Ripple: Furniture Sculpture and Painting after 1982

David Kordansky Gallery is presenting "Ripple: Furniture Sculpture and Painting after 1982," an exhibition of historic works by Swiss artist John Armleder, on view from May 7 to June 13, 2026. The show focuses on Armleder's Furniture Sculpture series from the 1980s, which incorporates functional or decorative objects alongside paintings, exploring the intersection of art, design, and everyday life. Works like FS 156 (1987) and Untitled (FS) (1987) exemplify his interest in collectivity, chance, and the viewer's role in assigning meaning, influenced by experiences such as a prison stint for refusing conscription and his time on a rowing team, as well as the experimental compositions of Erik Satie and John Cage's writings on chance.

At MAXXI L'Aquila, exhibition dedicated to Ai Weiwei recounts catastrophes and memory

From April 29 to September 6, 2026, MAXXI L'Aquila presents "AI WEIWEI: Aftershock," an exhibition curated by Tim Marlow featuring approximately seventy works by Chinese artist, architect, and activist Ai Weiwei. The show spans his entire career, focusing on themes of earthquakes, wars, political repression, and memory. The centerpiece is the installation "Straight" (2009–2012), made from 150 tons of steel rods recovered from schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, displayed across three rooms. The exhibition is held at Palazzo Ardinghelli, a Baroque building that houses MAXXI L'Aquila and was itself restored after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, creating a dialogue between the works and the building's history of recovery.

Sound-based Holy See pavilion opens at Venice Biennale as Vatican’s contemporary art ambitions grow

The Holy See's pavilion at the Venice Biennale has opened, featuring a sound-based exhibition titled "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul" (9 May–22 November). The show, inspired by the medieval Benedictine nun Saint Hildegard of Bingen, includes commissioned audio works by high-profile artists and musicians such as Brian Eno, FKA Twigs, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, and Precious Okoyomon. The exhibition takes place across two Venetian sites—the Mystical Garden of the Discalced Carmelite and the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice complex—and is co-organized by Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery, and curator Ben Vickers, in collaboration with Soundwalk Collective.

At the Venice Biennale, Koyo Kouoh’s ‘In Minor Keys’ Looks Deeply at Lush Gardens and a Scarred Earth

Koyo Kouoh's exhibition 'In Minor Keys' at the 2026 Venice Biennale centers on the practices of two deceased artists, Issa Samb and Beverly Buchanan, whose ways of thinking animate the show through dedicated 'Shrines' in the Central Pavilion. The exhibition also draws on Marcel Duchamp's legacy, featuring works by over a dozen contemporary artists including Akinbode Akinbiyi, Guadalupe Rosales, Natalia Lassalle-Morillo, Guadalupe Maravilla, Sofía Gallisá Muriente, and Avi Mograbi, whose installation 'Between a River and a Sea' contrasts pre-1948 business directories with a 2023 Gaza Yellow Pages. A section called 'The Schools' highlights artist-run spaces such as Denniston Hill, Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation, blaxTARLINES, and the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute.

Venice Biennale’s 2026 Golden Lion Jury to Be Led by Videobrasil Founder

The Venice Biennale has announced the five-member jury for its 2026 edition, which will award the prestigious Golden Lion prizes. The jury president is Solange Oliveira Farkas, founder of the Videobrasil Biennial, and she will be joined by curators and academics Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi.

Agnes Gryczkowska Discusses Curating Marina Abramović’s New Berlin Mega Show

Marina Abramović has opened a major solo exhibition, "Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition," at Berlin's Gropius Bau, marking her first solo show in the city since the 1990s. The expansive presentation features historical and recent works across film, installation, sculpture, and live performance, focusing on themes of ritual, eroticism, death, and the body as a site of political and spiritual intensity. The opening included a live performance by Svetlana Spajić and a video work, Tito’s Funeral (2025).

Toronto Biennial takes waterways as inspiration for its fourth edition

The Toronto Biennial of Art has announced the details for its fourth edition, titled "Things Fall Apart," scheduled to run from September 26 to December 20. Curated by Allison Glenn, the exhibition will feature 30 artists and collectives, including Kent Monkman, Rebecca Belmore, and Dawoud Bey, with a heavy emphasis on new commissions. For the first time, the biennial is expanding its footprint beyond the Greater Toronto Area to include partnerships with institutions across Canada and international sites like Times Square in New York and the Anchorage Museum in Alaska.

