Kent Monkman at Akron Art Museum: Reimagining North American landscapes

Indigenous Canadian painter Kent Monkman, a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation, presents his exhibition "Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors" at the Akron Art Museum, on view through August 16. The show features over 30 large-scale paintings that mimic 19th-century landscape works by settler artists like Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church, but inserts Indigenous figures who were historically romanticized, stereotyped, or omitted. Monkman uses his two-spirit alter ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle to challenge colonial narratives and reverse the artistic gaze. The exhibition was organized by the Denver Art Museum and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, with co-curators John Lukavic and Léuli Eshrāghi.

Senior Thea Merritt Curates Exhibition About Artist Robert E. Mueller

Monmouth University senior Thea Merritt has curated the exhibition "Robert Mueller: Man and Machine" at the Ice House Gallery, focusing on the interdisciplinary legacy of the late artist and scientist Robert E. Mueller. Drawing from a massive estate donation of 1,500 objects, Merritt selected works that highlight Mueller’s unique fusion of electronic science, philosophy, and fine arts. The show represents the culmination of Merritt's work cataloging the collection and her research into contemporary curatorial practices.

The Box celebrates 'record-breaking' year

The Box in Plymouth has reported a record-breaking 2025/2026 season, attracting 356,000 visitors and surpassing its annual target by 18%. This surge represents a 44% increase from the previous year, contributing to a total of 1.1 million visitors since the institution opened in late 2020. The success is largely attributed to high-profile exhibitions, including a major retrospective of local artist Beryl Cook and a showcase featuring Sir Joshua Reynolds’ portrait of Mai.

New Bedford Art Museum has Mary Cassatt, Mexican exhibitions coming

The New Bedford Art Museum has unveiled its 2026 exhibition schedule, featuring a diverse range of programming that spans from historical masterpieces to contemporary social issues. The season began with "The Homecoming," a rare display of works by Mary Cassatt and Käthe Kollwitz from private SouthCoast collections, and will continue with a major survey of contemporary Mexican art titled "Resistance." Other highlights include an exploration of ecological anxieties in "Vanishing Ecologies" and a partnership with the American Visionary Art Museum to showcase self-taught artists.

Art Notes: Hood Museum's exhibitions reflect on America's 250 years

The Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, New Hampshire, has mounted a dozen exhibitions drawn entirely from its own collection to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence. Curators began planning in 2022, opting for a series of smaller, collaborative shows rather than a single large exhibition. Highlights include "Always Already: Abstraction in the United States," featuring works by Frank Stella and Nampeyo; "American Pop," with Ed Ruscha's "Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas" and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's "The Rancher"; and "Art Histories/Art Futures," which pairs May Stevens' "Big Daddy Paper Doll" with Michael Naranjo's "He's my brother." The exhibitions reflect the museum's ongoing effort to include art and artists historically left out of the art-historical canon.

Rose Art Museum Presents Fred Wilson: Reflections August 20, 2025 – January 4, 2026

The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University will present "Fred Wilson: Reflections," a major survey of the artist's work from 2003 to the present, on view from August 20, 2025, through January 4, 2026. Curated by Dr. Gannit Ankori, the exhibition spans three sections, including Wilson's glassworks inspired by the 2003 Venice Biennale, his black-and-white Flag paintings, and the debut of a new immersive installation, "Black Now!," which features over 2,500 found objects collected since 2005 that explore themes of race, identity, and material culture.

Kent Monkman's Miss Chief

Kent Monkman's exhibition "History is Painted by the Victors" is on view at the Denver Art Museum (DAM) through August 17, before traveling to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on September 27. The show centers on Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, a fictional narrator who appears throughout Monkman's work to disrupt false narratives about Indigenous history and colonization. The article excerpts a catalog essay explaining how Monkman created Miss Chief as a campy, humorous, and empowering figure who infuses Indigenous perspectives into art history, often inserting her into iconic artworks to subvert colonial tropes.

