London's art scene is bustling with a diverse range of openings this week, featuring both historical and contemporary work. Key events include a major exhibition of Conceptual artist Christine Kozlov at Raven Row, exploring her contributions and collaborations from the 1960s-70s, and a two-person show of small-scale paintings by Matthew Clifton and Faith Hughes at Soup gallery. Other events include a book launch, a talk, and experimental sound programs.
The US Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale features sculptor Alma Allen's exhibition "Call Me the Breeze," curated by Jeffrey Uslip. The show presents untitled, amorphous sculptures in bronze, wood, and stone, including Colorado Yule marble. The selection process was controversial: after the Trump administration excluded the National Endowment for the Arts, the State Department initially picked artist Robert Lazzarini and curator John Ravenal, but that plan collapsed. The American Arts Conservancy, a new nonprofit led by Jenni Parido (a former pet food store operator with Mar-a-Lago ties), then took over, hiring Uslip, who approached Barbara Chase-Riboud and William Eggleston before settling on Allen. Donors include businessman John Phelan and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.
Steven Durland, a longtime editor of *High Performance* magazine and a champion of performance art, died on March 11 at age 75 after a brief illness. His life partner, Linda Frye Burnham, confirmed his death in Saxapahaw, North Carolina. Durland was born in Long Beach, California, raised in South Dakota, and trained as a ceramic artist with a BFA from the University of South Dakota and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He became deeply involved in performance and mail art, and from 1986 to 1994 served as editor of *High Performance*, a magazine founded by Burnham that featured thousands of artists including Nancy Buchanan, Carolee Schneemann, Paul McCarthy, Suzanne Lacy, and Ulysses Jenkins. Durland also maintained his own artistic practice, creating performances such as "Win Defeat/BID FOR POWER" (1978) and "Death and Taxis" (1982), and produced the micro-newspaper *Tacit*.
Thiago de Paula Souza, a Brazilian-born curator and educator, has been appointed curator of the Eighth Athens Biennale, scheduled for spring 2026. De Paula Souza, based in São Paulo and a member of the artistic committee of NESR Art Foundation in Angola, is recognized for focusing on artistic practices involving transmutation through eroticism, gender nonconformity, and intimacy. He previously cocurated the 2025 Bienal de São Paulo, the 2024 Panorama da Arte Brasileira at MAM São Paulo, and the survey “Some May Work as Symbols: Art Made in Brazil, 1950s–70s” at Raven Row, London, and served on the curatorial team of the 2018 Berlin Biennale.
Lancaster city's May First Friday 2026 features over 20 events, including exhibition openings, concerts, and performances. Highlights include a new exhibition 'Hybrids' by artist Jeremy Waak at Curio Gallery & Creative Supply, the Demuth Museum's 'Demuth Invitational: American Reflections' tied to the U.S. 250th anniversary, and the Lancaster Living Poetry Museum II with performers embodying poets at venues like the Lancaster Public Library and Lancaster Art Vault. Other offerings include salsa dancing at Binns Park, works by York County painters at The Framing Concept, and a show inspired by Yayoi Kusama at Friendship Heart Gallery + Market.
The United States Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale features sculptor Alma Allen's exhibition "Call Me the Breeze," which opened with no clear funding just ten days prior. Unlike previous pavilions supported by major foundations like Ford and Mellon, Allen's show relies on a $375,000 US government contribution and public donations via the American Arts Conservancy. The selection process was unconventional: the State Department, which took over after Trump's NEA budget cuts, imposed restrictions on DEI policies and required proposals promoting "American exceptionalism." Curator Jeffrey Uslip directly approached Allen without a formal proposal, leading the artist's two galleries—Olney Gleason and Mendes Wood DM—to drop him when he accepted the commission.
Artist Rene Matić discusses their multidisciplinary practice and the personal history that informs their exploration of British identity, race, and subculture. The conversation highlights Matić’s deep connection to skinhead culture—inherited from their father—and their use of an "ethnographic methodology of the Self" to document queer BIPOC communities and personal memories.
The San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) in Friday Harbor, Washington, will present three exhibitions from June 11 to September 14, 2026, featuring photography, etching, glass sculpture, and feather sculpture. The exhibitions include "Convergence & Divergence: The Family Aesthetic" in the Nichols Gallery, showcasing the work of Imogen Cunningham, Roi Partridge, and Rondal Partridge together for the first time, with over 100 photographs and prints spanning nearly 110 years. Also on view are "Feathered Masterpieces: The Artistry of Chris Maynard" in the North Gallery, featuring intricate feather carvings, and a glass sculpture by Raven Skyriver.
The Lost Giants (TLG), an art collective based in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, is reviving the British tradition of making processional giants—large, community-built figures made from wood, cloth, and papier-mâché. Founded three years ago by theatre designer Ruth Webb and her sister-in-law Amy Webb, the group has created giants for events ranging from local lantern parades to a harvest procession at Hauser & Wirth’s Somerset gallery. This New Year’s Eve, environmentalist Lisa Schneidau joined a massive procession of these giants in Lostwithiel, describing it as an extraordinary experience. The collective recently issued a public callout for an environmental group to collaborate on making a new beastie.
