Best Products lives on as art in new Branch Museum exhibit

The Branch Museum of Design in Richmond, Virginia, has opened a new exhibition titled “Imagining Best Products,” which revisits the radical architectural and graphic designs of the defunct catalog showroom retailer Best Products. Founded in 1957 by Frances and Sydney Lewis, the company commissioned experimental storefronts from architect James Wines and the firm SITE, creating iconic “anti-buildings” that challenged commercial architecture. The show features architectural drawings, models, photographs, sketches, and printed materials, and runs through June 21, 2026.

Sandra Gamarra: “Réplica” Is Not a Copy

Sandra Gamarra Heshiki's exhibition "Réplica" at MASP in São Paulo opens with an unplanned replica of Francisco Laso's "Habitante de las cordilleras del Perú" (1855), which could not travel from Lima due to bureaucracy. Gamarra produced an inverted, altered version, establishing a critical distinction between copying and responding. The exhibition is organized into sections that parody the classical chronology of encyclopedic museums—"Pre-colonial," "Colonial," "Post-independence," "Modern," and "Contemporary"—transforming the museum into an object of analysis. Gamarra's paintings engage with colonial iconographies, such as the pinturas de castas, by inscribing racial classifications directly onto the figures, making the colonial verdict inseparable from the bodies depicted.

Ten Political Statements By Artists At The 2026 Venice Biennale

The 61st Venice Biennale opened with unprecedented political tension, set against the backdrop of the international jury's mass resignation, the death of curator Koyo Kouoh, Russia's closed pavilion, threats from the European Commission to withdraw funding, and Italy's culture minister boycotting the opening. The article highlights ten works and moments where art and power intersected most explicitly, including Alfredo Jaar's 'Red Room' installation in the Chilean pavilion confronting humanitarian crisis, and Ukraine's collateral event 'Still Joy' at Palazzo Contarini Polignac, which frames joy as an act of resistance amid war.

Art as survival: US artists' anti-war artefacts exhibited in Tehran

An anti-war exhibition titled "Art and War" has opened at a top museum in Tehran, featuring works by American pop artists Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Indiana, and James Rosenquist. The pieces, including Rosenquist's "F-111" and Lichtenstein's "Brattata," were selected for their anti-war themes and come from the museum's major collection of American and European modern art, acquired in the 1970s by former Empress Farah Pahlavi and largely kept from public view since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The exhibition opened amid ongoing tensions and a recent ceasefire in the Middle East, with the museum director stating it was a deliberate response to current events.

John Hitchcock’s sonic and cultural rhythms

The New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut will present "John Hitchcock: We are Defined by the Beat" from May 16 to November 29, 2026, marking the artist's first mid-career retrospective. John Hitchcock, an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma with Comanche and Northern European ancestry, has spent over three decades transforming the sonic and cultural rhythms of his homeland into a distinct visual language. The exhibition explores his integration of visual and sonic forms across printmaking, neon, textiles, sound, video, and installation, featuring series such as "Flatlander" (2011-18), "Bury the Hatchet" (2019-2020), "Blanket Songs" (2022-2023), "Soundscapes" (2021-2024), and "Celebration" (2025). Hitchcock's work pays homage to his ancestors, confronts histories of Indigenous displacement and trauma, and celebrates community, resilience, and survival, drawing on the sounds and landscapes of his ancestral home in Medicine Park, Oklahoma.

Outdoor chandeliers and a thought chamber: Must-see satellite exhibitions beyond the Venice Biennale

The 61st Venice Biennale is accompanied by a wide array of satellite exhibitions across the city, from noble palazzi to canals. Highlights include a showcase of Pichwai textile art at Palazzo Barbaro, curated by Pooja Singhal; a return of Dale Chihuly with outdoor glass chandeliers along the Grand Canal; and Nalini Malani's "Of Woman Born" at Magazzini del Sale, a multimedia installation exploring myth and conflict.

Maine art galleries showcase dozens of artists in summer shows

A roundup of summer art exhibitions across Maine highlights dozens of artists showing at galleries and pop-up spaces from Rockport to Portland. Notable shows include Alexandre Gallery's pop-up featuring charcoal works by the late Cooper Union-trained artist Emily Nelligan, who spent decades depicting Cranberry Island; Karma's annual summer pop-up at artist Ann Craven's deconsecrated church in Thomaston; and solo exhibitions at Caldbeck Gallery, Courthouse Gallery, and Cove Street Arts. Other venues such as Carver Hill Gallery, Corey Daniels Gallery, Dowling Walsh, and Moss Galleries present group and solo shows spanning landscape painting, mythical imagery, and works addressing social resistance.

