Exhibition Dives Headfirst Into Water as a Source of Everyday Enchantment

Claudia Keep's solo exhibition "Water, Water, Everywhere" is now on view at Parker Gallery in Los Angeles, featuring oil paintings that focus on water in everyday settings such as pools, beaches, cafes, and car windows splattered with rain. The show includes multi-panel panoramic works like "River swimmer" and "Pool swimmer," which depict swimmers in dynamic, distorted forms, and frames that extend each painting's color palette. The exhibition runs through May 30, 2026.

Gallery: New Tallinn art show explores illusions of safety and control

A new international group exhibition titled "Safe Traps" opened at Tütar Gallery in Tallinn, exploring the dual nature of control as both a source of safety and a restrictive cage. Curated by Maria Helen Känd, the show features works by French artist Anaïs Goupy, Latvian artist Līga Spunde, and Estonian artists Ruudu Ulas and Madlen Hirtentreu, examining how contemporary Western society's pursuit of control can become a trap that confines rather than liberates.

East Dallas art exhibition is a celebration of Chicano identity and community

An exhibition titled “Chicano” at Art on Main gallery in East Dallas showcases the work of over 50 North Texas artists, featuring paintings, digital photography, and mixed media that explore Chicano identity, childhood memories, lowrider culture, immigration enforcement, and Indigenous heritage. Co-curated by artists Ariel Esquivel and Junanne Peck, the show includes pieces such as Chelsea Reyes' digital photograph “Movimiento y Orgullo,” Cease Martinez's painting “Cultura,” and Hermila Cuevas' oil on canvas “Chicomecōātl: Giver of Harvest.” The gallery owner Andrea Lamarsaude, who previously collaborated with the curators on the exhibition “Shelter,” notes the community's positive response.

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.

Can we practice for crises in art?

"Können wir in der Kunst für die Krisen üben?"

Belgian theater director Miet Warlop is presenting her work "It never SSST" at the Belgian Pavilion during the Venice Biennale. The installation combines performance, sculpture, a radio show, and objects, featuring six performers, musicians, dancers, and a sculptor who periodically calls "Freeze" to capture movements in plaster reliefs. Warlop, known for her physically exhausting ritualistic performances like "One Song," discusses the piece's themes of ceaseless activity and the body as a resource, as well as the challenge of engaging visitors who often rush through the pavilion.

How the GDR apron became Italian luxury

Wie die DDR-Schürze zum Italo-Luxus wurde

Italian luxury label Miu Miu has released dresses for summer 2026 that resemble 1980s East German kitchen aprons, with prices reaching up to €12,000 for crystal-embroidered versions. The collection debuted on the Paris runway in October, where actress Sandra Hüller opened the show in robust workwear, evoking factory workers from the former GDR. Designer Miuccia Prada, a former member of the Italian Communist Party, drew inspiration from Helga Paris's 1984 photo series "Frauen bei der Arbeit" (Women at Work), which documented female laborers in East Berlin's VEB Treffmodelle textile factory.

The Raphaels, the Italian Gang and the Olive Oil Maker: The Spectacular Theft of 7 Paintings in Budapest During the Cold War

Les Raphaël, le gang italien et le fabricant d’huile d’olive : le spectaculaire vol de 7 tableaux à Budapest en pleine guerre froide

On November 5, 1983, thieves stole seven Renaissance masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, including two works by Raphael, two by Tiepolo, two by Tintoretto, and one by Giorgione, valued at $28 million. The heist was carried out by a small Italian gang from Reggio Emilia, who entered through a window using a scaffolding left by construction workers, leaving behind a screwdriver from the Italian brand USAG that the mastermind mistakenly thought would implicate American thieves. The operation was led by Ivano Scianti, with accomplices including Giordano Incerti, Graziano Iori, Giacomo Morini, and Carmine Palmese.

