Auntiescapes at Load Gallery asks: Can the hyperreal impact social reality?

The article covers the exhibition 'Auntiescapes' at Load Gallery in Barcelona, featuring the work of Singaporean artist Wenhui Lim, who works under the moniker niceaunties. The show includes a central AI-powered mirror that transforms viewers into the face of an Asian auntie, offering blunt, loving remarks, alongside surreal digital landscapes like Auntlantis and Auntiecity that reimagine aunties as protagonists in fantastical worlds. Lim, a former architect, uses AI and editing software to create these hyperreal, expansive works.

"Shared Spaces" Opens Season at Haley Art Gallery

Haley Art Gallery in Kittery, Maine, has opened its 21st season with the group exhibition "Shared Spaces," featuring works by Paul Burke, Sheridan Cudworth, Barbara D’Antonio, Jozimar Matimano, Bill Oakes, and Carlos Vega. The show runs through August, with gallery artist talks scheduled for June 13 and June 27. The gallery also offers special purchasing incentives for local business owners and designers, as well as a Victorian Tea-Time Art experience for groups.

5 exhibits to see at Salem’s galleries, museums in May

Salem's galleries and museums are hosting five notable exhibitions in May, including 'Jew&' at the Salem Art Association for Jewish American Heritage Month, featuring 25 local Jewish artists; 'Courage and Compassion' at the Willamette Heritage Center, exploring Japanese-American internment through local stories; the Annual Invitational Photography Show at Elsinore Framing & Fine Art Gallery; 'Confluence – Where forms converge' at the Stefani Art Gallery, pairing geometric abstraction with woodcarving; and the third annual Keizer Riverwalk Art Fair organized by the Keizer Art Association.

Hoffman Gallery hosts works by art instructors

The Hoffman Center Gallery in Manzanita, Oregon, is hosting a May exhibition featuring works by faculty members from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland. Titled "The Goat Island project," the show includes pieces by Teresa Christiansen, Kristin Bradshaw, Emily Ginsburg, Yoshi Kitai, David Eckard, Matthew Letzelter, Michelle Ross, and Kate Copeland, opening April 30 and running through May 30, with a free public reception on May 2.

Local creatives weave together art and action with month-long Orozco Gallery exhibit

Curator Yen Ospina has organized "We Are La Voz II," a month-long pop-up exhibition at Orozco Gallery on The Commons in Ithaca, running from April 3 to May 2. The nomadic gallery highlights Latine fiber artists, featuring works that evolve over time and include textiles, embroidery, and fiber paintings. The exhibition serves as a tribute to Debra Castillo, a Cornell professor who co-founded the first Orozco Gallery exhibit in 2024 and passed away in October 2025. Artists like Sarah Lopez and Carolina Osorio Gil contribute pieces that explore themes of identity, memory, and resilience, with Ospina using the project to process her grief and counter rising anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Homecoming for local artist in new West Lothian exhibition

Artist Leo du Feu is returning to his hometown of Linlithgow, Scotland, for his largest solo exhibition to date, titled 'Homecoming,' at the Gallery at Linlithgow Burgh Halls. Running from 22 May to 17 September 2026, the show traces the evolution of his work across nature, landscape, wildlife, and storytelling, and includes new pieces inspired by fatherhood and emotional well-being. The exhibition also marks the 15th anniversary of the gallery's opening in 2011, and a free artist talk is scheduled for 17 June.

Check Out JP First Fridays at Galleries, Studios, Art Spaces (and a Famous Bench) on May 1

Jamaica Plain First Fridays returns on May 1, 2025, from 5:30-8:30 pm, featuring six locations that showcase painting, photography, multi-media works, and a famous bench. Highlights include artist Matthew Hincman celebrating the 20th anniversary of his guerrilla-style bench on Jamaica Pond, plus exhibitions at Eliot School Annex, JP Clay, Green Street Photo Collective, Jameson & Thompson Picture Framers, and Boston Cyberarts Gallery. The event is free and walkable.

