La Biennale de Venise s’ouvre dans un climat houleux

The 61st Venice Biennale opened amid intense controversy after its president, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, announced the return of the Russian pavilion, which had been absent since the start of the Ukraine war. The European Commission suspended its €2 million subsidy for the 2028 edition, and the entire Biennale jury resigned on April 30. Buttafuoco later declared the Russian pavilion would remain closed, but protests erupted during the pre-opening days (May 6–8), drawing 28,000 professionals. Pussy Riot members, Femen activists, and the Free Nations League staged demonstrations, while the Israeli pavilion remained open despite a letter signed by nearly 200 artists calling for its exclusion.

Who are the members of the Venice Biennale jury?

Qui sont les membres du jury de la Biennale de Venise ?

The 61st Venice Biennale, opening May 9, 2026, has announced its international jury, which is composed entirely of women. The five members are Solange Oliveira Farkas (president), Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, hailing from Brazil, Thailand, Spain, the United States, and Switzerland. Their backgrounds span the Global South, feminist studies, and transnational curatorial practices.

Which exhibitions and museums to visit in the evening this May in Paris?

Quels expos et musées voir en nocturne en ce mois de mai à Paris ?

Paris museums and galleries are extending their hours for evening visits in May, with many offering late-night openings on specific weekdays. The Palais de Tokyo is open until 10pm daily except Tuesday, the Musée du Luxembourg stays open until 10pm on Mondays, and the BnF Richelieu site is open until 8pm on Tuesdays. The Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, newly relocated near the Louvre, welcomes visitors until 10pm on Tuesdays, while the Jeu de Paume stays open until 9pm on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, the Musée du Louvre extends its hours until 9pm, alongside other museums. Current exhibitions include shows dedicated to Leonora Carrington, Martin Parr, and Nan Goldin, among others.

JR to cover Paris’s Pont Neuf in homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

French artist JR has begun installing a monumental trompe-l’oeil work titled *La Caverne du Pont Neuf* (2026) on Paris’s Pont Neuf, transforming the city’s oldest bridge into an immersive cave. The project reimagines the bridge as a limestone quarry cave, referencing the stone from which the bridge and many Parisian buildings were constructed. The work pays homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s iconic *The Pont Neuf Wrapped* (1985) and will be visible both day and night throughout the summer.

John Giorno “The Performative Word” at MAMbo, Bologna

A major retrospective exhibition dedicated to John Giorno, titled "The Performative Word," has opened at MAMbo, the Museum of Modern Art of Bologna. The show, curated by Andrea Bellini and Vincente Todolí, explores Giorno's multidisciplinary practice as a poet, artist, and activist, highlighting his collaborations and his innovative approach to making poetry a performative and visual experience.

The art of politics: how global conflicts are playing out in this year's Venice Biennale

Israel is making a controversial return to the 2025 Venice Art Biennale after its pavilion was locked in 2024 with a note demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. The artist representing Israel, Belu-Simion Fainaru, will present his project "Rose of Nothingness" in the Arsenale, while Russia also returns to the Biennale after its Giardini pavilion was reassigned to Bolivia in 2024. The Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) has renewed calls for a boycott and is organizing strike action to disrupt the event, accusing Israel of genocide.

Rising Artist Ding Shilun’s Sweet Paintings Mask Unsettling Truths

Artist Ding Shilun's career is accelerating, marked by a major auction record for his 2021 work 'The Adoption of the Maiden' at Phillips London and a current solo exhibition, 'Spectres in Rehearsal,' at Bernheim Gallery in Zurich. His large-scale paintings blend theatrical compositions, Goya-esque and manga influences, and narrative structures from Chinese zhiguai tales to create accessible yet complex scenes.

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The British Museum has announced a major 2026 exhibition titled "Samurai" that will trace the 1,000-year history of Japan's warrior class. Spanning armor, woodblock prints, paintings, clothing, ceramics, and contemporary media, the show brings together 280 objects from the museum's own collection and international lenders. Highlights include a 17th-century suit of armor recently acquired by the museum, a portrait of envoy Mancio Itō by Domenico Tintoretto, and works by Katsushika Hokusai. The exhibition also examines the modern myth of the samurai as shaped by film, manga, and video games such as Akira Kurosawa's movies and Assassin's Creed: Shadows.

