Kader Attia announced as curator of the 7th Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Kader Attia has been announced as the curator of the 7th edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, scheduled for 2027–2028. The announcement was made by the Kochi Biennale Foundation via Instagram, with Attia selected by a committee chaired by Jitish Kallat and including Shilpa Gupta, Amrita Jhaveri, Pooja Sood, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Mariam Ram, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Attia, an artist, curator, and professor at HfbK-Hamburg, is known for his work exploring history, memory, repair, and colonial legacies across installation, sculpture, film, and archival research.

C’è un libro che racconta il sorprendente rapporto storico tra arte, biciclette e ciclismo

Antonio Colombo, the Italian entrepreneur behind Columbus and Cinelli, has published a memoir titled "A.C. Confidential. La mia vita tra arte, bicicletta e design" (Ediciclo Editore, 2026, co-written with Giacomo Pellizzari). The book traces his family's engineering legacy—his father Angelo Luigi Colombo supplied steel tubes to Bauhaus designer Marcel Breuer in 1933—and Colombo's own career fusing technical precision with artistic vision. He acquired Cinelli in 1978, collaborated with artists like Keith Haring, Alessandro Mendini, and Barry McGee, and introduced groundbreaking bicycle models including the Rampichino mountain bike (1985) and the Laser, which won the Compasso d'Oro design award in 1991. The narrative also covers his friendships with artists Mario Schifano (who designed Tour de France jerseys) and his role in the Red Hook Criterium fixed-gear race.

In Pictures: The Highlights of the 2026 Venice Biennale

En images : les grands moments de la Biennale de Venise 2026

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by Koyo Kouoh, opened on May 9, 2026, at the Arsenale and Giardini venues. Kouoh, who died suddenly in May 2025 at age 57, conceived the event as a counterpoint to global noise and fury, inviting visitors to slow down and tune into minor tonalities. The exhibition features works addressing colonial memory, slavery, and Gaza, with a team of four curators executing her vision. Highlights include Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons's tribute to Kouoh and Toni Morrison, Hala Schoukair's installation, and Gabrielle Goliath's "Elegy," alongside collateral shows like the Dries van Noten Foundation at Palazzo Pisani Moretta and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's "Still Joy – from Ukraine into the World."

How Frida Kahlo Became This Year's Cultural Obsession

In 2026, Frida Kahlo has become a global cultural obsession, with museums, opera houses, and cinemas worldwide celebrating her legacy. The Metropolitan Opera in New York City will premiere Gabriela Lena Frank's Spanish-sung opera *El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego* on May 14, which imagines Diego Rivera summoning Kahlo back to life three years after her death. Set and costume designer Jon Bausor drew inspiration from the trees, veins, and cracked imagery in Kahlo's paintings.

Ali Banisadr: Temple of the Mind | Solo exhibition at Buffalo AKG Art Museum

The Buffalo AKG Art Museum will present "Ali Banisadr: Temple of the Mind," a solo exhibition running from June 26 to November 8, 2026. The show occupies the Hemicycle Gallery and, for the first time, the Wilmers Galleries, where Banisadr's works will be installed alongside Surrealist and Abstract Expressionist pieces from the museum's permanent collection. The exhibition includes an installation exploring the artist's influences, featuring works by Andō Hiroshige and Francisco de Goya, as well as studio materials, a new etching created with Mirabo Press, and an audio journey narrated by Banisadr.

High Museum opens sweeping Isamu Noguchi exhibition with an Atlanta connection

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is presenting a major exhibition titled "Isamu Noguchi: 'I am not a designer'" running from April 10 to August 2, 2026. The show spans Noguchi's career across sculpture, design, and functional objects, and includes a model of Piedmont Park's Playscapes—the only playground Noguchi saw built in the U.S. during his lifetime, giving the exhibition a direct Atlanta connection. Curator Monica Obniski organized the landmark display.