Stano Filko “Painting” at Layr, Vienna

Stano Filko's exhibition "Painting" at Layr in Vienna challenges the persistent binary opposition between painting and conceptualism. The show presents Filko's work from around 1980, a period when debates over the merits of painting versus conceptual art were at their peak, offering a nuanced perspective that complicates this historical divide.

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.

Royal artist returns to Devon with stunning new exhibition

Alan Cotton MBE, a Westcountry artist known for his palette knife technique and royal connections, is returning to Devon with a new exhibition of landscapes from the Otter Valley and North Devon. The show, held at Kennaway House in Sidmouth from April 28 to May 4, marks his first public gallery showing in the region since 2015. Cotton, who once served as tour artist for King Charles when he was Prince of Wales, has works in the King's collection and exhibited at Buckingham Palace in 2025. His early life included homemade paint brushes made from his mother's hair, and he later became a BBC presenter and honorary professor at the University of Bath.

6 Artworks That Define the 2026 Venice Biennale’s Main Exhibition

The 2026 Venice Biennale's main exhibition opens this week, curated by Koyo Kouoh—the first African woman to hold the role—who was announced in 2024 but passed away suddenly in 2025. The article highlights six artworks that define her curatorial vision, which connected the international art world to artists and institutions from Africa and the Global South.

Nominees revealed for £120,000 Art Fund Museum Of The Year prize

Art Fund has announced the five finalists for the 2026 Museum of the Year prize, the world’s largest award of its kind. The shortlist includes Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, The Box in Plymouth, and London’s National Gallery and V&A East Storehouse. The winner, to be announced on June 25 at the Cutty Sark, will receive £120,000, while the four runners-up will each be awarded £20,000.

Two new ceramic exhibitions open at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings

The Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana, has launched two new ceramic-focused exhibitions: "Folktales and Fanfare" and "Embedded in the Overlap." A central highlight of the new programming is the work of Ukrainian ceramicist Janina Myronova, whose exhibition features whimsical stoneware figures and drawings that explore themes of home, hope, and human connection. Myronova’s work, including her 2023 piece "Two Heads Are Better Than One," blends traditional ceramic techniques with dreamlike narratives.

Fall River museum unveils 'Citadel' art exhibition

The Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art (FR MoCA) has launched "Citadel," a group exhibition featuring nine international artists including Lydia Ourahmane and Kambel Smith. Curated by Cory John Scozzari, the show utilizes diverse media—from sculpture and video to performance—to explore themes of urban movement, geopolitical complexity, and the mechanisms of surveillance and control. The exhibition is set to run through July 19, 2026, with an opening reception and curator-led walkthroughs scheduled for April.

Rediscovered Rubens and a woolly mammoth head star at Brafa fair in Brussels

Brafa, Belgium's premier art and antiques fair, has expanded for its 71st edition, now featuring 147 exhibitors across three halls in the Brussels Expo convention centre. Highlights include a newly rediscovered Peter Paul Rubens painting, *Portrait of an Old Man* (around 1609), priced at over €1 million, and a 50,000-year-old woolly mammoth head from Siberia that sold for €45,000. The fair runs from 25 February to 1 March, with a strong focus on painting from Old Masters to Modern art, and a notable presence of Belgian and early 20th-century French artists.

Savannah artists finding big ways in small places to stage exhibitions

Savannah artists are creating new exhibition spaces in small, unconventional venues to counter the city's lack of affordable studio and gallery space. Following the closure of several local galleries, nonprofit Arts Southeast has been fostering resilience, with new spaces like Cute Tomatoes Gallery, Pocket Space (hosted by Norwood Gallery), and Camaleon opening in 2025. These artist-run initiatives feature rotating shows, including a group exhibition of 19 female artists at Norwood Gallery and a multidisciplinary venue at Camaleon directed by SCAD graduate Alex Mendi.