Young talent shines at fourth annual student art show

Slanted Art Co-Op in Montrose hosted its fourth annual student art show, featuring high school artists from four of the six school districts in the county. Students displayed works in acrylic, oil, pastels, ceramics, and mixed media, with some pieces available for sale. Notable participants included Forest City senior Amanda Borsheski, whose acrylic painting "Mandarin" and other works won multiple awards, and Blue Ridge senior Madison Gaylord, who exhibited a paint-dotted vinyl record and a relief sculpture. The event was curated by the students themselves and included awards such as Judges Delight and People's Choice.

Gallery famous for Fakes and Forgeries exhibition celebrates 20-year anniversary

The Mangaweka Yellow Church Gallery in New Zealand, known for its annual Fakes and Forgeries exhibition, is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. Owner and artist Richard Aslett will host a high tea on Monday to mark the milestone. The gallery opened in 2006 and has since fostered emerging and established artists, hosted live music events, and added antiques and retro-curios to its offerings. Its most famous exhibition pays tribute to Karl Sim, New Zealand’s only convicted art fraudster, who was born in Mangaweka and known for his Charles Goldie forgeries.

In my Auntieversum, everyone is free, there are no rules

"In meinem Auntieversum sind alle frei, es gibt keine Regeln"

Wenhui Lim, a Singapore-raised artist and former architecture designer, creates AI-generated images and videos featuring older Asian women she calls 'Aunties.' Her surreal 'Auntieversum' depicts these figures bathing in oversized ramen bowls, playing with pastel jellyfish, and driving sushi cars—a fantastical parallel universe where they are free from societal and familial expectations. Lim began the project in early 2023 as a personal exploration to reconcile her own feelings toward the aunties in her life, who often made blunt comments about her appearance while also plying her with food.

Mythical Creatures at the Met Cloisters

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present "Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas" at the Met Cloisters from May 18 to October 18, 2026. The exhibition explores hybrid mythical beings in visual arts from 500 to 1500 CE, featuring over 50 objects including paintings, sculpture, ceramics, ivories, textiles, and metalwork drawn mainly from the Met collection. It marks the first time ancient American art will be shown at the Met Cloisters, with key loans from the Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City, including a never-before-seen-in-New-York sculpture of the Zapotec "bat lord."

Mennello Museum’s 'Our Orlando' group show returns, featuring three innovative local artists

The Mennello Museum in Loch Haven, Orlando, has launched the fourth edition of its 'Our Orlando' group exhibition, featuring three local artists: Tasanee Durrett, Mado Smith, and Martha Jo Mahoney. The show, curated by museum director Shannon Fitzgerald and co-curator Flynn Dobbs, includes four works each by Durrett and Mahoney and two by Smith, drawn from studio visits. The exhibition runs through late August with an opening reception on Friday.

Young artists show at The Fraser Art Gallery

Fifty-one students from Wallace Consolidated Elementary School and Tatamagouche Regional Academy displayed their artwork in a group show at The Fraser Art Gallery in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. The exhibition featured individual and class projects, including a collage inspired by the Artemis II moon flyby and a sculptured monster garden. The opening reception included remarks from gallery president Jackie Robertson, who thanked volunteers and sponsor PharmaChoice, and noted the importance of early art exposure.

Ten Local Galleries Part Of The First Friday Chattanooga Art Crawl

On the First Friday of May 2026, ten local galleries and studios in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will participate in the monthly First Friday Art Crawl, with extended evening hours from 5-8 PM. Participating venues include River Gallery, HART Gallery, In-Town Gallery, ICA @ UTC, BFA Open Studios @ UTC, Wavelength Space, Society of Work Northshore at The Velvet Lounge, ClearStory Arts, Stove Works, and AVA – Association for Visual Arts. Several galleries are hosting opening receptions and artist meet-and-greets, featuring artists such as David Boyd, Jim Felder, Steve Loucks, Rick Sanders, Angie To, and Kathleen Thum.

