"Du bist nun in die ewigen Jagdgründe der Kunst entschwunden"

This week's art news roundup covers several stories: Jonathan Meese publishes an obituary for his mother Brigitte Meese in Der Spiegel, describing her as a central figure in his life and work. Pussy Riot seeks to take over the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The European Media Art Festival (EMAF) in Osnabrück faces controversy over antisemitism allegations linked to Palestinian-American filmmaker Basma al-Sharif, leading the city and state government to distance themselves from the festival. In the NZZ, Christian Wildhagen reports on conflicts over official political portraits, citing examples like Swiss councilor Martin Neukom rejecting paintings and Donald Trump criticizing his portrait. Art historian Horst Bredekamp pays tribute to Italian philosopher Federico Vercellone (1955–2026) in the FAZ, highlighting his theory of the 'self-activity of form.'

Story of the designer who transformed MotoGP by designing Valentino Rossi's bikes and suits

Storia del designer che ha trasformato la MotoGP disegnando moto e tute di Valentino Rossi

Aldo Drudi, the influential designer who transformed the visual aesthetics of MotoGP, created a special site-specific livery for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team's presentation at The Edge in Hudson Yards, New York. The livery, unveiled on March 24, 2026 for the United States Grand Prix, is a complex graphic composition that references team history, Valentino Rossi, and American culture, elevating motorcycle design to a form of moving art.

Second senior art thesis exhibition to open Friday at Hastings College gallery

Five Hastings College seniors—Casper Campbell, Josie Cooley, Liam Sites, Tyesha Tynes, and Karson Weiss—will present their work in the second senior thesis art exhibition at the Jackson Dinsdale Art Center from April 24 to May 8, 2026. The show features a range of media and individual storytelling, with a lecture and reception scheduled for April 26. The galleries are free and open to the public.

Arles Drawing Festival: What Not to Miss at This Fourth Edition

Festival du dessin d’Arles : ce qu’il ne faut surtout pas rater pour cette quatrième édition

The fourth edition of the Arles Drawing Festival has opened, featuring over forty exhibitions across the city. The highlights include two major private drawing collections being publicly presented: Marin Karmitz's collection, displayed at the Sainte-Anne church under the title "Et la vie continue…", and the Collezione Ramo from Milan, showcased at the Museon Arlaten chapel as part of a focus on Italian art.

Paul Kroner showcased in first solo exhibit, 'What Have I Done?'

Paul Kroner, an award-winning contemporary visual artist and gallerist, is presenting his first solo exhibition, "What Have I Done?," at his artist-run gallery, Studio Kroner. The show marks his 25th exhibition at the space and coincides with the gallery's fifth anniversary. Featuring nearly 50 works, some begun as early as 2020, the exhibition reflects on themes of creation, responsibility, and inner life. Kroner purchased the studio in 2021 after it was previously owned by Dick Waller, and the exhibition represents a full-circle moment following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 protests in Over-the-Rhine.

Andreas Angelidakis: Escape Room

The Greek Ministry of Culture has selected artist Andreas Angelidakis to represent Greece at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. Angelidakis will present an installation titled "Escape Room" at the Greek Pavilion, curated by George Bekirakis with MOMUS as National Commissioner. The project reimagines Plato's allegory of the cave as an immersive environment addressing post-truth, nationalism, and digital illusions, while also confronting the troubled history of the Pavilion itself, including its 1934 inauguration amid the rise of fascism.

MIT List Visual Arts Center celebrates 40 years

MIT's List Visual Arts Center celebrated its 40th anniversary on April 10, 2026, with performances, receptions, and the opening of a new exhibition titled "Performing Conditions," which explores work, debt, and labor. Housed in the Wiesner Building designed by I. M. Pei, the museum manages public art across MIT's campus, including works by Olafur Eliasson and Sanford Biggers, and runs a Student Lending Art Program that loans about 700 works annually. An anonymous donor has launched a $1 million matching challenge grant for conservation of the public art collection.

painting unfolds across earth, canvas, and space in katharina grosse’s london exhibition

Katharina Grosse's exhibition 'I Set Out, I Walked Fast' at White Cube London presents a continuous environment where painting extends beyond the canvas into space. The show features new works, archival material, and a large in-situ installation that combines mounds of earth, a partially submerged canvas, and a bronze-cast sculpture into a single painted field. Grosse uses an industrial spray gun to apply acrylic pigments, creating works that blur boundaries between surface, site, and viewer. The exhibition avoids chronological order, instead connecting pieces from different periods to form a spatial network where individual works function as nodes.

