What’s Left to Learn from Marcel Duchamp?

The article examines Marcel Duchamp's enduring influence on contemporary art, focusing on his readymades such as "Fountain" (1917) and "Bicycle Wheel" (1913/1951). It notes that a major survey co-organized by the Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 70 years after Duchamp predicted his true public would emerge in 50 to 100 years, reaffirms his status as the most influential artist of the past century. The piece discusses how Duchamp's practice of selecting and presenting ordinary objects as art—from a urinal to a snow shovel—once shocked the art world but now seems quaint compared to later works like Maurizio Cattelan's taped banana.

Robot dogs with Elon Musk's head 'poo' AI art in bizarre exhibition

Artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) has installed "Regular Animals" at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie, featuring robot dogs with hyper-realistic silicone heads of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Beeple himself. The dogs roam the gallery and periodically "poo" printed images of their surroundings that have been transformed by artificial intelligence, with each dog's output reflecting the style of its figurehead—for example, the Picasso dog produces Cubist-style images. The work premiered at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, where Beeple distributed the prints with certificates reading "100% organic GMO-free dog s**t" and QR codes for free NFTs.

‘Just Dudes Hanging Out’: Dustin Yellin and Paul Rudd on Making the Artist’s First Film

Dustin Yellin, known for his glass sculptures and as founder of Pioneer Works, has made his first film, *Goodnight Lamby*, produced by Darren Aronofsky's A.I.-focused studio Primordial Soup. The short film, a hero's journey to rescue his daughter Zia's favorite stuffed animal, premiered at Cannes. Yellin discusses the project with his friend actor Paul Rudd, who voices the character "Papa," exploring how fatherhood and his existing artistic practice of "frozen cinema" inspired the animation.

Le Louvre choisit son entrée côté colonnade

Le Louvre has selected a joint proposal by Studios Architecture Paris and Selldorf Architects for its new entrance via the Perrault colonnade, part of the 'Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance' plan. The project, announced by Emmanuel Macron on January 28, 2025, aims to create a new eastern access to relieve overcrowding at the Pyramid, with two underground entrances, vegetated moats, new services, and a dedicated space for the Mona Lisa. The selection was announced by Culture Minister Catherine Pégard on May 18, despite controversies over funding, heritage constraints, a theft in the Galerie d'Apollon on October 19, 2025, and the departure of museum president Laurence des Cars.

Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer Award 2026 – in pictures

The Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer Award 2026 has announced its shortlist, showcasing works from seven emerging photographic artists. The exhibition is on display at Photo London, featuring pieces such as Sal Taylor Kydd's "Passing" (2026), Devin Oktar Yalkin's portraits including "Anne Hathaway" and "Swallows Pride" (2020), Ci Demi's "Il-Giorniale" (2021), Steffi Reimers' "Gunshot punctures" (2023) from her series "Guilty Grounds," Sebastian Gonzalez's "Escalas Temporales" (2025), and Edward Rollitt's "Alfred Smee Pruned His Roses" (2024). The award, launched in 2015 in partnership with Nikon, aims to nurture and enable the career development of emerging photographic artists.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Appoints Essence Harden as Senior Curator

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco has appointed Essence Harden as senior curator, effective May 18. Harden currently serves as curator of Expo Chicago and has organized the Focus section of Frieze Los Angeles since 2024, roles they will continue with YBCA's support. An independent curator, Harden recently co-curated the 2025 Made in L.A. biennial at the Hammer Museum and previously held positions at the California African American Museum, Orange County Museum of Art, Art + Practice, Museum of the African Diaspora, and Oakland Museum of California. A Bay Area native, Harden's hiring marks a homecoming.

New Met Gala fashion exhibit seeks to ‘reclaim’ body types that art history has ignored

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute will launch a new fashion exhibition titled "Costume Art" at the 2026 Met Gala, curated by Andrew Bolton. The show features 400 items across sections exploring body types historically marginalized in art, including the corpulent, disabled, pregnant, and aging body. It debuts in the newly renovated Conde M. Nast galleries on the museum's main floor, with custom mannequins modeled on real individuals such as Sinéad Burke, Aariana Rose Philip, and Goddess Bunny. The exhibition pairs fashion garments with art objects to argue that fashion is art, and will be open to the public from May 10 for eight months.

