SFMOMA’s ‘Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal’ revisits an old controversy

SFMOMA has opened 'Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal,' an exhibition that revisits the 1905 debut of Henri Matisse's iconic painting at the Salon d’Automne in Paris, which sparked the Fauvist movement. The show reconstructs Gallery VII of that salon, reuniting works by all ten original artists—including Matisse, André Derain, and Maurice de Vlaminck—and places the painting in dialogue with contemporary artists to trace its lasting influence. The painting, which was purchased by collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein at the 1905 salon, entered SFMOMA’s collection in 1991 as a bequest from Elise S. Haas and never travels, making this the exclusive venue for the exhibition.

Seattle Art Museum continues Alexander Calder exhibition series

The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) has announced a new exhibition, "Monochrome: Calder and Tara Donovan," as part of its ongoing Calder at SAM initiative. Opening May 13, 2026, and running through January 17, 2027, the show is co-curated by artist Tara Donovan and Catharina Manchanda, SAM's Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. It explores how both Alexander Calder and Donovan use monochrome—particularly black—to examine materials, movement, and perception. Donovan's works from five series, including installations made from tar paper and Mylar, will be displayed alongside two of Calder's matte black pieces: the mobile "Jacaranda" (1949) and the stabile "Mountains" (1976).

Art Basel announces Trevor Paglen as co-curator of Zero10’s Swiss edition

Art Basel has announced that artist Trevor Paglen and digital art strategist Eli Scheinman will co-curate the third edition of Zero10, the fair's initiative dedicated to digital art, at its flagship Swiss edition in Basel from June 17–21, 2026 (with a preview on June 16). The presentation will feature 20 exhibitors, including major galleries such as Hauser & Wirth, Marian Goodman, and Sprüth Magers, and will be freely accessible to the public in the Event Hall on Messeplatz. The curatorial theme, "The Condition," explores life in a world saturated by digital imagery, computational systems, and artificial intelligence, bringing together historical and contemporary voices across digital, generative, and media art.

Hube Guide: What to Do in New York During Frieze

Frieze Art Fair returns to New York from May 13th to 17th, 2026, at The Shed for its 15th edition, featuring over 65 galleries from 26 countries. The fair emphasizes Latin American practices and includes a Focus section curated by Lumi Tan highlighting younger galleries and experimental works. Notable presentations include Reika Takebayashi’s ecological dreamscapes, Bruno Cançado’s meditations on Brazilian vernacular architecture, and Abraham González Pacheco’s graphite works. Beyond the fair, performances and installations extend to institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and Dia Art Foundation. The article also previews concurrent exhibitions: "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (May 2026–January 2027), a David Hammons and Jannis Kounellis show at White Cube (May 1–June 13, 2026), and Carol Bove’s exhibition at the Guggenheim (March 5–August 2, 2026).

The Artist Who Turned Kim Kardashian Into a Living Sculpture Has an Exhibition in Paris

The Sceners Gallery in Paris is hosting “Forms and Temptations,” an exhibition of works by British Pop Art pioneer Allen Jones, coinciding with Kim Kardashian wearing a Jones-inspired fiberglass breastplate at the 2026 Met Gala. The show features Jones’s eroticized female mannequins and sculptures, including “Red Refrigerator” and “Cover Story 4/4,” displayed alongside high-end decorative furniture from designers like Carlo Bugatti and Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Jones, now 88, collaborated with Kardashian on her Met Gala look, which re-edited a cast from 1967/68.

The 61st Venice Biennale: 'artists who confront difficult realities in unusual ways' at Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana

Curators Emma Lavigne and Jean-Marie Gallais have organized exhibitions for the Pinault Collection at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana during the 61st Venice Biennale, featuring artists Lorna Simpson, Paulo Nazareth, Michael Armitage, and Amar Kanwar. The shows respond to global tensions, with Nazareth using salt to trace a ghost ship referencing the slave trade, and Simpson creating nocturnal paintings and collages from Ebony and Jet magazines that explore identity and history. The exhibitions are part of the Biennale's broader global outlook, engaging with Venice's mercantile past and contemporary migration routes.

In Venice For the Biennale? Don’t Miss These 15 Shows Around the City

The article is a guide to 15 art exhibitions taking place in Venice during the Biennale, curated by CULTURED magazine. It highlights shows such as "If All Time Is Eternally Present" at Palazzo Nervi-Scattolin, featuring film works by Tai Shani, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, and Kandis Williams; "Michael Armitage: The Promise of Change" at Palazzo Grassi; "Amoako Boafo: It doesn’t have to always make sense" at Palazzo Grimani; "Transforming Energy" by Marina Abramović at Gallerie dell’Accademia; and "Helter Skelter" by Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince at Fondazione Prada. Each entry includes location, dates, and curatorial context.