Local artist work on exhibit in Tulsa

Living Arts of Tulsa is presenting “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?”, an exhibition by Kenneth and Isabelle Watson Reams, with support from JustArts Gallery. Kenneth Reams, a former Arkansas death row inmate now serving a life sentence, created over 50 works including paintings, drawings, sculptures, and poetry alongside his wife Isabelle. The show opened April 3 and runs through April and May, exploring themes of incarceration, capital punishment, and social justice through the lens of Reams’ 31 years on death row.

Statement of Intention by the International Jury of the 61st International Art Exhibition In Minor Keys of La Biennale di Venezia

The international jury for the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled "In Minor Keys," has issued a statement declaring their intention to exclude from consideration any countries whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. The jury, chaired by Solange Farkas and including members Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, was selected by artistic director Koyo Kouoh to award the Golden and Silver Lions among the 110 artists in the exhibition.

Lies, Virtual Reality, and Conceptual Art—Spring/Summer 2026 Exhibitions at PHI

PHI in Montreal presents two spring/summer 2026 exhibitions: "Come See, Lies Lies" by Paola Pivi and "Other Worlds" by Jakob Kudsk Steensen. Pivi's show features surreal installations including wall-mounted shoes, suspended velvet mattresses, and a metal house with TV screens broadcasting false statements, blending fairy tale and satire. Steensen's exhibition comprises six major works from the past decade, using virtual reality, video games, and sound installations to explore ecological themes and digitized environments like Bora Bora and volcanic seabeds. Both exhibitions open April 23, 2026, and run through September 13, 2026.

An Auction Without Bidding: Loïc Gouzer’s Latest Bet on How to Sell Art

Loïc Gouzer's auction app Fair Warning is launching a new sales format called "No Warning." The system eliminates bidding wars; a work is listed with a price, and buyers can either purchase it immediately or submit a single, binding offer. The highest offer is presented to the seller, who decides to accept or reject it, with no public record of the sale unless disclosed by the parties. The first test of the format is a 1999 Elizabeth Peyton watercolor priced at $400,000.

'Femarmony' art exhibition opens in Karachi

A group art exhibition titled 'Femarmony' opened at the Sanat Initiative gallery in Karachi. The show features works by artists Imran Ali Kazmi, Nabiha Gillani, Saba Haroon, and Ujala Hayat, focusing on emotions, identity, and the evolving role of women in society through diverse painting styles and visual narratives.

'Fantastical' exhibition celebrates dreamlike worlds at Stevens Point's Riverfront Arts Center

The Riverfront Arts Center in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is hosting an opening reception for the exhibition 'Fantastical' on May 7. The event will feature food, entertainment, and the attendance of participating artists, with the exhibition itself running through June 14. The center is also accepting artist submissions for the show on April 30 and May 1.

Major Prizes Available: Plein Air Art Contest Inspires Artists to Protect Public Lands

A plein air art contest is being held in Alton, Illinois, from May 1–31, 2026. Artists over 16 are invited to create works on-site at up to eight Rivers Project recreation areas. For a $25 submission fee, they can enter their work for prizes, and all submissions will be exhibited at the National Great Rivers Museum through August.

Immersive Room-Sized Exhibit Environments

Spazio Viruly is presenting the exhibition 'UNBOXING: A Room as Instrument' at Superattico in Milan during Milan Design Week. The installation, created by designers Matthijs Koerts and Merijn Haenen, deconstructs everyday devices to reveal core elements like energy and sound, then rebuilds them into immersive, room-sized environments. The experience is enhanced with live dance performances by Eleonora Cattaneo and custom soundscapes.

Top 200 Collector Mitchell Rales Gifts $116 M. to National Gallery if Art for Lending Program

Top 200 art collector and National Gallery of Art trustee Mitchell Rales has donated $116 million to permanently endow the museum's 'Across the Nation' lending program. The initiative loans artworks from the National Gallery's collection to regional museums across the United States, covering all associated costs.

This exhibition by Aurore Guez invites you to talk to the paintings—our photos.

Artist Aurore Guez presents 'LE CAFÉ,' a free, immersive exhibition at the Wilde Galerie in Paris on April 25-26, 2026. The installation transforms the gallery into a fictional café featuring interactive painted portraits that visitors can converse with via recorded voice clips and AI, alongside a fully designed environment that blurs the line between artwork, décor, and performance.

Can an Artwork Have Personhood?

The article explores a growing trend in contemporary art where artists like Pierre Huyghe, Nina Katchadourian, and Marge Monko create works that blur the line between art objects and sentient beings. These works incorporate human performers, animals, AI, and smart devices, prompting viewers to question whether these entities possess or simulate personhood, and forcing an examination of our instinct to anthropomorphize.

