The Prizes

Los premios

Artist Gala Berger presents a three-act exhibition titled "Los premios" (The Prizes), which revisits the radical spirit of the 1968 Latin American avant-garde. The show specifically references two historic 1968 exhibitions at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires—the Georges Braque Prize and "Materials, new techniques, new expressions"—where artists staged protests involving egg-throwing, stink bombs, and manifestos against censorship and institutional tutelage.

‘Bill Viola. Unspoken’: PSI Foundation presents exhibition of works by video art pioneer

The PSI Foundation in Limassol, Cyprus, has announced a major exhibition titled “Bill Viola. Unspoken,” set to open in April 2026. Organized in collaboration with Bill Viola Studio and curated by Dimitri Ozerkov, the show features seminal video works including "The Greeting," "The Dreamers," and "Martyrs." The exhibition focuses on Viola’s use of slow motion and cyclical time to explore universal themes of birth, death, and human consciousness.

New York's New Museum Unveils $82 Million Expansion

The New Museum in Manhattan has officially unveiled its $82 million expansion, a transformative project designed by architects Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu. The renovation has doubled the institution's footprint, adding three levels of gallery space and a new 'public spine' featuring an atrium staircase. To mark the reopening, the museum launched 'New Humans: Memories of the Future,' a massive 732-object survey curated by Massimiliano Gioni that explores the intersection of art, visual culture, and emerging technologies like AI.

Bridgeport Gallery Hosts Emerging Artists, Brings in ‘Big Deal’ Curator for October Show

Artist Linda Colletta has transformed her studio practice within Bridgeport’s historic American Fabric Arts building, a former lace factory, by blending painting with labor-intensive weaving. Drawing inspiration from the site’s industrial history and the teachings of Bauhaus artist Anni Albers, Colletta repurposes drop cloths and tears apart her own canvases to weave them back together. Her recent work explores the materiality of paint and the concept of "Thought Forms," a visual language for emotions influenced by early 20th-century Theosophy.

One of the fairs during Milan Art Week will be open until midnight (and you can even have dinner there)

Una delle fiere in corso a Milano durante questa Art Week sarà visitabile fino a mezzanotte (e ci puoi anche cenare)

MEGA Art Fair has announced an unconventional schedule for its third edition during Milan Art Week 2026, extending its opening hours until midnight. Located in the former Esperis perfume factory known as PROFUMO, the fair will occupy over 3,000 square meters of industrial space. The event features a multidisciplinary public program and a unique "sensory dinner" titled The Perfume Table, which translates the olfactory structure of perfumes into a gastronomic experience set among artworks.

Russia and Israel cannot win any prizes at the next Venice Art Biennale 2026. The jury takes a stand

Russia e Israele non potranno vincere nessun premio alla prossima Biennale Arte di Venezia 2026. La giuria prende posizione

The international jury for the 61st Venice Biennale, led by Solange Farkas, has unanimously declared it will not consider countries whose leaders are currently accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. This means Russia and Israel are excluded from competing for the Golden Lion awards, including Best National Participation and Best Artist. The jury's statement, published on e-Flux Notes, emphasizes the Biennale's historical role as a platform connecting art with contemporary urgencies and acknowledges the complex relationship between artistic practice and state representation.

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.

À Florence, une touriste poursuivie pour avoir endommagé la fontaine de Neptune

In Florence, Italy, a 28-year-old tourist is being prosecuted for damaging the historic Neptune Fountain during a bachelorette party on the night of April 18-19. She allegedly climbed the monument on Piazza della Signoria after a dare from friends to touch the statue's intimate parts, causing an estimated €5,000 in damages to the horses' legs and a decorative frieze. This follows a similar incident in September 2023, when a 22-year-old German tourist caused €5,000 in damage to the same fountain while posing for photos.

Venice Biennale previews in chaos as war follows art into world's oldest exhibition

The Venice Biennale previewed its 61st edition in chaos on Tuesday, marked by the unprecedented resignation of its jury over the participation of Israel and Russia. Ukrainian artists displayed a statue of an origami deer from the war-torn eastern front, while Russian pavilion participants danced to house music and Palestinians marched wearing the names of artists killed in Gaza. The jury had stated it would not award prizes to countries under International Criminal Court investigation, singling out Russia and Israel, and its resignation has thrown the exhibition's structure into question.

