Before Language: An Interview with Song E Yoon at Biennale Arte 2026

Song E Yoon's exhibition "Songs Across Time" at Spazio 996/A in Venice, presented as a Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, pairs her Song E Code with Frédéric Bruly Bouabré's Bété alphabet. In an interview with Kun Sok, Yoon discusses how her work uses dots, intervals, and repetition to create a visual language that exists before conventional meaning, emphasizing bodily encounter, sensation, and the productive role of misreading.

Morton Contemporary Gallery exhibition will combine art, music and light

Morton Contemporary Gallery in Philadelphia will open “Alchemy: The Sound of Color,” a new exhibition combining painting, music and light, on Saturday, June 6. The show is a collaboration between Los Angeles artist Donna Isham and Emmy and Grammy-winning composer Mark Isham, marking their first exhibition in Philadelphia. It will feature large-scale installations that blend Donna Isham’s paintings with original music, animation and light effects, alongside additional paintings. The opening reception runs from 6 to 8 p.m. on June 6, is free and open to the public, and includes wine and a chance to meet the artists.

On Being American: Contemporary Artworks, Echoes of the Past

From May 13 to June 20, 2026, Lippitt House Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, will host an exhibition titled "On Being American: Contemporary Artworks, Echoes of the Past." The show features new works by five local contemporary artists—Susan Hardy, Steven Easton, Amalia Galdona Broche, Lynne Harlow, and McDonald Wright—who draw on the museum's architecture, period, and stories to explore themes of American identity. A special opening reception and artist talk will take place on May 13, with additional open house hours throughout the run.

Fashion Loves Art: All of the Exhibitions to See at the 2026 Venice Biennale

The article, published by L'Officiel Art, provides a guide to fashion-brand-sponsored exhibitions at the 2026 Venice Biennale. It highlights projects by luxury houses including Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton, Zegna, and Bvlgari, framing them as unmissable cultural events within the broader Biennale program.

United Asian American Alliance hosts 3rd Annual AAPI Art Exhibit

The United Asian American Alliance hosted the 3rd Annual AAPI Art Exhibit at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, a month-long showcase of Asian American creativity and heritage. Curated by artist Joan Kim Suzuki, the exhibition features works in painting, mixed media, photography, and textile that explore themes of memory, identity, migration, and belonging. The opening reception welcomed distinguished guests including Tracey Edwards, New York State NAACP Vice President, and actor Lisa Yang, a Golden Horse Award nominee.

DO Savannah: Ella Langley, TEDxSavannah, and more

This article is a local events calendar for Savannah, Georgia, covering the week of May 12–21, 2026. Highlights include a SCAD Jewelry Trunk Show, a Telfair Museums anniversary preview of Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting with a lecture by National Gallery of Art curator Mary Morton, the opening of the Seven Ladies Exhibit at the Davenport House Museum, the 15th annual TEDxSavannah, a country concert by Ella Langley, a brewery anniversary party, a jazz fundraiser, and several preservation-focused lectures including one by National Preservation Partners Network CEO Kim Trent and a talk on landscape architect Clermont Lee. The Courtyard Concert Series at SCAD MOA concludes with local bluegrass band Swamptooth.

Catherine Couturier Gallery presents Sander Vos: "Interpolation" opening reception

Catherine Couturier Gallery in Houston is presenting "Interpolation," a solo exhibition featuring the work of Dutch-born, London-based artist Sander Vos. This marks Vos's first solo show in Houston, showcasing photographs that deconstruct portraits and everyday objects through layering and spatial manipulation inspired by Cubism. The exhibition opens with a reception and runs through June 20.