Inuk artist launches first solo exhibition in U.K. gallery

Inuk artist Laakkuluk Williamson has opened her first solo exhibition, titled *Nuliaminik Neqilik*, at Mimosa House gallery in London. The show draws on a Greenlandic tale of a cannibal and his seventh wife, Masaannaaq, as a metaphor for Inuit resistance against colonial powers. It features beadwork, photography, film, vocal performances, and enlarged replicas of historic Inuit objects from the British Museum. The exhibition opened with an immersive performance at the British Museum and was curated by fellow Inuk artist Taqrilik Partridge. After its London run, the show will travel to the Nuuk Art Museum in Greenland and then to Ottawa.

La sede ad Albisola della Galleria Raffaella Cortese è più “un pensatoio che spazio espositivo”: la storia e le collaborazioni con gallerie d’arte emergente

Raffaella Cortese opened a small 12-square-meter space in Albisola Superiore, Italy, in June 2022, described as "more a think tank than an exhibition space." The venue, located near the Ligurian sea, honors the town's legacy as a center for contemporary ceramics from the 1950s to the 1970s, hosting artists like Lucio Fontana and Asger Jorn. The space alternates works from Cortese's Milan gallery with collaborations from emerging galleries, such as Fanta-MLN of Milan (presenting Noah Barker's installation "lux principum" in 2023) and Gian Marco Casini Gallery of Livorno (featuring Clarissa Baldassarri's "Exposure value" in 2024). A future collaboration with Triangolo gallery of Cremona is scheduled for May–September 2026, showcasing Nicole Colombo's sculpture "Rosario (to the moon and back)."

At the BnF, wonderful maps to imagine new worlds

À la BnF, des merveilles de cartes pour imaginer des mondes nouveaux

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) is presenting an exhibition of extraordinary maps that blend imagination with cartography, tracing the evolution of maps from ancient tools of navigation to fantastical creations that fueled exploration and myth. The show features rare works including Renaissance sea monsters, cosmological paintings, and literary maps from Tolkien's Middle-earth and George R.R. Martin's Westeros, alongside contemporary artists like Alighiero Boetti, Sergio Aquindo, and Michael Druks who use maps to express personal and political visions.

The other side of the art world

Isabel Adair recounts her visits to commercial art galleries in London and Cambridge, describing the experience of viewing Eva Pade's exhibition at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac in Mayfair and the abstract works at Byard Art near King's College. She highlights the contrast between the polished, elite atmosphere of a high-end Mayfair gallery and the more accessible, profit-driven local gallery, while noting the freedom and openness of these spaces to the public.

Maddy Inez talks to Phillip Edward Spradley

Maddy Inez, a Los Angeles-based ceramic artist, discusses her practice in an interview with Phillip Edward Spradley. Her work draws on California's natural environment and histories of displacement, using ceramics to explore maternal lineage, oral history, and plant-based knowledge. A key inspiration is a midwifery certificate belonging to her great-great-great grandmother from the era of enslavement. Inez's upcoming solo exhibition at Megan Mulrooney opens May 16, 2026.

Artists invited to submit work for Moraine Valley’s annual community show

Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois, is inviting artists aged 18 and older living within 50 miles to submit up to two pieces for its 23rd annual community art show. Submissions are accepted May 19-21, with notifications on May 26. The exhibition runs May 29 to July 30, opening with a reception and awards ceremony on May 30. This year’s juror is Lisa DeLuca, a photographer and teaching artist with experience as a recruiter for art schools and a docent at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. She has previously juried the college’s high school exhibition and other regional shows.

Future Fair Is a Big Artist Party

Future Fair, held at Chelsea Industrial in New York from May 13–16, 2026, brought together 69 exhibitors from nine countries. Unlike traditional art fairs with segmented booths, the fair emphasized interconnectedness and interpersonal connection, featuring artist-run booths and family-led presentations. Notable participants included Nanor Hakimian showing her brother Garo's paintings, Olivia Janna Genereaux exhibiting with her son Hans Silas Jovine, and artists Cloe Galasso, John Vitale, and Miles Ingrassia. The fair also highlighted its profit-sharing model, dedicating 15% of proceeds plus exhibitor donations to subsidize emerging galleries.