Lloyd Le Blanc obituary

Sculptor Lloyd Le Blanc has died at the age of 85. He was known for creating large-scale bronze works of flora and fauna and, with his wife Judith Holmes Drewry, established the Le Blanc Fine Art foundry and studios in Saxby, Leicestershire. Le Blanc was involved in every stage of his sculptures' creation and also cast works for other artists from his foundry.

Exhibition | Allison Katz, 'Outta the Bag' at Hauser & Wirth, New York, Wooster Street, United States

Artist Allison Katz presents 'Outta the Bag,' her first solo exhibition with Hauser & Wirth in New York. The show features a diverse range of works that blend personal history, art-historical references, and linguistic wordplay, including her signature 'cock paintings' and motifs of mouths and architectural apertures. The exhibition serves as a homecoming for the Montreal-born, London-based artist, who spent her formative years in New York studying at Columbia University.

‘From Above’: New Church History Museum exhibit features Australian Aboriginal Latter-day Saint art

The Church History Museum in Salt Lake City has opened a new exhibition titled “From Above: Aboriginal Australian Art From the Bird Family.” The show features works by Indigenous Australian artists from the Anmatyerr culture who are also members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The artists, including Gary Bird Mpetyane, Maggie Bird Mpetyane, and Rose Coleena Wallace Nungari, traveled from Australia to attend the opening of the exhibit, which runs through August 1, 2026.

Hew Locke Unpacks the Complexity of Empire in His Biggest Museum Show Yet

Artist Hew Locke's most comprehensive museum exhibition to date, "Hew Locke: Passages," has opened at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven. The show features 49 works spanning nearly three decades, including photography, sculpture, and drawing, and explores themes of empire, identity, and migration. Curated by museum director Martina Droth, the exhibition runs through January and includes key works such as "Veni, Vidi, Vici (The Queen's Coat of Arms)" (2004) and "Koh-i-noor" (2005), which critique British imperial symbols using found objects and textiles.

The 2026 Venice Biennale is light and conscious

Quella del 2026 è una Biennale di Venezia leggera e consapevole

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, has opened with a focus on ecology and humanity's relationship with nature. The central pavilion at the Giardini presents a festive, craft-heavy exhibition that emphasizes connections with plants and animals, while the Arsenale offers a more spacious, symphonic experience featuring standout works such as Alfredo Jaar's "End of the World" (2023-2024) and Kader Attia's "Whisper of Traces" (2026). National pavilions, including those of Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, and Spain, explore themes of the body, memory, and ruin with notable installations.

Quietly in Milan, a collector has opened a new exhibition space: "Finally I can see my works"

In sordina a Milano un collezionista ha aperto un nuovo spazio espositivo: “Finalmente posso vedere le mie opere”

Collector Pier Luigi Guzzetti has quietly opened Gallerie Guzzetti, a new 300-square-meter private exhibition space in Milan's Cenisio/Mac Mahon district. The minimalist basement venue serves as a dedicated home for Guzzetti’s eclectic collection of over 300 works, which spans 20th-century masters, emerging artists, and a significant photography archive. Managed alongside Corinne Cortinovis, the space operates with a philosophy of discretion, favoring word-of-mouth over traditional press offices or social media presence.

New art exhibition to open this summer as part of Glasgow International 2026

A new two-person exhibition titled "Painting, our mutual friend" will open at Glasgow Print Studio on June 4, 2026, as part of Glasgow International 2026. Featuring artists Lorna Robertson and Andrew Cranston, who are life partners, the show runs through August 1 and includes etchings, monoprints, watercolours, and oil paintings that explore their individual and shared experiences. The works were developed through experimental residencies at the studio between 2025 and 2026.