The Carnegie International is a Once Every Four Year Treat

The Carnegie International, the longest-running international art show in North America, returns in 2026 for its 59th edition at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1896, the exhibition takes place roughly every four years and features contemporary works from artists around the world, including Zhao Yao (China), Hans Ragnar Mathisen (Sapmi/Norway), Cinthia Marcelle (Brazil), and Walter Scott (Canada). The 2026-2027 edition is themed "If The Word We," exploring the first-person plural as an open and evolving concept. The show is integrated throughout the museum alongside permanent collection pieces, and extends to venues such as the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Mattress Factory, and the Thelma Lovette YMCA.

Ascension Weekend 2026: 10 must-see exhibitions to check out in Paris over this long weekend

For the Ascension long weekend (May 14–17, 2026), Paris offers a curated selection of ten must-see exhibitions. Highlights include a major Hilma af Klint retrospective at the Grand Palais, exploring her spiritualist and abstract works; 'Jardins des Lumières' at the Grand Trianon in Versailles, focusing on 18th-century landscape garden design; 'Sèvres, a Rothschild Passion' at the Mobilier National, showcasing Rothschild porcelain collections; and a Giovanni Segantini exhibition at the Marmottan Monet Museum, featuring his Alpine Symbolist and Divisionist paintings.

At the BnF, wonderful maps to imagine new worlds

À la BnF, des merveilles de cartes pour imaginer des mondes nouveaux

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) is presenting an exhibition of extraordinary maps that blend imagination with cartography, tracing the evolution of maps from ancient tools of navigation to fantastical creations that fueled exploration and myth. The show features rare works including Renaissance sea monsters, cosmological paintings, and literary maps from Tolkien's Middle-earth and George R.R. Martin's Westeros, alongside contemporary artists like Alighiero Boetti, Sergio Aquindo, and Michael Druks who use maps to express personal and political visions.

Did Zurbarán Believe What He Painted?

An exhibition of Francisco de Zurbarán's 17th-century religious paintings at London's National Gallery prompts a critic to question whether the artist's personal faith influenced his artistic skill. The show features monumental works from Spanish churches and monasteries, displayed dramatically against black walls, including crucifixion scenes, monks, and saints. The critic notes that no personal records of Zurbarán survive—only contracts—leaving his beliefs unknown, and compares him to Agnolo Bronzino, who painted pious scenes but wrote obscene verses. A small painting of a crucified Christ with a painter, possibly a self-portrait of Bronzino, is presented as ambiguous evidence of faith.

A Rare Presentation of Leonora Carrington’s Surrealist Sculptures Have Landed in New York

A new exhibition at New York's L'Espace Gallery, titled "Shape of Dreams," presents a rare collection of Leonora Carrington's surrealist bronze sculptures, intricate jewelry, and an interactive tarot booth. Carrington, best known as a painter and novelist, created these sculptures late in life, often with the help of her sons, as her eyesight and arthritis made painting difficult. The show highlights works like "The Palmist" (2011) and other hybrid, mythological figures that extend her imaginative universe into three dimensions.

Six months after the Louvre heist, a 'Complément d'enquête' takes stock, with never-before-seen images broadcast tonight on France 2

Six mois après le casse du Louvre, un « Complément d’enquête » fait le point, avec des images inédites diffusées ce soir sur France 2

On October 19, 2025, eight historic and priceless jewels were stolen from the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre Museum in Paris in just over three minutes, using a hoist and an angle grinder. Six months later, the French investigative program "Complément d'enquête" airs a 50-minute documentary titled "Musée du Louvre : dans les coulisses du casse du siècle" on France 2, featuring exclusive surveillance footage, interviews with guards, police, experts, and ministers, and new details about the four suspects arrested within weeks.

