Scene Calendar: Harn exhibit on Florida, 'Million Dollar Quarter' at Hipp

The article is a scene calendar listing upcoming events in the Gainesville, Florida area, including art exhibitions and a theatrical production. Key visual art events include the Santa Fe College Student Juried Art Exhibition, the Santa Fe Springs Plein Air Paintout, the Gainesville Fine Arts Association's 'NEXT: High School and College Juried Exhibition', and the Harn Museum of Art's exhibition 'Florida in the Frame: A Century of Artists’ Reflections on the Sunshine State', which features works by Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, and Florida Highwaymen painters. The calendar also lists non-visual-art events such as the Levitt AMP Alachua Music Series and the Hippodrome Theatre's production of 'Million Dollar Quartet'.

Zurbarán at the National Gallery is more agony than ecstasy

The article reviews the exhibition 'Zurbarán' at the National Gallery in London, arguing that the show fails to capture the spiritual intensity and emotional power of the Spanish Baroque painter's work. It criticizes the curatorial choices, suggesting the display feels flat and lacks the ecstatic religious fervor that defines Zurbarán's best paintings, leaving viewers with a sense of agony rather than transcendence.

Music & Maker's Night with “Get Surreal (A Surreal Lens)” Tour, May 14

The Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, is hosting a Music & Maker's Night on May 14, featuring a guided tour of the exhibition "Get Surreal (A Surreal Lens)" led by Co-Senior Curator Joshua Johnson. The event includes an art-making activity and live music in the museum's Quad City Bank & Trust Grand Lobby. The exhibition explores how photographers from the earliest days of the medium have used techniques like montage, double exposure, and digital manipulation to distort reality and create dreamlike imagery, featuring works by artists such as Alan Cohen, György Kepes, Olivia Parker, and Emmet Gowin.

Inside the new David Geffen Galleries at LA County Museum of Art

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new David Geffen Galleries, a $724 million building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The structure features a floating floor, floor-to-ceiling windows, and minimalist concrete interiors that create a calm, light-filled space. The inaugural exhibition presents 26 interconnected galleries with no set path, displaying artworks from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to contemporary installations like Do Ho Suh's "Jagyeong Hall, Gyeongbok Palace" (2026), aiming to eliminate hierarchies of time, place, or genre.

Dataland, World's First A.I. Arts Museum, Will Open in June, and Other News.

Dataland, billed as the world's first museum dedicated to AI-generated art, will open June 20 at The Grand LA in downtown Los Angeles, founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç. Its inaugural exhibition, 'Machine Dreams: Rainforest,' uses vast environmental datasets to create multi-sensory AI interpretations of nature. In other news, Tuan Andrew Nguyen's 27-foot-tall sandstone Buddha sculpture has been installed on New York's High Line Plinth; Chanel is launching its first-ever Coco Beach pop-up in Shanghai; Kengo Kuma collaborated with Jaipur Rugs on a carpet collection unveiled at Milan Design Week; and Pittsburgh's new $31 million Arts Landing civic space opened in the Cultural District.

At the Venice Biennale, Canada’s entry blooms with unease

Montreal artist Abbas Akhavan's installation "Entre chien et loup" transforms the Canadian pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale into a living climate system, featuring a humid, Amazon-like environment with a pond of Victoria water lilies. The seeds were sourced from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova, with the lilies growing and blooming over the course of the biennale.

Full extent of Stephen Friedman Gallery's £7.8m debt revealed in filings

Administrators' filings for Stephen Friedman Gallery reveal a total debt of £7.8 million following its closure in February. Three prominent artists—Alexandre Diop, Deborah Roberts, and Kehinde Wiley—are among the unsecured creditors owed a combined £795,000, expected to recover only eight to nine pence per pound. The largest secured creditor is Coutts & Company, owed £3.1 million, followed by Pentland Group with £1.4 million outstanding. The gallery also owes £505,113 to the Pollen Estate for its Cork Street lease, £550,000 to HMRC, and significant sums to shipping and storage firms, including Crozier (£256,470) and Gander & White (£86,772). Art fairs Frieze and Art Basel Qatar are owed £71,227 and £18,763 respectively.

THE VENICE BIENNALE IN AN EDITION MARKED BY POLITICAL GAMES

The Venice Biennale's 2024 edition is embroiled in political controversy surrounding its national pavilions, particularly those of Russia, South Africa, and Israel. The Russian pavilion's readmission amid the war in Ukraine drew sharp criticism from the artistic community and led the European Union to withdraw approximately two million euros in funding. The Israeli pavilion, which remained empty in 2024 to protest hostage situations, now features a proposal by sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, prompting protests from the Art Not Genocide Alliance and over 200 artists demanding its exclusion. The curatorial team, appointed by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, resigned collectively nine days before the opening, and the Biennale's directorship canceled the opening ceremony, postponing awards to November. Demonstrations led by Art Not Genocide Alliance, Pussy Riot, and FEMEN surrounded the Russian pavilion during the press opening, and a strike by cultural workers is planned for May 8th.