How Andrea Alvarez’s Long-Overdue Survey on Contemporary Latinx Art at Buffalo AKG Art Museum Came to Be

The Buffalo AKG Art Museum has opened "Let Us Gather in a Flourishing Way," the first major institutional survey of contemporary Latinx painting in the United States. Curated by Andrea Alvarez, the exhibition features 58 living artists in an intergenerational dialogue, spanning an entire museum floor with seven thematic groupings. Alvarez conducted extensive studio visits across the U.S. and Puerto Rico over an unusually long research period, focusing solely on painting to establish a clear curatorial lens while reflecting the diversity of the Latino diaspora.

150+ Works Celebrate Philadelphia’s Boxing Legends and Monuments in New Exhibition

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," an exhibition opening April 25, 2026, that explores the cultural significance of the Rocky statue and its connection to Philadelphia's boxing legends, immigrant neighborhoods, and public monuments. Featuring over 150 works by more than 50 artists—including Keith Haring, Rashid Johnson, Kara Walker, and Andy Warhol—alongside artifacts spanning 2,000 years, the show includes sculptures, paintings, video, and new commissions, timed to the 50th anniversary of the film "Rocky" (1976), the city's World Cup matches, and Philadelphia's Semiquincentennial.

Art Basel unveils Basel Exclusive and further program highlights for its flagship show in June

Art Basel has announced new program highlights for its flagship fair in Basel this June, including a new initiative called Basel Exclusive. Developed in dialogue with galleries, Basel Exclusive requires participating exhibitors from the main Galleries sector to reserve at least one major work—or an entire presentation—from all pre-fair previews, online viewing rooms, and pre-sales, unveiling them publicly for the first time during the VIP opening on June 16. The fair also revealed the lineup for Unlimited, its platform for large-scale works, which will feature 59 projects by 66 international galleries, curated for the first time by Ruba Katrib of MoMA PS1. Unlimited Night returns on June 18 with extended hours and special performances.

In Giuseppe Penone’s Sculptures, Humankind and Nature Are One

Giuseppe Penone is preparing for his exhibition 'The Reflection of Bronze' at Gagosian's New York flagship, running from April 22 through July 2. The show, curated by former Whitney Museum director Adam D. Weinberg, features eighteen artworks from 1995 to the present, including the new sculpture 'Marsia (Marsyas)', and is designed to create a forest-like sensory immersion using materials like cork.

A Brief History of Protest at the Venice Biennale

The article provides a historical overview of protest actions that have taken place at the Venice Biennale, tracing key moments of political and social dissent within the prestigious international art exhibition. It highlights instances where artists, activists, and participating nations have used the Biennale as a platform to challenge authority, address censorship, and critique global issues, from the 1968 student protests to more recent controversies involving national pavilions and institutional policies.

Il mitico artista-ceramista italiano Nanni Valentini torna negli Stati Uniti con una mostra sulla sua storia. Le immagini

The Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, is hosting "Interspaces," a retrospective exhibition dedicated to Italian artist Nanni Valentini (1932–1985), a pivotal figure in ceramic art. Curated by Garth Johnson of the Everson Museum and Luca Bochicchio of the Museo della Ceramica di Savona, with oversight by art historian Flaminio Gualdoni, the show runs until September 6, 2026. It traces Valentini's evolution from functional pottery to conceptual wall works, featuring pieces like "I segni della terra" (1981) and "Impronta-totem" (1979), on loan from ABC-ARTE gallery. The exhibition marks Valentini's return to the U.S., where he first gained international recognition at the museum's 1958 Ceramic International, introduced by Lucio Fontana.

Where to go this weekend?

Wohin am Wochenende?

This week's art tips from Monopol magazine highlight exhibitions and events across Germany and Europe. In Berlin, the Helmut Newton Museum reopens with a new immersive film space and a fresh presentation of its collection, while the Neue Nationalgalerie showcases Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's iconic painting "Potsdamer Platz" in the exhibition "Ruin und Rausch. Berlin 1910-1930." In Bozen, Chinese artist Evelyn Taocheng Wang presents new works at Museion, blending painting, textiles, and installation. The Art Brussels fair returns with a reduced lineup of 138 galleries, focusing on Belgian and neighboring markets. In Duisburg, Anish Kapoor receives the Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Prize, accompanied by a solo exhibition at the Lehmbruck Museum.

Kader Attia to Curate 2027 Kochi-Muziris Biennale

French Algerian artist, curator, and educator Kader Attia has been appointed curator of the Seventh Kochi-Muziris Biennale, scheduled to open in Kochi, India, in December 2027. The selection was made by a jury led by Biennale president Jitish Kallat and including Shilpa Gupta, Amrita Jhaveri, Pooja Sood, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Mariam Ram, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Attia, who participated in the 2014 edition of the biennale, is known for his practice addressing social injustice, postcolonialism, and marginalized communities, and previously curated the 2022 Berlin Biennale.