Our Critics Disagree on MoMA PS1’s Greater New York, a Wide-Ranging Survey Defined by a Fascination with Fragility

MoMA PS1 has launched the sixth edition of Greater New York, its signature quinquennial survey featuring 53 artists living and working across the city's five boroughs. Marking the institution’s 50th anniversary, this iteration was organized entirely by the museum’s internal curatorial staff rather than outside contributors. The exhibition moves away from the introspective, surrealist themes of the pandemic-era 2021 edition, focusing instead on the social fabric of the city and the systemic challenges facing its residents.

5 Standout Shows to See at Small Galleries in May 2026

Artsy Editorial highlights five standout exhibitions at small and rising galleries for May 2026. Among them is British-born, Amsterdam-based painter K. T. Kobel's first major Swiss show, "Hand, Body, Object, Sin," at Kutlesa in Goldau, Switzerland, running through May 29. Kobel, who has exhibited from Los Angeles to Milan since 2022, presents cinematic, storyboard-like paintings that embrace fragmentation and loose ends.

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.

Memories Bathed in Color

In Farbe getauchte Erinnerungen

The Fondation Luma in Arles, France, has opened three exhibitions exploring memory and archives, headlined by Gerhard Richter's "Overpainted Photographs." The show features 120 works from Richter's private archive, some exhibited for the first time, created since the mid-1980s by dragging photographs through leftover paint in his studio. Richter, now 94, personally selected and hung the works chronologically starting from the fall of the Berlin Wall, reflecting his lost homeland and the passage of time. The exhibition also includes early sketches and oil paintings by the late architect Zaha Hadid, previously shown at London's Serpentine Gallery in 2016.

25th Biennale of Sydney Review: From the Margins

The 25th Biennale of Sydney, titled "Rememory" and curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, features 143 works by 83 artists and collectives from 37 countries across five venues. The exhibition explores marginalized, fragmented, and repressed histories, drawing on Toni Morrison's concept of 'rememory' as a space between remembering and forgetting. Key works include Tuan Andrew Nguyen's film on Vietnam War trauma, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme's immersive installation on Palestinian displacement, Khalid Albaih's photographs of Sudan, and Massinissa Selmani's drawings on Algerian socialist building projects.

Here’s What You Missed at MoMA PS1’s 50th Birthday Bash

MoMA PS1 held its annual gala on Tuesday night, celebrating the institution's 50th anniversary and honoring founding director Alanna Heiss and former MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry. More than 500 guests attended the Surrealist-themed event, which featured artistic direction by the fashion and art collective Women’s History Museum, with stilt walkers, custom posters, performances, and DJ sets. Notable attendees included artists Wolfgang Tillmans and Camille Henrot, dealers Jeffrey Deitch, and musicians Swizz Beatz, along with museum leadership and collectors.

In Minor Keys: how Venice's international exhibition was brought to life after the death of artistic director Koyo Kouoh

The 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," was realized after the sudden death of its artistic director, Koyo Kouoh, in May 2025. A team of five of Kouoh's collaborators, known as "la squadra di Koyo Kouoh," worked with her before her death and finalized the exhibition's themes, artist list, and scenography. The exhibition features 111 invited artists, duos, collectives, and artist-led organizations, with the team emphasizing that this remains Kouoh's vision rather than a replacement.

Khaled Sabsabi on Representing Australia at the 61st Venice Biennale

Khaled Sabsabi, the artist representing Australia at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026), will exhibit works both in the Australia Pavilion in the Giardini and in the main Biennale exhibition titled "In Minor Keys." His pieces explore spirituality, migration, and shared humanity through Tasawwuf (Sufi) sensibilities, emphasizing flux and collective experience. Sabsabi is the first Australian artist to have work in both the national pavilion and the main exhibition in the same year, and he honors the curatorial vision of the late Koyo Kouoh.

Inside New York’s Rogue Project Spaces

A digital cover story profiles New York City's rogue project spaces—artist-run venues like U-Haul Gallery, Desnivel, Spielzeug, Catbox Contemporary, and 95 Gallon Gallery—that operate in unconventional locations such as trash bins, moving trucks, bodegas, laundromats, buses, and cat towers. The article features interviews with founders including Maria De Victoria (Desnivel), James Sundquist and Jack Chase (U-Haul Gallery), and others, highlighting how these spaces counter the bureaucracy of institutional exhibitions by prioritizing artist freedom, intimacy, and community engagement.