"In Minor Keys" Hits All the Right Notes

The 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," opened with a somber curatorial press conference, as artistic director Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2024 at age 57, was not physically present. The exhibition features 110 invited participants across the Arsenale and Giardini, including works by Buhlebezwe Siwani, Johannes Phokela, Wangechi Mutu, Ebony G. Patterson, and Kambui Olujimi. Protests marked the opening, with gatherings at the temporary Israeli pavilion and Pussy Riot's presence at the Russian pavilion, while the exhibition itself asks viewers to look closer at overlooked forms of representation and consider innovative models of measuring the world.

"Hier darf laut gelacht werden"

During the opening week of the Venice Biennale, multiple reports detail controversies surrounding the Israeli and Russian pavilions. According to Hyperallergic, artist Belu-Simion Fainaru of the Israeli pavilion threatened legal action against the Biennale after the jury sought to exclude Israel and Russia from prizes over alleged human rights violations, citing antisemitism and nationality-based discrimination. This may have prompted the jury's sudden resignation. Meanwhile, taz reports that Russia's pavilion is a macabre 'dance of death' blending techno and political denial, while Israel's pavilion faces a 'silent boycott' and social ostracism. Zeit describes protests by Pussy Riot and Femen outside the Russian pavilion as a defining image, with activists chanting 'blood sticks to the art of this country.'

« No art washing ! » : à la Biennale de Venise, près de 3 000 manifestants réunis pour dénoncer la présence du pavillon israélien

On May 8, 2026, nearly 3,000 protesters gathered in Venice to demonstrate against the presence of the Israeli pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Led by the collective Art Not Genocide Alliance (Anga), the crowd included artists, curators, and cultural workers who chanted slogans such as "Stop al Padiglione genocidio" and called for a strike on the closing day of the professional previews. Dozens of national pavilions, including those of France, Belgium, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Lebanon, and Ukraine, closed in solidarity. The protest followed a letter sent by Anga in March demanding Israel's exclusion, which went unanswered, and the self-dissolution of the awards jury on April 30 over the presence of both Israel and Russia.

Au musée de l’Image d’Épinal, les talents multiples de Frans Masereel, entre autres inventeur du roman graphique

The Musée de l'Image d'Épinal is presenting a comprehensive exhibition on Belgian artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972), widely credited as the inventor of the graphic novel in 1918 with his wordless narratives composed of black-and-white woodcuts. The show, curated by Samuel Dégardin, brings together loans from major institutions and a private collection to reveal the full breadth of Masereel's practice, which spanned drawing, animation, painting, theater, ceramics, tapestry, and satirical press illustration. It highlights his pacifist activism during World War I, his collaborations with writers such as Stefan Zweig and Romain Rolland, and his humanist vision of a unified Europe.

6 Artworks That Define the 2026 Venice Biennale’s Main Exhibition

The 2026 Venice Biennale's main exhibition opens this week, curated by Koyo Kouoh—the first African woman to hold the role—who was announced in 2024 but passed away suddenly in 2025. The article highlights six artworks that define her curatorial vision, which connected the international art world to artists and institutions from Africa and the Global South.

Fade to black: inside the US’s abandoned movie theatres

Photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have documented abandoned early 20th-century movie theatres across the United States, capturing the haunting beauty of their decline. These once-grand cinemas, converted from 1920s music halls and theatres, have been left as hybrid ruins due to the rise of television, streaming platforms, and individualized media consumption. The work is exhibited at Kyotographie 2026 in Japan until 17 May.

Dries Verhoeven on Representing the Netherlands at the 61st Venice Biennale

Dries Verhoeven will represent the Netherlands at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026) with a new work titled *The Fortress*, installed in the Dutch Rietveld Pavilion in the Giardini. The 25-minute performance piece transforms the sunlit pavilion into a darkened bunker, featuring a raw vocal composition using only false vocal cords. Verhoeven describes the work as a meditation on transition and self-preservation, reflecting a Western society caught between its enlightened self-image and a dark vision of the future. The piece responds to geopolitical unrest outside the Biennale grounds and is designed to be melancholic and confrontational, contrasting with the main exhibition's theme, *In Minor Keys*.

rhonda saboff / (parker pine) at Hoffman Donahue

Hoffman Donahue in Los Angeles presents a dual exhibition featuring works by Rhonda Saboff and Parker Pine, curated by Sula Bermúdez-Silverman. Running from April 25 to May 23, 2026, the show brings together two distinct artistic practices, with 48 images documenting the installation on the gallery's Contemporary Art Library page.