Leeum Museum Opens on Closing Day, Welcomes Over 200 Multicultural Families for Art Visit

On May 11, the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul opened its entire museum on a Monday—its regular closing day—to host approximately 200 members of multicultural families. The event, organized in partnership with family centers and related organizations across Seoul, included exhibition tours of the permanent antique art collection, the special exhibition "Into Another Space: Synesthetic Environments by Women Artists 1956-1976," and the outdoor Orozco Garden. A curator provided explanations, and a magic show was held in celebration of Family Month. Participating organizations included the Yongsan-gu Family Center, Itaewon and Ichon Global Village Centers, the Mari Shelter for Migrant Women and Mari Community, and the Dongdaemun and Seocho Family Centers.

Pavlina Vagioni Oikeiōsis: A Greek Artist Asks Venice to Remember How to Belong

Pavlina Vagioni's exhibition *Oikeiōsis*, presented by the Hellenic Diaspora Foundation at the Venice Biennale, takes its name from a Stoic concept about recognizing belonging and expanding care outward. The show is structured in two rooms: the first, named Neikos (strife), features a fragmented plexiglass cube that reflects visitors in multiplied form, evoking separation. The second, Philotes (harmony), contains warm rock-salt seats and a layered vocal soundscape that activates the Tartini effect—a psychoacoustic phenomenon where two frequencies produce a phantom third tone, symbolizing collective kinship. The salt seats will physically change over the Biennale's six-month run, accumulating the memory of each visitor.

International Friendship Park, at the western end of the U.S.-Mexico border, is focus of new art exhibition

A new art exhibition titled “Occupy Thirdspace III: The Park” opens at San Diego’s Central Library, focusing on International Friendship Park, a state park at the western end of the U.S.-Mexico border. Co-curated by Sara Solaimani and Natalia Ventura, the show features three artist collectives—Las Comadres, Art Made Between Opposite Sides (AMBOS), and Friends of International Friendship Park—to visually tell the park’s story. The park opened in 1971 as a meeting place for families divided by the border but has been closed on the U.S. side since 2020, while remaining open on the Mexico side. The exhibition is the third installment in Solaimani’s series exploring Henri Lefebvre’s concept of “third spaces” as symbolic sites that challenge systems of power.

The Last Quarter of My Life Should Be Like the Beginning

"Das letzte Quartal meines Lebens soll wie der Anfang sein"

Armin Mueller-Stahl, the 95-year-old German actor and painter, opens his solo exhibition "Nacht und Tag auf der Erde" (Night and Day on Earth) at Museum Schloss Moyland. The show features a graphic cycle inspired by Jim Jarmusch's film "Night on Earth," in which Mueller-Stahl played a New York taxi driver. In an interview, he reflects on his dual careers in film and painting, his life between Hollywood, East Germany, and the present, and themes of loss and memory.

Magical Realism Against the Harshness of the Suburbs

Magischer Realismus gegen die Härte der Vorstadt

French-Chilean artist Tohé Commaret presents an exhibition at MMK Zollamt in Frankfurt featuring quiet, still images that highlight invisible care work and feminist solidarity. The show focuses on women who silently enable events like weddings and galas without being seen, exploring female alliances and the attempt to reclaim new narratives from the suburbs.

Currently, much that was painstakingly built is being destroyed

"Aktuell wird viel zerstört, das mühsam aufgebaut wurde"

Berlin's Savvy Contemporary, a non-profit art space known for its postcolonial discourse, has been awarded the Art Basel Award in the 'Museums and Institutions' category—the only German institution to receive the honor this year. However, despite the prestigious recognition, Savvy has been unable to open any exhibitions in 2024 due to a lack of funding. In an interview, managing directors Lema Sikod and Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock discuss the award, the institution's 15-year history, and the growing difficulty of sustaining decolonial work amid rising right-wing populism and political backlash.

When the Night Bleeds into the Day

Wenn die Nacht auf den Tag abfärbt

Berlin-based graffiti artist Paradox Paradise, known for his distinctive red-and-blue "Paraglyphs" painted on high facades, discusses his evolution from classic graffiti to a radically reduced visual language. In an interview with Monopol, he explains how he stripped away decorative elements to focus on precise, vertical outlines and messages like "Mieten runter Wände bunter" (lower rents, more colorful walls). He describes his nocturnal actions as states of heightened presence requiring weeks of planning, where every movement has immediate consequences.

