The Big Review | 36th Bienal de São Paulo ★★★★

The 36th Bienal de São Paulo has opened with a site-specific installation by Nigerian-American artist Precious Okoyomon, titled "Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me" (2025), which features a spiraling path of moss-covered earth and waterfalls evoking Brazil's deforested Cerrado region. The biennial, curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with an international team, includes 125 artists—97 international and 28 Brazilian—with more than half of the works commissioned for the exhibition. Notable presentations include a career-spanning display of over 20 paintings by British artist Frank Bowling, alongside works by Brazilian artist Gervane de Paula, who has the largest presence in the show.

Comment | Bristol's Spike Island has become an environmental beacon—here's why it makes financial sense for others to follow suit

Spike Island, a creative hub in Bristol housed in a historic tea packing factory, has been recognized by the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) as a model of environmentally sustainable practice. After an energy audit revealed that 85% of its emissions and running costs came from heating the leaky 1950s building, the organization installed solar panels and began a major retrofit. Since March, the panels have saved 6,000 kilograms of CO2, and further upgrades—including heat pumps and insulation—are planned as part of a long-term capital masterplan developed with Max Fordham and 6a Architects.

New City of West Hollywood ‘Moving Image Media Art’ Exhibition Series Artworks Debut October 1

The City of West Hollywood has announced the debut of the next exhibitions in its Moving Image Media Art (MIMA) program, featuring artworks by Isabel Beavers, Diana Thater, Maya Kell-Abrams and Adam Agostino, Sara Silkin, Nina McNeely, and Noper. Starting October 1, 2025, through January 31, 2026, these works will be displayed at the top of every hour on various digital billboards along Sunset Boulevard, with specific locations and schedules for each piece.

The sixth Aichi Triennale seeks to encompass destruction and renewal

The sixth edition of the Aichi Triennale, Japan's largest recurring contemporary art exhibition, opens under the title "A Time Between Ashes and Roses," featuring around 60 artists from 22 countries across venues in Nagoya. Artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi, president of the Sharjah Art Foundation, has curated a program that addresses themes of destruction and renewal, drawing on a poem by Syrian poet Adonis written after the 1967 Six-Day War. The exhibition references both the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with participating artists including John Akomfrah, Simone Leigh, Wangechi Mutu, Michael Rakowitz, and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Artist Maya Lin poses probing questions around New York City during Climate Week

Artist Maya Lin, in collaboration with the non-profit Art 2030, has launched a public art campaign titled "What If?" across New York City during Climate Week (21-28 September). The project features large-scale posters at the United Nations Headquarters Plaza and on JCDecaux-owned bus shelters, posing probing environmental questions and galvanizing answers to inspire curiosity and action. Additional activations include a mural by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya at the Nest Climate Campus, a caption contest for Tom Toro's New Yorker cartoon at the Climate Museum, and new didactic interventions at the American Museum of Natural History's dioramas highlighting climate change threats.

Folkestone Triennial 2025 review: environmental catastrophe—but also hope, joy and a jolly salamander

The Folkestone Triennial 2025, titled "The Lie of the Land," features 18 artists across the seaside town in southeast England. Works include Sara Trillo's chalk cob sculptures inspired by Iron Age urns, Emilija Skarnulyte's film on nuclear decommissioning at Lithuania's Ignalina plant, Katie Paterson's amulet installation made from planetary crisis materials, and Cooking Sections' activist project on UK sewerage pollution. The triennial runs through the ancient port's historic role as a site of arrival and departure.

Prospect, New Orleans’ international art exhibition, cancels its next big show in 2027

Prospect, New Orleans' international art exhibition, has canceled its next planned show in 2027. The decision was announced by the organization's most recent director, Nick Stillman, who cited the current political climate and cuts to government arts funding as making the financial outlook for the multi-million-dollar event "ominous." Stillman has since left the organization. Instead of mounting another exhibition, Prospect will publish a book titled "20 Years of Prospect" and shift focus to exploring sustainable models for presenting global art discourse while archiving its past work.

Shrewsbury Arts Trail: Open Exhibition Wows at SM&AG

The Shrewsbury Arts Trail Open Exhibition has opened at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, showcasing 144 works selected from 347 submissions by 148 local and regional artists. Organizers Phil Langstaff, Jessica Richards, and Pat Wilcox curated the show without a specific theme to encourage creative freedom. The exhibition also includes works by internationally recognized artists such as Halima Cassell MBE, Ian Rayer-Smith, Laura Ford, James Tapscott, Jacob Chandler, Picasso, and Andy Warhol in a separate 'Inspirational Exhibition.' The Open Exhibition continues at The Parade Shops with an additional 48 works on display.