We visited the 2026 Venice Art Biennale: the exhibitions and pavilions you shouldn’t miss

The 2026 Venice Art Biennale has opened across the Giardini, Arsenale, and venues throughout the city, with geopolitics, climate collapse, and national identities dominating the exhibitions. Notable pavilions include Austria's "Seaworld Venice" by Florentina Holzinger, the Czech and Slovak Pavilion's "Il Silenzio della Talpa" by Jakub Jansa and Selmeci Kocka Jusko, India's "Geographies of Distance: remembering home" featuring multiple artists, and the Taiwan Pavilion's "Screen Melancholy" by Li Yi-Fan. The Russian Pavilion has become a focal point of controversy, with guards and empty beer bottles outside, and the Pussy Riot collective staging a protest nearby.

The Art Diary May 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens

The article titled "The Art Diary May 2026 – Revd Jonathan Evens" appears to be a diary or column by Revd Jonathan Evens, published on Artlyst, covering art-related events, reflections, or commentary for May 2026. The specific content is not provided in the snippet, but the format suggests a curated overview of exhibitions, cultural happenings, or personal observations from the author's perspective.

How Detroit’s Art Scene Is Ushering in a New Chapter for the City

Detroit's art scene is experiencing a resurgence, marked by the reopening of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) after an eight-month renovation. The museum, now renamed the Julia Reyes Taubman Building, unveiled four new exhibitions, including a career survey of local artist Olayami Dabls titled "Olayami Dabls: Detroit Cosmologies," his first solo museum show in over 40 years. The reopening follows a 2020 reckoning over toxic workplace allegations, leading to the appointment of co-directors Jova Lynne and Marie Madison-Patton, who have refocused the institution on accessibility, civic engagement, and local contemporary art.

Brazilian women bring Latin American art to the New York collector circuit.

Two Brazilian women, Fernanda Mazzuco and Luciana Solano, run Art in Brackets, a consultancy and art advisory firm based in New York. For the first time, they have opened a public exhibition space on Walker Street in Tribeca, featuring a collective show centered on the African diaspora and transatlantic connections. The exhibition includes works by artists such as Santídio Pereira and Madalena dos Santos Reinbolt, with prices ranging from $3,800 to $140,000. The company, founded in 2022, connects collectors with Brazilian and Latin American artists, operating as 'wall curators' in partnership with various galleries.

5 Standout Artists at MoMA PS1’s “Greater New York”

MoMA PS1's sixth edition of the "Greater New York" quinquennial exhibition has opened, showcasing the work of over 50 artists and collectives. The show aims to capture the current state of New York's art scene, highlighting new and ambitious work created despite challenging economic and political conditions.

Lina Lapelytė Fills Hamburger Bahnhof with 400,000 Wood Blocks for Communal Building

Lithuanian artist Lina Lapelytė has filled Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof with 400,000 wooden blocks made of pine and spruce, creating a participatory installation titled “We Make Years Out of Hours.” Commissioned by Chanel, the work invites the public to build and rebuild structures from the 10-centimeter cubes. A series of weekly performances featuring a libretto by writers including Ocean Vuong, Etel Adnan, Forugh Farrokhzad, and Mahmoud Darwish will accompany the installation, which opens on May 1 and runs through January 10, 2027.

Must-See National Pavilions at the 61st Venice Biennale

The 61st Venice Biennale features standout national pavilions from Japan, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Singapore, and India. Japan presents Ei Arakawa-Nash's 'Grass Babies, Moon Babies,' an interactive exhibition with hand-sewn baby dolls and sound pieces exploring queer parenthood and collective care. The Philippines showcases Jon Cuyson's 'Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig,' a solo show using 'mussel thinking' to highlight Filipino seafarers. Timor-Leste's 'Across Words' brings together three artists addressing ethnolinguistic diversity and cultural memory, while Singapore presents Amanda Heng's 'A Pause,' a feminist performance on vulnerability and resilience. India's pavilion features Ranjani Shettar's work, supported by Talwar Gallery.

