Pio Abad Explores Home and Diaspora for the 2026 Venice Biennale

Filipino artist Pio Abad is presenting a series of intricate, hand-drawn works at the 2026 Venice Biennale as part of the exhibition "In Minor Keys," conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. The works, created over four years with a 0.3-millimeter pen, include pieces such as "I’m Singing a Song That Can Only Be Born After Losing a Country" (first shown at the Ashmolean Museum in 2024), "Banua" (his first drawing on fabric), and "1897.76.36.18.6," which reflects on the looting of the Benin Bronzes. Abad, born in the Philippines and based in London, explores themes of migration, memory, exile, and the itinerant nature of objects and language.

Painting the park: Artists blossom at Wegerzyn as they make it their classroom

Sinclair Community College associate professor of art Bridgette Bogle took her mixed-level painting class to Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark in Dayton, Ohio, for a plein air painting session. Students ranging in age from 18 to 80, including postal worker Don Adams and lifelong artist Aubrey Botts, set up easels throughout the gardens to paint landscapes outdoors, learning the Impressionist-inspired technique of working quickly in natural light.

Realms of the Dharma

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened "Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia," an exhibition on view through July 12, 2026, that brings together approximately 180 Buddhist artworks from its permanent collection for the first time in a single space. Curated by Stephen Little and Tushara Bindu Gude, the show features paintings, sculptures, ritual objects, and sacred texts spanning Asia, including a notable gray schist bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara from Gandhara (c. 200 CE). The exhibition highlights the transformative work of curator Pratapaditya Pal, who from 1970 built LACMA's Indian, Himalayan, and Islamic collections into one of the nation's premier repositories.

Fight Club Denounces the System From Within the System

Cameroonian artist Pascale Marthine Tayou's first major institutional exhibition in Brazil, "Knockout!," has opened at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo's Pina Luz building. The show spans over 25 years of Tayou's career, featuring installations, sculptures, and paintings across seven rooms. Each room is themed around a historical international conference—including the Berlin Conference of 1884, Yalta, San Francisco, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Bandung, and a fictional Avignon conference—using these as political and historical axes to critique colonial power structures and global inequality.

Hear! Hear! Kimball Art Center’s (Re)sounding

The Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah, is preparing to open its upcoming exhibition "(Re)sounding" on May 15, curated by Nancy Stoaks. The show explores the relationship between sound and visual art through immersive installations, interactive systems, and soundscape sculptures by artists including Jon Bernson, Christine Sun Kim, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Yuri Suzuki, Mary Toscano, and Andrew Rease Shaw. The exhibition coincides with the center's 50th anniversary and its ongoing mission to make contemporary art accessible and personal.

Exhibition | Shota Nakamura, 'Apple' at Karma, Los Angeles

Shota Nakamura's exhibition 'Apple' at Karma in Los Angeles presents a series of new paintings that explore familiar subjects—fruit, shells, sailboats, landscapes—through a dreamlike, tonally nuanced lens. The Berlin-based Japanese artist focuses on the tonality of light, using closely-valued hues to investigate relationships between color, luminosity, and illusion. Works such as 'Landscape with Apples' (2026), 'A Black Dog', and 'Violin Player' demonstrate his method of combining personal photographs, memory, and art historical references into compositions that balance representation with formal abstraction, often referencing modern Japanese painters like Zenzaburo Kojima and Morikazu Kumagai as well as Mark Rothko.

Nathaniel Mary Quinn's Museum Show | Herbie Hancock Returns Home | The Lake Plans Opening

Nathaniel Mary Quinn, a Chicago-born artist who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes, will present his first solo museum exhibition in his hometown at the National Public Housing Museum. The show, titled "Nathaniel Mary Quinn: A Love Letter To My Mother," features ten works on canvas and paper, a recreated living room from his family's apartment circa 1984, and a reading room with historical materials about the housing project. Separately, Mariane Ibrahim gallery now represents Chicago-based artist Leasho Johnson, whose work draws on Jamaican mythology and appeared on the cover of Newcity's April 2026 issue. In other local news, a new social club called The Lake is set to open in River North this fall, designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects, and construction has begun on the next phase of the Southbridge development on the site of the former Harold Ickes Homes.

Artist Hong Seung-hye opens first solo exhibition in three years, traces inspiration from 'organic geometry'

Korean artist Hong Seung-hye opens her first solo exhibition in three years, titled "On the Move," at Kukje Gallery Busan. The show traces her decades-long exploration of "organic geometry," a concept she coined after a 1997 Photoshop glitch where pixels appeared to move organically on her screen. The exhibition brings together recent works across multiple mediums, including video, sculpture, and audio, such as "Snoopy in Space" (2019), "Light Upon" (2021), "MOVE" (2022), and the new video "Emotical Practice" (2025). Hong draws inspiration from music and choreography, and she expresses wariness about artificial intelligence, preferring to control every aspect of her work herself.

