Artists respond to the continuing toll of colonialism in the Americas

The Chicago art space Wrightwood 659 is hosting a major survey titled "Dispossessions in the Americas: The Extraction of Bodies, Land, and Heritage from La Conquista to the Present." Featuring over 35 contemporary Latin American artists, including Regina José Galindo and the late Ana Mendieta, the exhibition serves as the culmination of a multi-year research project funded by the Mellon Foundation. The show explores the historical and ongoing impacts of colonial dispossession on Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and LGBTQ+ communities through diverse media ranging from performance art to installation.

Philadelphia Museum of Art 'Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments (4/25-8/2)'

필라델피아미술관 '라이징업: 록키와 기념비 제작(Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments, 4/25-8/2)' - Lounge

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has announced a major exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," scheduled to open in April 2026. Curated by Paul Farber of Monument Lab, the show will feature over 150 works by more than 50 artists, including Keith Haring, Kara Walker, and Andy Warhol. The exhibition uses the iconic Rocky statue—a fictional character that has become one of the city's most visited landmarks—as a focal point to explore the history, mythology, and evolving role of public monuments from antiquity to the present day.

Kimbell Art Museum’s free community programs this spring

The Kimbell Art Museum has announced an extensive lineup of free community programming for the Spring 2026 season. The schedule features a diverse array of events including gallery discussions, hands-on art-making workshops for children, live music performances, and scholarly lectures. A significant portion of the programming is designed to complement the special exhibition, "The Holy Sepulcher: Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem," through documentary screenings and expert-led talks.

Brilliant Things to Do This April

April 2026 marks a significant month for global art exhibitions, featuring major retrospectives and site-specific installations across Rome, Seoul, London, and Paris. Highlights include Gagosian Rome’s exploration of Francesca Woodman’s surrealist photography, a homecoming retrospective for video-art pioneer Nam June Paik in Seoul, and Senga Nengudi’s performance-based sculptures at London’s Whitechapel Gallery. Additionally, Isaac Julien will debut a new moving-image work at The Cosmic House, while the Fondation Louis Vuitton prepares a large-scale exhibition dedicated to Alexander Calder’s kinetic sculptures.

Berlin Art: What Exhibitions Are on Now?

Berlin’s spring art season features a diverse array of exhibitions ranging from established international names to local prize winners. Key highlights include Yalda Afsah’s spiritual film installation at CCA Berlin, Jim Lambie’s psychedelic vinyl floor works at Konrad Fischer Galerie, and the 10th Neukölln Art Prize exhibition at Galerie im Saalbau, which honors artists like Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi. The city's programming spans non-profit institutions, commercial galleries, and experimental spaces, covering themes from folk traditions to gender identity.

Craig Jun Li: Scrapping the Camera

Artist Craig Jun Li's solo exhibition features collagist wall-works and installations that deconstruct photographic technology. Works like the 2025 silicone sheets incorporate altered dye-transfer prints, Polaroids, and actual camera parts like SX-70 film cartridge springs, redirecting focus from pictorial representation to the mechanical apparatus of image-making.

Joy Labinjo’s Women Take Their Place in the Gallery

Milan's art scene is currently anchored by a series of high-profile exhibitions coinciding with the Miart fair, featuring a diverse range of international talent. Highlights include Joy Labinjo’s vibrant figurative paintings at Tiwani Contemporary, which explore Black domesticity and sisterhood, and Cao Fei’s multimedia investigation into the intersection of technology and global agriculture at Pirelli HangarBicocca. Other notable presentations include Anselm Kiefer’s monumental tributes to female alchemists and historical figures, marking a significant moment for contemporary art in the city.

Your Go-To Guide to NYC's Spring Art Fairs

New York City's spring art season is bustling with a diverse array of art fairs catering to different tastes and budgets. Major events include the contemporary art-focused Frieze at The Shed, the budget-conscious Affordable Art Fair, the Outsider Art Fair showcasing self-taught artists, the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, and the IFPDA Print Fair.

In Milan, you can play for free with your band in a recording studio open to the public at HangarBicocca

A Milano puoi suonare gratis con la tua band in uno studio di registrazione aperto al pubblico all’HangarBicocca

Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan has transformed its exhibition space into a functional recording studio as part of a major retrospective for artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. Titled "A Retrospective: The House That Jack Built," the show invites local musical acts to book time slots to perform and record their music live within the gallery. This interactive installation allows the creative process to unfold in front of museum visitors, blurring the lines between a static art display and a community hub.

Don't Go to the Museum with Children Without These 10 Tips!

N’allez plus au musée avec des enfants sans ces 10 astuces !

Beaux Arts Magazine offers ten practical tips for making museum visits with children more enjoyable and less stressful. The advice, provided by Marion Charneau of the Louvre-Lens, includes practical preparation like checking hours and packing snacks, as well as strategic approaches such as keeping visits short, choosing morning hours, and turning the experience into a game with visual challenges.

