Max Giermann is not looking for recognition with his painting

Max Giermann sucht mit seiner Malerei nicht nach Anerkennung

German comedian and actor Max Giermann has launched his first Berlin art exhibition, titled "Figuring Out," at the Janinebeangallery. The showcase features large-scale acrylic paintings on canvas depicting figures, heads, and body fragments, including a final tribute to Klaus Kinski, whom Giermann famously parodied throughout his comedy career. Although he grew up in a household of art educators and began drawing as a child, this exhibition marks a significant return to painting after a 20-year hiatus.

art advisors advice new collectors

CULTURED has compiled advice from top art advisors for novice collectors, drawn from their 2026 Power Art Advisors List. The advisors caution against treating art as a financial investment, urge collectors to follow their own taste rather than trends, and emphasize the importance of looking at art extensively before purchasing. They also warn against impulsive buying, overvaluing social media, and chasing discounts that lead to poor acquisitions.

Marcos Kueh in Turbulent Seas

Artist Marcos Kueh presents his solo exhibition 'Smooth Sailing' at ESEA Contemporary in Manchester. The show features new sculptures, tapestries, and a large-scale installation that reflect on the histories of Chinese labour and migration, particularly to northwest England, drawing inspiration from 19th-century trade union banners found in Manchester's People's History Museum.

At Chaumont-sur-Loire, incredible gardens recreate cult films

À Chaumont-sur-Loire, d’incroyables jardins recréent des films culte

The Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire in France has launched the 2026 edition of its Festival International des Jardins, themed around cinema. Participants including gardeners, landscape designers, and artists—among them actresses Sabine Azéma, Golshifteh Farahani, and Mélanie Laurent, and director Momoko Seto—have transformed small plots into living landscapes inspired by iconic films and cinematic genres, such as a vegetal Cannes Film Festival and a garden based on James Cameron's *Avatar* trilogy. The festival runs from April 22 to November 1, 2026, alongside the estate's ongoing 'Saison d'art' exhibition featuring works by Marc Desgrandchamps, Antonio Crespo Foix, and others.

SILENCE HAS MATTER ETHIOPIA BRINGS THE WORK OF TEGENE KUNBI TO THE VENICE BIENNALE

The Ethiopia Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "Shapes of Silence," an exhibition by artist Tegene Kunbi, curated by Abebaw Ayalew, running from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at Palazzo Bollani. The show marks the culmination of Kunbi's thirty-year practice, exploring silence as a social and political condition through abstraction, textiles, and assemblage, drawing on Ethiopian folkloric traditions and material histories.

Blood-Red Landscapes by Andrew McIntosh Conjure the Terrifying Unknown

Scottish artist Andrew McIntosh presents a new series of crimson-hued landscape paintings in his solo exhibition "I Hope This Transmission Finds You Soon" at School Gallery in Folkestone, U.K. The works, including pieces titled "Whitney," "K2," "Gasherbrum," and "Matterhorn" (all 2026), transform familiar mountain forms into eerie, otherworldly scenes with glowing orbs and uncanny light, drawing inspiration from Cormac McCarthy's novel "Blood Meridian." The exhibition runs through May 30.

Jake Messing’s Hyperrealistic Paintings Celebrate the Abundance of Nature

Jake Messing, a Northern California-based artist, creates hyperrealistic acrylic paintings that depict dense, maximalist clusters of flora and fauna, often combining creatures and plants in surreal arrangements. His works, such as "Coccinellidaes Hideaway 2" and "Bubbles and Blooms," draw on the tradition of Dutch Golden Age still-life painting while incorporating contemporary elements like color gradients and shiny fabrics.