The Oxford Festival of the Arts is bringing a major visual art component to its 2025 program, featuring free exhibitions by world-renowned artists across multiple venues in Oxford city centre. Highlights include James Gemmill's cinematic paintings at St John's College, a collaborative installation by Chinese artist Qu Lei Lei and Caroline Deane at OVADA examining humanity and geopolitics, a retrospective of Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Dubovyk's 'White Bouquet' series, and a charitable project supporting Ukrainian children through art. All exhibitions are free and require no booking.
Juneau's First Friday in May 2026 features a diverse array of events, including a storytelling project called "Tambayan at Kwentuhan" that shares oral histories from Filipino elders, an exhibition titled "Dizzy Hooligan" by Kiyana Fonua recalling Kava gatherings in Anchorage, and a retrospective of Indigenous fashion designer Dorothy Grant at the Alaska State Museum. Other offerings include a chamber music concert by Taku Winds, a "Critter Trek" exhibition at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum featuring local wildlife art, planetarium explorations, a book release by author Corinna Cook, and displays of woodworking by Phil Paramore and jewelry by Colleen Goldrich.
The 44th Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale opened at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, with over $20,000 in art sold on the first evening. The show features 104 paintings from 104 artists, valued at over $1.25 million, displayed until the live auction on September 19. A Buy-It-Now Sale offers 63 smaller pieces donated by artists, providing immediate purchasing opportunities alongside the main exhibition of contemporary Western art.
Blake DeYoung is stepping down as Executive Director of the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) at the end of May to become Executive Director of the Skagit Valley College San Juan Center branch, replacing Randy Martin. Deputy Director Wendy Smith will serve as Acting Director during the transition. The museum board remains unchanged, and the institution views this as an opportunity to realign its structure and build on recent successes, including record attendance in 2025.
Italian photographer Paolo Roversi, based in Paris since 1973, has opened a permanent gallery space in his hometown of Ravenna. The Paolo Roversi Gallery officially opened at the Art Museum of the City of Ravenna (Mar), featuring a recreation of his Paris studio, an archive room, and a muses' room with portraits of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and others. The gallery was curated by Chiara Bardelli Nonino and designed by longtime collaborator Ania Martchenko, building on a previous exhibition at the museum.
LancasterOnline reports on the December First Friday 2025 event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, featuring over 20 art show openings, markets, and concerts. The monthly gallery walk and cultural celebration brings together local galleries, artists, and musicians for a night of visual art, live performances, and community commerce.
Freeman's auction house is presenting a 'Post-War & Contemporary Art' sale featuring 83 lots that span eight decades of art history. The auction includes notable works such as a Richard Mayhew landscape, an Andy Warhol text-based canvas, a Robert Rauschenberg solvent transfer, a Peter Halley abstraction, and monumental outdoor sculptures by Allan Houser. Other highlights include pieces by Caio Fonseca, Jamie Nares, Beverly Pepper, and a range of contemporary voices like Ann Craven, Bunny Rogers, and Sterling Ruby.
Bates College's 2025 Senior Thesis Exhibition, titled "Under the Parachute," opened on April 11 at the Bates College Museum of Art, showcasing works by seven studio art majors. The exhibition features a range of media including mixed-media pieces, cyanotype quilts, ceramics, watercolors, and sculptural installations. Student artists such as Avery Lehman, Miryam Keller, Danny Zuniga Zarat, Alex Provasnik, Lila Schaefer, and Lizi Barrow presented year-long projects that explore themes of memory, empathy, family, and modern life. The exhibition is open through May 24, with faculty advisers Carolina González Valencia and Susan A. Dewsnap supporting the seniors.
Raven Halfmoon's traveling exhibition "Flags of Our Mothers" has opened at Ballroom Marfa in Texas, featuring her monumental ceramic sculptures that explore her dual identity as Caddo and American. The show includes the 12.5-foot-tall outdoor piece "Flagbearer" (2022), her largest work to date, along with two new works debuting at this venue. Halfmoon, who drove from her home in Norman, Oklahoma, to Marfa for the installation, uses a coil technique to build imposing forms that evoke both protective matriarchs and the violence faced by Indigenous women, with her signature graffiti-like scrawl asserting resilience.
The AU Museum at American University is launching five new contemporary art exhibitions on February 7, 2026. The shows include 'Humanist Touch: Works from the Weber Collection,' featuring over 80 works by primarily local DC artists, and 'Ilana Manolson: The Air We Share,' which focuses on paintings of weeds as a form of environmental advocacy. The exhibitions showcase a variety of mediums and will be on view through May 17, with an opening reception on February 7.
The Sky High Farm Biennial, curated by former Downtown art star Dan Colen, opened in a cold storage warehouse in Germantown, N.Y., featuring over 160 works by 50 artists across two floors. The exhibition is loosely themed around humanity's relationship with the natural world, with immersive installations by Anne Imhof (a maze of cider crates) and Rudolf Stingel (a mirrored floor requiring paper booties). Highlights include works by Nan Goldin, Thiago Rocha Pitta, Stephen Lichty, Carrol Dunham, Pia Camil, and Ann Craven. The show balances informal and polished elements, offering a breezy summer experience while serving as a thesis on artist community.
