commission of inquiry into museum security, initiated by Alexandre Portier (president) and reported by Alexis Corbière, has published its findings. The report, unanimously adopted across party lines, includes forty recommendations and is notably critical of the Louvre's management under director Laurence des Cars, accusing her of neglecting security priorities and causing significant delays in the museum's master plan. The commission validated earlier criticisms by La Tribune de l'Art, describing the Louvre as an "État dans l'État" (state within a state) and estimating that twenty to twenty-seven months were lost due to postponed decisions.

Explore the poetry of body and gesture through this evocative solo exhibition in Kolkata

Architect and Interiors India has published an article promoting a solo exhibition in Kolkata that explores the poetry of body and gesture. The exhibition features works that focus on the expressive potential of the human form and movement, presented as a visual meditation on physicality and emotion.

ARTIndia and Vadehra Art Collaborate for ‘Next/Now’ Exhibition in Delhi

A group exhibition titled 'Next/Now' will open in New Delhi on 29 May 2026, organized by ARTIndia Magazine and Vadehra Art Gallery. The show features 30 emerging artists selected from ARTIndia's '30 Under 30' list, working across painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and mixed media. The opening coincides with Defence Colony Gallery Night, and partial proceeds will support the ARTIndia Care Fund, which provides medical care for young artists.

Last chance to see exhibition showcasing amazing local talent as it draws to a close

Bolton Museum's Open Art Exhibition, featuring over 240 artworks by local artists and photographers, is closing on Sunday, March 17. The show includes paintings, photography, and sculptures from creators who live, work, or study in Bolton. Grand prize winner Richard Wood received £1,000 from the Mayor for his landscape 'Ghost Chimneys', while University of Greater Manchester student Olivia Edge won the Young Artist Award for her acrylic painting 'Rewilding'.

Creativity, contrast, conversation: Mumbai’s Tao Art Gallery promotes dialogue through exibitions

Mumbai’s Tao Art Gallery is fostering artistic dialogue through a series of exhibitions that emphasize creativity, contrast, and conversation. The gallery’s programming highlights diverse visual narratives and encourages engagement between artists and audiences.

The Politics of In-action: Review of In-action: Viennese Actionism and the Passivities of Performance Art

Caroline Lillian Schopp's new book *In-action: Viennese Actionism and the Passivities of Performance Art* (2025) offers a revisionist history of Viennese Actionism, a movement retroactively named in 1970 by Peter Weibel and Valie Export. Schopp introduces the term "in-action" to describe a politics of artistic action that emphasizes intimacy, hesitation, and vulnerability rather than the violent or liberatory extremes typically associated with the movement. She expands the canon to include women artists such as Anna Brus, Hanel Koeck, and Ingrid Wiener, and reexamines the work of Rudolf Schwarzkogler, whose death was mythologized as a suicide by self-castration but was actually a fall from a window. Through close readings of photographs, Schopp argues that Schwarzkogler's performances were characterized by passivity and "in-sincerity," challenging the dominant narrative of actionism as aggressive or heroic.

‘Anger, curiosity and hope’: a planet of protest – in pictures

Matthew Connors' new photo book, *The Axe Will Survive the Master*, compiles 12 years of protest photography from Hong Kong, Cairo, New York, Kyiv, North Korea, and beyond. Published by MACK Books, the work weaves together images from the Occupy movement, the Egyptian revolution, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests, the war in Ukraine, and other confrontations with authoritarian power, dissolving geographic boundaries into a single sequence drawn from an archive of 200,000 images.

1,200-Year-Old Limestone Lintel was Inadvertently Repatriated to Mexico Instead of to Guatemala

A 1,200-year-old limestone lintel, carved by the ancient Maya artist Mayuy and depicting a ruler of Yaxchilán, was repatriated from the United States to Mexico in mid-April after an American businessman turned it over to the Mexican consulate in New York. However, Guatemala's cultural minister has begun proceedings to reclaim the artifact, arguing that it was originally removed from the Guatemalan side of the Usumacinta River, not Mexico. The lintel was first documented by American explorers Dana and Ginger Lamb in the 1950s in an area called Laxtunich, and its exact provenance has been disputed by scholars.

