From Masters of the Universe to Monteverdi: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

This article is a weekly entertainment guide from The Guardian, covering cinema, gigs, art, stage, streaming, games, albums, and brain food. In the art section, it highlights three exhibitions: Julio Le Parc at Tate Modern (London), featuring his pioneering immersive installations and light sculptures from the 1950s to the 2020s; Chico da Silva at Nottingham Contemporary, showcasing the Brazilian artist's psychedelic mythical creatures and his role in Brazil's Indigenous art explosion; and Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica at Barbican Art Gallery (London), examining how the Pan-Africa movement shaped 20th-century anti-colonial art and culture.

Horst Antes at 90: Major Shows Celebrate German New Figuration Pioneer

German artist Horst Antes, born in 1936, is being celebrated with two major exhibitions timed to his 90th birthday. Galerie Koch in Hannover presents a solo show titled “Horst Antes: Exhibition Marking the Artist’s 90th Birthday,” while the Sprengel Museum Hannover concurrently mounts “A Collection,” featuring roughly 80 works from its holdings. The shows highlight Antes’s pioneering role in New Figuration, particularly his iconic “Kopffüßler” (Head-Footer) character, which appears across paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from 1969 to 2014. The Galerie Koch exhibition also foregrounds his “House Pictures,” which explore architecture through non-hierarchical color planes and ambiguous perspective.

We prefer to be better-doers than know-it-alls

"Wir sind lieber Bessermacher als Besserwisser"

German cultural policy official Wolfram Weimer calls the rise of the far-right AfD a 'defining moment' for the republic, urging the democratic center to reclaim cultural symbols like the German flag. In Vienna, the Mumok museum introduces temporary free admission under new director Fatima Hellberg, sparking debate over transparency and anonymous private funding. A new museum called Dataland opens in Los Angeles, dedicated exclusively to AI artist Refik Anadol. Meanwhile, critic Christine Lemke-Matwey in Die Zeit condemns filmmaker Wim Wenders for failing to properly apologize for a nude scene involving a 13-year-old Nastassja Kinski in his 1975 film 'Falsche Bewegung'.

UAE art guide: 11 museum and gallery exhibitions to see, from Picasso to the Baghdad Modern Art Group

The article presents a guide to 11 current museum and gallery exhibitions across the UAE, following the conclusion of Art Dubai 2026. Highlights include "Picasso, The Figure" at Louvre Abu Dhabi, which examines Pablo Picasso's reinvention of the human body through works from the Musée National Picasso–Paris; "From the Perspective of Language" at The Third Line, featuring Sara Naim's paintings and video work; and "Move, pause, return" at Gallery Isabelle, marking its 20th anniversary with daily unveilings by artists including Hassan Sharif and Mohammed Kazem. Other notable shows include "Reflections: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Villain Collection" at Bassam Freiha Art Foundation.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie New York Announce Plans for a Landmark Merger

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie New York have announced a landmark merger agreement, set to take effect in 2028. The merger will unite the Neue Galerie's collection of 20th-century Austrian and German art—including Gustav Klimt's *Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I*—with The Met, while preserving the Neue Galerie's distinct museum experience. Ronald S. Lauder and his daughter Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer plan to donate 13 additional paintings from their personal collection, and several Met trustees have pledged significant endowment gifts to support the integration and long-term operations.

MFAH's blockbuster modern art exhibit and 7 more openings in Houston this month

The article highlights eight major art exhibitions and events opening in Houston in May 2025, including the U.S. debut of "Picasso–Klee–Matisse: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), which features works by Picasso, Klee, Matisse, and Giacometti. Other notable events include the "Freedom Plane National Tour" of founding-era documents at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the 20th Annual Empty Bowls fundraiser at Silver Street Studios, and "No Longer, Not Yet" by Marisol Valencia at Art League, which uses materials from a migrant shelter. The article also mentions shows at CAMH, Moody Art Center, and Sawyer Yards.

Event: Jayden Ali and Simone Brewster, Off the Record

ArtReview and Ursula magazine have partnered to host a monthly talk series in a Mayfair wine bar, featuring intimate conversations with creative visionaries. The upcoming event on June 9 will spotlight architect and artist Jayden Ali and artist Simone Brewster, who will discuss their inspirations and working methods. Jayden Ali is a founding director of JA Projects, a London Mayor's Design Advocate, and co-curator of the British Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale. Simone Brewster is a London-based artist exploring identity and cultural memory through sculpture, painting, and installation, with her work held in major collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Smithsonian Institution.