BE PART OF A COLLECTIVE ART WORK BY CHIHARU SHIOTA FOR THE CURITIBA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL

Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota has announced a new site-specific installation titled *The Space Between Us* for the 16th Curitiba International Biennial – THRESHOLDS, opening June 14 through November 15, 2026 at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON) in Curitiba, Brazil. Curated by Tereza de Arruda, the work invites the public to submit letters—in text, collage, or other manual forms—which Shiota considers self-portraits of each participant’s inner universe. Submissions must be sent by May 20, 2026, and will be woven into a large-scale collective installation that makes visible the hidden experiences of individuals.

WHEN FASHION MEETS ART QUOTES BODIES AND POWER AT THE MET GALA

The 2026 Met Gala took place on the first Monday of May, opening the Costume Institute's spring exhibition 'Costume Art' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The dress code 'Fashion is Art' prompted celebrities to treat the body as a canvas, with attendees like Hunter Schafer, Madonna, Rachel Zegler, Angela Bassett, Kendall Jenner, Troye Sivan, and Emma Chamberlain referencing specific artworks—from Gustav Klimt's *Mada Primavesi* to the *Winged Victory of Samothrace*—and historical fashion pieces.

What not to miss from the new edition of The Phair, the photography fair in Turin

Cosa non perdere della nuova edizione di The Phair, la fiera della fotografia di Torino

The seventh edition of The Phair, a photography fair in Turin, Italy, opened on Thursday, May 21, at the Sala Fucine of the Officine Grandi Riparazioni. Founded by Roberto Casiraghi and Paola Rampini, the fair features 42 national and international galleries. Highlights include a surprising automotive partnership at the entrance, and standout presentations from Red Lab Gallery (Ezio D’Agostino and Carlotta Valente), Alberto Damian Gallery (Paolo Gioli), Roccavintage (Costanza Gastaldi), Tucci Russo (Giulio Paolini), Raw Messina (Kri Babusci), and Galleria Umberto Benappi (Ugo Mulas). Other notable artists include Arnulf Rainer, Anton Corbijn, Luigi Ontani, and Simon Starling.

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.

Dozens of Venice Biennale Artists Withdraw From Awards En Masse

Almost half of the artists in the 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, along with 16 national pavilion teams, have withdrawn from awards consideration in solidarity with the jury's resignation. The jury resigned on April 30 after stating it would not consider countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC, effectively disqualifying Israel and Russia. The Biennale Foundation then replaced the traditional Golden Lions with new "Visitor Lions" decided by public vote, reinstating all pavilions including Israel and Russia. The withdrawal follows protests at the Russian and Israeli pavilions and a historic labor strike that shuttered multiple pavilions.

Corals as Living Geology. In Conversation with Julian Charrière by Timothée Chaillou

Julian Charrière has created two new bodies of work, *Chorals* (2025) and *Veils* (2025), in collaboration with Maison Ruinart. The projects are inspired by the Lutetian Sea, which submerged the Champagne region 45 million years ago, and explore themes of deep time, climate change, and the interconnectedness of organic and mineral life. *Chorals* is a permanent sound installation in Ruinart's cellars in Reims, featuring amplified recordings of ocean reefs, while *Veils* comprises wall works and sculptures centered on corals and fading coral imagery. The works travel to art fairs as preludes to the permanent installation.

Was Beyoncé's Met Gala gown inspired by a Louisiana artist and her Creole heritage?

Beyoncé attended the 2026 Met Gala in a translucent gown by Olivier Rousteing, adorned with a bejeweled skeleton motif. Online sources suggest the design was inspired by 'Visitor,' a 1944 lithograph by Louisiana artist Caroline Durieux, who was a professor at Tulane University and LSU. The artwork, held by the LSU Museum of Art, depicts a skeleton in a translucent frock, echoing the gown's aesthetic. Art collector Jeremy K. Simien noted Durieux's influence and the potential value boost to the print from the Beyoncé connection.

Annual photo show at MacNider Museum showcases local talent

The Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, Iowa, has opened its 46th Annual Cerro Gordo Photo Show in the Center Space Gallery, sponsored by the Safford and Lena Lock Photo Endowment Fund. Sixty-two entries were submitted by residents of Cerro Gordo County and students at North Iowa Area Community College, with 36 photographs by 20 artists selected for exhibition. An opening reception and awards ceremony will be held on May 7, 2026, with cash prizes including $125 for Best in Show. The exhibition runs through July 11, 2026, and admission is free.