Stars feiern Mode und Kunst bei Met-Gala

The Met Gala, hosted by Anna Wintour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, raised millions for the museum's Costume Institute. This year's event featured celebrities like Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Heidi Klum, with a dress code of "Fashion is Art." Beyoncé and Kidman brought their daughters for the first time, while Klum dressed as a stone statue. The gala opened the "Costume Art" exhibition and was co-sponsored by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, drawing protests over Bezos's involvement.

Wintour: Met Gala still makes me nervous

Wintour: Met-Gala macht mich immer noch nervös

Anna Wintour, longtime host of the Met Gala, admitted at a press conference that even after nearly 30 years, the star-studded fundraiser still makes her nervous, calling it both her favorite and most terrifying time of year. The annual Costume Institute Benefit, which raises millions for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, is expected to bring in more donations than ever this year, according to Wintour and museum director Max Hollein. This year's gala opens the exhibition "Costume Art" with the dress code "Fashion is Art," and new gallery spaces for the Costume Institute will debut. Co-chairs include Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, while New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has publicly declined to attend.

The controversy raised by Timothée Chalamet has made us reflect on the fragility of culture

« La controverse soulevée par Timothée Chalamet a eu le mérite de nous faire réfléchir à la fragilité de la culture »

Timothée Chalamet, l'acteur franco-américain, a suscité une controverse en déclarant qu'il ne souhaitait pas travailler dans le ballet ou l'opéra, qualifiant ces disciplines de "trucs où c'est genre : 'Hé, continuez à faire tourner ça, même si plus personne n'en a rien à faire.'" Ses propos, tenus alors qu'il était en lice pour l'Oscar du meilleur acteur, ont provoqué des réactions dans le monde culturel, notamment dans le magazine Art Review, où Will Ferreira Dyke a défendu la pérennité du ballet et de l'opéra, arguant qu'ils survivraient aux attaques des "chalametistes". L'article relie cette polémique à la fragilité de la culture face aux coupes budgétaires, évoquant les demandes de Donald Trump pour augmenter le budget militaire américain au détriment de l'éducation, de la santé et de l'environnement.

In love with trees, sculptor Lélia Demoisy elevates nature through hybridization

Amoureuse des arbres, la sculptrice Lélia Demoisy sublime la nature par l’hybridation

Lélia Demoisy, a French sculptor born in 1991, creates hybrid works that blend wood with animal elements, such as a yew wood sculpture covered in fox fur or a suspended skeleton made from naturally curved thuya branches. She lives in a small village in the Yvelines region, where she works with wood and metal herself, often sourcing materials locally, and recently participated in the Maif pour le vivant committee as the only artist on the jury.

Forgers, One-Way Mirrors of the Art Market

Les faussaires, miroirs sans tain du marché de l’art

Anthropologist Monique Jeudy-Ballini has published a new book, "Peintres de l’ombre. Les faussaires à l’œuvre," in which she examines art forgers through an ethnographic lens. Drawing on autobiographical accounts, published interviews, and expert writings—including those of notorious forgers Wolfgang Beltracchi, Eric Hebborn, and Guy Ribes—she explores the motivations and practices of these clandestine figures, arguing that their work involves not only technical skill but also the creation of elaborate narratives and pedigrees for their forgeries. The book is part of the Ethnologiques series edited by Philippe Descola and published by Éditions Mimésis.

Required Reading

This week's Required Reading roundup from Hyperallergic covers a diverse range of art-world stories. French photographer JR has unveiled "La Caverne du Pont Neuf Paris" (2026), an optical illusion installation that transforms the pathway across the Seine into a black-and-white mountain range cave, paying homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 1985 wrapping of the same bridge. Other highlights include architecture scholar Karrie Jacobs investigating a New York waterfront walking initiative for The Nation, curator Tara Contractor writing in Apollo about James McNeill Whistler's use of metallic pigments influenced by Japanese traditions, and Rob Corsini interviewing Amelia Abraham about their new book celebrating photography of queer nightlife for Dazed.

The Major Exhibitions at LUMA Arles in France: Zaha Hadid, Gerhard Richter and Patti Smith

Le grandi mostre al LUMA di Arles in Francia: Zaha Hadid, Gerhard Richter e Patti Smith

LUMA Arles in France will launch a new exhibition cycle on May 1, 2026, followed by a second series starting July 4. The program, presented by CEO Mustapha Bouhayati and artistic director Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, includes a major show of Gerhard Richter's "Overpainted Photographs" in the Frank Gehry-designed tower, a Zaha Hadid retrospective titled "I Think There Should Be No End to Experimentation" marking the tenth anniversary of her death, and a centennial celebration of the influential art magazine Cahiers d'Art. The exhibitions aim to bridge visual arts with music, performance, and live events, bringing together voices from diverse geographies and disciplines.