15 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This Summer

Hyperallergic's summer guide highlights 15 art shows across Los Angeles, featuring exhibitions that challenge the status quo. Highlights include Jon Rubin's 'National Museum of the Aftermath' at Oxy Arts, focusing on America's racial reckoning; a survey of Ulises Carrión's bookworks at JOAN; Scott Carrillo Azevedo's paintings on the American home at Long Beach Museum of Art; and 'Semiotext(e): Desert Islands' at ICA LA, exploring the influential publisher's fusion of theory and vernacular culture. Other shows include punk ephemera at the Skirball, Odilon Redon's portraiture, Willie Birch's papier-mâché works, and Samella Lewis's woodcuts.

Figurative Expressionist Painter Jay Milder Dies at 92

Jay Milder, a Figurative Expressionist painter and co-founder of City Gallery in New York, has died at age 92 from a stroke. Milder, who moved from Omaha to New York after high school, was a bold artist and cooperative gallerist who championed informal, improvisational works. He co-founded City Gallery with Red Grooms in 1958, hosting early New York shows for now-revered artists including Claes Oldenburg and Jim Dine. His series "Subway Runners" (1960–64) debuted at Martha Jackson Gallery in 1964 and was revisited in a 2022 solo exhibition at Eric Firestone Gallery, which represented him since 2022. His works are held in major institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum and the New Museum.

How Dayanita Singh Got Into Venice’s Archives

Artist Dayanita Singh mounted a major exhibition titled "ARCHIVIO" at the State Archives of Venice, which opened to the public as an exhibition venue for the first time in its history. Without institutional funding or a public relations budget, Singh relied on a "friendship economy" to install her signature "photo-pillars"—images of Indian archival documents bound in red cloth. The show attracted visitors despite the lack of traditional promotion, as documented in an interview with Hyperallergic Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian.

Rare Early Basquiat Works Return to Brooklyn After HBCU Tour

An intimate collection of early Jean-Michel Basquiat works and ephemera, titled "Our Friend, Jean," is returning to Brooklyn's The Bishop Gallery starting May 16, 2026. The exhibition draws primarily from the archive of Alexis Adler, Basquiat's former roommate and partner from 1979–80, and includes paintings on sweatshirts, postcards, writings, and photographs Adler took of the artist. Originally presented in 2019, the show traveled to six historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) between 2022 and 2024, attracting 10,000 visitors and involving students in the installation process.

Venice Biennale Strike Makes History

On May 8, thousands marched through Venice and more than two dozen national pavilions were partially or fully shuttered during a 24-hour strike organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance and local activist groups. The strike, which included Palestinian flags draped over artworks, marks the first cultural strike in the Venice Biennale's 131-year history. Italian police beat back protesters as Editor-in-Chief Hakim Bishara reported from the scene. Separately, a nesting seagull near the Polish pavilion became an unexpected star, and the LA Art Book Fair opened with a focus on archival materials.

Julio Le Parc (1928-2026)

Julio Le Parc, the Argentine-born pioneer of optical and kinetic art, died in Paris on May 30, 2026, at age 97. A co-founder of the Groupe de recherche d'art visuel (GRAV) in 1960, he rejected the myth of the inspired artist in favor of collective work, industrial materials, and reproducible devices that engaged the viewer's physical movement. His career included winning the Grand Prix international de peinture at the Venice Biennale in 1966, political activism during May 1968 (leading to his temporary expulsion from France), and major exhibitions at institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo, Centre Pompidou-Metz, and Pérez Art Museum Miami.

The most beautiful Parisian museum terraces to enjoy the sunny days

Les plus belles terrasses de musées parisiens pour profiter des beaux jours

Beaux Arts Magazine has published a guide to the best museum terraces in Paris for enjoying the sunny days of spring and summer. The article highlights five standout spots: Rose Bakery at the Musée de la Vie romantique, Joli at the Musée Carnavalet, the Grand Café at the Grand Palais, Corail at the Musée d'Art moderne, and Sama at the Institut du monde arabe. Each terrace is described for its unique atmosphere, from the bucolic garden of the Musée de la Vie romantique to the spectacular colonnade of the Grand Palais, with details on chefs, menus, and seasonal highlights.

Artists & Mothers Announces 2026 Recipients of Childcare Grants

New York City nonprofit Artists & Mothers has named the 2026 recipients of its $25,000 childcare grant for artists who identify as mothers. The four awardees—Sara Cwynar, Nickola Pottinger, Trisha Baga, and Mimi Ọnụọha—work across photography, sculpture, collage, video, and multimedia installation. The grant covers nine months of childcare for emerging and mid-career artists raising a child under three, and this is the program's third cycle.