Billionaire Collector Fred Eychaner Sued Over Chicago Museum Expansion

Billionaire philanthropist Fred Eychaner, founder of the private exhibition space Wrightwood 659 in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, is being sued by Lisa Berron, a condo owner who claims the museum's planned expansion will block natural light and skyline views from her top-floor home. Berron filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court in March, alleging that the expansion would rise above her roofline and sit just feet from her windows. Eychaner's team has already purchased two of the three units in her building and argues the project complies with existing zoning laws, while Berron reportedly rejected settlement offers and demanded nearly $4 million for her condo, which was appraised at around $1.2 million.

Leading French Gallery Air de Paris Is Declaring Bankruptcy and Closing After 36 Years

Air de Paris, a leading French gallery, is declaring bankruptcy and closing after 36 years, as announced by cofounders Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino to Cultured. The gallery owes money only to its landlord and bank, not to its artists. The closure is attributed to fragile finances and health issues, including Bonnefous's Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The gallery's farewell exhibition, “Oh What a Time,” featured artists such as Trisha Donnelly, Joseph Grigely, Pati Hill, Pierre Joseph, Allen Ruppersberg, Lily van der Stokker, Mona Varichon, and Amy Vogel. Bonnefous will continue to manage the estates of Guy de Cointet, Pati Hill, Dorothy Iannone, Bruno Pelassy, and Sarah Pucci, and work as a curator.

‘A daring flash of pubic hair’: the extraordinary, monumental nudes of Sylvia Sleigh

A small London gallery, Malarkey, is exhibiting eight paintings by Welsh-born artist Sylvia Sleigh (1916–2010), including her monumental 1963 work *The Bridge*, which is now for sale. The show, curated by Daniel Malarkey, features Sleigh's earliest-known self-portrait and her first commission, alongside other nudes that challenge traditional objectification by portraying both sexes with dignity. Sleigh, who studied at Brighton School of Art and moved to New York with her second husband, critic Lawrence Alloway, reimagined classical poses like Giorgione's *Sleeping Venus* in modern settings, notably including a daring flash of pubic hair in *The Bridge*.

The Short Circuit of Art in Venice. The Tensions at the Biennale Are Not Just Geopolitics

Il cortocircuito dell’arte a Venezia. Le tensioni alla Biennale non sono solo geopolitica

The article analyzes the recent tensions and controversies surrounding the 2026 Venice Biennale, which began with President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco's announcement in March that Russia, Iran, Israel, Ukraine, and Belarus would all be allowed to participate, framing it as a foreign policy gesture. This sparked immediate polarization, leading to two open letters from half the invited artists and curators demanding the exclusion of Russia, Israel, and the United States; the resignation of the jury a week before the opening over a decision to exclude countries under ICC indictment; and a historic strike by workers on May 8 that shut down many pavilions, merging protests against genocide with those against precarious labor conditions.

La Fondation Beyeler di Basilea inaugura una grande mostra dell’artista francese Pierre Huyghe. Da vedere durante Art Basel

The Fondation Beyeler in Basel is opening a major solo exhibition of French artist Pierre Huyghe, running from May 24 to September 13, 2026. The show transforms Renzo Piano's museum spaces into a sensitive ecosystem inhabited by images, organisms, sounds, dust, algorithms, and presences suspended between the biological and artificial. Key works include "Apnea" (2026), an artificial organ submerged in water that breathes at a human rhythm; "Alchimia" (2026), featuring a worm on a threshold that reacts to air; "Liminals" (2026), a film depicting a faceless anthropomorphic figure in a state of radical uncertainty; "Adversary" (2026), a closed gate co-created by human and machine; and "Camata" (2024), a film set in the Atacama Desert that is continuously re-edited in real time based on sensors and audience presence.

Recensione, interviste e migliori stand della fiera d’arte contemporanea di Varsavia. Che cresce

Art Warsaw returns for its third edition, this time held in the historic Villa Róż, a former British embassy in Warsaw. The fair features 56 galleries, over 30 of which are international, and is co-founded by Joanna Witek-Lipka and Michał Kaczyński. The unconventional venue, with its blend of aristocratic luxury and Cold War-era bureaucratic spaces, is central to the fair's identity, offering an experience far removed from the typical white cube format. Galleries collaborated closely with organizers to adapt their presentations to the building's unique rooms, creating an atmosphere that balances a commercial fair with an exhibition project.