The Mysterious Life of Fluxus Dame Alison Knowles

A new book, "Performing Chance: The Art of Alison Knowles In/Out of Fluxus" by art historian Nicole L. Woods, is the first major study of the late Fluxus artist Alison Knowles, who died last fall at age 92. The book focuses on the first two decades of her career (1958–1975), analyzing key works such as her 1962 performance "Proposition #2: Make a Salad" at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, and her shift from painting to experimental, ephemeral art after being exiled to a basement by Josef Albers at Syracuse University.

Where did the great artist Joseph Beuys live? The comic story by Gianluca Costantini

Dove viveva il grande artista Joseph Beuys? Il racconto a fumetti di Gianluca Costantini

In the summer of 2022, the author visited Düsseldorf and discovered that Joseph Beuys's former home at Drakeplatz 4 in Oberkassel was for sale, but the city's cultural department declined to purchase it. Beuys lived and worked there from 1961 until his death in 1986, using the space as both a residence and studio. The article recounts the intimate details of family life there, including how Beuys painted the main room white for his wife Eva's photography, and how the family navigated the blend of private life and artistic practice. Two years later, the Brunhilde Moll Foundation acquired the house and opened it to the public, though it was closed for renovations when the author returned. The house now displays about sixty works from Beuys's creative period and will host artist residencies and events.

Jan Staller Photographs the Nuts and Bolts of Manhattan's Urban Symphony

Photographer Jan Staller has released a new book titled "Manhattan Project," featuring photographs of construction materials—pipes, beams, rebar, and drill bits—suspended midair against white skies. The book marks a shift from his earlier moody night photography to a hard-edged focus on utilitarian objects, transforming New York City's construction sites into otherworldly, readymade-like visions. The book includes a foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson and an essay by curator Brett Littman, with images spanning locations across the Upper West Side.

In ‘Piercing the Veil,’ Marina Kappos Gets to Know the Spectre of Grief

Artist Marina Kappos opens her solo exhibition 'Piercing the Veil' at SHRINE gallery in New York City, running from May 15 to June 27. The show features her signature acrylic-on-wood-panel paintings that use thin layers of pigment to create gauzy, prismatic effects. Inspired by the sculptural figures of grieving women she encountered at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Kappos explores themes of loss, memory, presence and absence, and the threshold between life and death. Works like 'Veil Study (Eclipse)' (2026) and 'Quantum Study (Green Entanglement)' (2025) depict hazy landscapes and keyhole-shaped portals that invite viewers to contemplate the unknown and the spiritual.

Wander through Adrienna Matzeg’s Embroidered, Late-Night City Explorations

Adrienna Matzeg’s solo exhibition "After Hours" at Abbozzo Gallery in Toronto presents embroidered textile works inspired by her late-night explorations of Kyoto, Tokyo, and Seoul during a July 2025 trip. The pieces capture quiet, illuminated scenes of convenience stores, markets, and roadside attractions, rendered on black linen with a diaristic, snapshot-like quality.

Waterbury’s Mattatuck Museum Balances Art and Local

The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, balances art and local history, serving as a community hub. Director Bob Burns has integrated school programs reaching 7,000 local students annually, community art shows, contemporary works by artists like Yayoi Kusama and Simone Leigh, and a major exhibition "About Face: 250 Years of American Portraits" curated by Rebecca McNamara. The museum also features hyper-realistic paintings by Wende Caporale-Greene and a gallery of Waterbury's industrial past, with a focus on inclusivity after removing a physical barrier to Main Street in 2019.

Is Berlin not over yet?

Ist Berlin doch noch nicht over?

Çağla Ilk, who curated the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale two years ago, has presented her plans as the new artistic director of the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. Her program reimagines theater from the perspective of visual art, signaling a major shift in the city's theater landscape. The announcement comes amid broader reforms in Berlin's theater scene, including Matthias Lilienthal's upcoming takeover of the Volksbühne, and was met with both anticipation and anxiety, reminiscent of Chris Dercon's failed tenure at the Volksbühne in 2017.

"Eine Idee, die gut ist, kann fast alles verändern"

Henrike Naumann's final major artistic project, the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, is completed posthumously by friends after her death from cancer at age 41. Meanwhile, the sudden death of curator Koyo Kouoh at 57 has left her team to finish the central exhibition "In Minor Keys" for the Biennale, opening May 9. The US Pavilion is openly crowdfunding for its 2026 presentation by sculptor Alma Allen, citing opaque funding under the Trump administration. Israel's foreign ministry has accused the Venice Biennale jury of boycotting its artist Belu-Simion Fainaru by excluding countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges.

