Casabianca is the name of the new art space to visit in Como

Si chiama Casabianca il nuovo spazio per l’arte da visitare a Como

A new art space called Casabianca has opened in Como, Italy, housed in a 1930s building designed by Piero Ponci. The project is spearheaded by hoteliers Paolo and Antonella De Santis, who have transformed the former luxury villa and bank into a domestic-style exhibition venue for their contemporary art collection. The space features works by artists such as Giulio Paolini, Stefano Arienti, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz, Marina Abramovic, and Joseph Kosuth, with no labels or didactics to preserve the feel of a private home.

In Savona there is a new contemporary culture festival that aims to make tradition dialogue with the most emerging research

A Savona c’è un nuovo festival di cultura contemporanea che mira a far dialogare la tradizione con le ricerche più emergenti

A new contemporary culture festival called Brucia has launched in Savona, Italy, with its zero edition running from May 9 to 17, 2026. Organized by the under-30 association Fiammiferi, founded by Teresa Raineri, the festival transforms the Fortezza del Priamàr and Teatro Chiabrera into a diffuse laboratory of artistic practices, including performances, concerts, exhibitions, workshops, and meetings. A highlight is the solo show [Çigae] by artist Gaia De Megni, curated by Gabriele Cordì, which explores themes of return and belonging through a Ligurian lens, featuring her film 'La tigre e i gabbiani' (2019).

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.

Intervista all’artista italiano che ha riempito la città di Stoccolma di sculture-animali

Italian artist Davide Rivalta has installed thirteen monumental bronze sculptures of lions, buffalo, and rhinoceroses across Stockholm, Sweden, in a project titled "Blowing Figures into Space." Organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Stockholm, the works are placed in strategic locations including Mynttorget, Gamla Stan, Ladugårdsgärdet, and Hagaparken, with installations rolling out from April 2025 through summer 2027. The first sculpture was unveiled near the Swedish Parliament during Stockholm Art Week, and additional animals will appear in public parks on August 29.

In a Rome exhibition, an artist draws his own atlas: the body becomes world

In una mostra a Roma un artista disegna un proprio atlante: il corpo diventa mondo

Luca di Luzio's exhibition "Atlas ego imago mundi" at Palazzo Mattei in Rome, hosted by the Italian Geographical Society, presents a personal geography where the artist's body becomes landscape and world. Curated by Anna Cestelli Guidi, the show features around 40 maps, three large canvases, and a handmade book created between 2015 and 2023. Di Luzio uses his body as a palette, pressing skin directly onto paper or canvas to generate imaginary territories that merge sensory experience with artistic expression, referencing Merleau-Ponty's philosophy and Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

Il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale è il più internazionale di sempre

Chiara Camoni presents the Italian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale with her exhibition "Con Te Con Tutto" in the Arsenale. The show is divided into two sections: the first features monumental yet intimate sculptures, including her signature "sister" figures made from necklaces and terracotta fragments, while the second section continues the installation with a focus on circular production and zero waste. Camoni emphasizes a return to front-facing statuary, avoiding the gigantism of past editions, and works with sustainable, handmade processes.

Un ciclo di mostre è allestito sotto terra in un ipogeo del quartiere Pigneto a Roma

A family of entrepreneurs acquired an ancient bar in Rome's Pigneto neighborhood in 2020, inheriting a Roman-era hypogeum dating back to the 1st century BC. Originally a pozzolana quarry, later a wine cellar and WWII air-raid shelter, the space beneath the historic bar Necci dal 1924 reopened to the public on March 12 as an exhibition venue. It now hosts "Sottoforma," a cycle of three exhibitions curated by Donatella Giordano and Agatha Jaubourg that explore the theme of the invisible through contemporary art. The first exhibition features works by Eva Marisaldi, Enrico Serotti, and Luca Vitone, running until March 31, followed by shows with Iginio De Luca and Liliana Moro in April, and José Angelino and Elena Bellantoni in May 2026.

A brand-new novel is set in Renaissance Venice and its powerful Arsenal (where the Biennale is held)

Un nuovissimo romanzo è ambientato nella Venezia rinascimentale e nel suo potente Arsenale (quello dove si tiene la Biennale)

Allegra Scattaglia and Luca Josi have co-authored a new novel titled "Venetians – Il segreto dell’Arsenale," published by Sonzogno. Set in Renaissance Venice, the story follows young patrician Marcantonio Bragadin as he becomes entangled in a plot driven by the city's sophisticated and ruthless political system. The narrative highlights the Arsenal, one of the world's first proto-industrial shipbuilding complexes, which also hosts the Venice Biennale. The book weaves together art, technology, diplomacy, and intrigue, featuring historical figures such as Titian, Tintoretto, Albrecht Dürer, Leonardo da Vinci, and Aldus Manutius.