Ron Nagle in Milan: at Gió Marconi the first Italian solo exhibition 'Phantom Banter'

Gió Marconi Gallery in Milan will host 'Phantom Banter', the first Italian solo exhibition of American sculptor Ron Nagle, from May 29 to July 24, 2026. The show features eleven ceramic sculptures created between 2024 and 2026, along with a selection of recent drawings, highlighting Nagle's process-oriented practice focused on material, surface, and language. Nagle, born in San Francisco in 1939, is a key figure in the California Clay Movement, having apprenticed with Peter Voulkos in the 1960s and influenced by Ken Price. His small-scale works, rarely exceeding 15 centimeters, explore reduction of scale and surface construction through cast and fired ceramics combined with resins and synthetic materials.

Exhibition | Man Ray, 'M for Dictionary' at Gio Marconi, Milan, Italy

Fondazione Marconi and Gió Marconi present 'Man Ray: M for Dictionary,' a comprehensive survey of Man Ray's work organized around his linguistic experiments. The exhibition, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the artist's death, is curated by Yuval Etgar and Deborah D’Ippolito and spans photography, painting, sculpture, and drawing. It includes a second display titled 'In Other Words' featuring contemporary artists Alex Da Corte, Simon Fujiwara, Wade Guyton, Allison Katz, and Tai Shani, whose work engages with language in visual art.

Edgar Calel at Kunsthalle Bern

Edgar Calel, a Guatemalan artist born in 1987, is the subject of an exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern. His work draws on the rituals and traditions of his native Guatemala, focusing on the working conditions and environmental impact of export-oriented agricultural industries, particularly palm oil and coffee plantations that dominate the country's economy.

Marinella Senatore's exhibition in Milan is a party in name and in fact

La mostra dell’artista Marinella Senatore a Milano è una festa di nome e di fatto

Marinella Senatore's solo exhibition "FESTA!" opens at Mazzoleni's Milan space, marking both the artist's first show at the gallery and the gallery's 40th anniversary. The exhibition presents new works including sketches, drawings, and embroidered tapestries that reinterpret Baroque public celebrations as participatory, community-driven art. The tapestries, produced in collaboration with the Chanakya school in Mumbai, feature motifs from 17th- and 18th-century festivities—ephemeral architecture, light displays, and fireworks—transformed into contemporary banners that activate the gallery space.

Zīnah (Adornment): Oman’s Pavilion Tunes the Biennale to Resonance Over Spectacle

At the 60th Venice Biennale, the Sultanate of Oman presents "Zīnah (Adornment)," a pavilion conceived by artist and curator Haitham Al Busafi. The immersive installation, on view at the Arsenale Artiglierie from 9 May to 22 November 2026, draws on the Omani tradition of adorning horses with silver (al-zaanah) to explore themes of relation, movement, and shared presence. Visitors enter through darkness into a field of Omani sand, beneath a canopy of silver elements that respond to movement with sound. The work incorporates drawings by students and emerging artists from a workshop in Muscat, emphasizing collective authorship.

First Look at the “Costume Art” Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting a new exhibition titled "Costume Art," timed to coincide with the 2026 Met Gala. The article provides a first look at the exhibit, featuring images credited to photographer Masato Onoda of WWD, showcasing the intersection of fashion and visual art within the museum's galleries.

7 ‘Body Types’ in the Met’s ‘Costume Art’ Fashion Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has announced its upcoming spring exhibition, titled '7 Body Types,' which will explore fashion through the lens of diverse physical forms. The show will feature garments designed for seven distinct body types, challenging traditional fashion norms and highlighting inclusivity in design. Curated by Andrew Bolton, the exhibition draws from the museum's extensive collection and includes works from contemporary designers.

Celebrity artists support Oxford primary school art exhibition

An Oxford primary school is hosting an art exhibition on 16-17 and 23-25 May as part of Oxford Art Weeks, featuring works by celebrity artists to raise funds for improving the school's deteriorating adventure playground and restoring a community green space. The exhibition, themed 'inspired by birds,' is accompanied by talks from historian Mark Davies on how Jericho and Oxford inspired figures like Lewis Carroll and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Art House Productions Unveils "In The Wind" Public Art Installation

Art House Productions has unveiled "In The Wind," a large-scale public art installation in Lincoln Park, Jersey City, featuring artist-designed flags with original works by Hudson County artists. Curated by Tina Maneca, the exhibition celebrates the organization's 25th anniversary and includes over 80 artists who live, work, or maintain studios in Hudson County. The flags are installed around Edgewood Lake, moving with the wind to create a dynamic, ever-changing exhibition. All flags are priced at $500 and available for purchase. The installation runs from June through November 2026, with an opening reception on June 5, 2026, during ACCESS JC Fridays.