Museum of the year finalists revealed by Art Fund

Art Fund has announced the five finalists for the Museum of the Year 2026 award, the world’s largest museum prize. The shortlist includes Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, The Box in Plymouth, and London’s National Gallery and V&A East Storehouse. The winner, to be announced on June 25 at the Cutty Sark, will receive £120,000, while the remaining four finalists will each be awarded £20,000.

collectible body art: tattoos by lawrence weiner, peter marino and more hit the auction block

JOOPITER, Pharrell Williams's auction platform, launches its first standalone tattoo auction titled 'Inked: Tattoos by Contemporary Artists,' featuring commissioned designs by sixteen artists including Derrick Adams, Thom Browne, Jeffrey Gibson, and the late Lawrence Weiner. The sale runs from October 22nd to 31st, 2025, with select designs previewed at Dover Street Market during Art Basel Paris. Curated by Sharon Coplan, each tattoo design is accompanied by a signed certificate of authenticity, and a complete set will be reserved for institutional donation.

Brush to canvas: News from the art community

The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, will open two exhibitions in May 2025: "Architecture of the Dalí" on May 2, tracing the museum's history from its 1980s origins to its current bayfront structure, and "Dalí in America" on May 9, featuring over 70 works exploring Salvador Dalí's vision of the United States. Other notable openings include "Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan" at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art (May 9), multidisciplinary artist Babs Reingold's solo show "After Venus" at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg (May 15), and "Cigars! Photography, Industry, and Identity" at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, commemorating Ybor City's cigar-rolling history. Additional events include Florida NOW at Florida CraftArt, Charles Morrison's "Head in the Sky, Feet on the Ground" at the Morean Center for Clay, and a photography contest sponsored by FloridaRAMA and St. Petersburg Month of Photography.

RED BANK: NEW GALLERIA GALLERY OPENS DOORS

Amelchenko Gallery has officially opened its doors in Red Bank, New Jersey, relocating from Sea Bright to the Galleria complex on Bridge Avenue. The gallery celebrated its arrival with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a reception for its inaugural exhibition, "Reel Icons," featuring the work of New York-based artist Ginette Laboz. Laboz utilizes a unique pointillist technique, applying paint with pastry tools to create large-scale reinterpretations of iconic cinematic moments from films like "Pulp Fiction" and "When Harry Met Sally."

Emerging painter shows what it means to be a Maine artist | Column - Portland Press Herald

Dean McCrillis, an emerging painter from Rumford, Maine, is the subject of a solo exhibition titled "Dog Years" at Cove Street Arts in Portland, running through January 17. The show features oil paintings that depict distinctly Maine activities—hunting, fishing, camping—while employing layered, translucent brushstrokes to evoke the ephemerality of time and experience. McCrillis, who also works as a framer at Greenhut Galleries, uses a bright, saturated palette and techniques that make his images appear to simultaneously emerge and dissolve, capturing fleeting moments in the state's rugged landscape.

Aichi Triennale confronts war, memory and environmental collapse

The sixth edition of the Aichi Triennale, titled "A Time Between Ashes and Roses," opened in Japan in September and runs until 30 November. Curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, the first non-Japanese artistic director of the triennial, the exhibition confronts themes of war, displacement, memory, and environmental collapse. Works include Kubo Hiroko's tapestry marking the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and a video installation by Palestinian duo Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme. Al Qasimi explicitly linked the triennial to the situation in Gaza, stating, "Free Palestine," during a press conference. Controversy erupted over the Aichi-Israel Matching Program, a separate prefectural initiative pairing Israeli startups with local companies, leading to protests and the resignation of vice chairman Hideyuki Tomita from the organizing committee.

Longboat exhibition to showcase multimedia artists

The Longboat Key chapter of the National League of American Pen Women, Inc. has opened a two-month art exhibition at Plymouth Harbor featuring over 30 artists working in oil painting, pastels, photography, glasswork, sculpture, and creative writing. Notable participants include Miriam Cassell, who layers collages and paint to advocate for inclusion; Jo Jo Fusco, who contributed a large-scale oil painting inspired by Edward Hopper; and Medge Jaspan, who debuted a black-and-white piece titled 'Dec. 21' tied to personal milestones. The exhibition debuted on September 9, with Plymouth Harbor resident Joslyn Kirkegaard purchasing a painting by Barbara Jendrysik depicting the Sarasota skyline.