Everything to Know About Christie’s Modern Middle Eastern Art Auction

Christie’s has opened an online auction of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, running through May 8th and featuring 69 works from across the Gulf, Levant, North Africa, Iraq, and Iran. The sale is led by pioneering artist Samia Halaby’s 2013 painting 'Water Lilies', estimated at $100,000–$150,000, and includes a dedicated 'Saudi Now!' section with 12 pieces by Saudi artists such as Ahmed Mater and Manal AlDowayan. Over a third of the lots are by women artists, including Etel Adnan, Helen Khal, Huguette Caland, Tala Madani, and Tagreed Darghouth, alongside North African figures like Mohamed Melehi and Hassan Hajjaj.

Boston Public Art Triennial launches with more than a dozen projects across the city

The inaugural Boston Public Art Triennial launches on 22 May, bringing over a dozen site-specific installations, performances, and community-led activities to public spaces and cultural institutions across Boston through October. With a projected cost of $8 million, the free event features newly commissioned works by artists including Stephen Hamilton, Swoon, Nicholas Galanin, Beatriz Cortez, and Ekene Ijeoma, exploring themes such as Indigenous experience, trauma and healing, social justice, and humanity's relationship with nature.

Winona gets a new art gallery, THIS, with grand opening this weekend

Winona, Minnesota, is getting a new independent art gallery called THIS, opening this weekend with its inaugural group show “Friends & Family.” The gallery is run by artist Anne George, who transformed a former consignment shop into the space. The exhibition features 18 artists, each invited by George or by another participating artist, fostering an inclusive, community-driven approach. George, who moved to Winona from Minneapolis after a major life change, sees the gallery as an extension of her artistic practice and a gift to the local arts community.

Saodat Ismailova “When the Water Turns to Wind” at Portikus, Frankfurt

Saodat Ismailova “When the Water Turns to Wind” at Portikus, Frankfurt

Uzbek artist Saodat Ismailova has opened a major solo exhibition, "When the Water Turns to Wind," at Portikus in Frankfurt. The presentation features a new, immersive film installation that weaves together ancestral myths, sonic landscapes, and the ecological history of Central Asia, focusing on the region's disappearing rivers and steppes. The work continues her long-term exploration of memory and cultural preservation.

HOW TO READ A POROUS WORK AT PINTA LIMA 2026

Casa Miraflores presents the RADAR section titled "Porous Systems" at Pinta Lima 2026, curated by Ilaria Conti. The section features Guatemalan center La Galería Rebelde and artist Angélica Serech, whose textile works draw from Maya Kaqchikel knowledge, alongside artists Diana Eusebio, Luciano Giménez, Alberto Casari, and Carlos Luis "Pajita" García Bes. The exhibition explores permeability, process, and the meeting of inherited knowledge with contemporary languages.

A Pioneering Exhibition at the MAC in Barranco

A PIONEERING EXHIBITION AT THE MAC IN BARRANCO

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC Lima) and the Lima Art Museum (MALI) have launched "Thought is a Hybrid Garden," a comprehensive exhibition spanning six decades of work by Francesco Mariotti and María Luy. The show draws from the Mariotti-Luy Archive and features light installations, acoustic works, and silkscreens that blend technology with Amazonian myths and environmental activism. Curated by Miguel A. López and José-Carlos Mariátegui, the exhibition includes never-before-seen works in Peru, such as the "Hybrid Gardens" series which uses bioluminescence as a metaphor for ecological health.

Nobody Can Defeat Me: The Brazilian Pavilion in Venice Between Spirituality, History and Nature

NOBODY CAN DEFEAT ME THE BRAZILIAN PAVILION IN VENICE BETWEEN SPIRITUALITY HISTORY AND NATURE

The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has revealed the curatorial project for the Brazilian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. Titled 'Comigo ninguém pode' (Nobody Can Defeat Me), the exhibition is curated by Diane Lima and features a major two-person presentation of artists Rosana Paulino and Adriana Varejão, who will occupy the entire pavilion with an installation-based project designed by Daniela Thomas.