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Unveils Inaugural Cinema Exhibition ‘Star Wars in Motion’

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open in Los Angeles on September 22, 2026, has announced its inaugural cinema exhibition titled 'Star Wars in Motion.' The exhibition will feature vehicle designs, props, costumes, and illustrations from the first six films of George Lucas's saga, including Luke's Landspeeder and General Grievous' Wheel Bike. It is one of over 30 installations opening with the museum, which also includes exhibitions on architecture, American life by Thomas Hart Benton, American and European comics, and works by illustrators such as Jessie Willcox Smith, Frank Frazetta, and Norman Rockwell.

Rika Nakajima: A New Book of the Dead, Part 3

連載 中島りか 新しい死者の書 第三回

Japanese artist Rika Nakajima reflects on the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, who assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, weaving together her own experience running the project space "Datsuisho – (a) place to be naked" in Tokyo's Yanaka district. As the space faced demolition in late 2025, Nakajima draws parallels between the trial's timing and the closure of her venue, recalling earlier events at the space that discussed the state funeral controversy and the cult issues exposed by the assassination. She describes attending the trial in Nara, observing Yamagami's demeanor, and connecting the case to broader themes of political aesthetics, fascism, and the theatricality of the judicial system.

Five-Minute Tours: Helmut Barnett at Wally Workman Gallery, Austin

Glasstire's Five-Minute Tours series features a video walk-through of Helmut Barnett's solo exhibition "Surfaces" at Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, Texas. The show runs from April 11 to May 3, 2026, and presents Barnett's paintings, collages, and drawings that blend geometric and organic forms, created over his 50-year career.

Urban Art Biennale: Rust, dust and decay revamps Germany's Völklingen ironworks

Dozens of urban artists from 17 countries have gathered at Germany's Völklinger Hütte (Völklingen Ironworks), a UNESCO World Heritage site, for the Urban Art Biennale 2026 opening this Saturday. The exhibition features 50 artists including Tomas Lacque, Boris Tellegen (Delta), Vortex-X, Ampparito, Remi Rough, and Anders Reventlov, who have created site-specific installations that engage with the industrial landmark's sprawling spaces, rust, dust, and sense of decay. Works range from a van covered in ash-like paint to a massive wooden sculpture and a rooftop text piece visible from 45 meters high.

Serakai Studio unveils dreamedcore, a multi-sensorial exhibition exploring digital nostalgia in Hong Kong

Serakai Studio presents 'dreamedcore', its second exhibition at GOLD in Hong Kong's Wong Chuk Hang district, running from June 6 to August 1. Curated by Shirley Lau and Tobias Berge, the show blends an art exhibition, concept store, and runway format to explore digital-age nostalgia through the lens of 'dreamcore' aesthetics—drawing on 1990s and early 2000s visual textures. Featuring 22 emerging multi-disciplinary artists and creative practitioners from across Asia, including Li Shuang, Wong Ping, and Peng Ke, the exhibition is divided into two chapters: 'The Lure' and 'The Twist', with a central runway stage, ambient lighting, and a mini cinema screening a video by Wong Ping.

Tiny art gallery attracts miniature art in downtown Hammond

A tiny art gallery in downtown Hammond is drawing attention by showcasing miniature artworks, attracting both local artists and visitors. The gallery, which operates on a small scale, has become a hub for tiny art pieces, including paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works, all created to fit the compact space. The initiative aims to make art accessible and engaging in a unique, intimate setting.