Precious Okoyomon’s Whitney Biennial Installation Is on View After a Delay, and It’s a True Shocker

Precious Okoyomon's major installation for the 2024 Whitney Biennial, titled 'Everything wants to kill you and you should be afraid,' opened after a brief delay. The work, featuring around 50 stuffed animals and racist dolls suspended by nooses, was moved from the museum lobby to the eighth floor to provide more space for viewers to engage with its disturbing yet beautiful mix of childhood nostalgia and violence.

Exhibition | 'Goodman Gallery x Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier' at Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Goodman Gallery is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a high-profile collaborative exhibition at Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier in Paris. Running from April 17 to August 29, the showcase features major works by leading artists from the African continent and the diaspora, including El Anatsui, William Kentridge, and Kapwani Kiwanga. The presentation places contemporary African art in direct dialogue with the high-end furniture and interior architecture of Pierre Yovanovitch, marking the start of a series of international events for the gallery this summer.

At 85, Anjolie Ela Menon revisits her iconic themes in New Delhi exhibition

Veteran Indian artist Anjolie Ela Menon is currently presenting a career-spanning exhibition titled 'Revisitations' at Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi. Presented by Vadehra Art Gallery and curated by Uma Nair, the show features over 30 works ranging from the 1950s to new pieces created in 2025 and 2026. The exhibition highlights Menon’s steadfast commitment to figurative painting, Byzantine-inspired imagery, and recurring motifs such as the empty chair and the crow, which explore themes of presence and loss.

V&A East Museum: Inside London’s New Venue In Stratford

The V&A East Museum is set to open in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as a major new cultural hub for East London. Housed in a striking five-story building designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey—inspired by the couture tailoring of Cristóbal Balenciaga—the museum features two permanent galleries titled "Why We Make" and a dedicated space for major temporary exhibitions. The site emphasizes accessibility with a barrier-free entrance and a collection of over 500 objects spanning art, design, and performance, curated to highlight themes like social justice and environmental action.

Exciting Spring Exhibitions Across U.S. Museums

Major U.S. museums are launching a series of high-profile exhibitions this spring, headlined by a massive Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Other key highlights include the North American debut of Iris van Herpen’s technologically-driven fashion at the Brooklyn Museum and a focused look at Peter Hujar’s photography of the New York underground at the Morgan Library & Museum.

Virginia MOCA opens new building with bold show, 'The Pursuit of Happiness.'

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA) has inaugurated its new, expanded facility on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University. The opening is anchored by a major solo exhibition titled "The Pursuit of Happiness" by acclaimed contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney, alongside a group show, "Seamless: Art and Design." Abney’s exhibition features her signature large-scale, vibrant, and emoji-inspired works that explore the complexities of the American Dream, identity, and power structures through a lens of both visual seduction and narrative ambiguity.

5 Must-See Exhibitions During Milan Art Week 2026

Milan Art Week 2026 features a robust program of institutional exhibitions alongside the miart and Paris Internationale Milano fairs. Key highlights include Cao Fei’s multimedia exploration of smart agriculture at Fondazione Prada, Anselm Kiefer’s monumental tribute to forgotten female alchemists at Palazzo Reale, and a major retrospective of Rirkrit Tiravanija’s architectural research at Pirelli HangarBicocca.

Lawrence Weiner | A Means To An End (Hand Signed) (2006) | Available for Sale

A hand-signed original exhibition poster by the late conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, titled "A Means to an End" (2006), has been made available for purchase through ArtWise in Brooklyn. Created for Weiner’s solo exhibition at Le Musée de Sérignan, the color offset lithograph features the artist's signature in black pen and exemplifies his career-long investigation into language as a sculptural medium. The work is priced at $700 and includes a certificate of authenticity from the gallery.

Kate Tova’s New Exhibition at Oceanside Museum of Art Asks What it Really Means to Rest

San Francisco-based artist Kate Tova has launched a solo exhibition titled "The Art of Rest" at the Oceanside Museum of Art. The show features a series of vibrant, large-scale multimedia works that blend traditional oil painting with unconventional materials like sequins and reflective surfaces. Tova’s latest body of work explores the psychological and physical necessity of stillness, challenging the modern culture of constant productivity through her signature "glitch" aesthetic and tactile textures.

The Box celebrates 'record-breaking' year

The Box in Plymouth has reported a record-breaking 2025/2026 season, attracting 356,000 visitors and surpassing its annual target by 18%. This surge represents a 44% increase from the previous year, contributing to a total of 1.1 million visitors since the institution opened in late 2020. The success is largely attributed to high-profile exhibitions, including a major retrospective of local artist Beryl Cook and a showcase featuring Sir Joshua Reynolds’ portrait of Mai.