THREE PERUVIAN GALLERIES AT PINTA LIMA 2026 A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE LOCAL AND THE GLOBAL

Three prominent Peruvian galleries—Galería Enlace, Forum, and Livia Benavides—are presenting curated selections of artists at the Pinta Lima 2026 art fair. Their proposals blend emerging and established artists from Peru and abroad, working across painting, sculpture, installation, and new media, to foster a dialogue between local traditions and global contemporary practices.

A JOURNEY THROUGH LATIN AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY AND A REFLECTION ON THE ROLE OF COLLECTING

The Miraflores Palace of Arts (PLAM) in Lima is hosting "A Collection Is a Desire," a major exhibition featuring over 100 works from the Jan Mulder Collection. This presentation is an expanded version of a landmark 2012 showcase at the Rencontres d'Arles, which was the first time a private Latin American photography collection was featured at the prestigious French festival. The exhibition includes works by iconic figures such as Martín Chambi, Graciela Iturbide, and Vik Muñiz, spanning various periods and geographical contexts.

THE WIND AS PROTAGONIST AT THE FINLAND PAVILION

Artist Jenna Sutela has been selected to represent Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with a multisensory installation titled Aeolian Suite. Curated by Stefanie Hessler and commissioned by Frame Contemporary Art Finland, the project transforms the Alvar Aalto-designed pavilion into a dynamic windscape using meteorological data, wind machines, and a children’s woodwinds orchestra. The work personifies five specific Venetian winds as protagonists in an elemental drama that blends scientific data with the theatrical traditions of Commedia dell’arte.

An exhibition at a historic villa in Prato brings together the artificial and the natural

In una villa storica a Prato una mostra che fa incontrare artificiale e naturale

Artist Andrea Marini presents "Anomale Intrusioni" (Anomalous Intrusions) at the historic Villa Rospigliosi in Prato, an exhibition organized by Associazione Chorasis. Curated by Riccardo Farinelli, the show features sculptural interventions that blend conceptual minimalism with the villa's centuries-old architecture and natural landscape. Marini’s works function as "programmed interferences," creating a dialogue between the organic and the artificial through metallic structures and zoomorphic forms that react to the surrounding environment and climate.

Peep the Wildest Costumes of This Year’s Easter Bonnet Parade

New York City’s Fifth Avenue was transformed into a vibrant public gallery on April 5, 2026, for the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival. Participants gathered outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral to showcase elaborate, hand-crafted headpieces ranging from Eduardo Escobar’s rotating 'Trip to the Moon' hat to Shayna Strype’s hot-air balloon ensemble. The event featured a diverse array of creators, including climate-conscious artist Cristian Pietrapiana and mixed-media sculptor Gail Trunick, who utilized the street as a stage for avant-garde millinery and performance art.

‘Good for the soul’: Local art show opens at Oshawa art gallery tonight

The Oshawa Art Association (OAA) is hosting the opening reception and awards night for its 58th annual juried art exhibition tonight at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario. The free event runs from 6 to 9 p.m., featuring live music by local singer David Saliba, attendance from local politicians, and a cash bar. The exhibition, which includes over 100 artworks selected from nearly 300 submissions, will remain on display until May 10. Categories include wildlife, people, abstracts, sculptures, and a youth category for artists aged 12 to 18, with $3,000 in total prize money awarded by jurors Hi-Sook Barker and Lucy Manley.

What We Saw at Buffalo Prescott’s 'Vernal 2026'

Buffalo Prescott’s Detroit headquarters is hosting 'Vernal 2026,' a spring-inspired contemporary arts exhibition running through June 27, with a public opening on May 22. The exhibition features works by resident artists including Jessica Wildman Katz, Halima Afi Cassells, Cyrah Dardas, Sara Nickleson, and Tony Printz, alongside metro Detroit and international artists. Highlights include Katz's botanical rabbit sculpture 'Kindling,' Cristina Umaña's whimsical 'Mesa De Centro' (a stack of white tables with human-like limbs), and Amelia Burns's photographic diptych 'Evil Eye' and 'Evil Eye Transmuted onto Organza, 2026,' which explores contemporary American culture through collage.

