DOGE Cuts to National Endowment for the Humanities Were Unconstitutional, Court Rules

A federal judge ruled that the cancellation of over 1,400 grants by the National Endowment for the Humanities, carried out by Elon Musk's Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), was unconstitutional. Judge Colleen McMahon of the Federal District Court in Manhattan ordered DOGE to rescind the cancellations, finding that the cuts violated the First Amendment and the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment. The lawsuits were filed after the NEH chairman was dismissed and the agency was redirected under President Donald Trump's "America First" cultural campaign, with acting chair Michael McDonald cutting most grants awarded by the previous administration. The cuts, totaling more than $100 million, disrupted research, publications, and humanities programming, and were reportedly flagged using ChatGPT to target grants related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Steel And Shadows Converge in “Larry Kagan: Men”

Louis K. Meisel Gallery in New York City will present “Larry Kagan: Men,” an exhibition of steel and shadow sculptures by artist Larry Kagan, opening May 9 and running through June 20. Kagan, a former engineer turned sculptor, creates intricate steel assemblages that, when lit from a calculated angle, project remarkably detailed shadow images onto the wall, blending material and illusion. The show includes works like “Michelangelo's Adam” (2025) and highlights his career shift from acrylics to metal in the 1980s under the mentorship of Richard Stankiewicz.

Nel Padiglione Germania alla Biennale di Venezia un gruppo di donne riflette sulle rovine del passato per capire il mondo

The German Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale will present the work of two women artists, Henrike Naumann and Sung Tieu, following the death of Naumann at age 41 in February 2026. Curated by Kathleen Reinhardt, director of the Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin, the pavilion's project, titled "Ruin," explores the dual meanings of the word in English and German—architectural decay versus economic, social, or moral collapse. The exhibition draws on research into East Germany (DDR) and the post-reunification period, using the pavilion's fascist architecture as a lens to examine historical ruptures and their impact on the present. For the first time in its history, the German Pavilion is represented solely by women, mirroring the Italian Pavilion.

At the Casa di Goethe in Rome, two controversial episodes in the history of science in Mischa Kuball's light installations

Alla Casa di Goethe di Roma due episodi controversi della storia della scienza nelle installazioni di luce di Mischa Kuball

The Casa di Goethe in Rome is hosting a solo exhibition of German conceptual artist Mischa Kuball from April 30 to October 4, 2026. The show features two light installations: "Newton/Goethe luce nera," which contrasts Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's and Isaac Newton's opposing theories on color and light refraction, and "five suns / after Galileo," which visualizes Galileo Galilei's observations of sunspots and his conflict with the Catholic Church. The exhibition is curated by the museum's director, Gregor H. Lersch.

A Milano c’è una mostra di un importante artista australiano in cui si ragiona sul rumore

Marco Fusinato, the Australian artist who represented his country at the 59th Venice Biennale, returns to Italy with a solo exhibition at the Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea (PAC) in Milan. Titled "The only true anarchy is that of Power," the show brings together installations, performances, and sound recordings from recent years, all centered on the concept of noise. Curated by Diego Sileo, the exhibition features three ongoing projects, including the monumental performance-installation DESASTRES, first presented at the Venice Biennale in 2022 and later staged at festivals such as Berlin Atonal and Unsound Krakow. The work combines randomized sound and images, using electric guitars, mass amplification, and intense feedback to create an immersive, hallucinatory experience where chaos and control coexist.

The great antique fair of Assisi has half a century of history. The interview

La grande fiera dell’antiquariato di Assisi ha mezzo secolo di storia. L’intervista

AMAB – Assisi Mostra Arte Antiquariato Bastia Umbra, the antique fair founded in Assisi in 1973 and moved to the Umbria Fiere exhibition center in 1989, celebrated its 50th edition in 2025 and will reopen from April 24 to May 3, 2026. The 10-day event features 90 exhibitors and includes special exhibitions marking the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi (at Palazzo Collicola in Spoleto and the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria in Perugia) and the centenary of the birth of artist Giorgio Ascani, known as Nuvolo, curated by Bruno Corà, as well as a project on costume designer Tita Tegano with costumes from the Renato Bruson collection. Director Emo Antinori Petrini, son of founder Mario, discusses the fair's evolution, its commitment to quality, and its new focus on contemporary art installations and performances.