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On January 14, 1506, Florentine architect Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti witnessed the excavation of the Laocoön Group, a monumental ancient marble statue unearthed in a Roman vineyard. The sculpture, depicting the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons battling serpents, was quickly acquired by Pope Julius II and installed in the Vatican, where it remains today at the Museo Pio-Clementino. However, art historian Lynn Catterson controversially proposed in 2005 that the statue is not an ancient artifact but a forgery created by Michelangelo himself, citing evidence such as a drawing of a torso resembling the statue's back, bank records of Michelangelo's marble purchases, and his history of producing forgeries like the lost Sleeping Cupid.

Archibald prize 2026: Richard Lewer’s portrait of artist Iluwanti Ken wins $100,000

Richard Lewer has won the 2026 Archibald Prize, Australia's most prestigious portraiture award, for his portrait of Pitjantjatjara elder, traditional healer, and senior artist Iluwanti Ken. The $100,000 prize was announced at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with the judging panel selecting the work unanimously from 59 finalists. Lewer, a six-time Archibald finalist, painted Ken life-size against a yellow ochre background, capturing her quiet authority and role as a working artist. The Wynne Prize for landscape painting was also awarded to Gaypalani Waṉambi for *The Waṉambi tree*.

Statement of Withdrawal from Visitor Lion Awards

Venice Golden Lion jury won’t consider Russian and Israeli pavilions

The jury for the Golden and Silver Lion awards at the 61st Venice Biennale has announced it will not consider the national pavilions of any country whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. This decision specifically excludes Russia, whose president Vladimir Putin is charged with unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children, and Israel, whose prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is charged with targeting Palestinian civilians and using starvation as a weapon. The jury, presided over by Solange Oliveira Farkas and including Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, issued a full statement explaining their commitment to human rights and alignment with the curatorial vision of the late Koyo Kouoh.

Riyadh Art Extends Its Citywide Permanent Collection

Riyadh Art, a public art initiative led by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, is expanding its Permanent Collection with 115 new installations planned through 2026 and beyond, adding to the 75 works already installed across the Saudi capital. The collection includes works by international artists such as Alexander Calder, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Giuseppe Penone, and Ugo Rondinone, alongside Saudi practitioners like Zaman Jassim and Mohammed Al Saleem, with recent additions including Calder's 'Janey Waney' and Nobuo Sekine's 'Phase of Nothingness'.

Nasher Museum’s ‘Everything Now All At Once’ Celebrates Diversity, Resilience, and Joy

The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University is presenting 'Everything Now All At Once,' an exhibition drawn entirely from its permanent collection that features works by over a dozen contemporary artists including Nick Cave, Ai Weiwei, Nina Chanel Abney, Wangechi Mutu, Jeffrey Gibson, Amy Sherald, and Barbara Chase-Riboud. The show focuses on painting and sculpture—deliberately analog mediums in an era of rapid technological change—and highlights pieces acquired over the past twenty years that center artists from historically marginalized backgrounds. Running since August 2025, the exhibition will rotate new works next month and continue through November 1 in Durham, North Carolina.

At the New Museum, Parallel Visions of Humanity’s Future Emerge

The New Museum's latest exhibition explores the evolving definition of humanity through the lens of technological advancement and ancestral wisdom. The show juxtaposes the anxieties of modern machine labor—exemplified by Simon Denny’s Amazon worker cage—with Indigenous epistemologies and animist traditions that offer alternative ways of inhabiting the world. By featuring artists like Jaider Esbell and Santiago Yahuarcani, the exhibition highlights how hybridity and relationality can resist the rigid hierarchies of Western modernity.

UK’s Hepworth Wakefield announces new co-directors

The Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire has appointed Olivia Colling as executive director and Laura Smith as artistic director, filling the leadership void left by former director Simon Wallis, who departed last summer to lead the Royal Academy of Arts. Colling, who joined the gallery in 2015, previously oversaw commercial income and capital projects, while Smith, who arrived in 2022, has focused on expanding the collection and curated a Helen Chadwick retrospective in 2025; her upcoming exhibition features the late Indian sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee.