Bodies in Motion, Bodies at Rest: Ali Cherri in Conversation with Kaelen Wilson-Goldie

This article presents a conversation between artist Ali Cherri and writer Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, marking the second installment of a collaborative series between TextWork by Fondation Pernod Ricard and Mousse Magazine. The series features in-depth dialogues between artists from the TextWork program and magazine contributors, expanding on the traditional interview format, and is set to continue until 2027.

Previews: 61st Venice Biennale: In Minor Keys

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens amid global turmoil and internal controversy. Kouoh, who passed away in May 2025, conceived the exhibition around the metaphor of a "creole garden," emphasizing deep affinities between 111 artists from diverse locations such as Dakar, Beirut, and Salvador. The Biennale is overshadowed by recent geopolitical events, including US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, and faces protests: over 70 participating artists signed an open letter opposing the participation of Israel, Russia, and the US, while the Australian pavilion saw the reinstatement of Khaled Sabsabi after being dropped, and South Africa withdrew its official pavilion over Gabrielle Goliath's femicide project, which she will still present independently.

Lee Ufan stars in Venice with a major exhibition by Dia Art Foundation

Dia Art Foundation presents a major solo exhibition of Lee Ufan at SMAC Venice, opening May 9, 2026, as an Official Collateral Event of the 61st Venice Biennale. Curated by Jessica Morgan, the show spans over sixty years of the artist's career, featuring historical and unseen paintings, monumental installations, and new site-specific works across eight rooms. It includes seminal series such as *From Point*, *From Line*, *From Winds*, *With Winds*, *Correspondance*, and *Dialogue*, tracing Lee's evolution from the 1960s to the present.

Parrish Art Museum Summer 2026 Guide

The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, has announced its Summer 2026 guide, detailing a robust schedule of exhibitions and public programs running through August. Highlights include "Regeneration: Long Island’s History of Ecological Art and Care" featuring 11 intergenerational artists, a solo presentation of Sanford Biggers titled "Drift," and exhibitions of works by Ellsworth Kelly and Will Ryman. The museum also offers a wide range of events such as docent-led tours, art workshops for children, therapeutic programs for Alzheimer's patients and cancer survivors, and member mornings.

North America’s Longest-Running Exhibition of International Art Has Landed at the Carnegie Museum

The 59th Carnegie International, titled "If the word we," has opened at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, marking North America's longest-running exhibition of international art. Featuring 61 artists and collectives from countries including Brazil, Benin, China, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, Taiwan, and South Africa, the exhibition explores the theme of "we" as an evolving proposition. It includes nearly 40 newly commissioned projects—the largest number in the International's history—spanning painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video, and theater. Notable works include Jonathan González's performance "The Strikebreakers" and Georges Adéagbo's installation "Le Socialism Africain," which uses discarded objects to examine Western power and colonial legacies in Africa.

Peterson Rich Office Designed The Met’s New Condé M. Nast Galleries and its Inaugural Costume Institute Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened its new Condé M. Nast Galleries, a 12,000-square-foot exhibition space designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The galleries, which debuted with the Costume Institute's exhibition "Costume Art," transform a former interior courtyard and gift shop into five sequential rooms, including named spaces for Thom Browne, Michael Kors, and Lance LePere. PRO also designed the exhibition itself, which pairs 200 garments and accessories with 200 artworks from the Met's collection, creating a dialogue between fashion and fine art.

Exhibition | Daniel Arsham, 'Eroded Horizon' at Baró Galeria, Palma, Spain

Baró Galeria presents 'Eroded Horizon', Daniel Arsham's fifth collaboration with the gallery and his second exhibition at its Mallorca location, as part of Art Palma Summer 2026. The show features recent and previously unseen works across sculpture, drawing, and painting, exploring themes of time, decay, and the intersection of body and landscape. Arsham employs materials like marble, sand, bronze, and charcoal to create forms that blend ancient and futuristic aesthetics, continuing his signature fictional archaeology.

Art and Soul: Showcasing Three Inspiring Women Artists

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) will present a major exhibition of East Bay artist Mildred Howard titled "Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory" from June 12 through October 18. The show spans over 50 years of Howard's career, featuring sculpture, public art, and immersive installations, including large-scale works made from found objects like skillets, shoes, and glass bottles. Key pieces include "Blackbird in a Red Sky (aka Fall of the Blood House)" and "Ten Little Children Standing in a Line (One Got Shot, and Then There Were Nine)." Howard, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow, explores themes of memory, home, Black identity, and the African American experience, often using house-like structures to prompt dialogue about belonging and sanctuary.