Kerry Cumpstone to demo at Euclid Art Association event | Gallery Glances

The Euclid Art Association will hold its next meeting on May 4 at the East Shore United Methodist Church in Euclid, Ohio, featuring a demonstration by artist Kerry Cumpstone. Cumpstone, who created the "Spiral Series" of 130 animal drawings, will showcase her technique; many of her subjects are endangered species. The article also announces the Lake Metroparks' 39th annual amateur photo contest, with entries accepted through May 31 at Penitentiary Glen Reservation.

The delirious teaser by the creators of 'Panique au village' for the reopening of the Musée de la Figurine in Compiègne

Le teaser délirant des créateurs de « Panique au village » pour la réouverture du musée de la Figurine à Compiègne

The Musée de la Figurine in Compiègne, France, is set to reopen on May 23, 2026, after a major renovation. To promote the reopening, the museum commissioned Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, the creators of the cult stop-motion series "Panique au village" (known for its absurd plastic figurines), to produce a teaser video. The museum, which holds a rare collection of nearly 155,000 figurines spanning from prehistory to the present, has been redesigned with a 1,000-square-meter space, six thematic areas, interactive displays, and a monumental diorama of the Battle of Waterloo featuring 12,000 figurines, now enhanced with augmented reality. Admission will be free for all from May 23 to August 16, 2026.

(Video) Kazakhstani artist bridges ancient and modern worlds with textile exhibition in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is hosting 'Dowry of the Soul,' a solo exhibition by Kazakhstani artist Gulnur Mukazhanova at the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT). The show blends ancient Central Asian textile traditions with contemporary abstraction, featuring large-scale felt works and a textile collage created during the artist's 2022 residency using fabrics sourced from local Hong Kong markets and Central Asia.

Gallery 1882 bringing work of contemporary artists from around the country to Chesterton

Gallery 1882, located in Chesterton, Indiana, is hosting a new exhibition featuring contemporary artists from across the United States. The show brings together a diverse range of works, highlighting emerging and established talents in a local gallery setting.

Celebrity artists support Oxford primary school art exhibition

An Oxford primary school is hosting an art exhibition on 16-17 and 23-25 May as part of Oxford Art Weeks, featuring works by celebrity artists to raise funds for improving the school's deteriorating adventure playground and restoring a community green space. The exhibition, themed 'inspired by birds,' is accompanied by talks from historian Mark Davies on how Jericho and Oxford inspired figures like Lewis Carroll and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Native artists highlighted Thursdsay

An event highlighting Indigenous art, the “Evening of Native American Artistry,” will take place Thursday at the Jackson Hole History Museum in conjunction with the seventh annual Teton Powwow. Curated by Susan Durfee and Al Hubbard of Central Wyoming College, the exhibit “Behind Linear Narratives” focuses on ledger art—drawings on repurposed accounting paper—featuring historic works from the late 1800s alongside contemporary pieces by father-and-son artists Terrance Guardipee and Terran Last Gun. Six other downtown galleries will each host an Indigenous artist, and Central Wyoming College’s culinary program will collaborate with chefs from Owamni Restaurant and NATIFS to create heritage-inspired appetizers.

New York art museum showcases Raphael's rare prints

The Murray Hill Art Museum in New York has opened an exhibition featuring 100 rare prints of works by Italian Renaissance master Raphael. The show includes engravings and lithographs from the museum's own collection as well as loans from private collectors across the United States, and was attended by local artists and collectors at its opening ceremony on April 25, 2026.

Irina Werning Chronicles 18 Years of Photographing ‘Las Pelilargas’ in a New Book

Photographer Irina Werning has spent 18 years traveling across Latin America to document Indigenous women with exceptionally long hair for her series "Las Pelilargas." Her new book, published by GOST Books, features nearly 90 portraits taken between 2006 and 2024, starting with the Kolla community in Argentina. Werning sought subjects by posting signs in remote mountain towns and organizing hair competitions, capturing a tradition rooted in ancestral beliefs that hair connects to life, thoughts, and the land.