JOSÉ WOLFF: DÍAS HONDOS

JOSÉ WOLFF: DÍAS HONDOS

José Wolff, a Guatemalan artist who grew up in the 1980s watching television with his family, has developed a unique visual language that oscillates between digital and traditional media. After studying at SCAD in Georgia and working in Miami and Los Angeles for channels like MTV Latino, NBC, and Locomotion, he created 3D animations, music videos, and TV interstitials. Now based back in Guatemala, Wolff continues to paint in oil while also producing digital installations, such as his 2026 multi-channel piece "Sin Novedad." His practice reflects a lifelong dialogue between the tangible and the intangible, influenced by artists like Laurie Anderson and Nam June Paik.

Artist Mateo Blanco Unveils a Poetic Vision for America’s 250th Anniversary

World-renowned artist Mateo Blanco has unveiled *Silver Falls Flag* (2026), a textile work reimagining the American flag as a flowing cascade of silver threads, evoking waterfalls and natural rhythms. The piece will be displayed from May 16 to August 23 at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine, as part of the exhibition *From Many, One: Visions of American Patriotism at 250*, marking the nation's 250th anniversary.

An outsider artist takes the world's biggest stage with the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

U.S. artist Alma Allen, a self-taught sculptor from Utah who works in Mexico, has been selected to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale with his exhibition "Call Me the Breeze" at the U.S. Pavilion. The selection process was fraught and opaque, with institutions declining to bid for the commission due to concerns about administration politics after the open call removed diversity, equity and inclusion language in favor of promoting "American values." A prior proposal for artist Robert Lazzarini fell apart after its institutional sponsor backed out, and Allen's project was quickly assembled with the American Arts Conservancy as sponsor and Jeffrey Uslip as curator. Allen, who has lived outside the critical art world for three decades, created a bronze evil eye for the pavilion's exterior and a headless sheep sculpture as a self-portrait of an outsider.

Adrian Ghenie: Roman Campagna | Exhibition review

Adrian Ghenie's exhibition "Roman Campagna" at a Paris gallery presents a series of paintings and charcoal drawings that subvert the romantic cliché of an artist's transformative encounter with Rome. Ghenie populates landscapes inspired by the Appian Way with grotesque, alien-headed figures hunched over smartphones, urinating on monuments, or weeping at sunsets, using brown and grey tones punctuated by bright colors. The works reference Francis Bacon and William S. Burroughs, and include direct allusions to Bacon's reinterpretation of van Gogh's self-portrait, as well as a copy of a Pompeii mosaic. The show also features large charcoal drawings on paper that reveal Ghenie's process of constructing his contemporary, alienated figures.

Syracuse-born artist Peter McGough hand-painted Anne Hathaway’s Met Gala dress

Syracuse-born artist Peter McGough hand-painted a custom Michael Kors gown worn by Anne Hathaway to the 2026 Met Gala. The dress, a strapless black Mikado silk ball gown with a plunging neckline and high-leg slit, features intricate Grecian patterns inspired by the Met's urns and statues, including a goddess with a dove on the back. McGough, a former classmate of Michael Kors at the Fashion Institute of Technology, painted directly on the silk and wool gown over a week using three layers of fabric paint. The design aligns with the gala's 'Fashion Is Art' dress code and references John Keats' poem 'Ode on a Grecian Urn,' also tying into Hathaway's upcoming film 'The Odyssey.'