Ella Maillart, intrepid photographer of the 1930s, highlighted in an exhibition in Lausanne

Ella Maillart, photographe baroudeuse des années 30 mise en lumière dans une exposition à Lausanne

Ella Maillart, a Swiss photographer and adventurer from the 1930s, is the subject of a new exhibition in Lausanne. Born in Geneva in 1903, Maillart was an Olympic sailor and champion skier before turning to travel and photography. She journeyed across the Soviet Union, Central Asia, and China, often by train, ski, or camel, documenting remote cultures and political landscapes. Her travels included a 6,000-kilometer trek from Beijing to Kashmir with British writer Peter Fleming, and a road trip from Geneva to Kabul with friend Annemarie Schwarzenbach. The exhibition highlights her photographs and writings, which blend geographical exploration, political chronicle, and personal meditation.

Explore the projects of the 2024 and 2025 graduating classes of Ésad

Explorez les projets des promotions 2024 et 2025 de l’Ésad

The Ésad Saint-Étienne is presenting "recto verso," an exhibition running from April 29 to October 4, 2026, featuring projects by 84 young artists and designers who earned their DNSEP in June 2024 and June 2025. The show is designed as a non-linear, interactive space where objects, performances, and activations encourage visitors to explore both finished works and the preparatory stages behind them, including sketches, models, and archival materials. The exhibition is curated by the collective ppdesigner and Éric Jourdan, with production by the Cité du design.

Les États-Unis restituent près de 300 biens culturels à l’Italie

Italy presented 337 cultural artifacts repatriated from the United States at the Caserma "La Marmora" in Rome, following operations between December 2025 and April 2026. The objects span from the 5th century BCE to the 3rd century CE, including Roman sculptures, bronze works, pottery, jewelry, coins, and architectural fragments. Among the notable pieces is a marble head attributed to Alexander the Great, stolen from a Roman museum in 1960, and a bronze sculpture looted from Herculaneum. The recovery involved the Manhattan District Attorney's office, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and Christie's New York, with 221 items seized through the DA's collaboration and 116 returned in April.

Maia Taber Ayerza at Tureen

Tureen gallery in Dallas is presenting "Compositions, 1950-2026," a solo exhibition of works by artist Maia Taber Ayerza, running from April 25 to May 30, 2026. The show spans over seven decades of the artist's practice, from 1950 through 2026, and is documented with 74 images on the Contemporary Art Daily platform.

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.

Sheung Yiu “(Inter)faces of Predictions” at C/O Berlin

Finland-based artist researcher Sheung Yiu presents his long-term project "(Inter)faces of Predictions" at C/O Berlin, exploring how faces have been used across cultures and the implications of facial reading technologies. The exhibition examines the shift from spiritual to economic imperatives in facial interpretation, highlighting the progressive deterioration of human agency.

Latefa Wiersch “Atlas Studios“ at Istituto Svizzero, Rome

Istituto Svizzero in Rome presents "Atlas Studios," the first solo exhibition in Italy by Swiss-based artist Latefa Wiersch. The show is specifically designed for the spaces of Villa Maraini and evokes the famous Atlas Studios film sets located on the edge of the Moroccan desert, which have been used by international film productions.

New Currents: Jungeun Park

Jungeun Park, an artist based between New York and Seoul, creates sculptures that blend glass, ceramics, and textiles to evoke raw biological forms and alien organic matter. Her 2025 graduate presentation at the Rhode Island School of Design featured works like *Skin Mite (demodex)* (2024), sewn from old pillowcases, and *Period Chalice* (2024), made from resin, metal chain, metal ring, water, and strawberry syrup, which transform the repulsive into something tender and strange.

MARILYN BOROR BOR, SEBA CALFUQUEO, JULIETH MORALES. PERFORMANCE Y DISIDENCIAS

On April 18, 2026, the performance cycle "Atravesar el lago" (Crossing the Lake) took place in open spaces of Casa del Lago UNAM in Chapultepec Park, curated by Adonay Bermúdez. Artists Marilyn Boror Bor, Seba Calfuqueo, and Julieth Morales activated performances that destabilize dominant knowledge frameworks and confront narratives imposed by colonial modernity. Boror Bor's "Lo que el cemento no puede cubrir" turned the body into a living archive summoning ancestral memories; Calfuqueo's "Guardo mis semillas para el futuro" opened fissures in imposed borders; and Morales's "Enchumbarnos: Cuerpo, Norma y Territorio. Ritual para dos cuerpos" configured a threshold of listening and transformation. The article includes a curatorial text fragment exploring water as a dissident force, drawing on Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui's thought.