A Decade of Contemporary Art: Gallery Weekend Beijing Turns 10

Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ) will celebrate its 10th anniversary with the 2026 edition running from May 22 to May 31, opening with three VIP days before going public on May 26. Founded in 2017, the event features curated exhibitions from 30 galleries and 10 non-profit institutions across Beijing, anchored in the 798 Art District and extending to Caochangdi and the CBD Art District. A new Academic Committee—comprising Guo Xi, Leng Lin, Tian Yuan, Xi Tao, and Yang Beichen—selected the participating galleries, with 25 returning from previous editions and five newly nominated. Highlights include institutional presentations at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Red Brick Art Museum, and SONG Art Museum, as well as a special exhibition titled "Nirvana" by Ouyang Chun.

May we suggest the art you need to see this May?

Lifestyle Asia has published a curated list of art exhibitions and events to see in May, offering recommendations for art enthusiasts looking to explore new shows and installations during the month. The article serves as a guide to notable cultural happenings, likely highlighting both emerging and established artists across various venues.

Julie Mehretu — Perceptual Infrastructure and the Post-Retrospective Condition

Julie Mehretu's latest exhibition, "Our Days, Like a Shadow (a non-abiding hauntology)," is on view at Marian Goodman Gallery in New York from April 14 to June 6, 2026. The show presents paintings that push beyond traditional representation, creating immersive perceptual environments through dense layers of abstraction, cartographic traces, and architectural fragments. The works, including the TRANSpaintings series created with Nairy Baghramian, extend Mehretu's practice into spatial expansion, where painting behaves like infrastructure without becoming literal architecture.

Where to see artworks in Marin

This article is a comprehensive listing of art exhibitions and events across Marin County, California, from May through August 2025. It includes details on dozens of shows at venues such as the Belvedere Tiburon Library, Anthony Meier, Blunk Space, Bolinas Museum, Gallery Route One, and many others, featuring works by artists like Carol Thomas, Saif Azzuz, Ian Collings, and Drew Frazier. The listings cover photography, painting, sculpture, and mixed-media exhibits, with opening receptions, artist talks, and benefit events noted.

At the Galleries for May 21, 2026

The article titled 'At the Galleries for May 21, 2026' published by 27east provides a roundup of current art exhibitions and gallery shows opening or ongoing as of that date. It highlights specific venues, artists, and works on view, serving as a local guide for art enthusiasts on the East End of Long Island.

When satire met paper: ‘Ink & Outrage’ is now open at the Driehaus Museum

The Driehaus Museum in Chicago has opened 'Ink & Outrage: 18th-Century Satirical Prints in London & Dublin,' an exhibition of some 100 prints by Georgian-era caricaturists including James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson. Curated by Silvia Beltrametti and William Laffan, the show explores the rise of visual satire in 18th-century England and features side-by-side comparisons of original English prints with unauthorized Irish copies, highlighting issues of plagiarism and intellectual property.

Discarded Things Alive Again: The Maeck Sculpture Foundation Grand Opening and Tour

The Maeck Sculpture Foundation opened in Burr Oak, Iowa, with a public tour led by artist Steven Maeck. The park features sculptures made from salvaged industrial materials like steel wheels and grain bins, transformed into balanced, lyrical forms. Maeck, who spent 25 years as an itinerant rug dealer before committing to sculpture full-time, described his work as modern sculpture rather than junkyard art, emphasizing form, rhythm, and spatial relationships over material origins.

In Pol Taburet’s New Show, Being Paranoid Is the Point

French artist Pol Taburet has opened a solo exhibition titled *Paranoia as Method* at Villa Medici in Rome, on view through July 15. The show features sculptures, large-format paintings, and charcoal drawings created during his spring residency at the institution, transforming the villa’s gardens, loggias, and salons into tense psychic landscapes. Taburet’s figures drift between human and animal, evoking transformation, mortality, and spiritual tension, drawing on his Caribbean roots, voodoo traditions, contemporary culture, and classical painting.

Wonder Gallery Debuts in Coney Island With Vintage Photos and Mini Zines

Wonder Gallery, a collaboration between Parachute Literary Arts and the Coney Island History Project, opens May 23 at the History Project's Exhibit Center beside the Wonder Wheel in Coney Island. The seasonal gallery will debut with black-and-white photographs by Brooklyn documentary photographer Anders Goldfarb, capturing Coney Island residents and architecture from the 1970s and 1980s, alongside the launch of the Coney Island Zine Machine featuring miniature zines by Sheepshead Bay artist Kelly Luu. The free gallery will be open weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Major Exhibition Creates World Class Art Trail Across North Yorkshire

An exhibition featuring works by 50 leading contemporary artists will be staged across four venues in North Yorkshire, England, from April to September 2025, as part of the 20th anniversary of the Aesthetica Art Prize. The venues include Skipton Town Hall, the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, Scarborough Art Gallery, and Woodend Gallery, with free entry at most sites. The exhibition is a joint venture between Aesthetica and Culture North Yorkshire, the council's culture and archive service, and is divided into four thematic parts: Future(s), Perception, Intervention, and Transformation.