Art and Cultural Engagement Can Slow the Pace of Aging: Report

A new study published in the journal *Innovation in Aging* finds that engaging with arts and cultural activities can slow biological aging at a molecular level. Led by Daisy Fancourt of University College London, the research measured participation in four types of activities—participatory arts, receptive arts, visiting heritage sites, and other cultural activities—and used epigenetic clocks to assess aging. Those who engaged at least once a week showed a four-percent slowdown in aging, while monthly engagement yielded a three-percent slowdown.

Reaching for the stars: enduring symbols of Soviet science – in pictures

Photographer Eric Lusito documents Soviet-era scientific institutes across former USSR states in his book "Soviet Scientific Institutes," published by FUEL. The photo essay captures decaying facilities and enduring equipment at locations including the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Kharkiv, Ukraine; the Byurakan astrophysical observatory in Armenia; the Andronikashvili Institute of Physics in Tbilisi, Georgia; and the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute in Kazakhstan, among others.

What Biennials Reveal About the Art World

Ben Davis and Jo Lawson-Tancred of Artnet News have published complementary projects analyzing global art biennials. Davis compiled data from major biennials including Istanbul, Gwangju, São Paulo, Sharjah, and Venice over the past four years, tracking which artists have been shown most frequently worldwide since the 2022 Venice Biennale. Lawson-Tancred examined the upcoming Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, comparing the demographics of its artists to previous editions to trace shifts in the global art conversation.

Ada: My Mother the Architect review – illuminating profile of brilliant builder balances work and family

Architect-turned-filmmaker Yael Melamede directs a documentary portrait of her mother, Israeli architect Ada Karmi-Melamede, who co-designed the Supreme Court of Israel building in Jerusalem in the early 1990s with her brother Ram Karmi and later created Ben Gurion Airport. The film explores Karmi-Melamede's architectural philosophy of "architecture of the ground and of the sky," her departure from her brother's brutalism, and a painful family split when she left her husband and children in New York after being denied tenure at Columbia University.

Row Over Russia’s Return to the Venice Biennale Deepens

Newly leaked emails reveal that the Venice Biennale has been secretly coordinating with Russia since last summer to facilitate its return to the 2025 edition, despite ongoing international sanctions. The correspondence, published by Italian outlets Open and La Repubblica, shows Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, director Andrea Del Mercato, and Russian commissioner Anastasia Karneeva working together on visa issues, pavilion logistics, and a legal strategy to bypass E.U. sanctions prohibiting collaboration with state-backed Russian entities. Russia's pavilion will be open during preview days with performers activating the space, while footage will play for the public from a closed pavilion thereafter.

How a Remote California Artists’ Retreat Inspired Vhernier’s Latest Ring Collection

Italian jewelry maison Vhernier has collaborated with artist Pae White to create a 10-design limited-edition ring collection inspired by White's childhood memories of Sea Ranch, a remote artists' retreat in Sonoma County, California. The collection translates the architecture of crustaceans and abalone into precious materials, using sapphires, diamonds, and rock crystal set in white or rose gold, with only two versions of each design produced.

The 10 Best Venice Films

Die 10 besten Venedig-Filme

Monopol magazine has published a ranking of the ten best films set in Venice, timed to coincide with the opening of the Venice Art Biennale. The list includes titles such as Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "The Honey Pot" (1967), and Kenneth Branagh's "A Haunting in Venice" (2023), highlighting how the lagoon city serves as a central character in action films, comedies, and love dramas.

Venice Biennale denies it helped ‘circumnavigate’ sanctions against Russia with pavilion

The Venice Biennale is facing allegations that it helped Russia circumvent EU sanctions by allowing the Russian pavilion to operate during preview days, when only arts professionals and press are present. Investigative website Open published emails between Biennale officials and Russian pavilion organizers, including requests for visa assistance for artists and staff. The commissioner, Anastasia Karneeva, is the daughter of a Rostec deputy CEO and runs a consultancy with the daughter of Russia's foreign minister. The Biennale denies any wrongdoing, stating it acted in compliance with international law. Russia has been absent from the Biennale since 2022 but retains a permanent pavilion in the Giardini.

À la Biennale de Venise, le pavillon de l’Ouzbékistan fait revivre la mer d’Aral

The Uzbekistan Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, curated around the figure of author Allayar Darmenov, brings together artists including Vyacheslav Akhunov, Zi Kakhramonova, A. A. Murakami, Zulfiya Spowart, and Nguyen Phuong Linh to explore the ecological disaster of the Aral Sea. Once the world's fourth-largest lake, it was drained by Soviet irrigation projects for cotton farming; the pavilion's installations—such as Kakhramonova's participatory salt-fish molding piece and Spowart's cradle-like sculpture—imaginatively revive the vanished sea and its endemic species.