Sharpsburg’s ZYNKA Gallery turns 5: reflecting on growth and future exhibitions

ZYNKA Gallery in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, celebrates its fifth anniversary. Founded by Jeff Jarzynka in November 2019, the gallery represents over 50 mostly regional artists. Its current exhibition, “Time Between Echoes,” features Dutch-born artist Hans Neleman and runs through June 8. The gallery faced an early challenge when it had to close just months after opening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it reopened in summer 2020 with timed visits. Jarzynka has since expanded his curatorial work, including curating exhibitions for The Portal Art Gallery at Bakery Square in East Liberty since February 2024.

The 10 Best Paris Art Shows of 2025

The article highlights the 10 best Paris art shows of 2025, including major exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou, Fondation Cartier, and Fondation Louis Vuitton. Featured shows include Olga de Amaral's sculptural tapestries, Otobong Nkanga's multi-media works, Meriem Bennani's footwear-as-soundscape, Wim Delvoye's 'Énormément Bizarre' at Centre Pompidou, 'Paris Noir: Artistic Circulations and Anti-Colonial Resistance, 1950-2000' at Centre Pompidou, and 'David Hockney 25' at Fondation Louis Vuitton. The year also saw the closure of Centre Pompidou's Beaubourg building for renovation and the relocation of Fondation Cartier to a new site near the Louvre.

Christie’s Situates ‘Sailor Moon’ and ‘Doraemon’ Alongside Hokusai in Its Debut Anime Sale

Christie’s has announced its first-ever auction dedicated to the intersection of anime, manga, and traditional Japanese art. Titled "Anime Starts Here: Japanese Subculture Imagines Tradition," the online sale will debut during Asia Week New York in March, featuring a curated selection that ranges from 19th-century Katsushika Hokusai woodblock prints to original production drawings from iconic series like Sailor Moon and Doraemon. Key highlights include a rare 1953 drawing by the "God of Manga" Tezuka Osamu and a print of Hokusai’s legendary "The Great Wave."

Meet 14 Women Shaping India’s Booming Art Scene

Artsy profiles 14 influential women who are shaping India's rapidly evolving art market, including Nita Mukesh Ambani, Jaya Asokan, Shireen Gandhy, and others. The article highlights their roles as founders, directors, collectors, and patrons, with a focus on the upcoming 17th edition of the India Art Fair, which will feature a record 135 exhibitors. Each woman is described as contributing to the growth of galleries, auction houses, biennales, and cultural institutions across the country.

Comment | The dissolution of Antwerp's museum of contemporary art should serve as a warning to all

The Flemish ministry of culture has ordered the closure of M HKA, the museum of contemporary art in Antwerp, Belgium, and the transfer of its collection to S.M.A.K. in Ghent. A planned €130m new building for M HKA, ready to break ground, has been cancelled. In response, artists and cultural workers have launched a "Museum at Risk" campaign, occupying the museum's entrance and pressuring city councillors, while international artists like Emilia Kabakov and the estate of Christian Boltanski are demanding the return of their works.

Our pick of the shows to see in the world's great art cities in 2026

The article presents a curated selection of upcoming art exhibitions across major global cities in 2026, highlighting key shows in Paris, New York, and Tokyo. In Paris, notable exhibitions include a Georges de la Tour show at the Musée Jacquemand-André, a Renoir retrospective at the Musée d'Orsay, and a Henri Rousseau exhibition at the Musée de l'Orangerie. New York features solo shows of Egon Schiele at the Neue Galerie, Thomas Gainsborough at the Frick Collection, and Paul Klee at the Jewish Museum, while Tokyo focuses on women artists from the 1950s and 60s at the National Museum of Modern Art and a centennial exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.

Takashi Murakami Casts His Spell Again

Takashi Murakami is back in the spotlight with a new exhibition, “Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,” opening May 25 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The show features a full-scale replica of a portion of an ancient temple at Nara, Japan, and highlights the artist’s signature Flowers series. Murakami, known for his manga- and anime-inspired characters, has also become a fashion icon, with followers including Usher, Pharrell Williams, and entrepreneur Sarah Andelman. The article captures a press event where Murakami sketched portraits of artist Shahzia Sikander, dressed in a whimsical outfit designed to captivate his audience.