Artists Rashid Johnson and Sheree Hovsepian to Launch New Residency Program in Menorca

Artists Rashid Johnson and Sheree Hovsepian are launching a new residency program called The Residency at Casa Gràcia on the island of Menorca, set to begin next spring. The self-directed residencies, open to three artists and two writers per cohort, require no public presentation or outcome. Applications are open until July 31, with an advisory board including Hank Willis Thomas, Colson Whitehead, and representatives from Hauser & Wirth. The historic Casa Gràcia, built in 1860 and recently renovated by Laplace and Maimó&Brosa, features a studio, study, and walled garden in Mahon.

Louvre Reveals Architects for $1 Billion Expansion

The Louvre has announced an international team of architects—New York's Selldorf Architects and Studios Architecture Paris—to lead its "Nouvelle Renaissance" expansion, a project estimated to cost over €1 billion ($1.2 billion). The plan, first announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in early 2025, includes a new entrance to accommodate three million additional visitors annually and a dedicated 33,000-square-foot exhibition space for Leonardo da Vinci's *Mona Lisa*. The museum's new director, Christophe Leribault, is moving forward with the project despite significant budget uncertainty, with cost estimates ranging from €270 million to €1.1 billion.

Photographer Catherine Opie is everywhere all at once this spring

Photographer Catherine Opie is experiencing an extraordinary year in 2026, with multiple major exhibitions opening simultaneously across Europe and Los Angeles. A career-spanning survey at London’s National Portrait Gallery will travel to Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy, while other shows appear in Kassel, Germany, and Trondheim, Norway. In Los Angeles, her new exhibition “Holding Blue” opens May 28 at Regen Projects, featuring 44 images of Norwegian mountain landscapes shot over 20 days in early 2024, accompanied by nine ceramic sculptures. Her work also appears in group shows at the Autry Museum of the American West, Hauser & Wirth, and David Zwirner. Opie, who retired from UCLA after serving as chair of the art department and teaching photography for more than 20 years, describes this period as the “Catherine Opie World Tour 2026.”

Where to go this weekend?

Wohin am Wochenende?

This article from Monopol provides a weekly roundup of art exhibitions across Europe, highlighting shows in Aschersleben, Basel, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Gröden, Heidelberg, and Palma de Mallorca. Key exhibitions include a joint show of over 60 works by Neo Rauch and Jonathan Meese at the Grafikstiftung Neo Rauch in Aschersleben, a major survey of Chinese artist Cao Fei at the Kunstmuseum Basel, and "Power Lines" at the Merlin Theater in Budapest featuring works from the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection. Other notable shows include Jon Rafman's first major solo exhibition in Germany at K21 in Düsseldorf, and a group photography exhibition "Aufsehen" in Frankfurt.

From Van Gogh to Louise Bourgeois, 5 artists who pay tribute to their mother (sometimes in surprising ways)

De Van Gogh à Louise Bourgeois, 5 artistes qui rendent hommage à leur mère (parfois de façon surprenante)

Cinq artistes majeurs — James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Vincent van Gogh, Suzanne Valadon, Louise Bourgeois et Michel Journiac — sont présentés à travers des œuvres qui rendent hommage à leur mère. L'article détaille les portraits intimes réalisés par chacun, comme l'Arrangement en gris et noir n°1 de Whistler, le Portrait de la mère de l'artiste de Van Gogh, ou encore La mère de l'artiste de Valadon, en explorant les relations personnelles et les contextes historiques qui ont nourri ces créations.

Edgar Calel wins 2026 Sam Gilliam Award

Edgar Calel, a Maya Kaqchikel artist from Chi Xot, Guatemala, has been awarded the 2026 Sam Gilliam Award, as announced by the Dia Art Foundation and the Sam Gilliam Foundation. The prize includes $75,000 and a public programme at a Dia Foundation location this autumn. Calel’s multidisciplinary practice—spanning drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance—centers on ancestral knowledge, Indigenous experience, and the legacies of colonialism. He was selected by a jury of curators and foundation leaders, including Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation.

Tavares Strachan’s First Monograph Surveys an Encyclopedic Practice

Tavares Strachan, a Bahamian conceptual artist known for his encyclopedic work that challenges historical narratives, has released his first monograph through Phaidon. The book surveys decades of his expansive practice, which includes a 2,400-page encyclopedia from 2018 correcting omissions from the Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as works addressing colonialism, climate change, and space exploration. The monograph coincides with his exhibition 'The Day Tomorrow Began' at The Pizzuti, part of the Columbus Museum of Art, running through January 3.

Paloma Elsesser, Joan Jonas, and Isha Ambani Descended Upon Beacon for a Day at Dia

On a warm spring Saturday, the Dia Art Foundation hosted its annual Spring Benefit at Dia Beacon, drawing a cross-disciplinary crowd of artists, curators, museum leaders, and fashion figures. The event celebrated the opening of seven major exhibitions across the Beacon campus, featuring works by John Chamberlain, Lee Ufan, Kishio Suga, and Jack Whitten, and marked the rollout of a new partnership with Chanel. Guests explored over 20 galleries, enjoyed a seasonal lunch amid Chamberlain's sculptures, and participated in a special children's program, all set within the former Nabisco box-printing factory along the Hudson River.