For the 50th anniversary of his death, the controversial photographer Pierre Molinier at the heart of an important biography

Pour le cinquantenaire de sa mort, le sulfureux photographe Pierre Molinier au cœur d’une importante biographie

A new biography of the provocative French photographer and painter Pierre Molinier (1900–1976) has been published to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. Co-published by Mollat and L'Arbre vengeur, the book "Molinier. Une vie d'enfer" is an updated and expanded version of Pierre Petit's 1992 text, incorporating newly surfaced documents and reflecting Molinier's growing international recognition.

Study Shows Engaging with Art as Effective as Exercise in Slowing Aging

A new study by University College London, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, reveals that engaging with arts and culture can slow biological aging at a rate comparable to exercise. Researchers found that attending performances or visiting galleries once a month led to a 3 percent reduction in aging speed, while weekly engagement produced a 4 percent slowdown. Those who participated in the arts at least weekly were biologically at least a year younger than non-participants, outperforming weekly exercisers, who were only six months younger biologically. The study tracked 3,356 adults from 2010 to 2012 using survey data and blood tests, measuring aging via epigenetic clocks that analyze DNA changes.

In ‘Reverence,’ Three Decades of Paul Nicklen’s Remarkable Photographs Exalt Nature

Paul Nicklen, a renowned wildlife photographer and co-founder of the conservation organization SeaLegacy, is releasing a comprehensive book titled *Reverence* through publisher Hemeria. The volume collects 160 photographs spanning his three-decade career, including iconic images and previously unpublished works that capture the beauty and fragility of ecosystems from the Colorado River delta to the Arctic Bay.

Printing the Unprinted: The Reversal of World Discovery

The Indonesian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale presents "Printing the Unprinted: The Reversal of World Discovery," a project that reimagines global history by casting an Indonesian kingdom as the explorer who discovers the West. Seven Indonesian artists—Agus Suwage, Syahrizal Pahlevi, Nurdian Ichsan, R.E. Hartanto, Theresia Agustina Sitompul, Mariam Sofrina, and Rusyan Yasin—participated in a two-month residency at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, collaboratively creating works through printmaking and expanded forms. The pavilion includes exhibitions, workshops, and symposiums that challenge dominant narratives and highlight Indonesia's contributions to maritime technology, commerce, arts, and knowledge.

What Did the Golden Lion Die Of? On Judgment and Disavowal at the Venice Biennale

The international jury of the 61st Venice Biennale announced it would exclude from prize consideration countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, specifically targeting Russia and Israel. This prompted the Italian culture minister to send inspectors to the Biennale's offices, leading the jury to resign. The Biennale then replaced the Golden Lion with "Visitors' Lions" prizes voted by ticket-holders, immediately making Russia and Israel eligible again. The article traces this crisis to the Biennale's historical structure under Mussolini's 1930 Royal Decree, which established the national pavilion system as a diplomatic concession system designed to serve state power, and notes the recent acceptance of a €50 million donation from Qatar for a new permanent pavilion in the Giardini.

AMSET showcasing two dynamic exhibitions this month in Beaumont

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) in Beaumont is presenting two new exhibitions this month, featuring a mix of contemporary and regional artwork. An opening reception honoring artists Bill Pangburn and Julius Stockfleth was held on May 8, and the shows will remain on view through the summer. The exhibitions showcase diverse mediums and perspectives, highlighting both emerging and established artists from Southeast Texas and beyond.

May art guide: Exhibitions in Dayton, Cincy, Columbus and more

May’s art guide highlights several exhibitions across Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus, including "The Future of Female" at the Dayton Society of Artists, a juried show exploring women-identifying artists' perspectives; "At This Moment" at the Main Library's 2nd Floor Gallery, reflecting on contemporary life; "Teresa Olavarria: Lichen" at The Contemporary Dayton, featuring works in vitreous enamel and bronze; and a color-themed collaborative exhibition at the Edward A. Dixon Gallery in partnership with Dayton Collaboratory. The guide also features a 35mm film series by photographer Jake Schneider documenting Greenville’s Swinging 8’s Square Dance Club.