At the 2026 Venice Biennale, pavilions shut down for pro-Palestine strike. The map of protests

Alla Biennale di Venezia 2026 serrata dei padiglioni per sciopero pro Palestina. La mappa delle proteste

On May 8, 2026, the third VIP preview day of the 61st Venice Biennale, a massive strike shut down numerous national pavilions and disrupted the exhibition. Led by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (Anga), the protest demands Israel's exclusion from the Biennale over allegations of genocide in Palestine, and also targets poor labor conditions in the cultural sector. Pavilions closed one after another due to staff shortages, and protest posters appeared around artworks at the Giardini and Arsenale. The strike involved the Biennale Foundation itself, along with about twenty contractors managing services and national pavilions, with unions Adl Cobas, USB Lavoro privato, and Cub supporting the action. Tensions rose when the UK Pavilion reportedly replaced striking staff to remain open, and the Foundation issued a statement falsely denying that its employees were covered by the strike.

Delicacy as Resistance. Interview with the Curator of the Turkey Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

La delicatezza come resistenza. Intervista alla curatrice del Padiglione Turchia alla Biennale di Venezia

For the 2026 Venice Biennale, the Turkey Pavilion, commissioned by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), will present "A Kiss on the Eyes" by artist Nilbar Güreş, curated by Başak Doğa Temür. The exhibition takes its title from a Turkish expression conveying affectionate closeness without intrusion, and features a mix of new productions and earlier works spanning sculpture, installation, painting, and works on paper and fabric. In an interview, curator Temür explains that the project avoids a retrospective or didactic approach, instead creating a spatial rhythm of approach, pause, and slight withdrawal, where intimacy, politics, irony, and fragility press against one another.

Curiosities at the 2026 Venice Biennale: the Tanzania Pavilion is full of Italian artists

Curiosità alla Biennale di Venezia 2026: il Padiglione della Tanzania è pieno di artisti italiani

The Tanzania Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "Minor Frequencies: The Inner Life of a Nation," features a significant number of Italian artists alongside Tanzanian voices. Curated by Lorna Benedict Mashiba and Martina Cavallarin, the exhibition is housed across the Gervasuti Foundation, Palazzo Canova, and Supernova in Cannaregio. It includes works by 14 Italian artists such as Alice Andreoli, Christian Balzano, and Silvia Canton, as well as artists from Europe and Asia, while centering the practices of Tanzanian artists like Turakella Editha Gyindo, Lazaro Samuel, Valerie Asiimwe Amani, and Amani Abeid.

Pussy Riot and FEMEN protest at the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. "Blood is the true language of Russia"

Le Pussy Riot e le FEMEN in protesta al Padiglione russo alla Biennale di Venezia. “Il sangue è il vero linguaggio della Russia”

On May 6, 2026, during the preview days of the 61st Venice Biennale, Pussy Riot and FEMEN staged a joint protest outside the Russian Pavilion. Led by Nadya Tolokonnikova, the activists denounced Russia's participation in the Biennale as a form of political normalization while the war in Ukraine continues. The action included chants and slogans such as "Russia kills, Biennale exhibits. Blood is Russia's art," and targeted the Russian ambassador present inside the pavilion. The protest was unannounced and caught Biennale security off guard, drawing a crowd of journalists, visitors, and art professionals.

Il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale? “Deve essere uno spazio di possibilità”. Intervista alla curatrice

The article announces Chiara Camoni's project "Con te con tutto" for the Italian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, curated by Cecilia Canziani. The project emphasizes relational and communal practices, rejecting the identity-driven rhetoric of national representation. It stems from a fifteen-year dialogue between artist and curator, incorporating workshops, shared readings, and collaborative works like "La Giusta Misura." The pavilion is conceived as an ecosystem of artworks, texts, and activations rather than a linear exhibition, with a catalog designed as a critical reader.

The Works of Alfredo Pirri for the Very First Exhibition of the Polytropon Arts Center in Tuscany

Le opere di Alfredo Pirri per la primissima mostra del Polytropon Arts Center in Toscana

The Polytropon Arts Center, founded by Greek-born architect Maria Papadaki Badanjak, opens its inaugural exhibition "Quello che avanza" featuring works by Italian artist Alfredo Pirri. The venue, a converted former spinning mill located between Pelago and Pontassieve near Florence, hosts the show through June 21, 2025. The exhibition includes 144 cyanotypes created between 2014 and 2017, along with Pirri's "Arie" series in plexiglass, crystal, feathers, and colors. The show is accompanied by a musical program curated by artistic director Andrea Cavallari, with concerts scheduled for May 17 and June 21. Pirri and Cavallari previously collaborated in 2019 at the Museo Novecento in Florence as part of the "Firenze Suona Contemporanea" festival.