Chi sono i vincitori del XXIX Compasso d’Oro premiati all’ADI Design Museum di Milano

The XXIX edition of the Compasso d'Oro award, founded in 1954 by Gio Ponti and Rinascente, concluded at the ADI Design Museum in Milan. The jury awarded 3 Compassi d'Oro Young, 10 student project recognitions, 38 honorable mentions, and 20 Compasso d'Oro ADI prizes. Winning projects include Array sofa by Snøhetta for MDF Italia, Bilboquet lamp by Philippe Malouin for Flos, D'Antan armchair by Raffaella Mangiarotti for De Padova, and the Salone del Mobile.Milano Annual Report 2024. Career awards were given to nine figures including Giovanni Arvedi, Paola Lenti, and Alberto Meda, while three iconic products—Sedia '64 by AG Fronzoni, Tavolo Eros by Angelo Mangiarotti, and Tavolo con ruote by Gae Aulenti—received career Compassi d'Oro. The exhibition of all nominated projects runs until June 4, 2026.

In the Principality of Monaco, an exhibition where the great painter Poussin dialogues with contemporary art

Nel Principato di Monaco una mostra dove il grande pittore Poussin dialoga con l’arte contemporanea

The Nouveau Musée National de Monaco presents an exhibition titled "Le Sentiment de la Nature," which juxtaposes works by 17th-century French painter Nicolas Poussin and his followers with pieces by about thirty contemporary and 20th-century artists. The show is organized into six thematic sections—storms and nights, forests and gardens, seas and waterfalls, deserts and volcanoes, mountains, and flowers and butterflies—each exploring the ancient concept of "miracula naturae" (wonders of nature). Featured contemporary artists include Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Demand, Sarah Moon, Mimmo Jodice, Giulio Paolini, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, and Fausto Melotti, with works spanning photography, painting, video, and sculpture. The exhibition runs until May 25, 2026, and is accompanied by a catalog published by Italian publisher Humboldt Books in collaboration with the museum.

A Milano una grande mostra a Palazzo Reale racconta i Macchiaioli (e l’Italia del loro tempo)

A major exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan explores the Macchiaioli, the 19th-century Italian painting movement often seen as a precursor to Impressionism. The show brings together works by key figures such as Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Giuseppe Abbati, and Odoardo Borrani, alongside tangential artists like Giovanni Boldini, Federico Faruffini, and Gerolamo Induno. It traces the movement's origins at Florence's Caffè Michelangiolo, its epicenter at Castiglioncello under patron Diego Martelli, and its evolution from the 1850s through the 1870s, when the group's democratic ideals and en plein air techniques challenged academic conventions.

The Black American Artists Who Dazzled Post-War Paris

An exhibition titled "Paris in Black: Internationalism and the Black Renaissance" at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center in Chicago celebrates the Black American artists, writers, and performers who moved to Paris after World War II to escape American racism. Curated by Danny Dunson, the show features over 100 artworks from the museum's permanent collection, including paintings by Archibald J. Motley Jr., sculptures by Richmond Barthé, Augusta Savage, and William Artis, and ephemera related to Josephine Baker. It traces the global influence of the Harlem Renaissance and the cross-pollination between Paris and U.S. cities like Chicago.

The documentary dedicated to Sicilian patron Antonio Presti airs on Rai Tre. Here is the video preview.

Va in onda su Rai Tre il documentario dedicato al mecenate siciliano Antonio Presti. Qui la video anteprima

On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 3:30 PM, RAI 3 will broadcast the documentary "Asteroide 20049 Antonio Presti," produced by Rai Documentari and dedicated to Sicilian patron Antonio Presti (born 1957). Written by Fedora Sasso and Francesco Castellani, curated by Giulietta Venneri, and directed by Fedora Sasso, the film explores Presti's four-decade career using art to intervene in marginalized areas of Sicily. The documentary's title references an asteroid named after Presti, symbolizing his vision linking cosmic and urban space. It opens at the Astrophysical Observatory of Isnello and focuses on the Catania neighborhood of Librino, where Presti created MAGMA, an open-air museum developed through collaboration with students, artists, and residents.