La loi sur les restitutions des biens culturels pillés pendant la colonisation définitivement adoptée

The French Parliament has definitively adopted a permanent law on the restitution of cultural property looted during colonization, replacing the previous case-by-case legislative approach. The Senate unanimously approved the final text on May 7, 2026, following agreement in a joint committee on April 30, and the National Assembly had approved it the day before. The law creates a general derogation from the principle of inalienability of public collections, establishing a bilateral scientific committee to examine provenance, with final decisions made by decree of the Council of State. Key amendments from the National Assembly—including binding parliamentary votes on restitution and conditions on conservation and public access—were removed by the joint committee to avoid perceptions of neocolonial tutelage.

La loi-cadre sur les restitutions définitivement adoptée par le Parlement

The French Parliament has definitively adopted a framework law on the restitution of cultural property that was illicitly acquired. The Senate unanimously approved the conclusions of the joint committee on May 7, following the National Assembly's approval on May 6, after an agreement was reached on April 30. The law establishes a general mechanism for returning objects from French public collections without requiring a specific law for each case, covering items acquired through looting, theft, forced sale, or other illicit means before the 1970 UNESCO Convention. It creates a permanent national commission and a bilateral scientific committee to assess claims, with restitution ultimately decided by government decree subject to legal review by the Council of State.

La tour Perret, premier gratte-ciel en béton armé d’Europe, renaît à Grenoble après 60 ans de fermeture

The Tour Perret in Grenoble, Europe's first reinforced concrete skyscraper, will reopen to the public on July 11, 2026, after being closed since the 1960s. Designed by Auguste Perret in 1925 for the International Exhibition of White Coal and Tourism, the 95-meter tower has undergone a complex restoration led by heritage architect François Botton, addressing water infiltration and corrosion while preserving its original character.

Kaarel Kurismaa at Kunsthalle Zürich

Kunsthalle Zürich presents "Intermezzo," a solo exhibition by Estonian artist Kaarel Kurismaa, running from February 7 to May 25, 2026. The show features 18 images documenting the exhibition, with photography by Cedric Mussano.

Torsten Slama at Neuer Essener Kunstverein

The Neuer Essener Kunstverein in Essen is presenting an exhibition titled "Die Vatermaschine" featuring the work of Torsten Slama, running from February 28 to May 24, 2026. The exhibition is documented through 26 images on Contemporary Art Daily, with press release and floor plan available.

Andrew Christopher Green at Galerie Khoshbakht

Andrew Christopher Green presents a solo exhibition titled "Catkins" at Galerie Khoshbakht in Cologne, running from April 17 to May 23, 2026. The show features a selection of works documented through 9 images and 1 video on the gallery's exhibition page, with photography by Mareike Tocha.

Victoria Smith at Roland Ross

Victoria Smith presents "Apples and Oranges," a solo exhibition at Roland Ross in Kent, running from April 11 to May 23, 2026. The show features a series of new works by the artist, documented through eight images on the gallery's page, with photography by Ollie Harrop.

Bespoke Glass Studio’s Sculptures Challenge Traditional Conventions of Stained Glass

Lesley Green, founder of Bespoke Glass Studio, creates stained glass sculptures that break from traditional window-mounted forms. Her work includes three-dimensional pieces that project colored light onto walls, functional room dividers, and sculptural objects made using hand-cut copper foil techniques. Green aims to shift perception of stained glass from architectural feature to standalone art object, emphasizing pure color and texture.

L'invité de La Tribune de l'Art n° 28 : Gérard Audinet

Gérard Audinet, director of the Maison de Victor Hugo in Paris, is retiring. In a new podcast episode of "L'invité de La Tribune de l'Art," he discusses the history of the museum, its collections, the Maison de Victor Hugo in Guernsey, and the acquisitions and exhibitions he oversaw during his tenure.

