Art Basel has announced the thirty-three winners of its 2026 Art Basel Awards, recognizing individuals and institutions across nine categories. The winners include prominent artists like Arthur Jafa, Julie Mehretu, and Barbara Kruger, as well as institutions such as The Brick in Los Angeles and the Diriyah Biennale Foundation. A new jury member, Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, was also added for this edition.
The 2026 Venice Biennale, the 61st edition of the world's oldest and most prestigious contemporary art biennial, will run from May 9th to November 22nd, with previews from May 6th to 8th. Its central curated exhibition is titled "In Minor Keys," and it will be accompanied by a series of national pavilions.
Arch Hades will hold a breakfast conversation with ArtReview editor Fi Churchman on May 8, 2026, at the Scoletta Battioro e Tiraoro di Venezia in Venice. The event coincides with the opening of Hades's solo exhibition 'Return | Ritorno,' a major presentation of large-scale paintings, immersive sculptures, and installations supported by the Erarta Foundation during the Venice Biennale preview week.
The New York Times profiled Jenni Parido, the 37-year-old commissioner of the upcoming US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, who has no professional arts background and previously ran a luxury pet food store in Florida. She selected Jeffrey Uslip as curator, and artist Alma Allen will represent the US after other artists reportedly declined.
Mikala Tai has been appointed curator of the tenth TarraWarra Biennial, scheduled to run from July 31 to November 14, 2027, at the TarraWarra Museum of Art in Healesville, Australia. Tai is a Sydney-based curator, writer, and academic specializing in contemporary Australian and Asian art.
The ongoing US-Israel war on Iran has severely disrupted global art logistics, causing oil prices to surge and key shipping routes to close. Air freight costs for fine art have skyrocketed by 70% to 300%, and critical corridors like the Strait of Hormuz have become impassable, leaving exhibitions stranded at airports and shipments stuck at sea.
Seoul-based gallery Artcube 2R2 is launching a solo exhibition titled "Dignity: Accumulated Time" featuring the work of artist Oh Ji-yoon. The show focuses on her "Dignity" series, which utilizes a labor-intensive process of layering charcoal, gold, hanji paper, and pearls to explore themes of human existence and reflection. The exhibition is designed to coincide with the artist's consecutive invitations to the Venice Biennale, bringing the same body of work shown on the international stage to a domestic audience.
New Orleans-based conceptual artist Dawn DeDeaux is preparing for a career-defining presentation at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Selected by curator Dan Cameron and featured in the central exhibition "In Minor Keys," the 73-year-old artist will occupy the final room of the Arsenale. Her work, which spans photography, video, and large-scale installation, often explores existential themes, environmental fragility, and the relationship between the antique and the futuristic.
The 14th edition of the San Francisco Art Fair (SFAF) has launched with 88 exhibitors and a robust program of public projects and talks. A central highlight is the exhibition “The Sun Beneath,” curated by Mara Gladstone and featuring artist Jon Cuyson, which serves as a preview for their upcoming collaboration at the Philippine Pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale.
South Africa’s official pavilion at the Venice Biennale will remain empty this year following the government's abrupt cancellation of artist Gabrielle Goliath’s planned exhibition. The controversy erupted when Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie pulled the project just days before the deadline, labeling Goliath’s work "highly divisive" due to its inclusion of a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. Despite the official ban and a failed court challenge by the artist and curator, the work, titled *Elegy*, will now be staged independently at the Chiesa di Sant’Antonin nearby.