The Joy of Discovery at 1-54 Art Fair

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, now open at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Manhattan, presents a smaller edition than previous years but continues to offer unexpected, tactile works. Highlights include Rommulo Vieira Conceição's Pop-art-inspired wall installation at Aura gallery, Kendra Frorup's mixed-media piece at the Current: Baha Mar Gallery, and Eymric Moderne's gold-leaf and glass bird painting at TM Arthouse. The fair also features posthumous works by Marcel Gotène at Loeve and Co and Sophia Bounou's enigmatic paintings at Blond Contemporary.

Gulag Museum rebrand marks latest phase in Kremlin’s assault on free speech

The Kremlin is systematically erasing the memory of Soviet repression under Joseph Stalin from Russian museums. The Gulag Museum in Moscow, which documented Stalin-era crimes, has been rebranded as a "Museum of Memory" focused on Nazi war crimes, with its entire website replaced and exhibitions packed up. Simultaneously, Russia's supreme court banned Memorial, a human rights organization founded to document Stalin-era atrocities, labeling it an "anti-Russian" extremist group. The Yeltsin Presidential Center in Yekaterinburg has also removed references to Memorial from its walls, and the Sakharov Center in Moscow was disbanded and evicted from its facilities.

The Ukrainian Pavilion’s Deer Seen Around the World

Zhanna Kadyrova's concrete sculpture "The Origami Deer" (2019) is prominently displayed at the entrance to the Giardini during the 61st Venice Biennale, part of her project "Security Guarantees" in the Ukrainian Pavilion. Originally installed in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, the work was removed in 2024 as Russian forces advanced, then traveled through Vienna, Warsaw, Prague, Berlin, and Paris before reaching Venice—a journey mirroring the displacement of millions of Ukrainians. The sculpture, shaped like a deer and evoking folded paper, references the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia, the UK, and US guaranteed Ukraine's security in exchange for its nuclear disarmament—guarantees that proved worthless after Russia's invasions.

All 3.5 Million Pages of the Epstein Files Are Now on View at This Pop-Up Exhibition

The Institute for Primary Facts has transformed New York's Mriya Gallery into the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Reading Room, a pop-up exhibition displaying all 3.5 million pages of the released Epstein files in 3,437 bound volumes. Open from May 8 to May 21 in Tribeca, the installation is the group's first live project, requiring visitors aged 16 and over to book appointments via a platform called Trumpsonian. Only accredited press, Congress, law enforcement, and victims' advocates may open the volumes, due to the Department of Justice's failure to properly redact victims' names.

Did Zurbarán Believe What He Painted?

An exhibition of Francisco de Zurbarán's 17th-century religious paintings at London's National Gallery prompts a critic to question whether the artist's personal faith influenced his artistic skill. The show features monumental works from Spanish churches and monasteries, displayed dramatically against black walls, including crucifixion scenes, monks, and saints. The critic notes that no personal records of Zurbarán survive—only contracts—leaving his beliefs unknown, and compares him to Agnolo Bronzino, who painted pious scenes but wrote obscene verses. A small painting of a crucified Christ with a painter, possibly a self-portrait of Bronzino, is presented as ambiguous evidence of faith.

Contemporary Indian Art at the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is hosting "Sediments of Becoming: Fossilised Present, Summoned Pasts," an exhibition curated by Marina Schulz and Tunty Chauhan that features works by eleven contemporary Indian artists, including Afrah Shafiq, Anindita Bhattacharya, Debashish Mukherjee, and others. The show positions contemporary Indian artistic practice within a broader international and civilisational discourse, set against the Hermitage's historic backdrop of over three million objects spanning centuries.

Artist Felipe Pantone's home is a 'permanent exhibition' - with its own indoor nightclub

Spanish-Argentinian contemporary artist Felipe Pantone, who never reveals his face to the public, opens the doors to his striking home 'Casa Axis' in Valencia, Spain. Originally built between 1972 and 1975 by architect Pascual Genovés and designer Antonio Segura, the property was known as the 'Revolving House' before Pantone renamed it. After a two-year renovation, the 7,000 sq m estate now includes an indoor swimming pool designed by the artist, a private tennis court, a dance club, and rooms filled with natural light. Pantone and his partner Victoria Fernández host artists from around the world at the home, which also served as a backdrop for Netflix's Black Mirror.

Bow Arts launches open call for 2027 East London Art Prize

Bow Arts has announced an open call for the 2027 edition of the East London Art Prize, now entering its third cycle. The prize will support 12 shortlisted artists with exhibitions, mentoring, and career development, awarding one artist £15,000 and a solo exhibition at Nunnery Gallery, and another a year-long studio residency. The judging panel includes Brendan Cormier, Alex Needham, Marine Tanguy, and artist Michelle Williams Gamaker, with submissions open from 14 May to 16 August 2026.