Doyen retrouve la chapelle Saint-Louis

A cycle of eleven paintings commissioned in 1772 for the Chapelle Saint-Louis at the École Militaire in Paris, depicting the life of Saint Louis, has been rediscovered. The chapel was built under Louis XV by architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, and the paintings were executed by Jean-Baptiste-Marie Pierre following a carefully devised iconographic program. The discovery sheds new light on a major decorative ensemble from the Ancien Régime.

GABRIEL CHAILE DESPLIEGA SU ARQUELOGIA DE LO MIGRATORIO EN LONDRES

Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile has opened a new commission titled "Archaeology of Memory" at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. The site-specific installation transforms a large gallery space into an archaeological excavation site, incorporating everyday and decorative objects sourced from the surrounding East End neighborhood. These objects are embedded into monumental adobe sculptures that draw on the forms and material traditions of Indigenous communities from northwest Argentina, where Chaile originates. The artist acts as both anthropologist and storyteller, exploring a "genealogy of form" that traces recurring motifs across cultures and time.

GABRIEL CHAILE UNFOLDS HIS ARCHAEOLOGY OF MIGRATION IN LONDON

Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile has opened a new commission titled "Archaeology of Memory" at London's Whitechapel Gallery. The site-specific installation features monumental adobe sculptures that incorporate everyday and decorative objects sourced from the surrounding East End neighborhood. Chaile, who is based in Lisbon, draws on the material traditions of Indigenous communities from northwest Argentina, blending roles as artist, anthropologist, and storyteller to explore themes of migration, identity, and cultural memory.

NXT Gallery Presents new work by Joey Morgan

NXT Gallery at Next Stage Arts in Putney, Vermont, presents “Forgotten Not Gone,” a new exhibition by Brattleboro-based artist Joey Morgan. The show features 12 mixed-media collage works salvaged from a previous project, “Have You Ever Loved Me?,” which was largely destroyed in a flood. An opening reception will be held on May 24, and the exhibition runs from May 8 to August 9.

Highland Park’s North Figueroa Bookshop teams up with Homeboy Art Institute

North Figueroa Bookshop in Highland Park has partnered with Homeboy Art Academy to present an exhibition titled "Visualizing the Future" in the bookstore's expanded gallery space. The show features photography, cyanotype, and graphic arts by artists aged 18 to 25, including works depicting street scenes, landscapes, and portraits. The May 9 opening included music from Music Heals and food vendors, with artists and community members in attendance. The exhibition was curated by Sophia Cervantes, an artist and student at El Camino College, who aimed to provide a professional platform for young creators.

Gallery openings and exhibits in Central Oregon this week

This article lists numerous gallery openings and ongoing exhibits across Central Oregon, including venues such as Amejko Artistry, Art Adventure Gallery, Artists’ Gallery Sunriver, and the High Desert Museum. Featured shows include nomadic woven artwork by Anna Amejko Peterson, a 40th anniversary exhibition of Jefferson County artists, “A Man Named York” at the Belknap Exhibit Center, and “Drawn West — A History of Promoting Place” at the High Desert Museum, among many others spanning pottery, photography, fiber art, and historical displays.

Anaheim's new $4 billion, 100-acre entertainment district will double as an open-air art gallery with 70+ free public artworks

Anaheim's $4 billion OCVIBE entertainment district, a 100-acre development around the Honda Center, has partnered with art and design studio FUTUREFORMS to create a public art program featuring over 70 original artworks. The program includes permanent and rotating installations such as sculptural landmarks, murals, and interactive pieces, with early works already taking shape in the food hall and concert hall. Notable artworks include 'Stretto' by Nataly Gattegno and Jason Kelly Johnson, 'Rhythm, Flavor, Motion' by Brian Peterson, 'Gratitude' by Carla Roque, and 'Sunrise – Sunset' by Marina Zumi. The first phase will be accessible to the public in early 2027.