The Essential Works of Rirkrit Tiravanija

ArtAsiaPacific profiles Rirkrit Tiravanija, a pioneering figure in relational aesthetics known for participatory works centered on communal dining and shared rituals. The article traces his career from his first solo exhibition "untitled 1990 (pad thai)" at Paula Allen Gallery in New York, where he cooked and served pad thai to visitors, to his current major retrospective "The House That Jack Built" at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, running through July 26. Tiravanija, born in Buenos Aires in 1961 and raised across multiple countries, has received numerous accolades including the Hugo Boss Prize (2004) and a nomination in the Established Artist category at the 2026 Art Basel Awards. He is also preparing to present a tent-like structure at the Qatari pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale, featuring contributions by Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Atoui, Alia Farid, and Fadi Kattan.

Re-Air: The Young Painter Curators Are Rushing to Work With

Artnet News resurfaces an interview with painter Taína H. Cruz, who is featured in both the Whitney Biennial and MoMA PS1's Greater New York exhibition. Cruz, born in 1998 and a recent MFA graduate from Yale School of Painting, creates moody paintings often depicting Black female figures, drawing on African American and Caribbean folklore, horror, fantasy, and personal imagery. The interview, conducted by Ben Davis, explores her influences and her response to the sudden surge of attention from major institutions.

How Janette Beckman Captured Music History in Real Time

A new exhibition at Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) titled 'Rebels + Icons: The Photography of Janette Beckman' showcases over 500 images by British photographer Janette Beckman, spanning four decades. The show features her early, pre-fame portraits of music and cultural icons including Public Enemy, Joe Strummer, Keith Haring, Salt-N-Pepa, and John Lydon, captured at the dawn of punk and hip-hop movements. Beckman, who began her career photographing unknown punk bands for Melody Maker, also documented the first hip-hop show in London in 1982, capturing figures like Fab 5 Freddy and Afrika Bambaataa before they became legends. The retrospective includes her fashion work and street photography, highlighting her ability to gain trust quickly with subjects.

From The Sheep Detectives to Rivals: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

This week's entertainment guide from The Guardian includes a major outdoor sculpture exhibition of Henry Moore's monumental works at Kew Gardens, running from May 9, 2026 to January 31, 2027. The show features 30 of Moore's sculptures in the largest-ever presentation of outdoor works by the English modernist. Additionally, Parham Ghalamdar presents a solo exhibition of post-apocalyptic ceramic and glass works at Blenheim Walk Gallery in Leeds, and Photo London, the UK's leading photography fair, returns for its 11th year, moving to Kensington Olympia after a decade at Somerset House.

Next stop – infinity! My transcendental experience on Japan’s ‘art island’ guided by its master Lee Ufan

The article profiles Korean-born artist Lee Ufan, who turns 90 next month, and his transcendental art on Japan's Naoshima island. It describes his upcoming major shows: a retrospective in Venice coinciding with the Biennale, and an exhibition at Dia Beacon in New York. Lee, a key figure in the Mono-ha movement, creates works like the steel arch "Porte Vers l'Infini" on Naoshima that engage with nature and perception. The piece traces his career from early violent, resistant sculptures involving cracked glass and boulders to later meditative paintings and installations.

The Interview: Ei Arakawa-Nash

Ei Arakawa-Nash, a Japanese American performance artist, was selected to represent Japan at the 61st Venice Biennale, becoming the first non-Japanese national to do so in a solo presentation. This follows his first solo museum exhibition, "Paintings Are Popstars," at Tokyo's National Art Center in 2024, which was also the center's first solo show devoted to a performance artist. In an interview with ArtReview, Arakawa-Nash discusses his naturalization as a U.S. citizen, his complex relationship with national identity, and his upcoming Venice exhibition titled "Grass Babies, Moon Babies," cocurated by Lisa Horikawa and Takahashi Mizuki, which will explore themes of care and reparation using babies as a central motif.

Remembering Desmond Morris, James Hayward, and Flo Oy Wong

This week's obituaries mark the passing of several significant figures in the visual arts. They include British surrealist painter and zoologist Desmond Morris, known for his 'biomorph' paintings and experiments with chimpanzee art; West Coast monochrome abstractionist James Hayward, who developed a cult following for his thickly painted canvases; and Chinese American artist Flo Oy Wong, a foundational storyteller of Oakland's Chinatown and the Asian American experience. Also remembered are assemblage artist Aldwyth, Ethiopian painter and educator Behailu Bezabih, Anglo-Irish conservator and designer Alec Cobbe, Bangladeshi art director Tarun Ghosh, and New Mexico painter Michael Hurd.