Contemporary Indian Art at the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is hosting "Sediments of Becoming: Fossilised Present, Summoned Pasts," an exhibition curated by Marina Schulz and Tunty Chauhan that features works by eleven contemporary Indian artists, including Afrah Shafiq, Anindita Bhattacharya, Debashish Mukherjee, and others. The show positions contemporary Indian artistic practice within a broader international and civilisational discourse, set against the Hermitage's historic backdrop of over three million objects spanning centuries.

Between everyday and exceptional

Emami Art in Kolkata presents "Nothing Twice," an exhibition featuring nine young women artists that explores the fragility of ordinary life through domestic, tactile, and overlooked subjects. Curated by Ushmita Sahu, the show includes works in painting, textiles, photography, ceramics, drawing, and video, with artists like Moumita Basak, Shilpi Sharma, and Riti Sengupta focusing on material memory and feminist art histories. Concurrently, "Khadi: A Canvas" at TRI Art & Culture showcases 19 khadi sarees woven in the jamdani technique by tribal women from Srikakulam, connecting Raja Ravi Varma's visual culture with Gandhi's politics of self-reliance, curated by Lavina Baldota with textile artist Gaurang Shah. Additionally, "Digital Atma (Spirits) X The Wandering Souls" at A.M (Art Multi-disciplines) examines digital life and technology's impact on identity and intimacy through poetry, sound, image, and performance.

Artist Felipe Pantone's home is a 'permanent exhibition' - with its own indoor nightclub

Spanish-Argentinian contemporary artist Felipe Pantone, who never reveals his face to the public, opens the doors to his striking home 'Casa Axis' in Valencia, Spain. Originally built between 1972 and 1975 by architect Pascual Genovés and designer Antonio Segura, the property was known as the 'Revolving House' before Pantone renamed it. After a two-year renovation, the 7,000 sq m estate now includes an indoor swimming pool designed by the artist, a private tennis court, a dance club, and rooms filled with natural light. Pantone and his partner Victoria Fernández host artists from around the world at the home, which also served as a backdrop for Netflix's Black Mirror.

Two Shows, One Desert: “Desert Rinpa” & “Wander” at EPMA

Two concurrent exhibitions at the El Paso Museum of Art explore the Southwestern desert through distinct artistic lenses. "Desert Rinpa" presents Mitsumasa Overstreet's large-scale panels that blend Chihuahuan Desert flora with the classical Japanese Rinpa tradition, using techniques like tarashikomi and metallic leaf to evoke desert light. Upstairs, "Suzi Davidoff: Wander" features nearly 100 works from 1991 to the present, including drawings, prints, and installations made with natural materials like dirt, clay, and charcoal gathered from wildfire sites, emphasizing the physical presence of the desert itself.

A Rare Presentation of Leonora Carrington’s Surrealist Sculptures Have Landed in New York

A new exhibition at New York's L'Espace Gallery, titled "Shape of Dreams," presents a rare collection of Leonora Carrington's surrealist bronze sculptures, intricate jewelry, and an interactive tarot booth. Carrington, best known as a painter and novelist, created these sculptures late in life, often with the help of her sons, as her eyesight and arthritis made painting difficult. The show highlights works like "The Palmist" (2011) and other hybrid, mythological figures that extend her imaginative universe into three dimensions.

Keeping It Simple

On Valentine's Day, the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art in Manhattan, Kansas, opened the inaugural "Kansas Triennial 25/26" exhibition, featuring works by four Kansas-based visual artists: Mona Cliff, Mark Cowardin, Poppy DeltaDawn, and Ann Resnick. The museum engaged young visitors by handing out paper hearts and inviting them to place their heart in front of the artwork they loved best, creating a reflective and participatory experience.

The best exhibitions to discover in Paris this Whitsun weekend

This article from a Parisian events guide rounds up ten exhibitions to see over the Whitsun weekend (May 23–25, 2026) in Paris and Île-de-France. Highlights include a show of works by artist-patients at the Art and History Museum of Sainte-Anne Hospital, maritime paintings at the Navy Museum, a Papua New Guinea-themed exhibition at the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Museum, an interactive socially engaged show called "Ne Pas Toucher" in the Marais, a Louvre exhibition on water in ancient Mesopotamia, and a major Hilma af Klint retrospective at the Grand Palais in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou.

