The article titled 'At the Galleries for May 21, 2026' published by 27east provides a roundup of current art exhibitions and gallery shows opening or ongoing as of that date. It highlights specific venues, artists, and works on view, serving as a local guide for art enthusiasts on the East End of Long Island.
Despite a wave of high-profile gallery closures and economic pressure from the shrinking entertainment industry, a new generation of Los Angeles art dealers is finding resilience through local community ties. While major outposts like Michael Werner and Sean Kelly have shuttered, local mainstays argue that the market is not failing but rather correcting itself against unrealistic expectations. Success in the current climate requires a physical presence and deep-rooted relationships that satellite galleries often struggle to maintain.
Frieze Los Angeles kicked off its 2024 edition with a high-profile opening day, drawing a mix of Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes, and major international collectors. The fair's atmosphere was defined by a blend of blue-chip art commerce and Los Angeles lifestyle culture, featuring notable presentations such as Stephanie H. Shih’s ceramic homages to Erewhon juices at Berggruen gallery and Napoles Marty’s Frieze Impact Prize exhibition.
Christie's and Sotheby's reported nearly flat first-half 2025 sales of $2.1bn and $2.2bn respectively, with Christie's 20th/21st-century art sales down 2% but luxury up 29%. The Mei Moses Art Index shows over 50% of auction lots sold at negative compound annual returns, which analyst Michael Moses calls 'the worst overall financial performance in the 21st century.' Meanwhile, Bitcoin, gold, and stocks have significantly outperformed art, with BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF alone attracting $84bn—far exceeding the global art market's total value. A record $43.9m Canaletto sale to a Bezos-linked buyer underscores that top-tier works still command attention, but the broader trend suggests wealthy investors are prioritizing financial returns over art as a status symbol.
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is hosting "Making History: 200 Years of American Art," an exhibition organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and on view through September 21, 2025. The show features 85 original works by American artists, including Charles Willson Peale's *The Artist in His Museum*, Patience Wright's wax sculpture of George Washington, and portraits of Ruth St. Denis and Mrs. Chase. PEM's curators have reimagined the exhibition with local relevance and immersive design, and the final gallery invites visitors to contribute personal reflections on history.
The Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at Stony Brook University presents "Weaving Words, Weaving Worlds: The Power of Indigenous Language in Contemporary Art," a group exhibition featuring 24 artists including Jeffrey Gibson, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Kay WalkingStick. The show, on view from July 17 through November 22, explores how traditional and new media art can serve as a vessel for cultural continuity, storytelling, and the reclamation of Indigenous languages, with a focus on Algonquian languages spoken across Long Island and the Northeast. Archival materials from Stony Brook University’s Special Collections, including the Native Long Island map with over 400 Algonquian words, provide historical context.
The article details the transformation of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum through its AK360 expansion project, led by engineering firm Buro Happold in partnership with OMA and Cooper Robertson. The centerpiece is the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building, a 29,000-square-foot structure adding three levels of gallery space, along with flexible event spaces, educational classrooms, and public areas like the Town Square and sculpture gardens. Buro Happold provided MEPFP engineering, IT/AV systems, security, and sustainability consulting to integrate modern infrastructure while preserving the historic campus.
The US Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale features sculptor Alma Allen's exhibition "Call Me the Breeze," curated by Jeffrey Uslip. The show presents untitled, amorphous sculptures in bronze, wood, and stone, including Colorado Yule marble. The selection process was controversial: after the Trump administration excluded the National Endowment for the Arts, the State Department initially picked artist Robert Lazzarini and curator John Ravenal, but that plan collapsed. The American Arts Conservancy, a new nonprofit led by Jenni Parido (a former pet food store operator with Mar-a-Lago ties), then took over, hiring Uslip, who approached Barbara Chase-Riboud and William Eggleston before settling on Allen. Donors include businessman John Phelan and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.
Riyadh continua a scommettere forte sull’arte pubblica: nei prossimi anni oltre 100 nuove opere installate nella capitale saudita
Saudi Arabia is significantly expanding its Riyadh Art public art initiative, with plans to install over 100 new monumental works across the capital city in the coming years. Following the recent Tuwaiq Sculpture 2026 event, which added 25 stone and metal sculptures to the permanent collection, the city has announced 12 new site-specific installations by high-profile international artists including Anselm Kiefer, El Anatsui, and Manal AlDowayan. The project aims to reach a total of 115 new commissions, building upon a collection that already features masters like Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, and Giuseppe Penone.