The Ricci Oddi Gallery in Piacenza has been renovated. Here's how it changed after the work (funded by citizens)

La Galleria Ricci Oddi di Piacenza è stata rinnovata. Ecco com’è cambiata dopo i lavori (finanziati dai cittadini)

La Galleria d'Arte Moderna Ricci Oddi in Piacenza, Italy, has completed a year-long renovation and reinstallation project, reopening to the public on April 28. The work, designed pro bono by Milanese studio Lissoni & Partners and funded by citizens, restored the original architecture by Giulio Ulisse Arata, emphasizing a central panopticon and natural zenithal light. The museum remained partially open during construction, which refreshed all 22 rooms and over 1,000 square meters of space, aiming to reconnect the collection with its purpose-built building.

Kunsthaus Paradiso is Born in Venice: Italian Art Has a Home, Despite the Biennale

Nasce a Venezia la Kunsthaus Paradiso: l’arte italiana ha una casa, malgrado la Biennale

A new project called Kunsthaus Paradiso has opened in Palazzo Molin Querini in Venice, running from May 4 to May 31 in conjunction with the Venice Biennale. Founded by curator Caroline Corbetta, the initiative evolved from her earlier Crepaccio project (2012–2016) in Milan and the Padiglione Crepaccio, which debuted at the 2013 Biennale Arte curated by Massimiliano Gioni. Kunsthaus Paradiso focuses on Italian and Venice-based artists—including Thomas Braida, Fabio De Meo, Caterina Rossato, Ornella Cardillo, Alessandro Miotti, Melania Fusco, Mauro Campagnaro, Marta Spagnoli, Barbara De Vivi, Spazio Punch, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Mattia Sinigaglia, and the collective Scafandra—offering a platform for emerging and local talent during the Biennale.

Florence welcomes the great artist Georg Baselitz with a major exhibition at the Museo Novecento

Firenze accoglie il grande artista Georg Baselitz con una grande mostra al Museo Novecento

The Museo Novecento in Florence has opened "Avanti!", a major retrospective dedicated to German artist Georg Baselitz, featuring 170 works on paper spanning his career from the 1960s to the present. Curated by Sergio Risaliti and Daniel Blau, the exhibition is the first in Italy to focus on Baselitz's graphic output, including woodcuts, linocuts, and etchings, alongside sculptures and installations that explore themes of the human body, war, and inversion.

130+ Artists Illuminate the Vast Creative Possibilities of the Nightlight

DUDD LITE, a collaboration between design collective Dudd Haus and The Future Perfect gallery, presents over 130 artist-designed nightlights on view through June 26. Curated from nearly 400 open-call submissions, the exhibition transforms a mundane household object into a canvas for small-scale sculptures made from stained glass, wood, sea shells, ceramic, cotton, and more. Featured artists include James Burial, Chris Wolston, Nicholas Holmes, and Mikei Huang, among others.

Habib Hajallie’s Meticulous Ballpoint Pen Drawings Examine the Depths of Emotion

Habib Hajallie, a Kent-based artist of Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage, presents a new solo exhibition titled "Black & Blue" at Larkin Durey in London. The show features meticulous ballpoint pen drawings on found fragments of philosophical and historical texts, exploring themes of memory, connection, and loss. For this series, Hajallie switched from black to blue ink as he grapples with the stillbirth of his daughter and the loss of his sister four years ago. Works include self-portraits and depictions of Black cultural figures, conveying emotions such as despair, confusion, numbness, and care.

McEvoy Gallery Open House & Art Sale Planned

Newtown artist Dick McEvoy will open his studio and gallery at 51 Taunton Lake Road to the public for a weekend open house and art sale on June 13-14, 2026, from 1-4 pm each day. This is the first time in five years he has hosted such an event. McEvoy, known for his pastel landscapes and later large-scale oil paintings, synthesizes techniques from Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism, with curator Peter Hastings Falk praising his evolution into drip-action painting and his ability to reconcile seemingly opposing art movements.

Paolo Roversi on Getting a Permanent Gallery Space in His Italian Hometown

Italian photographer Paolo Roversi, based in Paris since 1973, has opened a permanent gallery space in his hometown of Ravenna. The Paolo Roversi Gallery officially opened at the Art Museum of the City of Ravenna (Mar), featuring a recreation of his Paris studio, an archive room, and a muses' room with portraits of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and others. The gallery was curated by Chiara Bardelli Nonino and designed by longtime collaborator Ania Martchenko, building on a previous exhibition at the museum.