46th annual Cerro Gordo Photo Show open at Charles H. MacNider Art Museum

The 46th Annual Cerro Gordo Photo Show has opened at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum's Center Space Gallery in Mason City, Iowa. The exhibition features 36 photographs by 20 artists from Cerro Gordo County and North Iowa Area Community College, selected by a panel of judges from 62 entries. Artists include Alec Heggen, Brad Janson, Wendy Janson, Dennis Nettifee, Margo Underwood, Lisa Wolf, and many others from Clear Lake, Mason City, and Plymouth. The show is sponsored by the Safford and Lena Lock Photo Endowment Fund, with an opening reception and awards ceremony scheduled for May 7, offering cash prizes including $125 for Best in Show.

I Am Not an Anacronista Painter: The Misunderstood Research of Artist Carlo Maria Mariani

“Io non sono Un Pittore Anacronista”. La ricerca fraintesa dell’artista Carlo Maria Mariani

The Fondazione Carlo Maria Mariani issues a corrective statement defending the late artist Carlo Maria Mariani (1931–2021) against persistent misclassification as an "Anacronista" or "Postmodern" painter. The foundation argues that critics and institutions have superficially lumped Mariani into the anachronistic movement of 1970s–80s Italy, ignoring the conceptual and cerebral foundations of his work. Currently, a solo exhibition titled *I Segni dei Tempi* is on view at the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples until July 14, curated by Andrea Viliani and Antonio Martino. This follows a 2024 show at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence and precedes a major retrospective at Palazzo Citterio in Milan in 2026, curated by Eike Schmidt.

Contemporary art returns to center stage in Ascoli Piceno for the fifth edition of the Premio Sparti

L’arte contemporanea torna protagonista ad Ascoli Piceno per la quinta edizione del Premio Sparti

The fifth edition of the Premio Sparti, titled "Dove finisce la città" (Where the City Ends), will open on May 23 at the Forte Malatesta in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, running through June 28. Curated by Alex Urso, the exhibition features over twenty international artists exploring artistic practice outside major urban centers, with works also installed at the Frida Museum. The show is divided into three sections—"Essere oltre," "Essere qui," and "Essere altro"—highlighting artists who have chosen peripheral, rural, or marginalized locations as bases for their research, including Francesco Arena, Davide Maria Coltro, Andrea Mastrovito, and emerging talents under 35.

Finally, Culture Minister Giuli visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale and made peace with President Buttafuoco

Finalmente il Ministro della Cultura Giuli ha visitato il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale di Venezia 2026 e ha fatto pace con il Presidente Buttafuoco

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli finally visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale alongside Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, marking their first public appearance together after earlier tensions led Giuli to skip the opening ceremony. During the visit, Buttafuoco proposed that the work of artist Chiara Camoni, whose exhibition "Con te con tutto" is curated by Cecilia Canziani, should find a permanent home after the Biennale ends, sparking discussion about the future of pavilion artworks.

Notte Europea dei Musei 2026: tornano le aperture serali con biglietto a 1 euro. Il programma

The European Night of Museums returns on Saturday, May 23, 2026, with participating museums across Europe opening their doors for special evening hours. In Italy, the Ministry of Culture organizes extraordinary openings from 8 PM to midnight at the symbolic price of 1 euro, alongside events in theater, music, dance, literature, and cinema. Highlights include Rome's Notte dei Musei (16th edition) with civic museums open until 2 AM, Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este in Tivoli offering evening access and contemporary performances, and the Royal Savoy Residences in Piedmont featuring guided tours, exhibitions, and family activities.

Giuli Buys Everything! The Ministry of Culture Also Wants to Take Over Rome's Teatro delle Vittorie and Venice's Palazzo Labia?

Giuli compra tutto! Il Ministero della Cultura vuole prendersi anche Il Teatro delle Vittorie di Roma e Palazzo Labia a Venezia?

Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli is pursuing an aggressive acquisition campaign for cultural properties. After high-profile purchases including Antonello da Messina's *Ecce Homo* and Caravaggio's *Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini* (€30 million), the Ministry has now expressed interest in acquiring Rome's Teatro delle Vittorie and Venice's Palazzo Labia—both part of a real estate portfolio being sold by state broadcaster Rai. The Ministry also recently bought Verona's historic Cinema Astra (with a €7.5 million restoration plan) and Naples' Teatro Sannazzaro after a fire.

Future Fair Is a Big Artist Party

Future Fair, held at Chelsea Industrial in New York from May 13–16, 2026, brought together 69 exhibitors from nine countries. Unlike traditional art fairs with segmented booths, the fair emphasized interconnectedness and interpersonal connection, featuring artist-run booths and family-led presentations. Notable participants included Nanor Hakimian showing her brother Garo's paintings, Olivia Janna Genereaux exhibiting with her son Hans Silas Jovine, and artists Cloe Galasso, John Vitale, and Miles Ingrassia. The fair also highlighted its profit-sharing model, dedicating 15% of proceeds plus exhibitor donations to subsidize emerging galleries.