Joan Semmel & Rama Duwaji

MoMA PS1 has opened its major quinquennial exhibition "Greater New York," a sprawling survey featuring early-career artists based in the city. The show, which fills three floors of the former public school, is noted for its gritty, immersive portrayal of contemporary New York life, capturing everyday textures from delivery drivers to urban wildlife.

Difficult search for new culture senator in Berlin

Schwierige Suche nach neuem Kultursenator in Berlin

Berlin's culture senator Sarah Wedl-Wilson resigned on Friday after a state audit found that her allocation of anti-Semitism prevention funds was unlawful. The CDU politician is being succeeded by former justice senator and Bundestag member Thomas Heilmann (CDU), who is reportedly the favorite for the post. Heilmann, 61, studied law, ran a successful advertising firm, and served as Berlin's justice senator from 2012 to 2016 before sitting in the Bundestag from 2017 to 2025. Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has not yet made a final decision, but transport senator Ute Bonde publicly endorsed Heilmann, citing his experience with Berlin's administration.

Georg Baselitz (1938-2026)

Georg Baselitz, born Hans-Georg Kern in 1938, has died at age 88. The German painter and sculptor, who changed his name in 1961, built a career on aesthetic dissent. Expelled from art school in East Berlin, he first gained notoriety with a 1963 exhibition at Galerie Werner and Katz in Berlin, where two works were seized for obscenity. His signature gesture—inverting his images, beginning with "Der Wald auf dem Kopf" in 1969—became his most recognizable trademark, shifting focus from subject to the act of painting itself. Baselitz also produced significant sculptures, often carved with a chainsaw and axe, and his work was the subject of major retrospectives at the Centre Pompidou (2021-2022) and the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (2011-2012).

In Venice, the Monumental Farewell of Georg Baselitz at the Cini Foundation

À Venise, l’adieu monumental de Georg Baselitz à la fondation Cini

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini on Venice's San Giorgio Maggiore island has opened "Georg Baselitz. Eroi d'Oro," an exhibition of the late German artist's final works, just one week after his death in 2026. The show, presented alongside the Venice Biennale, features monumental self-portraits and portraits of his wife Elke, painted over gold-leaf backgrounds. Created in the last two years of his life, these works represent Baselitz's ultimate creative gesture, synthesizing six decades of experimentation with his signature inverted figures and expressionist color, supported by Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac.

Naked jetskiers, giant bells and a celebrity seagull! Venice Biennale’s wildest moments – in pictures

The Guardian presents a photo essay capturing the most eccentric and memorable moments from the 61st Venice Biennale, running until 22 November 2026. Photographer David Levene documents installations including a concrete 'Origami Deer' evacuated from war-torn Pokrovsk, Ukraine, by artist Zhanna Kadyrova; a seagull that became a minor celebrity after nesting outside the Polish pavilion; and the Holy See pavilion's immersive sound installation curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers. Other highlights include the Egyptian pavilion's touch-and-smell 'Silence Pavilion' and a Polish pavilion film featuring deaf and hearing singers.

Catherine Opie “To Be Seen” at National Portrait Gallery, London

The National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting "Catherine Opie: To Be Seen," the first major UK museum exhibition dedicated to the American photographer. The show brings together over 80 photographs spanning 30 years of Opie's career, exploring themes of social, political, and individual identity through studio portraiture, environmental studies, and documentary images.

The Interview: Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh discusses his new film *The Christophers* (2025), which follows a cantankerous artist and his young assistant tasked with forging his unfinished works, exploring themes of authorship, originality, and the ethics of art-making. In an interview with ArtReview, Soderbergh also addresses his recent use of AI in a documentary about John Lennon, defending the technology as a creative tool akin to his own filmmaking process, and reflects on his career spanning genres from indie dramas to studio blockbusters.