EXPO CHICAGO 2026 Opens With Local Enthusiasm and Strong Institutional Sales

EXPO CHICAGO 2026 has launched at Navy Pier with a streamlined, highly curated format that emphasizes quality over quantity. The fair’s opening days have been defined by robust institutional engagement, with several major museums acquiring works for their permanent collections. This year’s edition features a diverse array of artists and galleries, reinforcing its position as the premier contemporary art platform in the American Midwest.

Pictures: Art in Bloom at Orlando Museum of Art

The Orlando Museum of Art has launched its annual "Art in Bloom" festival, a multi-day event where floral designers create living arrangements inspired by specific works in the museum’s permanent collection and current exhibitions. Organized by the Council of 101, the showcase features floral interpretations of pieces by artists such as James Rosenquist, Beatriz Milhazes, and Howard William Mehring, alongside fashion displays, pop-up shops, and silent auctions.

Ionit Behar, the MCA’s Newest Curator, on Opening Windows Into Other Worlds

Dr. Ionit Behar has been appointed as the Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago, effective February 9, 2026. Born in Israel and raised in Uruguay, Behar brings a global perspective shaped by her upbringing in an academic environment and her experience as an immigrant in the United States. Her curatorial philosophy emphasizes the museum as a space for intellectual discovery and emotional resonance rather than a mere repository of information.

Olivia Rodrigo’s New Music Video Is a Dizzying Romp Through Versailles

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo has released the music video for her new single "Drop Dead," filmed on location at the Palace of Versailles. Directed by Petra Collins, the production marks the first time a music video has been granted permission to film inside the palace's royal apartments, including the Queen's Bedroom and the Grand Couvert Antechamber. The video features Rodrigo performing alongside historic masterpieces, such as Pierre Mignard’s 17th-century tapestry "Apollo and the Muses on Mount Parnassus."

Counterpublic Triennial Names 47 Artists and Collectives for Upcoming Third Edition, Including Glenn Ligon, Rebecca Belmore, Rirkrit Tiravanija

The St. Louis-based triennial Counterpublic has unveiled the artist list for its third edition, titled "Coyote Time," scheduled to run from September 12 to December 12, 2025. The exhibition features 47 artists and collectives, including major figures such as Glenn Ligon, Rebecca Belmore, and Rirkrit Tiravanija, alongside posthumous presentations of works by Juanita McNeely and Benjamin Patterson. Curated by a five-person international team, the triennial will activate various sites across the city, including the Mississippi Riverfront and the historically Black neighborhood of The Ville.

A Data Analysis of the 2026 Venice Biennale Signals a Shift to the Present

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," marks a significant pivot from the historical revisionism of recent editions toward a focus on contemporary, mid-career artists. Posthumously realized based on the vision of the late Koyo Kouoh, the exhibition features 111 participants, including a notable inclusion of artist-led organizations from Africa. Data analysis reveals a balanced demographic split between the Global North and South, moving away from the retrospective focus of predecessors like Adriano Pedrosa and Cecilia Alemani to prioritize living artists and subtler, emotional themes.

Selling Collectibles Is Big Business. Heritage Auctions’s Joe Maddalena Says It’s Just Getting Started

Heritage Auctions achieved a record $2 billion in sales in 2025, driven by explosive growth in the collectibles market. CEO Joe Maddalena highlights the sustained and increasing global demand for categories like sports memorabilia, comic books, trading cards, and vintage toys, noting that money previously focused on traditional art is now consistently flowing into these areas.

The Unbearable Strangeness of Being

South African artist Cinga Samson makes his New York debut at White Cube with "Ukuphuthelwa," an exhibition of haunting, large-scale oil paintings. The works feature figures with distinctive white pupils engaged in enigmatic rituals within dark, crepuscular landscapes. Drawing from the isiXhosa concept of spiritual alertness during sleeplessness, Samson’s compositions blend the palpable with the unearthly, often depicting scenes that feel choreographed yet remain stubbornly illegible to the Western gaze.

Internet Goes Wild for The Met’s Newly Acquired Mannerist Painting

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's acquisition of a newly identified Mannerist painting, Rosso Fiorentino's "Madonna and Child with Saint John the Evangelist" (1512–13), has sparked a viral, irreverent reaction on social media. Commenters on the museum's Instagram post have described the muscular infant Jesus using contemporary slang like "baddie," "yasssified," and "caked up," drawing parallels to modern beauty trends.

What to See During New York's Asia Art Week

Asia Week New York begins, bringing a concentrated series of exhibitions, auctions, and lectures across the city dedicated to the art and material culture of Asia and its diaspora. The ten-day event features highlights including a selling exhibition of Indian-American artist Zarina at Sotheby's, a showcase of Indian and Persian miniature paintings, a condensed survey of 250 years of Japanese woodblock prints, and a contemporary group show exploring Korean diasporic identity.