From Minor Keys to Uproar: The Crisis of the Venice Biennale

DE LAS MINOR KEYS AL ESTRUENDO: LA CRISIS DE LA BIENAL DE VENECIA

The 61st Venice Biennale is engulfed in a structural crisis, marked by geopolitical tensions over the inclusion of Russia (amid its invasion of Ukraine) and Israel (amid the Gaza genocide). The Biennale Foundation, led by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, defended their participation on legalistic grounds, sparking outrage from over 200 artists, curators, and cultural workers who demanded Israel's exclusion, aligning with Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA). The international jury, chaired by Solange Farkas and including Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, resigned collectively on April 30 after deciding not to award prizes to countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court arrest warrants. This led to the cancellation of the traditional Golden and Silver Lions, replaced by audience-voted "Visitor Lions," with awards deferred until November. The European Commission suspended a €2 million subsidy over Russia's participation, and Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli notably skipped the May 9 opening.

Gallery openings and exhibits in Central Oregon this week

This article lists numerous gallery openings and ongoing exhibits in Central Oregon for the current week. Venues include Amejko Artistry, Art Adventure Gallery, Artists’ Gallery Sunriver, ArtHouse LTA, Belknap Exhibit Center, Canyon Creek Pottery, Deschutes Historical Museum, Dry Canyon Community Arts Center, High Desert Museum, Hood Avenue Art, Jeffrey Murray Fine Art Photography, John Paul Designs, Kreitzer Art Gallery and Studio, Lubbesmeyer Fiber Studio, Makin’ It Local, Nancy McGrath Green Gallery, and Nashwood Gallery, featuring works by artists such as Anna Amejko Peterson, Jana Charl, Kenneth Merrill, Jesica Carleton, Jeffrey Murray, Lori and Lisa Lubbesmeyer, Kara Frampton, and Will Nash.

“Conspiracies” Aby Warburg Institute / London by Frank Wasser

The exhibition “Conspiracies” at the Warburg Institute in London, curated by Larne Abse Gogarty, brings together works by Hannah Black, Caspar Heinemann, Sam Keogh, and Shenece Oretha alongside panels from Aby Warburg’s Bilderatlas Mnemosyne. Through sculpture, drawing, collage, installation, and sound, the show resists the idea that conspiracy can be solved by exposure or critique, instead constructing unstable relations between historical images, speculative narratives, and material processes. Key works include Heinemann’s drawings reimagining Ted Kaczynski as “Theodora” and Keogh’s large-scale collage referencing medieval tapestries and surveillance systems.

On the eve of Mother’s Day, New Orleans art exhibit protests the death of Black sons

On the eve of Mother's Day 2026, an art exhibit titled "The Four Lost Sons" opened at [ART] CONSCIOUS gallery in Arabi, Louisiana. The show features large portraits of four Black men from Louisiana who died in police custody or altercations, created by the pseudonymous artist Walta Focq. The exhibit coincides with the anniversary of Ronald Greene's death, who was beaten and tased by Louisiana State Police in 2019. The mothers of the four men are involved in the project and plan to speak at the opening reception.

Harris County Juried Exhibition

Weekend for the arts: 'Untitled' exhibition, 'Lessons Of Silence' theatre

The article covers three events in Kuala Lumpur as part of the KL Festival and Borneo Native Festival 2026. The 'Untitled' group exhibition at GMBB creative mall features 127 artists and 329 works without labels or artist names, inviting viewers to write personal reflections. Proceeds from admission and 'gift letters' go directly to participating artists, offsetting typical financial burdens for emerging creators. The theatre piece 'Lessons Of Silence' by Indonesian artist Agnes Christina is a wordless performance exploring race, class, and parent-child dynamics during a turbulent period in Indonesian history. Additionally, the Borneo Native Festival 2026 at Central Market showcases Sabah and Sarawak's arts and culture, with a highlight being Pangrok Sulap, a woodcut collective from Ranau, presenting prints, books, and socially engaged art.