Ed Ruscha | Billy (1968) | Art & Prints

Ed Ruscha's 1968 exhibition catalogue 'Billy', designed for a show of works by his friend Billy Al Bengston, is being offered for sale. The catalogue features a flocked sandpaper cover, satin ribbon bookmark, and machine screw and hex nut binding, and was published by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for an exhibition that traveled to the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Vancouver Art Gallery. The work is listed on an art marketplace platform with a price of €62,600, and the listing includes details about its condition, provenance, and the artist's broader career.

art artist couples eric firestone gallery

A new exhibition titled “Couples” at Eric Firestone Gallery in New York features the work of 26 artist-partners, exploring how they navigate material, color, and form in complementary ways. The show runs through May 2. CULTURED magazine brought together five duos from the exhibition to answer questions about mixing professional and personal lives, with each artist responding without seeing their partner’s answers. Featured couples include Caitlin Lonegan and Spencer Lewis, who discuss topics such as sharing studios, jealousy, and role models like Charline von Heyl and Christopher Wool.

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Author of Uncategorizable Abstractions, Dies at 84

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, an activist, educator, and artist known for her monumental lampblack paintings that expanded the possibilities of abstraction, died on May 10 in Mérida, Mexico, at age 84. Despite a six-decade career, she was long considered an "artist's artist" before gaining international acclaim in recent years, with major exhibitions at Mnuchin Gallery, Marianne Boesky Gallery, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and inclusion in the 2024 Whitney Biennial and the 2025 group show "Paris Noir" at the Centre Pompidou.

Michelle Blade Transforms Everyday California Scenes Into Luminous Reveries

Los Angeles-based painter Michelle Blade is presenting her first solo show with Night Gallery in Los Angeles, titled "It's About Time." The exhibition features a new body of work focused on still lifes and landscapes from around her home, captured at different hours of the day. Using acrylic and ink on cotton poplin with a wet-on-wet technique, Blade creates luminous, shimmering compositions that blend memory, perception, and projections of the future. The show follows her recent solo exhibition at the Powerlong Museum in Shanghai and her inclusion in the group show "Superbloom" at Night Gallery.

An Alexander Calder Retrospective in Paris Underscores His Inventiveness

A major retrospective of Alexander Calder's work is currently on view at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, marking the 100th anniversary of the artist's arrival in the city. The exhibition, running through August 16, 2026, presents a comprehensive overview of his career, featuring sculptures, drawings, archival material, and jewelry that highlight his innovative fusion of engineering and abstraction.

‘I can use it, I can abuse it’: Tony Albert spent decades collecting racist ‘Aboriginalia’. Now he wants to turn yours into art

Tony Albert, a 45-year-old artist of Girramay, Yidinji, and Kuku-Yalanji heritage, has spent decades collecting thousands of objects he terms 'Aboriginalia'—kitsch, caricatured, and often racist depictions of Aboriginal people created by non-Indigenous Australians. His solo exhibition 'Not a Souvenir' opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Sydney on 21 May, showcasing over 3,000 items from his collection alongside transformed artworks. The MCA is inviting the public to donate additional Aboriginalia items to Albert's collection, which is housed in his Brisbane studio.

‘America’s Mona Lisa’: how chance, genius and cheap paint made the masterpiece Whistler’s Mother

James Abbott McNeill Whistler's iconic painting of his mother, Anna, known as 'Whistler’s Mother' or 'Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1', is returning to London for the first time in nearly two generations as part of a Tate Britain exhibition. The article recounts how the portrait was painted in 1871 in Whistler's Chelsea studio during a low point in his career, using cheap paint and a used canvas after a young sitter canceled. The author, who restored the painting for the Musée d'Orsay, details the work's accidental genesis, Whistler's radical minimalist aesthetic, and the initial critical confusion it caused.

Damien Hirst | Hands in Prayer (Coral) (2010) | For Sale

This article is a sales listing for Damien Hirst's sculpture "Hands in Prayer (Coral)" (2010), a limited-edition bronze work from his series "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable." The piece is offered by Kristy Stubbs Gallery in Dallas, Texas, priced at $225,000. The listing includes details about the work's materials, dimensions, edition number (2/3), and condition, along with a biography of Hirst highlighting his career as a Young British Artist, his major exhibitions at institutions like Tate Modern and the National Gallery of Art, and his record-breaking auction sales.