No Hay Banda: Vandria Borari, Petra Feriancová, Karoliina Hellberg, and Sofia Silva, 29th May – 26th June 2026, CFA, Milan, Italy. Private View: 28th May 2026.

CFA in Milan presents "No Hay Banda," a group exhibition running from 29 May to 26 June 2026, featuring four international artists: Vandria Borari (Brazil/Germany), Petra Feriancová (Slovakia), Karoliina Hellberg (Finland), and Sofia Silva. The show brings together ceramicist and Indigenous activist Borari, whose work includes the Yupirungáwa series and the Fluid Forest project; Feriancová, a Slovak artist who represented the Czech and Slovak Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale; and Hellberg, a Finnish artist who recently won the Visual Artist Award from the Marcus Collins Memorial Fund. The private view is scheduled for 28 May 2026.

May Things to Do: Visual Art

This article from a Seattle arts publication rounds up May visual art events, including the Seattle Art Book Fair (May 9–10) at Washington Hall featuring over 85 artists and free admission; Timothy White Eagle's exhibition "Once Wild River" (May 9–June 21) at Mini Mart City Park, culminating his EPA artist-in-residency; "Monochrome: Calder and Tara Donovan" (May 13–Jan 17, 2027) at the Seattle Art Museum, where Donovan responds to Alexander Calder's black works; "Rebels + Icons: The Photography of Janette Beckman" opening May 15 at MoPOP, the largest collection of her iconic musician portraits; and Drie Chapek's "Then Is Now" (May 21–June 27).

Chinese art exhibition reflects transformative modern times

Hundreds of visitors attended the opening of 'Forever Tomorrow: Chinese Art Now' at Auckland Art Gallery, the first major survey of Chinese contemporary art on this scale in Auckland. The exhibition features over 60 works by 42 artists, including Ai Weiwei, Xu Zhen, Xiao Lu, and Cao Fei, spanning photography, sculpture, installations, and new media. Key works include Ai Weiwei's 'Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn' and Xu Zhen's monumental sculpture combining Buddhist and Greek motifs. The show runs through an unspecified period and has drawn diverse audiences, including Chinese New Zealanders and previous visitors to China.

Pao Houa Her Captivates Midway Contemporary Art with New Exhibition Through May 2026

Hmong-American artist Pao Houa Her is currently presenting a solo exhibition at Midway Contemporary Art in Chicago, running through May 2, 2026. The show explores themes of displacement, identity, and cultural memory through Her's photographs and installations, which blend personal narrative with broader social commentary on the Hmong diaspora experience post-Vietnam War. Born in Laos and raised in Minnesota, Her's work challenges viewers to confront the complexities of migration and belonging, using staged portraits and intimate compositions to subvert expectations of representation.

The Top 10 Exhibitions to See Around the World This May

Ocula's global team of editors has curated a list of the top 10 exhibitions to see worldwide in May, highlighting diverse shows from Rio de Janeiro to New York. Featured exhibitions include Jungjin Lee's photographic works blending Icelandic landscapes and intimate objects on traditional Korean paper, a millennial-themed group show titled "Genuine Premium Fake Economy" examining precarity through artists like Jasmine Gregory and Buck Ellis, Joan Semmel's solo exhibition "Continuities" at Xavier Hufkens and Alexander Gray Associates showcasing her erotic self-portraiture at age 93, and Wynnie Mynerva's Berlin Gallery Weekend show addressing colonial violence and Andean mythology.

Sebastiaan Bremer: Super Modern Things

Edwynn Houk Gallery presents "Super Modern Things," an exhibition of new works by Sebastiaan Bremer. The artworks blend photography and painting, starting from historical source images such as 17th-century Dutch botanical catalogues and Golden Age still life paintings. Bremer photographs these reproductions and adds ink and acrylic marks—dots, lines, stains, and washes—creating rhythms that evoke language, music, emotion, and constellations. The exhibition continues his long-standing exploration of flowers and the layered histories of still life, addressing themes of beauty, mortality, value, ecology, and global exchange. An accompanying monograph of his flower series is scheduled for Fall 2026.

War-time exhibition: Yaacov Dorchin’s iron angels and sculptural language

Renowned Israeli sculptor Yaacov Dorchin, recipient of the 2004 Emet Prize and the 2011 Israel Prize for Visual Arts, opened his latest exhibition "Decapitated Fish and Additional Sculptures" at the Gordon Gallery in Tel Aviv on March 12, 2026—his 80th birthday and two weeks into the war with Iran. The exhibition, held without a large opening night due to the conflict, features about 15 sculptures spanning from 1993 to the present, including works in iron, steel, basalt, and other industrial materials. In an interview interrupted by an air raid siren, Dorchin discussed his approach to sculpting, the lyrical names of his heavy works, and how he reorganized the exhibition to create dialogues between older and newer pieces.