The Great Festival of Contemporary Creativity in Parma Celebrates Its First 10 Years: The Events to See

Il grande festival di Parma sulla creatività contemporanea festeggia i suoi primi 10 anni: gli eventi da vedere

The Parma 360 Festival, a major contemporary creativity festival in Parma, Italy, celebrates its tenth edition with the theme "Lux. Visioni sulla Luce" (Lux: Visions of Light). Curated by Chiara Canali and Camilla Mineo, the festival features five exhibitions across special city locations, transforming Parma into a diffuse museum. Highlights include Antonio Barrese's "Morphology Light. Viaggio nella forma della luce" at Galleria San Ludovico, exploring light as plastic matter, and Michael Kenna's photographic exhibition "Il fiume Po. Scritture di luce" at Palazzo Pigorini, capturing the Po River through contemplative black-and-white imagery. Over its nine previous editions (2016–2025), the festival has presented more than 70 official exhibitions and involved over 200 artists.

Rome and its visions in contemporary photography: from Carbone to De Angelis, to Hervé Gloaguen

Roma e le sue visioni nella fotografia contemporanea: da Carbone a De Angelis, fino a Hervé Gloaguen

The article critiques a recent trend in contemporary photography of Rome, exemplified by a 2020 exhibition at the Mattatoio (Nuove produzioni 2020 per la collezione Roma) that presented black-and-white images reducing the urban landscape to a dark, lifeless mass. The author contrasts this with a personal photograph of a horse taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, which captures Rome's periphery with warmth and specificity, and praises the 2024 exhibition "Roma 1975, città, volti e storie dell'anno giubilare" featuring photojournalist Fabio De Angelis's rediscovered work as a vital counterpoint.

“Yellow Letters”: arte e politica, libertà e censura nel nuovo film di İlker Çatak

Ilker Çatak's fifth film, "Yellow Letters," premieres on April 30, 2026, distributed by Lucky Red. The story follows Derya and Aziz, a Turkish artist couple whose lives unravel after Aziz, a professor at Ankara University, receives a "yellow letter" terminating his employment. The film, inspired by post-2016 coup purges in Turkey, shifts to Berlin and Hamburg, where the director deliberately avoids mimicking Turkish locations, instead using explicit captions like "Berlin as Ankara" to create a Brechtian alienation effect. Çatak explores how arbitrary state repression fractures personal relationships and moral boundaries, drawing on interviews with artists who faced unjust dismissals.

Loved by the public, but not by art critics. Jack Vettriano on show in Rome (interview with the curator)

Amato dal pubblico, ma non dai critici d’arte. Jack Vettriano in mostra a Roma (intervista alla curatrice)

A major retrospective exhibition of Scottish painter Jack Vettriano has opened at Palazzo Velli in Rome. The show, which originated in Bologna at Palazzo Pallavicini, was transformed into a posthumous retrospective following the artist's death in March 2025. It features both original oil paintings and high-quality, limited-edition reproductions on museum paper, a curatorial choice made by Vettriano himself to make his work more accessible.

Israeli Pavilion Artist Made Legal Threats Before Venice Biennale Jury Resigned

New reports reveal that Israeli Pavilion artist Belu-Simion Fainaru issued legal threats against the Venice Biennale, alleging antisemitism and discrimination after the awards jury decided to exclude Israel and Russia from consideration due to human rights charges. The jury, which included Elvira Dyangani Ose, Zoe Butt, Marta Kuzma, Giovanna Zapperi, and Solange Farkas, initially stated on April 22 it would not consider nations whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Fainaru filed legal warnings with the Biennale, the Italian Ministry of Culture, and the Prime Minister's office. The jury abruptly resigned eight days later, leading the Biennale to scrap the Golden Lion awards and institute "Visitor Lions" decided by public vote. Reports indicate the Biennale's legal department warned jurors could be personally liable for damages, and Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli promised to promote Fainaru's work.

Venice Biennale Scraps “Golden Lion” Awards as Turmoil Continues

The 61st Venice Biennale has scrapped its traditional Golden Lion awards, replacing them with public-voted “Visitor Lions” after the entire award jury resigned on April 30. The jury had previously announced its intention to exclude countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, effectively targeting Russia and Israel. The Biennale Foundation, however, stated that all official national pavilions—including Russia and Israel—will be eligible for the new Visitor Lions, citing principles of inclusion and equal treatment. The awards ceremony has been moved from May 9 to November 22, the final day of the Biennale, to allow ticket holders to vote throughout the event.

What Artists Sign Away

Artist and writer Sarah Hotchkiss recounts two personal experiences where galleries and residency programs used standard contracts to limit artists' rights. In the first, a new gallery refused to shorten a six-month consignment period after an exhibition, leaving her work in "contractual limbo" where she would owe the gallery half of any sale even if she found the buyer herself. In the second, a residency required her to waive moral rights under the Visual Artists Rights Act, protections that allow artists to prevent distortion and control attribution of their work.