Smithsonian Exhibition Spotlights Pahari Painting Traditions From The Himalayan Kingdoms

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., has opened "Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms," an exhibition featuring 48 paintings and colored drawings that trace the evolution of Pahari painting across three key periods between 1620 and 1830. The show highlights the genre’s ties to the region’s landscapes, courtly life, and devotional practices, with works created using opaque watercolors, beetle wings, and gold, many of which have not been publicly displayed before. The exhibition runs until July 26.

Library Showcases Hart Gallery's "Art From The Hart" Artist Exhibit This Saturday

The Chattanooga Public Library and the Hart Gallery are opening a new exhibition titled "Art From The Hart" at the Downtown Library on Saturday, May 9, with a reception from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Curated by Hart Gallery artists and Library Services Specialist Ali Banks, the show features mixed-media illustrations, pencil drawings, paintings, sculptures, and digital art by returning artists Alex Scoggins and Angel Pellegrino, along with over a dozen other local creators. The exhibit runs through August 31, 2026, and pieces are available for purchase to support the Hart Gallery's mission.

In Bloom: How Plants Changed our World – a ‘consistently illuminating’ exhibition

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has opened a new exhibition titled "In Bloom: How Plants Changed our World," timed for spring. The show draws from Oxford University's collections, featuring 17th-century flower paintings, preserved plant specimens, and contemporary artworks to explore the role of plants in art and science.

Library Showcases Hart Gallery Artist Exhibit May 9

The Chattanooga Public Library and the Hart Gallery are opening a new art exhibit titled "Art From The Hart" at the Downtown Library on May 9, with a reception from 2-4 p.m. Curated by Hart Gallery artists and Library Services Specialist Ali Banks, the show features mixed-media illustrations, pencil drawings, paintings, sculptures, and digital art from local artists, including returning participants Alex Scoggins and Angel Pellegrino.

Art and Design seniors exhibit their work at Krannert Art Museum

More than 100 seniors from the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will showcase their final projects at Krannert Art Museum from May 9 to May 16. The Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition features work across all disciplines, including art education, art history, graphic design, industrial design, and studio art. Graphic design students Rinnell Borges and Natalie Mora created the exhibition's branding and catalog under the theme "Myth of Originality," drawing inspiration from fellow students' work and university archives. Individual projects include Borges's syrup packaging concept, Mora's communication guide for Latino communities, Caroline Dorion's charcoal drawings of draped female figures, and Sylvie Leyerle's children's book about her adoption from China.

Look Inside the Met Gala 2026’s Exhibit & See What Celebs Will Be Viewing Tonight!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has revealed photos from inside the Costume Institute's latest exhibition, 'Costume Art,' ahead of the 2026 Met Gala. Curated by Andrew Bolton, the show explores the relationship between clothing and the body, organized around thematic body types such as the Naked Body, Pregnant Body, and Aging Body. It features garments and artworks from The Met's collection, both historical and contemporary, and will be the first exhibition held in the new Condé M. Nast Galleries, a 12,000-square-foot space adjacent to the Great Hall. The exhibition opens to the public on May 10, 2026, and runs through January 10, 2027.

Here's when the 2026 Met Gala red carpet arrivals start and end

The 2026 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 4, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with red carpet arrivals officially beginning at 5:30 p.m. and continuing for several hours as celebrities trickle in. The event raises funds for the museum's Costume Institute and celebrates the new spring exhibition "Costume Art," with a dress code of "Fashion is Art." Co-chairs include Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with a host committee chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz, and the event is made possible by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

Met Gala 2026: Stars Bring Art-Inspired Looks to the Met Stairs

The 2026 Met Gala took place on May 4 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, celebrating the opening of the "Costume Art" exhibition. A host of celebrities including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Blue Ivy Carter, Serena Williams, Janelle Monáe, Venus Williams, Ciara, Anderson .Paak, Naomi Osaka, Yseult, Anok Yai, Jon Batiste, and Suleika Jaouad arrived at the museum's iconic stairs wearing art-inspired looks. The event was covered by photographers Evan Agostini and Charles Sykes for the Associated Press.