Here's your last chance to support city centre art gallery forced to close

The Trapezium Art Gallery in Bradford city centre, a volunteer-run space that has hosted over 70 exhibitions by local artists and community groups over the past eight years, is being forced to close due to the redevelopment of the Kirkgate Shopping Centre site. Its final exhibition celebrates the volunteers who kept the gallery thriving, showcasing a diverse range of artwork including printmaking, painting, digital art, photography, collages, and textiles, and runs until May 30.

Fulton County launches Nigerian art exhibition connecting Africa to Atlanta

Fulton County's Department of Arts & Culture has launched a multi-week international exhibition titled “Threads of Heritage: A Cultural Confluence Connecting Africa to Atlanta” at the Peachtree Gallery, running through the end of June. The exhibition features 14 Nigerian artists and is delivered in partnership with the Nike Art & Culture Foundation of Nigeria, Nike Art USA, and UniSpectrum Inc. Led by acclaimed artist Chief Dr Nike Monica Okundaye, the program includes masterclasses, public panels, community workshops, and live demonstrations on traditional Adire textiles, with US-based textile artist Shayee Awoyomi co-leading workshops and Nigerian painter Adeleke Akeem directing narrative painting masterclasses.

Playable exhibition ‘The Art of Mini Golf’ at Battersea Arts Centre announces ninth hole artist - Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley

Rising Melbourne and Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) have announced that British artist and game designer Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley will design the ninth hole artwork for the playable exhibition 'The Art of Mini Golf' when it travels to London this summer. The exhibition, formerly known as 'Swingers', will take over BAC from 17 June to 26 July, featuring nine interactive golf hole artworks by leading women artists including Miranda July, Kaylene Whiskey, Saeborg, Delaine Le Bas, Natasha Tontey, BKTHERULA, Soda Jerk, and Pat Brassington. Brathwaite-Shirley's new commission, 'Enough Is Enough', uses video game language to critique technology's impact on society, addressing issues like surveillance, censorship, and wealth inequality.

Nike Okundaye leads Nigerian artists to historic U.S. show

Nike Okundaye, founder of Nike Art Gallery, is leading 13 US-based Nigerian artists in a cultural diplomacy initiative titled "Threads of Heritage: A Cultural Confluence Connecting Africa to Atlanta." Organized by Fulton County Arts and Culture under Commissioner Robb Pitts and Director David Manuel, alongside Georgia State Representative Kim Schofield, the show opened last Friday at Fulton County Arts and Culture Downtown exhibition space in Atlanta. The event features artists including Shayee Awoyomi, Lasaki Olubunmi, Adeleke Akeem, Ola Balogun, Ajibade Awoyemi, and Bimbo Samson Adenugba, among others, and includes masquerade performances, African-American dances, and cuisines. The exhibition runs through the end of June.

Kettle Art Gallery presents "OG’s Return to Deep Ellum" opening reception

Kettle Art Gallery in Dallas is hosting "OG's Return to Deep Ellum," an exhibition reuniting eight pioneering visual artists who helped shape the creative identity of the Deep Ellum district. The show features works by Bill Haveron, Brad Ellis, Brad Smith, Clay Austin, Dwayne Carter, Frank Campagna, Greg "Ozone" Contestabile, and Thor Johnson, alongside tributes to the late Albert Scherbarth and David "Mosquito" Hawley. The opening reception precedes a run through August 16.

971 Art Gallery Boosts Dubai's Position as a Global Hub for Luxury Contemporary Art and Investment

971 Art Gallery, a new luxury contemporary art space, has opened in Dubai, positioning the city as a growing hub for high-end art and investment. The gallery aims to attract international collectors and investors by showcasing blue-chip contemporary artists and offering a curated experience that blends art with luxury lifestyle.