Federal President praises Emder Kunsthalle: 'Extraordinary quality'

Bundespräsident lobt Emder Kunsthalle: "Außerordentliche Qualität"

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised the Emder Kunsthalle on its 40th anniversary, calling its collection of "extraordinary quality." The museum was founded in 1986 by Henri Nannen, the late founder of Stern magazine, and his wife Eske Nannen. Steinmeier spoke at a ceremony attended by 500 guests, including his wife Elke Büdenbender and Lower Saxony's Minister President Olaf Lies. The anniversary exhibition "Bilder, die wir lieben" (Pictures We Love) showcases 200 works from the collection, which has grown to around 1,700 pieces, including pieces by Gabriele Münter, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Max Beckmann, and Franz Marc.

Yosra Mojtahedi, Iranian artist who moved from painting to astonishing living sculptures

Yosra Mojtahedi, artiste iranienne passée de la peinture à de stupéfiantes sculptures vivantes

Yosra Mojtahedi, an Iranian artist born in 1986, has transitioned from painting to creating stunning living sculptures. Her work, characterized by black and white contrasts, features sculptures that breathe, have hair, and incorporate torn tights and synthetic locks, evoking themes of identity, censorship, and bodily autonomy. She recently presented a spectacular installation titled "Isthme noir" at the Espace Monte-Cristo in Paris and an exhibition at the Abbaye de Maubuisson, where her spiritual universe unfolds across multiple rooms. Mojtahedi's practice includes sound elements in Persian or Kurdish, and she views her sculptures as "bodies" that are both intimate and political.

Dans les ateliers de la Maison du vitrail, où création et restauration conjuguent au présent cet art du verre et de la couleur

The article visits the Maison du vitrail, a French stained-glass workshop founded in 1973 by Christiane and Philippe Andrieux and now run by their daughter Emmanuelle. Located in a historic courtyard, the studio employs fourteen artisans who cut, paint, and assemble colored glass for both restoration and original creations. The workshop has evolved from a small space in Châtillon to a thriving enterprise that handles everything from church windows and Parisian staircases to trophies, jewelry, and commercial projects for clients like Truffaut and the Casino de Paris.

Venice Biennale 2026: The Pavilions Not to Be Missed

Biennale de Venise 2026 : les pavillons à ne surtout pas manquer

The 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh as an invitation to slow down and reconnect with emotions, features a constellation of contemplative and powerful proposals across the city. Notable national pavilions include the Holy See transforming a monastic garden into an immersive sound experience by Soundwalk Collective, Canada exploring colonial heritage through giant water lilies by Abbas Akhavan, and Austria electrifying the Giardini with radical performances by Florentina Holzinger. Other highlights include Spain dissecting collective memory through postcards, Poland imagining new forms of language between human and underwater worlds, and India's pavilion exploring notions of home.

Biennale de Venise 2026 : les saturnales éblouissantes d’Yto Barrada pour le pavillon français

Yto Barrada has been selected to represent France at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with her exhibition "Comme Saturne" (Like Saturn) in the French Pavilion. The installation features rebellious stage curtains hiding wasp nests and a copper daguerreotype plate of a planet, a large rock, a Wheel of Fortune, and a nostalgic vanitas arrangement around a missing mirror frame. Curated by Myriam Ben Salah, the show explores textile and natural dyeing, with three cabinets addressing the transmission of know-how, migration of plants and people, postcolonial history, and Enlightenment imperialism. A central room displays 70 pieces forming a symmetrical frieze of red natural dyes, while a black monochrome patchwork highlights the difficulty of achieving black in dyeing. Barrada is the fifth woman to represent France at the Biennale.

Quelques œuvres choisies au gré des 6 salles d’exposition

The article presents a thematic tour through six exhibition rooms dedicated to still life painting, focusing on works by Giorgio Morandi and Pablo Picasso. Each room explores a different conceptual angle: the grammar of objects in Morandi's metaphysical still lifes, the poetic dimension of Picasso's cubist compositions, contemporary vanitas motifs, the anti-Albertian nature of the genre, the interplay of presence and erasure, and the dislocation of form in Morandi's etchings. The exhibition draws on art historical references from Norman Bryson and Cesare Brandi to frame the evolution of still life from tradition to radical abstraction.

‘What Color is Your Sky Today?’: The Becoming of the Image

Armineh Negahdari, a Bordeaux-based artist, presents her first institutional solo exhibition in France at the Fondation Louis Vuitton's Open Space series. Titled 'What Color is Your Sky Today?': The Becoming of the Image, the show features a new body of drawings that use charcoal, pastel, and oil paint to explore unstable morphologies between human, vegetal, and animal forms. The works resist narrative closure, emphasizing drawing as an event rather than representation, with lines that accumulate, falter, and begin again. The exhibition is on view at Gallery 8 until 30 August 2026.