A Political Anthology of the United States: The Great Exhibition of Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince in Venice

Un’antologia politica degli Stati Uniti. La grande mostra di Arthur Jafa e Richard Prince a Venezia

Fondazione Prada presents "Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince" at Cà Corner della Regina in Venice, the 15th exhibition produced by the foundation in the city. Curated by Nancy Spector of the Brooklyn Museum, the two-person show brings together over fifty works—photographs, videos, installations, sculptures, and paintings—that explore the fractured identity of the United States through the lens of race, masculinity, popular culture, and appropriation. Both artists, though separated by more than a decade in age, share a practice of scavenging and recontextualizing images from film, comics, advertising, and social media to critique American society.

A Roma è tutto pronto per il weekend delle gallerie d’arte: mostre, progetti speciali, inaugurazioni. Il programma

The fourth edition of Roma Gallery Weekend will take place from May 15 to 17, 2026, featuring 31 galleries across Rome. The event kicks off with a new Gallery Night on May 14, where simultaneous openings and special projects serve as a concentrated prologue. Participating galleries include established names like Gagosian, Galleria Continua, and Lorcan O'Neill, as well as emerging spaces such as Amanita and Cantadora. Highlights include exhibitions of Francesca Woodman, Tracey Emin, Friedrich Kunath, and Carlos Garaicoa, alongside site-specific interventions and group shows.

Is there really an energy transformation in Marina Abramović's exhibition in Venice?

Nella mostra di Marina Abramović a Venezia c’è davvero una trasformazione di energia?

At the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Marina Abramović's exhibition "Transforming Energy" opens to the public from May 9 to September 30, 2026, as part of the 2026 Venice Biennale. The show is designed as an experiential device that moves beyond traditional exhibition formats, inviting viewers to determine their own presence through a sequence of rooms built around relationships between body, materials, and time. Crystals and locks of hair function not as decoration but as presences to be inhabited, demanding radical attention rather than spectacular participation. During the press conference, Abramović and curator Shai Baitel insisted that the materials, especially the crystals, possess real energy capable of directly affecting the viewer's body and perception, not merely as metaphor but as an active condition.

Arte contemporanea, fiabe e favole nel racconto di Artbox su Sky Arte

The article previews an upcoming episode of the Italian television program "Artbox" airing on Sky Arte on Tuesday, May 12. The episode visits Castello di Miradolo in Piedmont, where the exhibition "C'è oggi una fiaba" (There Is a Fairy Tale Today) runs until June 21, blending art, literature, and music around childhood themes. Curator Roberto Galimberti and Fondazione Cosso director Paola Eynard discuss the show. The episode also features art historian Maria Vittoria Baravelli's segment "Invito al viaggio," reinterpreting fairy tales as dynamic spaces for growth, referencing artists Luigi Serafini and Luigi Ontani. Additionally, curator Gražina Subelytė discusses the exhibition "Peggy Guggenheim a Londra. Nascita di una collezionista" in Venice, and curators Stefania Bossi, Michele Tavola, and Valentina Cane present the show "Regina. Sperimentatrice geniale" about a prolific sculptor. The program includes a book segment on Orsina Simona Pierini's "I colori delle case. Milan Interiors 1923-1978."

The best and worst we saw at the Venice Art Biennale 2026. Artribune's hits and flops

Il meglio e il peggio che abbiamo visto alla Biennale d’Arte di Venezia 2026. Top e flop di Artribune

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and directed by Koyo Kouoh, opened amid significant turmoil: the death of a newly appointed curator, diplomatic tensions over the presence of Russia and Israel, political protests, and the unprecedented collective resignation of the jury, which led to the Golden Lions being awarded by public vote for the first time. Despite this chaotic backdrop, the exhibition—featuring a record 100 national pavilions—has been widely praised for avoiding moralistic pedagogy and instead embracing visual seduction, formal quality, and sensory joy while addressing themes of identity, memory, colonialism, ecological crisis, and violence. The article highlights top and flop moments from the opening week, including strong showings by Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and a standout exhibition at Fondazione Prada.

Performance, gioco, rischio. Il grande Paul McCarthy è in mostra a Madrid: l’intervista

Paul McCarthy's latest exhibition, titled "A&E," is on view at Bowman Hal gallery in Madrid, part of the SOLO CONTEMPORARY initiative founded by a Spanish collector couple. The show features large-scale works on paper and videos created in collaboration with German actress Lilith Stangenberg, exploring role-play, performance, and the blurred lines between art and entertainment. The acronym "A&E" alludes to historical pairs like Adam and Eve or Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, as well as "Arts & Entertainment." The works stem from private encounters between McCarthy and Stangenberg, with drawings serving as storyboards for videos that capture their improvisational, trance-like interactions.