"Eine kräftige Soldatin im Paillettenkleid"
Media reviews of the Venice Biennale's opening week offer contrasting takes on the German and US pavilions. Critics describe the German pavilion, curated by Sung Tieu and Henrike Naumann, as a dense, ironic East-West narrative that layers Nazi architecture with DDR prefab construction, creating what Jörg Häntzschel calls a "shockingly seamless symbiosis." The US pavilion, featuring sculptures by Alma Allen, is panned by Maximilíano Durón in ArtNews as politically timid and empty, lacking the clear colonial critiques of previous editions by Simone Leigh and Jeffrey Gibson.
Lancaster city's May First Friday 2026 features over 20 events, including exhibition openings, concerts, and performances. Highlights include a new exhibition 'Hybrids' by artist Jeremy Waak at Curio Gallery & Creative Supply, the Demuth Museum's 'Demuth Invitational: American Reflections' tied to the U.S. 250th anniversary, and the Lancaster Living Poetry Museum II with performers embodying poets at venues like the Lancaster Public Library and Lancaster Art Vault. Other offerings include salsa dancing at Binns Park, works by York County painters at The Framing Concept, and a show inspired by Yayoi Kusama at Friendship Heart Gallery + Market.
The United States Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale features sculptor Alma Allen's exhibition "Call Me the Breeze," which opened with no clear funding just ten days prior. Unlike previous pavilions supported by major foundations like Ford and Mellon, Allen's show relies on a $375,000 US government contribution and public donations via the American Arts Conservancy. The selection process was unconventional: the State Department, which took over after Trump's NEA budget cuts, imposed restrictions on DEI policies and required proposals promoting "American exceptionalism." Curator Jeffrey Uslip directly approached Allen without a formal proposal, leading the artist's two galleries—Olney Gleason and Mendes Wood DM—to drop him when he accepted the commission.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, co-founded by filmmaker George Lucas and businesswoman Mellody Hobson, has announced its inaugural exhibitions. The ambitious survey will feature over 1,200 works from a founding collection of more than 40,000 objects, including pieces by Thomas Hart Benton and Jessie Wilcox Smith. The museum is housed in a 300,000-square-foot building designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects with Stantec.
The Obama Foundation has unveiled the final group of artists commissioned to create site-specific works for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. This prestigious roster includes Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Lorna Simpson, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, whose works will be integrated into the 19.3-acre campus. The announcement completes the artistic vision for the center, which aims to blend public space with high-caliber contemporary art when it opens on June 19th.
King's Leap gallery in New York presents "There were gardens," a group exhibition running from April 3 to May 9, 2026, featuring works by Dara Birnbaum, Gina Folly, Collin Leitch, Chris Marker, Jeff Preiss, Julia Scher, Jason Simon, and Mira M. Yang. The show includes 37 images documented in the Contemporary Art Library, with photography by Stephen Faught.
On Saturday, the art world gathered in East Hampton for a special screening of the documentary *Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty*, which chronicles the artist's life from addiction to icon. The invite-only event included appearances by Jeff Koons, Jane Fonda, Monica Lewinsky, Cindy Sherman, and other notable figures, followed by a dinner at the home of co-producer and collector Debi Wisch. The film explores Minter's unflinching feminist commentary and her decades-long challenge to conventional beauty and desire in contemporary art.
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington DC is marking the 250th anniversary of US independence with a major exhibition titled "In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness," opening on 14 May. The show displays 250 objects spanning all three floors of the museum, ranging from a Revolutionary War-era gunboat (the Philadelphia) to a Donald Trump "Make America great again" hat. Seventy-six rarely seen objects are concentrated in entry hall cases, while the rest are embedded throughout existing galleries, connected by a "ribbon" design. Director Anthea Hartig frames the exhibition as a commemoration of moments where individuals and communities fought for recognition and identity, pairing each object with an action verb to emphasize democracy as participatory.
The 11th edition of the All About Photo awards – The Mind's Eye has announced its 2026 winners, with first place awarded to Matt McClain for his image of an intern working in a historic millinery shop at Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. The competition features a diverse range of winning photographs, including conceptual self-portraiture by Brooke Shaden, a street scene at the Benin-Togo border by France Leclerc, a train sleeping in Tunisia by Javier Arcenillas, freedivers with sperm whales by Khaichuin Sim, and young monks playing football in the Himalayas by Andrew Newey. Winners receive $5,000 in cash prizes.
Artnet has implemented sweeping layoffs following its consolidation with Artsy under a single leadership team led by CEO Jeffrey Yin. The cuts have severely impacted Artnet News, resulting in the departure of veteran senior reporters Sarah Cascone and Eileen Kinsella, while Andrew Russeth has been named interim editor. Additionally, Artnet’s German entity is being wound down, affecting the Berlin-based team responsible for the platform's online sales operations.