Celestial wildlife paintings plus ceramics at featured art show starting May 16

Artist Sarah Soward and ceramist Hillary Klem will be featured in a joint show at the Redlands Art Association starting May 16, with an open house on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Soward presents multiple series including "Starry Nights" acrylic paintings inspired by constellations, surrealist works imagining origin stories for animals, and laser-cut bee designs aimed at raising awareness of endangered species. Her artwork was previously selected for the Lunar Codex's "Legends of the Moon" capsule sent to the moon in 2022, and she has won "Best of Show" at the National Orange Show.

At the Venice Biennale, protests, self-mutilation and rage against Israel and Russia. Is anyone left to talk about the art?

At the 61st Venice Biennale, protests and controversies have overshadowed the art itself. The Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) demonstrated against the inclusion of Israel and Russia, while the Israeli Pavilion became a flashpoint. Artist Belu-Simion Fainaru, presenting his installation "Rose of Nothingness" in a temporary space, complained that he was forced to defend his art's right to exist amid questions about politics rather than his work. The Biennale also saw barricades, strikes, the resignation of the Golden Lion jury, Iran's last-minute withdrawal, and anger directed at the American pavilion over Trump administration policies. The central exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, was eclipsed by these events.

Since 1968, Protests Have Revealed the Real Impact of the Venice Biennale

The article recounts the 1968 protests at the Venice Biennale, where artists, students, and activists clashed with police over the event's perceived ties to bourgeois power and capitalist commodification. It draws parallels to the 2024 Biennale, where groups like Art Not Genocide Alliance, Pussy Riot, and Femen demonstrated against the participation of Russia and Israel, while artists staged strikes and performances like the Solidarity Drone Chorus to highlight the Gaza conflict.

75 Years of Making Art in Ardsley

The Ardsley Art Commission is presenting a unique exhibition featuring the works of mother-and-son artists Valda Hancock Wagner and Rich Wagner, spanning 75 years of artistic creation. The show includes oil and acrylic paintings, watercolors, drawings, etchings, and wood block prints, ranging from traditional realism to abstraction. Valda studied with notable artists such as Reginald Marsh, Robert Rauschenberg, and Robert Beverly Hale, and later taught art in inner-city New York. Rich studied at the Art Students League, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Royal Drawing School, and has participated in over 80 exhibitions. The exhibition is on view at Ardsley Village Hall through October 1.

Los Angeles Metro’s Stunning D Line Art Turns Stations Into Galleries

Los Angeles Metro unveiled a major public art installation on May 8 with the opening of the 3.92-mile D Line extension, connecting downtown to Beverly Hills. Nine artists were selected from over 1,400 applicants to create works across three stations—Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega. Notable pieces include Karl Haendel's "Hands and Things" at the Wilshire/Fairfax station, featuring photorealist pencil drawings of hands holding objects sourced from nearby cultural institutions, and Susan Silton's "WE, OUR, US." The artworks are mounted using durable porcelain enameling that resists corrosion, scratching, fading, and graffiti.

Carole Harris’ Origin Story in “This Side of the River” at MOCAD

The article reviews Carole Harris's solo exhibition "This Side of the River" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), curated by Abel Gonzalez Fernandez. The show features twenty fiber pieces and archival materials spanning from 1966 to the present, tracing Harris's creative evolution and her responses to Detroit's social and urban changes. It highlights early works like "Potpourri" (1976) and "Black Jack" (1976) from her 1977 debut at Gallery 7, a Black Power-era space founded by Charles McGee, and later pieces such as "Down the Road a Piece" (2003) that mark her shift toward improvisational, abstract compositions.

From Yangjiang to the world: Zheng Guogu's living art space

Zheng Guogu, a prominent Chinese artist, has founded a living art space in Yangjiang, a quiet city in southern China. The museum functions as more than an exhibition venue; it is a dynamic, evolving creative ecosystem where artists from around the world come to live, work, and exchange ideas. Immersed in the local rhythms, participants turn everyday life into an ongoing artistic dialogue.