First Look: See What’s Inside the Met Gala’s “Costume Art” Exhibition

Vanity Fair art and style correspondents Nate Freeman and José Criales-Unzueta preview the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring exhibition "Costume Art," which inaugurates the Condé M. Nast Galleries. The exhibition arrives amid controversy over the Met Gala being sponsored by Lauren Sánchez Bezos and Jeff Bezos, leading to boycott calls and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani skipping the event. Despite this, Anna Wintour and Met director Max Hollein announced the gala raised a record $42 million. Head curator Andrew Bolton presents fashion as art, pairing garments with artworks like Warhol's Skull and Sarah Lucas's Nud Cycladic 9.

Ed Ruscha | Ed Ruscha - Reading Ed Ruscha (Hand Signed by Ed Ruscha) (2012) | Available for Sale

A hand-signed offset lithograph poster by Ed Ruscha, created for the 2012 "Reading Ruscha" exhibition at the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria, is available for sale. The poster features an iconic 1971 photograph of the artist by Jerry McMillan and is noted for its rarity, with Ruscha having signed fewer than 50 copies for the institution.

Tate announces 2026 Turner Prize shortlist.

Tate Britain has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Turner Prize, featuring artists Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku. Each shortlisted artist receives £10,000 ($13,500), and their work will be exhibited at Teesside University’s Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) in North England from September 26, 2026 to March 29, 2027. The winner, to be announced at an awards ceremony at MIMA on December 10, 2026, will receive £25,000 ($33,760).

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan Named Director of Smithsonian American Art Museum

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan has been appointed as the new director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, DC, effective September 8. She returns to SAAM, where she began her career and later served as chief curator, from her current position as executive director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. She succeeds acting director Jane Carpenter-Rock, who will remain as deputy director.

Horst Antes at 90: Major Shows Celebrate German New Figuration Pioneer

German artist Horst Antes, born in 1936, is being celebrated with two major exhibitions timed to his 90th birthday. Galerie Koch in Hannover presents a solo show titled “Horst Antes: Exhibition Marking the Artist’s 90th Birthday,” while the Sprengel Museum Hannover concurrently mounts “A Collection,” featuring roughly 80 works from its holdings. The shows highlight Antes’s pioneering role in New Figuration, particularly his iconic “Kopffüßler” (Head-Footer) character, which appears across paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from 1969 to 2014. The Galerie Koch exhibition also foregrounds his “House Pictures,” which explore architecture through non-hierarchical color planes and ambiguous perspective.

A Londra si allestisce un’installazione di Christo e Jeanne-Claude che non si era mai vista prima

An unprecedented installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, titled "Air Package on a Ceiling," is being exhibited for the first time at Gagosian's Grosvenor Hill space in London, opening May 21, 2026. The work was originally conceived in 1968 for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia but never realized due to technical constraints. It was rediscovered in 2018 when Lorenza Giovanelli, Christo's former studio manager, found a detailed scale model hidden inside a pedestal. The exhibition also includes early works such as "Wrapped Automobile—Volvo, Model PV-544" (1981), not seen in thirty years, alongside preparatory drawings and collages.

Behind every great artist... there is a great gallery. A look at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Dietro ogni grande artista… c’è una grande galleria. Un punto sulla Biennale Arte 2026

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" (May 9 – November 22, 2026), features over 90% living artists, a significant shift from recent editions focused on historical rediscoveries. Curated by the late Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025), the first African woman to lead the Biennale, the exhibition includes 111 artists, with a majority of women (64 vs. 48 men) and the highest percentage of African-born artists ever (20%). Notable participants include Nick Cave, Carsten Höller, Alfredo Jaar, and Kader Attia, with a focus on mid-career and established figures rather than emerging or deceased artists.

Remembering Raghu Rai, Jack Thornell, and Jarvis Rockwell

Hyperallergic's weekly 'In Memoriam' column honors eight recently deceased figures from the art world, including Indian photojournalist Raghu Rai (1942–2026), Argentine abstract painter Ides Kihlen (1917–2026), Israeli painter and activist Yair Garbuz (1945–2026), British photographer Mark Gerson (1921–2026), Japanese art collector Kurt Gitter (1937–2026), Danish antiquities dealer Ittai Gradel (1965–2026), indigo textile artist Leigh Magar (1968–2026), and Kenyan muralist Patrick Mukabi (1967–2026). Each entry summarizes their life, career highlights, and contributions to visual art and photography.