Spring Exhibition Opening & Closing Reception

The Art Gallery of Burlington is hosting a Spring Exhibition Opening & Closing Reception on Saturday, May 16, 2026, celebrating the opening of Celina Eceiza's exhibition "A material called Earth, Volume 1: The life of corners" in the Lee-Chin Family Gallery, curated by Sylvie Fortin and on view from May 16 to August 16, 2026. The event also marks the closing of Phuong Nguyen's exhibition "she died a death of a thousand cuts" in the Perry Gallery, which runs from January 31 to May 17, 2026.

Marina Abramović’s Historic Venice Biennale Exhibition Is a Full-Circle Moment

Marina Abramović has become the first living woman to be honored with a dedicated exhibition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, titled “Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy.” The show, which coincides with her 80th birthday, features works selected in dialogue with Renaissance masterpieces from the museum’s permanent collection, including pieces such as “The Lovers, Great Wall Walk,” “Balkan Baroque,” and “Pietà (Anima Mundi).” Abramović first visited the Venice Biennale at age 14 and later won the Golden Lion there in 1997; this exhibition marks a full-circle return to the city that inspired her.

Realms of the Dharma

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened "Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia," an exhibition on view through July 12, 2026, that brings together approximately 180 Buddhist artworks from its permanent collection for the first time in a single space. Curated by Stephen Little and Tushara Bindu Gude, the show features paintings, sculptures, ritual objects, and sacred texts spanning Asia, including a notable gray schist bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara from Gandhara (c. 200 CE). The exhibition highlights the transformative work of curator Pratapaditya Pal, who from 1970 built LACMA's Indian, Himalayan, and Islamic collections into one of the nation's premier repositories.

Fight Club Denounces the System From Within the System

Cameroonian artist Pascale Marthine Tayou's first major institutional exhibition in Brazil, "Knockout!," has opened at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo's Pina Luz building. The show spans over 25 years of Tayou's career, featuring installations, sculptures, and paintings across seven rooms. Each room is themed around a historical international conference—including the Berlin Conference of 1884, Yalta, San Francisco, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Bandung, and a fictional Avignon conference—using these as political and historical axes to critique colonial power structures and global inequality.

‘Art’s Selfish’: Canada Pavilion Artist Abbas Akhavan on What Comes After Venice

Abbas Akhavan, representing Canada at the 2026 Venice Biennale, has transformed the Canada Pavilion into a greenhouse-like installation titled “Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup.” The pavilion’s wooden door has been replaced with glass, revealing a pond of pinkish water illuminated by sunlight and LED grow-lamps. Visitors encounter mossy boulders, a vintage fur coat sprayed with mist, sharpened bronze sticks, and frosted mirrors that blur the architecture. Three giant Bolivian water lilies, grown from seeds sent from Kew Gardens to Padua, will gradually fill the pond over the summer. Akhavan describes his role as a “custodian” rather than a controller, emphasizing the unpredictability of nature.

New group exhibition at Art of Contemporary Africa SF

Art of Contemporary Africa (AOCA), the first Pan-African contemporary gallery in San Francisco, will open a major group exhibition titled *Memory in Motion: Identities, Materials and Resonances* on 2 May 2026. Curated by Gilles Yoro (Felin Light), the show brings together contemporary African artists including Gerald Chukwuma, Mederic Turay, Mwass Githinji, Ayanda Mabulu, Opa Bathily, Kebe Ibrahim Bemba, Ndabuko Ntuli, Kenof Franck Kemkeng Noah, Ange Arthur Koua, Alexis Daniel Onguene Tassi, and Dieudonne Djiela Kamgang. Their works in painting, sculpture, assemblage, and mixed media explore memory as an active, evolving force shaping identity across time, geography, and materiality.

Exhibition | Kang Cheol Gyu, 'KANG Cheolgyu: Discarded Host' at Arario Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

Arario Gallery Seoul presents 'Discarded Host', a solo exhibition by South Korean artist Kang Cheolgyu (b. 1990), running from May 1 to June 20, 2026. The show features new paintings that transform personal emotions and psychological sensations into visual narratives, exploring themes of anxiety, tension, identity, and transformation through fictional environments and indirect self-confrontation.