Cleveland Museum of Art welcomes new exhibit: 'Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow'

The Cleveland Museum of Art is opening a new exhibition titled 'Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,' featuring the work of Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. The show runs from May 25 through September 7, with member previews from May 16 to 24. The exhibition explores Murakami's signature style blending anime, manga, and otaku culture with traditional Japanese art, and addresses themes such as trauma, healing, and the cultural impact of historical events including World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic.

All New for 2026: The Greatest Exhibitions in Greater Philadelphia

Greater Philadelphia is launching a year-long Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026, featuring a series of major exhibitions across the region. Highlights include "A Nation of Artists" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the "What Now" festival by ArtPhilly, and "Bells Across PA," a statewide display of painted Liberty Bell replicas. Other notable shows include the Museum of the American Revolution's "The Declaration's Journey," The Franklin Institute's immersive theme park exhibit, The Academy of Natural Sciences' Indigenous re-examination of its Lewis and Clark collection, and the Independence Seaport Museum's look at early American commerce. The Clay Studio presents "Radical Americana" across 20 sites, the National Liberty Museum opens three exhibitions on the First Amendment, and a new show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art explores monuments, curated by Paul Farber.

10 exhibitions to look out for in May

Warren Feeney's article highlights 10 exhibitions opening in May 2026, primarily in Christchurch, New Zealand. Featured shows include Stone Maka's 'MONO' at Jonathan Smart Gallery, exploring Tongan tapa cloth traditions; Jess Nicholson's 'Ka maumahara te uku (the clay remembers)' at CoCA Toi Moroki, focusing on Ngāi Tahu culture and land connections; and a group exhibition 'Indigo' at Art on the Quay, featuring seven Central Otago artists. Other notable shows include Jane Barry, Sandra Hussey, and Laurie Roodt's 'Three Exhibitions' at Chambers Art Gallery, and Stephanie Postles' 'What These Walls Remember' at City Art Depot's new Up Stairs space.

Zero Art Fair Isn’t Selling Art—It’s Giving It Away, With Just a Few Caveats

Zero Art Fair, debuting its second edition at the FLAG Art Foundation in New York City from July 10 to 12, offers a radical alternative to traditional art fairs: attendees can take home selected artworks for free. The fair uses a "store-to-own" contract developed by artist William Powhida, NYU professor Amy Whitaker, and artist-attorney Alfred Steiner. Participants commit to a five-year vesting period before ownership transfers, during which artists retain rights to sell or borrow the work. After transfer, artists receive 50 percent of any sale price and a 10 percent royalty on subsequent resales. The fair was conceived by Powhida and artist Jennifer Dalton, rooted in their experiences with unsold work and structural gaps in the art market.

Tribeca Gallery Night brings together more than 80 spaces

On Friday, May 15, more than 80 galleries in New York's Tribeca neighborhood will stay open late for Tribeca Gallery Night, from 6pm to 8pm. Three new galleries are joining the event: Tappeto Volante Gallery (opening at 4 Cortlandt Alley with a show of painter Angelo Vasta), Gratin (opening at 15 White Street with a solo show for Spanish artist Mónica Mays), and Southern Guild (relocated from Los Angeles to 75 Leonard Street, featuring solo shows for Usha Seejarim and Mmangaliso Nzuza).

Venice Biennale Jury Resigns En Masse, Organizers to Award “Visitors’ Lions” in November

The jury for the 2026 Venice Biennale has resigned en masse, announcing the decision via e-flux's Instagram account on April 30 without providing a reason. The five-member jury, including president Solange Oliveira Farks, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, had previously stated they would not consider national pavilions from countries charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, directly affecting Israel and Russia. In response, the Biennale postponed the awards ceremony from May to November 22 and replaced the Golden Lions with two "Visitors' Lions" voted on by the public.

Art Cologne heads to the beach with revived Mallorca edition

Art Cologne is relaunching its satellite fair in Mallorca nearly two decades after a brief, unsuccessful attempt in 2007. Scheduled for April 9–12 at the Palau de Congressos de Palma, the revived Art Cologne Palma Mallorca will feature 88 galleries, with a significant emphasis on Spanish and local Balearic participants rather than just German exports.