Currents of the 61st Biennale: Inside Venice’s Flow of Art and Power

The 61st Venice Biennale jury, composed of five curators—Solange Oliveira Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi—resigned on April 30th amid internal tensions over decisions that conflicted with the late Koyo Kouoh's curatorial vision. The jury had previously stated it would refrain from considering countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, Filipino artist Jon Cuyson prepares to present his installation at the Philippine Pavilion, featuring works shipped 60 days before geopolitical conflict escalated, navigating unstable maritime routes. His project includes the film series "Sea of Love (Dagat ng Pag-ibig)" and a new fourth film, "Sea of Echoes," exploring themes of migration, queer experience, and ecological resilience through mussels as non-human protagonists.

The first UK museum presentation of Aleksandra Kasuba’s work: her exhibition Shelters for Senses open at Tate St Ives

Tate St Ives has opened 'Shelters for the Senses', the first UK museum presentation of Lithuanian-American artist Aleksandra Kasuba (1923–2019). Curated by Tate St Ives Director Anne Barlow in collaboration with LNMA curator Elona Lubytė, the exhibition spans seven decades of Kasuba's work, including early paintings, mosaics, public artworks, architectural designs, and spatial environments. A reconstruction of her 'Live-In Environment' (1971) is featured, alongside works donated to Lithuania and kept by the LNMA. The show runs until 4 October.

In Romagna, debate over the artistic legacy of the Fascist era

In Romagna c’è discussione attorno all’eredità artistica del Ventennio fascista

Recent developments in Romagna, Italy, have sparked debate over the artistic legacy of the Fascist era. The 102-meter-long Flight Mosaics at the former Aeronautical College in Forlì are now open to the public, and the Conad-Città di Forlì Auditorium, converted from a former GIL cinema, will inaugurate on May 13, 2026. Regional President De Pascale has announced initial funding to secure the Colonia Varese in Cervia, a Rationalist masterpiece, while long-awaited consolidation work has begun on the Casa del Fascio in Predappio, Benito Mussolini's birthplace. A 2010 plan to turn the Casa del Fascio into a cultural center documenting Fascism has stalled due to political changes and bureaucratic hurdles.

L’arte vibra come un’onda. 7 artisti nell’elegante mostra a Casa Sanlorenzo a Venezia

Casa Sanlorenzo, the artistic division of the luxury yacht brand, has opened a new exhibition titled "Waves" in Venice, coinciding with the Venice Biennale. Curated by Sergio Risaliti and Cristiano Seganfreddo, the show spans 1,000 square meters across two floors plus a 600-square-meter garden, featuring works by seven artists: Alexander Calder, Lucio Fontana, Fausto Melotti, Tony Cragg, Marcello Maloberti, Christine Safa, and Friedrich Andreoni. The exhibition explores the concept of the wave as a metaphor for artistic expression, with a focus on sculpture and sound, including Melotti's poetic sculptures, Andreoni's immersive sound installation, and Calder's mobiles.

An Italian artist makes an exhibition in Tunis inspired by Le Corbusier's architectures

Un artista italiano fa una mostra a Tunisi ispirandosi alle architetture di Le Corbusier

Italian artist Cristian Chironi has opened the seventh chapter of his ongoing project "My house is a Le Corbusier" with an exhibition in Tunis titled "My house is a Le Corbusier (Villa Baizeau)". The project centers on Villa Baizeau, a Le Corbusier-designed house built between 1928 and 1930 for industrialist Lucien Baizeau, which is now inaccessible inside the Tunisian presidential park. Chironi, inspired by a failed attempt by artist Costantino Nivola to bring Le Corbusier's architecture to his hometown Orani, instead travels the world temporarily inhabiting Le Corbusier's buildings. For this iteration, he set up a residency at La Boîte – Centre d'Art & d'Architecture in the Medina of Tunis from January 22 to April 5, 2026, culminating in an exhibition that opened April 3, 2026, using the villa as a lens to read the city rather than a physical space to occupy.