Previews: 61st Venice Biennale: In Minor Keys

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens amid global turmoil and internal controversy. Kouoh, who passed away in May 2025, conceived the exhibition around the metaphor of a "creole garden," emphasizing deep affinities between 111 artists from diverse locations such as Dakar, Beirut, and Salvador. The Biennale is overshadowed by recent geopolitical events, including US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, and faces protests: over 70 participating artists signed an open letter opposing the participation of Israel, Russia, and the US, while the Australian pavilion saw the reinstatement of Khaled Sabsabi after being dropped, and South Africa withdrew its official pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's femicide project, which she will still present independently.

Fold in these exhibitions during festival season

Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto begin on May 22, and the article highlights a curated selection of visual art exhibitions in Charleston to enjoy alongside the festival's performances. Featured venues include Robert Lange Studios, Corrigan Gallery, Stevenson and Co., Atrium Gallery, Meyer Vogl, Duckworth Gallery, and the Gibbes Museum of Art, which opens "Mary Whyte: Salt of the Earth" and continues "Rodin: All the Truth in Nature." The College of Charleston's Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, under new director Michael Dickins, presents "Make Room" by In Kyoung Chun and another exhibition through July 25.

North America’s Longest-Running Exhibition of International Art Has Landed at the Carnegie Museum

The 59th Carnegie International, titled "If the word we," has opened at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, marking North America's longest-running exhibition of international art. Featuring 61 artists and collectives from countries including Brazil, Benin, China, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, Taiwan, and South Africa, the exhibition explores the theme of "we" as an evolving proposition. It includes nearly 40 newly commissioned projects—the largest number in the International's history—spanning painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video, and theater. Notable works include Jonathan González's performance "The Strikebreakers" and Georges Adéagbo's installation "Le Socialism Africain," which uses discarded objects to examine Western power and colonial legacies in Africa.

Art and Soul: Showcasing Three Inspiring Women Artists

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) will present a major exhibition of East Bay artist Mildred Howard titled "Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory" from June 12 through October 18. The show spans over 50 years of Howard's career, featuring sculpture, public art, and immersive installations, including large-scale works made from found objects like skillets, shoes, and glass bottles. Key pieces include "Blackbird in a Red Sky (aka Fall of the Blood House)" and "Ten Little Children Standing in a Line (One Got Shot, and Then There Were Nine)." Howard, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow, explores themes of memory, home, Black identity, and the African American experience, often using house-like structures to prompt dialogue about belonging and sanctuary.

Serpentine to stage major solo exhibition by Amar Kanwar

Serpentine has announced a major solo exhibition by Amar Kanwar, opening at Serpentine North on 23 September 2026 and running until 31 January 2027. The show will feature landmark works from Kanwar's career, including the feature-length film *Such a Morning* (2017), the seven-screen installation *The Peacock's Graveyard* (2023), and the world premiere of a new multi-screen work, *The Charcoal Man* (2026), commissioned by Serpentine. Kanwar, based in New Delhi, is known for poetic, politically charged moving-image works that explore decolonisation, the Partition of India and Pakistan, displacement, violence, justice, ecology, and memory.

Koyo Kouoh’s Legacy Shapes the 2026 Venice Biennale

Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman to curate the Venice Biennale, was appointed curator of the 2026 edition and began shaping the main exhibition titled 'In Minor Keys' in October 2024. She died of cancer in May 2025 at age 57, but the Biennale organizers have committed to realizing her vision. The exhibition features 111 artists, collectives, and organizations from cities including Nairobi, New Orleans, Kingston, New Delhi, Beirut, and Bangkok, many of them her longtime collaborators. Kouoh was also the founder of Raw Material Company in Dakar and executive director and chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town.

The Holy See Pavilion asks Venice Biennale Visitors to Slow Down and Listen, and Other News.

The Holy See's pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "The Ear is the Eye of the Soul," a multi-sensory exhibition centered on deep listening and inspired by Hildegard von Bingen, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers with Soundwalk Collective, featuring new commissions by 24 artists including Patti Smith, Brian Eno, FKA twigs, and Dev Hynes across two Venetian sites. Separately, Chanel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation have launched the Chanel Culture Fund Fellowship, a transatlantic curatorial program for postgraduate scholars at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. In other news, a father-daughter duo from New Jersey pleaded guilty to a $2 million counterfeit art scheme involving forged works attributed to Andy Warhol, Banksy, and others; Vienna's Burgtheater is offering guided scaffolding tours of Gustav Klimt's early ceiling paintings during restoration; and the sixth edition of the Head Hi Lamp Show opens in New York.