There is a major Paulo Nazareth exhibition to see in Venice (but the artist himself hasn't seen it)

C’è una grande mostra di Paulo Nazareth da vedere a Venezia (ma l’artista stesso non l’ha vista)

A major exhibition of Brazilian artist Paulo Nazareth, titled "Algebra," has opened at Punta della Dogana in Venice, but the artist himself is absent. Nazareth has kept a promise not to set foot in Europe until he has crossed African territories on foot, as they existed before the arbitrary divisions imposed by the 1884 Berlin Conference. He did not participate in the installation or opening, instead staging a simultaneous event in Veneza, a working-class district of Ribeirão das Neves, Brazil—a gesture he also made when invited to the 2013 Venice Biennale. The exhibition centers on structural violence and uses attention and care as strategies for healing, with the word "algebra" referring to the act of recomposing what was broken.

What does Giovanni Muciaccia do after Art Attack? He continues to spread culture and tells us all about it in this interview

Cosa fa Giovanni Muciaccia dopo Art Attack? Continua a divulgare cultura e ci racconta tutto in questa intervista

Giovanni Muciaccia, the beloved host of the children's art show "Art Attack" that aired in Italy from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2011 to 2014, continues his mission of art education through books, theater performances, and a new online series. Now also an artist and collector himself, Muciaccia discusses his journey from television presenter to full-time art communicator, explaining how his early passion for art was sparked by a middle school teacher and deepened during his time filming in London, where he visited the newly opened Tate Modern and began studying contemporary art.

The best and worst of Milan Design Week 2026: the hits and flops of this edition

Il meglio e il peggio della Milano Design Week 2026: i top e i flop di questa edizione

Artribune's design team presents its annual roundup of the best and worst of Milan Design Week 2026, highlighting standout experiences and recurring flaws. The top picks include open apartments like Interno Italiano by Interni Venosta in a home designed by Osvaldo Borsani, L’Appartamento by Artemest at Palazzo Donizetti, and Casaornella by Maria Vittoria Paggini. Also praised are Casa NM3 by Delfino Sisto Legnani, Nicolò Ornaghi, and Francesco Zorzi, two projects by Studiopepe, and the five-floor Convey. Museum programming at Triennale Milano and ADI Design Museum is celebrated, with exhibitions such as The Eames Houses, Continuous Present on Andrea Branzi, Alphabet on Barber Osgerby, and Haruka Misawa's bit by bit.

Met Gala guests take artistic liberties with dress code

Guests at the 2025 Met Gala embraced the dress code 'Fashion is art' with bold, artistic ensembles. Beyoncé wore a custom Olivier Rousteing sculptural skeleton dress with a feathered train and diamond crown. Naomi Osaka stunned in a Robert Wun white sculptural dress that revealed a red beaded gown underneath. Emma Chamberlain arrived in a hand-painted Mugler dress by Miguel Castro Freitas. Co-chairs Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams also made statements, with Williams wearing a sparkling gown in homage to her own portrait by Robert Pruitt. Many guests referenced famous artworks, such as Lena Dunham channeling Artemisia Gentileschi's 'Judith Slaying Holofernes' through a Valentino design by Alessandro Michele, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos wearing a Schiaparelli gown inspired by John Singer Sargent's 'Madame X.'

New Exhibitions Unveiled At Expanded Art Gallery

Newcastle Art Gallery in Australia has unveiled the first three exhibitions from its 2026 program, marking the first changeover since its major expansion reopened in February. The shows include "Multiverse," a survey of Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson featuring over 30 new and rarely seen works, including his first immersive installation; a debut solo exhibition by Newcastle-based artist Tiyan Baker; and "The Mordant Family Gift," presenting 25 works donated by philanthropists Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM from artists including Ian Abdulla, María Fernanda Cardoso, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.

Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso to open at Shepparton Art Museum

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) in Victoria, Australia, will host the exhibition "Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso" from 23 May to 20 September 2026. The show features 37 paintings and sculptures from Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, including works by masters such as Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Salvador Dalí. Many of these works are part of a major philanthropic gift from New York-based collectors Julian and Josie Robertson, donated to the Auckland gallery in 2023, and have never before been shown in Australia.