Archaeologists at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate have unearthed a 250-year-old kiln used to fire bricks for the plantation’s original construction. Located on the East Lawn just feet from the main house, the site was identified through the discovery of specialized curved bricks, including cyma-shaped and ovolo-molded specimens. These architectural details confirm the kiln dates back to the "Monticello I" period (1768–1782), as these specific water table features were omitted during Jefferson’s later 18th-century renovations.
South Africa withdrew its national pavilion from the Venice Biennale after Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie claimed a foreign power attempted to purchase artist Gabriele Goliath's work *Elegy*, which addresses femicide, anti-queer violence, the war in Gaza, and Germany's colonial genocide in Namibia. McKenzie deemed the financial interest a use of "proxy power." New reporting from Daily Maverick reveals that the alleged foreign party was Qatar Museums, a state-owned network, which had expressed interest in acquiring the work but never committed to a purchase. The minister's decision has sparked political backlash, with South Africa's public protector processing a formal complaint against McKenzie, and Goliath's team accusing him of censorship and deflection.
Activists took to the streets across the U.S. over the weekend of January 11, 2026, for "No War, No Kings, No ICE" protests, sparked by the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent and the U.S. invasion of Venezuela. In New York City, a coalition of 11 activist groups led by the NYC Democratic Socialists of America organized a march starting at Grand Army Plaza, featuring protest art including giant grayscale posters of Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Representative Jeffries, as well as signs designed by Brooklyn artist Julie Peppito. An estimated tens of thousands attended the New York rally, part of some 1,000 protests nationwide.
NFT Paris and its sister event RWA Paris have been canceled just one month before they were scheduled to take place at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris. Founder Alexandre Tsydenkov announced the cancellation on LinkedIn, citing the collapse of the crypto and NFT markets as making the events financially impossible despite drastic cost cuts. Both conferences had run for four years, showcasing digital art, NFT galleries, and AI-generated works, but had recently shifted toward broader tech and blockchain topics. All tickets will be refunded.
A statue of President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, titled *The Secret Handshake*, was removed from a public park in Washington, D.C., early Wednesday morning after going viral online. The anonymous artists claim they had a legal permit for the 12-foot-tall sculpture, which depicted the two men smiling and dancing together, but that National Parks Service officials toppled and destroyed it without the 24-hour notice they were promised. The Department of the Interior said the removal was due to the statue exceeding the permit's six-foot height limit.
An anonymous artist collective called the Secret Handshake has installed a 12-foot-tall statue in Washington, D.C., depicting Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands and twirling, titled "The Secret Handshake." The sculpture, made from wood, foam, and resin, includes plaques quoting a birthday message Trump reportedly wrote to Epstein and a satirical reference to free speech. The artists declined to identify themselves, speaking through a pseudonymous representative, and stated the work aims to highlight the public friendship between the two men, both of whom have been accused of abusing women.
A Confederate heritage group, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, has filed a lawsuit against Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, challenging a new exhibition that examines the site's history of slavery, segregation, and white supremacy. The group argues that the exhibition, commissioned by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association and developed by Warner Museums, violates state law by repurposing the park away from its original mandate to honor the Confederacy. The exhibition, funded with $11 million from the Georgia legislature in 2023, is not yet open to the public but has already sparked backlash from heritage groups.
An anonymous artist collective, previously responsible for an eight-foot-tall golden monument of Donald Trump crushing Lady Liberty, has installed a new unauthorized artwork on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall. The piece is a life-size, gold-painted television set playing a silent 15-second loop of Trump performing his signature slow-motion dance moves, set against backdrops including campaign rallies and a party with Jeffrey Epstein. The installation, permitted through Sunday, includes a spray-painted gold eagle and a plaque quoting a White House statement criticizing the earlier sculpture. The White House responded with a sarcastic statement from spokesperson Abigail Jackson, claiming the video brings 'joy and inspiration' to tourists.
The article explores the conceptual origins of the internet, tracing its development to figures like Douglas Engelbart and Jacques Vallée, whose work blended computing with cosmic and paranormal inquiry. It argues that early internet pioneers were deeply influenced by ideas of remote viewing, extrasensory perception, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, framing the network as a project of cognitive augmentation and alien encounter.
The article examines the cultural and artistic response to Donald Trump's presidency, tracing how artists and critics initially invoked Alfred Jarry's absurdist character Ubu to make sense of Trump's first term. It argues that the second term has moved beyond farce into a normalized, active remaking of the international political order, with Trump pursuing overt imperial ambitions that exceed Jarry's original satire.
Major layoffs have hit Artnet and Artsy following their consolidation under the UK-based investment firm Beowolff Capital. The staff reductions occurred just one day after the merger announcement and include the departure of veteran Artnet News reporters Sarah Cascone and Eileen Kinsella, who both served the publication for over a decade. As part of the restructuring, Artnet will also shutter its German entity, while Andrew Russeth has been tapped to serve as interim editor.