Gulag Museum rebrand marks latest phase in Kremlin’s assault on free speech

The Kremlin is systematically erasing the memory of Soviet repression under Joseph Stalin from Russian museums. The Gulag Museum in Moscow, which documented Stalin-era crimes, has been rebranded as a "Museum of Memory" focused on Nazi war crimes, with its entire website replaced and exhibitions packed up. Simultaneously, Russia's supreme court banned Memorial, a human rights organization founded to document Stalin-era atrocities, labeling it an "anti-Russian" extremist group. The Yeltsin Presidential Center in Yekaterinburg has also removed references to Memorial from its walls, and the Sakharov Center in Moscow was disbanded and evicted from its facilities.

72 Hours in Venice: Palazzos, Protests, and a Biennale on the Brink

The article recounts a journalist's 72-hour visit to the Venice Biennale, beginning with a protest by Pussy Riot and Femen at the Russian Pavilion. The action features pink smoke, chants of "Blood is Russia's art," and a guerrilla performance of the song "Disobey," set against a backdrop of internal Biennale strife—including juror resignations over countries whose leaders face ICC arrest warrants (Netanyahu and Putin). The narrative also notes the presence of alt-right figures like Ryan Coyne and sculptor Alma Allen's troubled U.S. pavilion representation.

Met Gala Boycott Message Projected on Bezos’s Manhattan Penthouse

On May 3, 2026, the activist group Everyone Hates Elon projected messages condemning Jeff Bezos and Amazon onto Bezos's luxury penthouse in Manhattan's Madison Square Park, ahead of the Met Gala on May 4. The projections included a video testimony from Amazon warehouse worker Mary Hill, who called for honoring workers instead of billionaires, and slogans such as 'Boycott The Bezos Met Gala.' The group also projected onto the Chrysler and Empire State buildings. This action follows earlier protests, including littering the Met with fake urine bottles and wheatpasting posters across the city, all targeting Bezos's role as an honorary co-chair of the gala.

The Ireland Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Art Biennale Speaks of Dreams and Pays Homage to Aldo Manuzio

Il Padiglione Irlanda alla Biennale Arte 2026 di Venezia parla di sogni e omaggia Aldo Manuzio

The Ireland Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale will present "Dreamshook," a project by Irish artist Isabel Nolan. The exhibition explores dream states and pays homage to the Venetian printer Aldo Manuzio, drawing on the humanist revolution between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Nolan, who works across sculpture, embroidery, photography, and text, will create new tapestries, drawings, and sculptures that engage with classicism, Christianity, humanism, Irish heritage (including the Book of Kells), and the invention of printing. The project is curated by Georgina Jackson and produced by Cian O'Brien, with support from Culture Ireland and the Arts Council.

At the Venice Biennale there is also Taiwan. With a collateral event on melancholy

Alla Biennale di Venezia c’è anche Taiwan. Con un evento collaterale sulla malinconia

Taiwan will present a collateral event at the 2026 Venice Biennale titled "Screen Melancholy," curated by Raphael Fonseca and featuring artist Li Yi-Fan. The exhibition, organized by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, will be held at Palazzo delle Prigioni and run until November 22, 2026. It explores anxieties of the digital age through a site-specific installation combining a single-channel video and monumental human sculptures, reflecting on information overload, fragmented perception, and the limits of human knowledge.

In Venice, a new project aims to transform museums into living, participatory spaces

A Venezia un nuovo progetto punta a trasformare i musei in spazi vivi e partecipati

The Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (MUVE) has launched "Performing MUVE," a new program set to begin in spring 2026 that reimagines museums as dynamic, participatory spaces. The initiative, developed by MUVE Academy and MUVE Education, will unfold across three venues: Museo Fortuny, Casa di Carlo Goldoni, and the new MUVEC – Casa delle Contemporaneità in Mestre. The program includes four distinct projects—led by Mattia Berto, choreographer Elena Ajani, actress Sara Urban, and dancer Giulia Gemma Manfrotto—that use dance, theater, and embodied practices to transform visitors from passive observers into active participants.

"Geschichtspolitisch fatal und realitätsblind"

A German media roundup reports on a planned restructuring of the Stiftung Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung (Foundation Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation), which would shift its focus toward German expellees and reduce the influence of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The reform, criticized by FAZ commentator Andreas Kilb as a fundamental cultural-political intervention, would detach the foundation from the German Historical Museum and give greater weight to the Federation of Expellees in its board. Separately, the roundup covers a review of a legal study on artistic freedom sparked by the antisemitism debate around Documenta Fifteen, and a speech by Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer warning of democratic backsliding and rising antisemitism.