Franco Mazzucchelli, Champ Lacombe / Biarritz  by Gea Politi

Franco Mazzucchelli's exhibition at Champ Lacombe in Biarritz presents a medley of his public interventions from the 1970s, including inflatable sculptures like "Cono Rosso" (1973/2021), "Bieca Decorazione," and "Catena N.5 anelli." The show documents his practice of placing inflatables in public spaces without viewers knowing they were artworks, capturing reactions of curiosity, rage, and self-expression. The gallery space transforms these once-anti-monumental works into precarious monuments, now controlled within the art world's agenda.

Play ‘Liminal Bingo,’ Pat Perry’s Participatory Photo Treasure Hunt

Detroit-based artist Pat Perry has launched "Liminal Bingo," a participatory photo treasure hunt open to anyone with an internet connection. Participants are encouraged to go outside, gather friends, and photograph a series of illustrated prompts—such as capturing a handshake with a stranger while both wear sunglasses—using a camera or phone. When five prompts are completed in a row, players have a bingo and submit their images via Instagram or email. Photos submitted by August will be considered for a fall exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York and a potential book.

A Milano c’è la prima mostra omaggio all’artista Giovanni Campus dopo la morte

BUILDING Gallery in Milan has opened "Tempo e passione," the first posthumous exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Campus (1929–2025), who died less than five months ago at nearly 100 years old. Curated by Marco Meneguzzo, the two-floor show spans Campus’s career from his Sardinian roots to his Milanese performances, featuring works that measure space using materials like springs and cords, alongside vintage video documentation of his actions in Piazza Palazzo Reale and Sardinia.

The perceptual effects of Alessandro Gioiello's paintings are on show in Rome

Gli effetti percettivi dei dipinti di Alessandro Gioiello sono in mostra a Roma

Alessandro Gioiello's solo exhibition "Pensieri Sparsi" is on view at Galleria Richter Fine Art in Rome, featuring oil-on-canvas works such as "Broken Flowers" (2026), "Quarantatreesimo" (2025), and "Tiscert" (2026). The show presents a stream-of-consciousness approach where color and composition emerge from a lengthy process of selection and transformation, inviting viewers to reconstruct meaning through the creative gesture rather than a linear narrative.

Iran Pushes Back on Venice Biennale Withdrawal Reports: ‘We’re Still Coming’

Iran has pushed back against reports that it withdrew from the 2024 Venice Biennale, with Aydin Mahdizadeh Tehrani, director-general of visual arts at Iran's ministry of culture, stating that the country never withdrew and is still in negotiations to participate. Tehrani told the Iran Students News Agency that Iran submitted a plan for a pavilion and is awaiting a final response, despite unresolved issues including sanctions, high rental costs, and the ongoing war with Israel and the US. Meanwhile, a separate unofficial pavilion called the Hyperstitional Pavilion of Iran, curated by Pouya Jafari and Nazli Jan Parvar, has been announced, featuring works by Iranian artists and organized by Finland-based nonprofit Perpetuum Mobile.

Punching the light: Sydney’s 90s raves – in pictures

Simon Burstall, at age 17, began photographing Sydney's underground rave scene in the 1990s, using borrowed school cameras and sneaking out in the family car to capture the burgeoning subculture. His images from that era were later compiled into the photobook '93: Punching the Light, published by Damiani in 2019.

US exhibition unearths the Etruscans and their enduring cultural influence

The Legion of Honor in San Francisco will present "The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy" from 2 May to 20 September, featuring nearly 200 objects including jewellery, sculptures, and vessels from the ancient Etruscan civilisation. The exhibition highlights recent archaeological discoveries, such as the Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis—the longest surviving Etruscan text—and grave objects from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb, many making their US debut. Curator Renée Dreyfus aims to correct negative portrayals of the Etruscans by Greeks and Romans and showcase their cultural achievements.

First look inside the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum reopened on May 23, 2026, following renovations to its galleries. The museum now features a new permanent exhibition titled "Story of Comics," a dedicated gallery showcasing original "Calvin & Hobbes" artwork by Bill Watterson, and an exclusive U.S. presentation of work by Chris Ware. The reopening was previewed by Ohio State Newark dean and director Matthew Smith, a comic book scholar, during a tour with curator Jenny Robb on May 20, 2026.