Art Leven First Nations And Australian Fine Art Auction Opens This Week - Scoop

Art Leven, a Sydney-based gallery focused on First Nations art, is opening its First Nations and Australian Fine Art Auction and Exhibition, headlined by the private collection of the late Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO and Sir Nicholas Shehadie AC OBE. The exhibition runs from 15–19 May 2026 at Art Leven's new Woolloomooloo gallery, with the live auction on 19 May at Artspace. The sale includes approximately 115 artworks, with 79 from the Bashir-Shehadie collection, featuring works by Balang John Mawurndjul AM, Arthur Boyd, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Albert Namatjira, and others. The collection reflects decades of travel to remote art centres and close relationships with artists, supported by archival material like handwritten notes and early catalogues.

Pro Arts Jersey City presents A Margin of Influence: Artists and the books that inform them

Pro Arts Jersey City presents "A Margin of Influence: Artists and the books that inform them" at ART150 Gallery from May 8-31, 2026. Curated by Raymond E. Mingst and Arthur Bruso, the group exhibition features ten artists—including Agnieszka Wszolkowska, Alvin Quiñones, Brad Terhune, Dorie Dahlberg, Elliot Appel, Hank Yaghooti, Josephine Barreiro, Laura Lou Levy, Nanette Reynolds Beachner, and Peter Delman—who explore how books shape their creative practice. The show runs weekends with an opening reception on May 8.

Art Gallery Shows in Bangkok to Check Out in May

A roundup of art gallery exhibitions in Bangkok for May 2026 highlights four shows: 'The Fourth Decade of the Bualuang Paintings' at The Queen's Gallery, featuring 141 works by 52 Thai artists from the Bualuang painting contests; 'New Beginning' at ART Space by MOCA Four Seasons, a group show with artists from Japan and Thailand exploring renewal; 'Museum of Monsters' at River City Bangkok, a solo exhibition by artist FAHFAHS (Napath Kuntaruck) confronting hidden memories; and 'Beneath the Horizon Line' at Art Jewel Gallery, Siam.

WORDS WORDS WORDS at Everard Read shows the power of words in contemporary art

The article reviews 'WORDS, WORDS, WORDS,' an exhibition at Everard Read Gallery's CIRCA space in South Africa, which explores the role of language in contemporary visual art. Curated with a focus on how words are bent, repeated, fragmented, and reassembled, the show features works by South African artists including Willem Boshoff and Luca Evans, who engage with conceptual art traditions from Dada to Barbara Kruger. Boshoff's braille-inset wooden piece 'Planet of Echinus' questions inclusion and exclusion in language, while Evans' work riffs on Joseph Kosuth's iconic text pieces using ancient wood-inlay techniques.

Shiva Zahed's Istanbul gallery opens new platform for Iranian contemporary art

Shiva Zahed, an Iranian collector and former physician, has opened a new gallery in Istanbul's Pera district dedicated to Iranian contemporary art. The gallery launched with the exhibition "echos," featuring works by Shaqayeq Arabi and Fereydoun Ave, which was extended through May 10 due to strong interest. Zahed frames the space as an active platform to reposition Iranian artists within a global context, rather than a conventional exhibition venue.

ON THE IM-POSSIBILITY OF COMMUNICATING. “DICHO A MANO”, BY FELIPE PINEDA

SOBRE LA IM-POSIBILIDAD DE COMUNICARSE. “DICHO A MANO”, DE FELIPE PINEDA

The exhibition "Dicho a mano" by Chilean artist Felipe Pineda, curated by Ayelén Ruiz at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santiago, explores the difficulty of communication when words fail, turning to the body and hands as alternative languages. Pineda draws on his migratory experience in London and references mutilated classical sculptures from the British Museum, while a recent theft of one piece adds an unexpected dimension. The show reflects on barriers in art and human connection, proposing that even failed communication carries a desire to be understood.

Between Ritual and Institution: Andrea Canepa's Interventions in Spain

ENTRE EL RITO Y LA INSTITUCIÓN: LAS INTERVENCIONES DE ANDREA CANEPA EN ESPAÑA

Andrea Canepa, a Peruvian artist born in 1980, has installed "Fardo" at the Palacio de Cristal in Madrid's Parque del Retiro, running from January 13, 2026 to January 1, 2027. The work wraps the building's perimeter in a printed fabric bearing patterns from Paracas funerary textiles, a pre-Columbian culture from southern Peru. Created during the palace's ongoing restoration (which began in 2023), the installation challenges the building's colonial history—it was built for the 1887 Exhibition of the Philippine Islands—by introducing indigenous visual and ritual references. Canepa also presented "Entre lo profundo y lo distante" at the IVAM in Valencia until April 12, 2026, which uses Andean huacas (sacred spaces) to propose a non-linear relationship between time, body, and space. Both works transform passive contemplation into active, bodily participation, using ritual as a means to reorganize the exhibition experience.