A Journey Through the Work of Lucía Pizzani on the Occasion of Her First Institutional Exhibition in London

UN RECORRIDO POR LA OBRA DE LUCÍA PIZZANI A PROPÓSITO DE SU PRIMERA MUESTRA INSTITUCIONAL EN LONDRES

Venezuelan artist Lucía Pizzani presents her first institutional exhibition in the United Kingdom, titled "Faunal Succession," at Focal Point Gallery in London, running through May 30. The show features new works created in collaboration with artists Cecilia Bonilla, Jaime Gili, and Javier Weyler, as well as community groups and local schools, reimagining the Essex coastline through the concept of deep time. The exhibition links geological transformation with contemporary issues such as climate change, migration, and social change, as explored in an interview with curator Inês Costa.

Through Sculpture, Kiah Celeste Finds Elegance in the Everyday

Kiah Celeste, a New York native who trained as a photographer at SUNY Purchase, abandoned photography after graduation and turned to sculpture, drawing inspiration from her experience as an art handler at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Her practice involves "foraging" for discarded materials—such as a marble tub, old CDs, acrylic skylight domes, and bowling balls—which she transforms into works like *Balance Bath* (2019), *Ouroboros* (2025), and the "Dream of Pearl" (2023) series. Celeste has shown in two-person exhibitions at Document Gallery in Chicago and Swivel Gallery in New York, and her sculptures explore tension between abstraction and recognizable objects, Minimalism and Pop, and her own intersecting identities as Black and Jewish, feminine and androgynous.

Pussy Riot Turns Its Venice Biennale Protest Into a Music Video

Pussy Riot has transformed its protest at the 61st Venice Biennale into a music video for the song "DISOBEY," the lead single from the group's debut album *CYKA* (Russian for "bitch"), set for release on June 12. The protest, which took place last month in front of the Russian pavilion, featured members chanting in pink balaclavas and setting off smoke bombs to denounce Russia's return to the exhibition. Co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, who started Pussy Riot in 2011 as a faux punk band for political activism, produced the album after a durational performance at MOCA Los Angeles, collaborating with musical duo Gold Glove and featuring guests like B Real, Avenged Sevenfold, and Salem Ilese.

Untitled Art will launch four new prizes at Houston fair's second edition

Untitled Art Houston, returning for its second edition from October 2 to 4 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, has announced four new prizes for exhibitors and artists, bringing the total potential prize value to $113,200. New sponsors include the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ($20,000 acquisition prize), Public Art of the University of Houston System ($25,000 acquisition prize), Hotel Daphne ($30,000–$50,000 for up to three works), and the Houston Grand Opera ($7,500–$10,000 plus a commission and residency). Two residency prizes from the fair’s debut—PAC Art Residency and Casa Santa Ana Residency—will continue.

The Netherlands is confronting its history of Nazi occupation – but many stolen objects remain unreturned

Arthur Brand, a Dutch art detective, was contacted by a man who discovered that his family descended from Hendrik Seyffardt, a high-ranking Nazi collaborator, and that a painting looted from Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker remained in their possession. The painting, Toon Kelder's *Portrait of a Young Girl*, had hung in a relative's home near Utrecht for years. The family, who changed their name after WWII, handed the painting to Brand after the story broke in Dutch media, expressing shame and outrage over the silence surrounding their history.

Esther fair goes out on top

The Esther art fair, a satellite of Frieze New York, opened its third and final iteration at Estonian House on East 34th Street. Founded by Estonian gallerists Olga Temnikova and Margot Samel, the fair eschews conventional stands, instead arranging 22 participating galleries and three bespoke projects throughout the historic Beaux-Arts building’s basement, salons, and upper floors. Highlights include sold-out presentations at Adams and Ollman and Management, works by Katja Novitskova, Jill Goldstein, and Elīna Vītola, and a special project by Darja Popolitova and Madlen Hirtentreu turning beauty-industry equipment into installations. Gallerists praised the cooperative atmosphere, contrasting it with larger, more institutionalized fairs.

The car park that changed British art: Bold Tendencies at 20

Bold Tendencies, the pioneering arts organization that transformed a multi-storey car park in Peckham, London, into a vibrant cultural venue, is celebrating its 20th summer season. Founded by gallerist Hannah Barry in 2007, the project has hosted over 3 million visitors, commissioned dozens of new artworks, and built an auditorium and concert hall within the concrete structure. It began as a low-budget experiment in using derelict urban spaces for art, featuring sculptures, performances, and a rooftop bar that predated the experiential art boom.