Beyond the Mission Statement: Everhart Museum

The Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, celebrates 119 years of connecting the community to art, science, and natural history. Founded in 1908 by Civil War surgeon Dr. Isaiah Everhart, the museum has evolved from a cultural centerpiece during the Industrial Revolution into a regional attraction featuring fossils, taxidermy, folk art, and traveling exhibits. Recent highlights include a NASA exhibit that brought astronaut Paul Richards back to the museum where he first visited as a child, and the museum's folk art collection is noted as one of the best in the country, with pieces borrowed by major institutions like the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Nancy Holt: MoonSunStarEarthSkyWater

The first UK presentation of Nancy Holt's work, titled "MoonSunStarEarthSkyWater," opens at the Goodwood Art Foundation in Sussex from 2 May to 1 November 2026. The exhibition includes both a gallery-based show and works in the landscape, featuring key pieces such as the monumental site-responsive installation "Ventilation System" (1985-92) and the earthwork "Hydra's Head" (1974). The show aims to highlight Holt's exploration of perception, language, and light, and includes works from her diverse practice spanning concrete poetry, film, photography, and public sculpture.

Floral photography makes space for grief at Plug In ICA

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg is presenting 'Transcendence,' a dual exhibition pairing Sheila Spence's 'Lexicon of Loss'—floral prints made by pressing roses on a flatbed scanner—with 'Observance,' a video installation by the late Toronto artist April Hickox, who died in 2025. The two artists, who first met at the Banff Centre in 1989, reconnected four years ago after both experienced profound loss: Spence's long-term partner died, and Hickox faced a cancer diagnosis. Their collaboration, conceived during daily conversations, brings together works that explore grief through botanical imagery and moving image.

A Rare Presentation of Leonora Carrington’s Surrealist Sculptures Have Landed in New York

A new exhibition at New York's L'Espace Gallery, titled "Shape of Dreams," presents a rare collection of Leonora Carrington's surrealist bronze sculptures, intricate jewelry, and an interactive tarot booth. Carrington, best known as a painter and novelist, created these sculptures late in life, often with the help of her sons, as her eyesight and arthritis made painting difficult. The show highlights works like "The Palmist" (2011) and other hybrid, mythological figures that extend her imaginative universe into three dimensions.

At 1-54 New York 2026, Afro-Brazilian art takes centre stage for the first time

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York (May 13–17, 2026) will debut a curated section titled '1-54 Presents: Brazil Beyond Brazil,' focusing exclusively on Afro-Brazilian art and artists. Organized by Brazilian curator Igor Simões, the section features works by ten Black Brazilian artists—including Ana Claudia Almeida, Rebeca Carapiá, and Rommulo Vieira Conceição—presented by leading Brazilian galleries such as Almeida & Dale, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Nara Roesler, and Aura. The initiative draws on archival research, reinterprets modernist legacies, and challenges narrow narratives around Afro-Brazilian art, highlighting the cultural links between Africa and Latin America.

Hamed Abdalla | Untitled (1972) | For Sale

Hamed Abdalla's 1972 painting "Untitled" is being offered for sale through Mark Hachem Gallery, listed on Artsy. The work is an acrylic on canvas measuring 92 × 65 cm, hand-signed by the artist, and includes a certificate of authenticity. Abdalla (1917–1985) was a pioneering Egyptian modernist who developed the concept of the "Creative Word," blending abstraction with human forms. His career included exhibitions at Cairo's Museum of Modern Art, the Louvre in Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and his works are held in major institutions such as the Tate Modern, the Barjeel Art Collection, and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

Hamed Abdalla | Al Beous, Misery (1961) | For Sale

Hamed Abdalla's 1961 work "Al Beous, Misery" is being offered for sale through Mark Hachem Gallery, listed on Artsy. The piece is an ink on paper from glue relief, measuring 33 × 46 cm, hand-signed, and includes a certificate of authenticity. Abdalla (1917–1985) was a pioneering Egyptian and Arab modernist, known for his "Creative Word" concept blending abstraction and human forms. His career included exhibitions at Cairo's Museum of Modern Art, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern, among others.

Keeping It Simple

On Valentine's Day, the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art in Manhattan, Kansas, opened the inaugural "Kansas Triennial 25/26" exhibition, featuring works by four Kansas-based visual artists: Mona Cliff, Mark Cowardin, Poppy DeltaDawn, and Ann Resnick. The museum engaged young visitors by handing out paper hearts and inviting them to place their heart in front of the artwork they loved best, creating a reflective and participatory experience.