Central Oregon’s art scene is hosting a diverse array of exhibitions this week across Bend, Sisters, Sunriver, and Redmond. Notable highlights include Jana Charl’s mixed-media showcase "This is not a Love Story" at Art Adventure Gallery, Hilary Baker’s moth-themed "Prophets" at the High Desert Museum, and a collection of literary-inspired quilts at the Deschutes Historical Museum. The offerings span various mediums, from nomadic woven macramé and custom jewelry to volcanic science explorations and historic cartography.
Ecco di cosa parlerà la Biennale Architettura di Venezia 2027 dei curatori cinesi Lu Wenyu e Wang Shu
For the first time in the history of the Venice Architecture Biennale, two Chinese architects—Wang Shu (Pritzker Prize 2012) and Lu Wenyu—have been appointed as curators of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition, scheduled from May 8 to November 21, 2027. The duo, who co-founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997 and are partners in life and work, previously participated in the Biennale in 2010 under Kazuyo Sejima (receiving a Special Mention for their project "Decay of a Dome") and in 2016 under Alejandro Aravena. Their edition will follow the 2025 edition curated by Carlo Ratti and will be titled "Fare Architettura" (Doing Architecture), focusing on the coexistence of diversity in real reality.
Lebanese performance artist Rawya El Chab has debuted the second installment of her trilogy, "Crossing the Water," at The Brick in Brooklyn. The performance explores the collective trauma of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and her family's subsequent flight to the Ivory Coast, blending personal memory with political satire and mythology. By embodying various roles—from suspicious neighbors to puppet-like politicians—El Chab navigates the complexities of life under military occupation and the persistent feeling of surveillance.
A Ravenna aprono gli Archivi Sonori: a disposizione il meglio delle arti performative nazionali e internazionali
The city of Ravenna has officially inaugurated the Archivi Sonori (Sound Archives) at Palazzo Malagola, a new international center dedicated to vocal and sonic research. Founded by actress Ermanna Montanari and scholar Enrico Pitozzi, the archives offer public access to a vast collection of audio and video materials documenting the experimental work of 33 influential Italian and international performers, including Demetrio Stratos, Joan La Barbara, and Alvin Curran. The facility features specialized listening and viewing rooms, including an immersive sonic chamber and a cinema hall, all navigated via touchscreens featuring anatomical heart motifs designed by artist Stefano Ricci.
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.
This article lists numerous gallery openings and ongoing exhibits across Central Oregon, including venues such as Amejko Artistry, Art Adventure Gallery, Artists’ Gallery Sunriver, and the High Desert Museum. Featured shows include nomadic woven artwork by Anna Amejko Peterson, a 40th anniversary exhibition of Jefferson County artists, “A Man Named York” at the Belknap Exhibit Center, and “Drawn West — A History of Promoting Place” at the High Desert Museum, among many others spanning pottery, photography, fiber art, and historical displays.
Kansas City's winter offers a perfect opportunity to explore seven local art exhibitions, as highlighted in KCUR's Adventure newsletter. Notable shows include "Speeding" at 100,000,000 Space, featuring works by Annie Woodfill, Charlie Crowell, Mario Cuellar Ocaña, and Shaza Umran that capture urgency and motion; "One Bedroom Apartment: The Second Installment" at Gallery Bogart, showcasing bite-sized artworks by artists like Napoleón Aguilera, Monica Figueroa, and Madeline Brice to encourage accessible art collecting; and "What Work Is" at Vulpes Bastille, curated by Adams Puryear and Nina Littrell, where over 40 local artists transform factory coveralls to explore art and labor.
In Romagna da oltre un secolo c’è un Carnevale “serio” di primavera. La storia dei carri di gesso e di pensiero
A small town in Romagna, Casola Valsenio, has been hosting a unique spring festival for 125 years, featuring massive allegorical floats made of plaster and wood. Unlike traditional carnivals, this event—called the "serious carnival"—takes place in late April/early May and focuses on social and political themes. The floats, up to seven meters long and nine meters high, are built by local youth and paraded twice (day and night) with performers frozen in tableau vivant poses. A jury, this year chaired by Roberto Cantagalli, director of the MAR museum in Ravenna, awards a winner.
The Webster family, spanning four generations from great-grandmother Beverly Neylon to five-year-old Jasper Webster, is exhibiting their artwork together at the 'Belong: 2026 Art Exhibition' hosted by the City of Whittlesea in South Morang, Australia. The show features paintings, mosaics, and porcelain works, including Beverly Neylon's award-winning piece 'Beauty of the Wind,' which earned the Award of Excellence – Use of Materials. The exhibition runs from 2 May to 27 May 2026 at the Plenty Ranges Art and Convention Centre.
A new exhibition at Raven Row in London is dedicated to the work of American artist Christine Kozlov, a key but often overlooked figure in the early Conceptual Art movement. The show focuses on her contributions from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s, revealing the scope of her activity during this formative period.