Finlandia Art Gallery exhibit highlights a local artist in the Keweenaw Peninsula

The Finlandia Art Gallery in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula is opening a solo exhibition titled "Liminal Sanctuaries" by local artist Bonnie Loukus. The show features her latest collection of oil paintings depicting solitary animals in ethereal, human-free environments.

Institutions Across the US to Benefit from Transformative $116 Million Gift to National Gallery

Billionaire collector and National Gallery of Art trustee Mitchell P. Rales has donated $116 million to the museum. The gift, the largest programming endowment in the institution's history, will fund the 'Across the Nation' initiative, which loans works from the National Gallery's permanent collection to small and midsize museums across the United States for two-year periods at no cost to the borrowing institutions.

Recording Presence: Practical Strategies For Documenting Contemporary Exhibitions

The article provides a practical guide to documenting contemporary art exhibitions, outlining methods for creating useful, ethical, and durable records. It emphasizes the importance of shot lists, consistent file naming, descriptive metadata, and accessibility features like captions and transcripts to ensure archives remain searchable and meaningful over time.

Exhibition | Sopheap Pich, 'Works' at Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium

Axel Vervoordt Gallery in Antwerp is presenting the first Belgian solo exhibition of Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich. The show features a new body of work, including large-scale sculptures made from bamboo, rattan, hand-forged copper, and recycled aluminum, as well as wall-based pieces. Visitors can physically enter some of the large sculptural forms.

2026 BFA and MFA thesis exhibitions to open at NMSU Art Museum

New Mexico State University's University Art Museum will host its annual BFA and MFA thesis exhibitions, opening May 1. The MFA exhibition, 'Where We Ended Up,' features interdisciplinary artists Arch Jones and Ezekiel Martey, while the BFA show, 'Raw Perception,' showcases works by nine graduating students across diverse media including painting, sculpture, photography, and ceramics.

Tiny Gallery Trail in Elmwood opens this Saturday

The ElmArt Collective is launching the Tiny Gallery Trail in Elmwood this Saturday, April 25. The one-mile trail features five custom-built boxes hosting rotating exhibitions, with the inaugural show titled 'Elmwood!' featuring work by five local artists. The opening event includes a beer garden kickoff, an art bike parade, artist meet-and-greets, and family-friendly activities.

25/8 Art Gallery – when blue meets blue

Artist Joanna Tam's solo exhibition "when blue meets blue" opened at the 25/8 Art Gallery on April 13, 2026. The show, presented in partnership with the Harvard Square Business Association and Intercontinental Management, features photographic works and installations exploring the ocean and sky as motifs tied to migration, memory, and the complex duality of nature. Tam, who grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the US, draws from personal experience to create a space for meditation on comfort, freedom, trauma, and tension.

An Italian Photographer Traveled to Palestine to Document the Growth of Two Bedouin Twins

Una fotografa italiana ha viaggiato in Palestina per documentare la crescita di due gemelle beduine

Italian photographer Monica Biancardi presents a nearly two-decade-long photographic project documenting the growth of two Bedouin twins, Sara and Sarah, in Palestine. The exhibition, titled 'Il capitale che cresce' (The Capital That Grows), opens at the MAN museum in Nuoro on April 24, 2026, and features black-and-white pigment prints from 2009 to 2023, alongside plexiglass maps and a travel video.

EU Cuts Venice Biennale Funding Over Russia Involvement

The European Commission has withdrawn a $2.3 million grant from the Venice Biennale, following through on a threat made last week. The funding cut is a direct response to the Biennale's decision to readmit Russian artists as a government-funded delegation for its 2026 edition, which the EU argues violates sanctions and provides Russia a cultural platform during its war against Ukraine.

Photos: Paul Kroner showcases latest art, sculptures in exhibit

Sculptor Paul Kroner has opened a solo exhibition titled "What Have I Done?" at his own Studio Kroner in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. The show, which launched on April 16 and runs through May 23, marks the studio's fifth anniversary and is Kroner's first solo exhibition in the space since he founded it in 2021.

Edvard Munch’s Paintings for a Chocolate Factory Get a Rare Museum Outing

A series of 12 monumental paintings by Edvard Munch, created for the workers' canteen of the Freia chocolate factory in Oslo, have been temporarily removed from their original location for the first time. The works, known as the Freia Frieze, are now on display at the nearby Munch Museum in an exhibition titled "Edvard Munch and the Chocolate Factory," which also includes preparatory sketches and examines the artist's output in the 1920s.