London Gallery Cancels Antisemitic Art Exhibit After Pro-Israel Lawyers Intervene

A London gallery, Delta House Gallery in Wandsworth, canceled a traveling exhibition titled "Drawings Against Genocide" by British artist Matthew Collings after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) intervened, citing antisemitic content. The show, scheduled for May 16-24, featured drawings with swastikas, comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany, and depictions of Jewish figures with horns, among other imagery. Gallery owner Pineapple Corporation Chairman Tom Berglund confirmed the cancellation, stating the exhibition was arranged without owner consultation.

Currently, much that was painstakingly built is being destroyed

"Aktuell wird viel zerstört, das mühsam aufgebaut wurde"

Berlin's Savvy Contemporary, a non-profit art space known for its postcolonial discourse, has been awarded the Art Basel Award in the 'Museums and Institutions' category—the only German institution to receive the honor this year. However, despite the prestigious recognition, Savvy has been unable to open any exhibitions in 2024 due to a lack of funding. In an interview, managing directors Lema Sikod and Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock discuss the award, the institution's 15-year history, and the growing difficulty of sustaining decolonial work amid rising right-wing populism and political backlash.

Climate Activists Smear Palazzo Vecchio

Klimaaktivisten beschmieren Palazzo Vecchio

Members of the climate activist group Ultima Generazione targeted the historic Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, spraying its facade with orange washable paint using fire extinguishers. The protest was swiftly interrupted by security forces and Florence's Mayor Dario Nardella, who happened to be on-site and personally tackled one of the activists. Following the incident, the mayor joined cleaning crews on scaffolding to help scrub the medieval stonework with brushes and high-pressure hoses.

NEVERCREW Explores Our Tenuous Relationship with Nature in Huge Murals

The artist duo NEVERCREW, composed of Christian Rebecchi and Pablo Togni, has unveiled a series of large-scale murals across Europe that confront the deteriorating relationship between humanity and the natural world. Their recent works, including the mural "Souvenir" in Vienna and "Switch" in Wuppertal, utilize surrealist imagery—such as polar bears merged with plastic toy components or whales encased in architectural structures—to illustrate how nature is increasingly viewed as an artificial, distant object rather than an integrated system.

Echoes of Memory and Quiet Revolutions

The Henrike Grohs Art Award concludes its final edition, naming Tanzanian artist Rehema Chachage as the 2026 laureate. Chachage, who works across performance, video, text, scent, and installation, creates a "performative archive" in collaboration with her mother and grandmother, transforming personal and ancestral memory into shared sensory experiences. The two finalists are Younès Ben Slimane, a Tunisian filmmaker and visual artist whose silent, disorienting works challenge cinematic narrative structures, and Egyptian artist Rania Atef, whose participatory practice turns domestic spaces into stages for revealing power dynamics. The award received over 600 applications from more than 30 African countries.

reefline blue arts award ximena caminos

The ReefLine nonprofit launched its new Blue Arts Award on the Greek island of Hydra, calling on artists to create site-specific underwater sculptures that function as artificial reefs. The award is part of the larger ReefLine project, a seven-mile underwater sculpture park and hybrid reef off Miami Beach, designed by Shohei Shigematsu of OMA, with construction set to begin in September 2025. The first winning artwork will be installed in 2027. ReefLine Founder and Artistic Director Ximena Caminos envisions the project as a blend of public art, marine science, and climate action, aiming to restore the Florida Reef Tract, combat shoreline erosion, and boost biodiversity.

Nomad Artist Explores the Meaning of Home Through a London Exhibition

Illustrator Molly Maine, who has been traveling the world since 2016 while running her remote design studio, is opening her first solo exhibition in London. Titled "Nomad: Perspectives on Home in a Changing Japan," the show grew out of her experiences at the Colive Fukuoka conference and an artist residency in Kanazawa. During her time in Japan, Maine interviewed both earthquake evacuees from the Noto Peninsula and digital nomads who had relocated there, exploring contrasting experiences of displacement and belonging. The exhibition weaves together these voices through illustration commissions that examine what defines home.

How Australian Chefs and Farmers Are Rediscovering the Ingredients That Have Been There All Along

Author Bruce Pascoe and a new generation of Australian chefs are leading a movement to rediscover and commercialize native Indigenous ingredients like kangaroo grass, Kakadu plums, and wattleseeds. By revisiting historical archives and journals from 19th-century explorers, Pascoe’s research in his book *Dark Emu* challenges the colonial narrative that Indigenous Australians were solely nomadic hunter-gatherers, revealing instead a sophisticated history of permanent settlements, irrigation, and organized agriculture.