Dismantling Orbán's 16-Year Grip on Hungary's Art World

Following the recent electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition by the opposition party Tisza, the Hungarian art world faces a monumental task of institutional restoration. For 16 years, the regime’s 'System of National Cooperation' (NER) systematically co-opted cultural institutions, installing loyalists in leadership roles at major venues like the Kunsthalle and Ludwig Museum to promote an ethno-nationalist agenda. This period was marked by the exodus of independent curators, the occupation of museums by activists, and a fractured ecosystem where state funding was tied to political compliance.

Mexican Artist Alleges Plagiarism of Femicide Project

Mexican artist Elina Chauvet has accused Romanian news anchor Alessandra Stoicescu of plagiarizing her famous installation, "Zapatos Rojos" (Red Shoes). The dispute arose after Stoicescu organized a public intervention titled "Dragostea poartă pantofii roșii" outside the Romanian Athenaeum to mark new femicide legislation, featuring hundreds of red shoes in a manner nearly identical to Chauvet’s long-running global project. Chauvet claims this is the second time Stoicescu has co-opted her work without authorization or credit, following a similar incident in 2018.

The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho opens up new art exhibition this Friday

The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho in Rexburg will open a new exhibition titled "Sacred Spaces: Visions of the West from the Prosaic to the Sublime" this Friday. The show features works by six contemporary artists from Idaho and Utah—David Dibble, Bryan Mark Taylor, Josh Clare, Allie Zeyer, Louisa Lorenz, and Carson Thompson—primarily in oil paintings, alongside historic farm photographs from the Museum of Idaho and private collection photos from executive director Alexa Stanger. Free public events include an Art Walk on Thursday, an opening reception on Friday with an audio tour featuring artists' voices, and art demos with a Q&A on Saturday.

‘Southeast Exchange’: New La Jolla mural showcases findings at Texas discount store

Artist Lizzie Zelter has installed a new large-scale mural titled "Southeast Exchange" in La Jolla, California, as part of the Murals of La Jolla public art initiative. The composition is based on the artist's observations of a discount store in Brownsville, Texas, featuring a dense array of consumer goods and reflective surfaces that explore themes of domestic arrangement and cultural artifacts. The work is designed to be read from right to left, mimicking the flow of pedestrian traffic and challenging traditional visual perspectives.

Pavilions of the Venice Biennale go on strike

Pavillons der Venedig-Biennale werden bestreikt

Cultural workers and participants of the Venice Biennale went on strike on Friday, protesting Israel's participation in the art exhibition. Organized by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) alongside several cultural groups and Italian grassroots unions, the 24-hour walkout led to the closure of several national pavilions on the final preview day. A rally was planned near the Arsenale grounds. The strike aims to oppose the "normalization of genocide in culture" and poor working conditions at the Biennale, following an earlier open letter signed by over 230 artists and curators demanding the exclusion of the Israeli pavilion. Israel is represented by sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, who opposes cultural boycotts and advocates for dialogue. The Biennale's leadership has distanced itself from the strike, emphasizing adherence to regulations and support for freedom of speech and pluralism.

Mexico faces sales of pre-Columbian art

Le Mexique face aux ventes d’art précolombien

The Mexican government is facing ongoing legal and diplomatic hurdles in its attempts to halt the sale of pre-Columbian artifacts in Paris. Despite formal protests from the Mexican embassy citing national heritage laws from 1827, auction houses like Millon continue to proceed with sales, generating millions in revenue. French authorities and legal experts maintain that Mexican national laws do not supersede French jurisdiction, which largely adheres to the 1970 UNESCO Convention regarding the illicit import and export of cultural property.

The Musée de La Poste becomes the "Musée Postal" once again

Le musée de La Poste redevient le « musée postal »

The Musée de La Poste in Paris has rebranded itself as the "Musée Postal," reclaiming its original 1946 name as it approaches its 80th anniversary. Alongside a new visual identity featuring a blue and white "M" logo, the institution is shifting its focus from a strictly corporate museum to a "museum of society" with a more universal outlook. Under the leadership of director Guillaume Goy, the museum aims to modernize its permanent collection and recover its pre-pandemic attendance figures, targeting 150,000 annual visitors.

Under pressure, the Venice Biennale jury resigns and is replaced by a public vote

Sous pression, le jury de la Biennale de Venise démissionne et est remplacé par un vote du public

On April 30, just days before the Venice Biennale's public opening on May 9, the entire international jury responsible for awarding the Golden and Silver Lions resigned. The jury—comprising Solange Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi—had been caught in a escalating controversy after Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco reinstated Russia, which had been excluded since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The European Union threatened to suspend or cancel its €2 million subsidy if Russia remained included. The jury attempted to exclude countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court arrest warrants, effectively targeting Russia and Israel, but ultimately resigned under pressure from both external diplomatic turmoil and internal institutional opposition to any discrimination between pavilions.