'I'm a container for my own spirit': Nickola Pottinger on her show of sculptures at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

Nickola Pottinger presents her first solo museum exhibition, "fos born," at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, curated by chief curator Amy Smith-Stewart. The show features Pottinger's emotive, organic sculptures called "duppies," inspired by Jamaican folklore and her West Indian upbringing in Brooklyn. Constructed from recycled materials like furniture, bones, bird cages, and pigmented paper pulp made from family documents and rubble, the works explore themes of cultural identity, motherhood, and the duality of post-colonial existence. The exhibition centers on the recent birth of Pottinger's daughter, Zora, with pieces like "Give tanks and praises" (2025) incorporating a cast of the artist's pregnant torso.

District Gallery hosts Hunt Slonem for opening of new exhibition

District Gallery in Shaker Heights, Ohio, will host internationally acclaimed artist Hunt Slonem for the opening of his new exhibition, “Spring Awakening,” on May 29. The 73-year-old New York-based painter, known for his neo-expressionist depictions of bunnies, butterflies, and tropical birds, will attend a sold-out VIP reception. The exhibition runs through June 27 and marks Slonem’s first solo show in Cleveland.

NYC Public Schools Teacher Art Show: The Art of the Educator

MoMA's Young Learners team, in collaboration with the New York City Art Teachers Association/United Federation of Teachers (NYCATA/UFT), is presenting "The Art of the Educator" at the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building. The exhibition celebrates the artistic talents of NYC public school teachers, showcasing how their personal art practice enriches their teaching. Organized by David Rios and Larissa Raphael, the show features works selected by a panel including Jackie Cruz, Albert Justiniano, Lisa Kaplan, and Jacob Rhodes.

The Illuminated Room

The article presents an excerpt from Nathaniel Dorsky's book "Devotional Cinema," focusing on a chapter titled "The Illuminated Room." Dorsky explores the historical and perceptual relationship between cinema, vision, and spirituality, comparing the experience of watching a film in a dark theater to medieval conceptions of self-luminosity, as exemplified by stained glass windows in cathedrals like Chartres.

Hong Kong show offers 'most comprehensive survey' of 21st-century Chinese art

Tai Kwun in Hong Kong is presenting a two-part exhibition titled 'Stay Connected: Art and China Since 2008,' aiming to be the most comprehensive survey of 21st-century Chinese art. The first part, 'Navigating the Cloud,' examined the early internet's influence, while the current second part, 'Supplying the Globe,' focuses on the physical world of labor and China's manufacturing supply chain. The show is structured thematically, exploring ecological footprints, reconfigured labor, networks of exchange, and global realignment.

In Shanghai, a spectacular spiral opera house designed by Snøhetta is revealed

À Shanghai, un spectaculaire opéra en spirale conçu par l’agence Snøhetta se dévoile

The Shanghai Grand Opera House, a massive 147,000-square-meter cultural landmark designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta, has reached structural completion in the Houtan district. Inspired by the form of a traditional Chinese fan, the building features a dramatic white helical roof that doubles as a public walkway, connecting the urban landscape to the waterfront. The interior, which includes a 2,000-seat main hall and various modular spaces, is currently being finalized ahead of a scheduled opening in the second half of 2026.

Brooklyn Museum Plans $13 Million Overhaul for New African Art Galleries

The Brooklyn Museum has announced a $13 million renovation project to create new Arts of Africa galleries, set to open in Fall 2027. The 6,400-square-foot space on the museum's third floor will display 300 works from its 4,500-piece collection, spanning from antiquity to the present day. The project, led by architectural firm Peterson Rich Office, will repurpose latent storage space and reconnect galleries architecturally.

Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair Returns May 7–10

Printed Matter's LA Art Book Fair (LAABF) returns to ArtCenter South Campus in Pasadena, California, from May 7 to 10, 2026. The fair will feature 250 exhibitors, including international artists, publishers, and booksellers, alongside programs such as talks and panels in The Classroom, music and performances on The Stage, and special Project Spaces presentations by groups like Archivos Desviados, Bread & Puppet Press, and Getty. An Opening Night celebration on May 7, co-organized with Orange Radio & Homebody, will include live music by sonrisita and Mia Carucci, a limited edition ticket by Amia Yokoyama for the first 500 guests, and a new collaborative artist edition by Deanna Templeton and Ed Templeton.

The Museum Breathing Life Into New York's Downtown Performance Scene

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in SoHo has emerged as a vital hub for New York’s downtown performance scene through its intergenerational exhibition, "Sacred and Profane." Featuring a collaborative residency between poet Pamela Sneed and performance artist Carlos Martiel, the programming centers on themes of Black maternal grief, queer identity, and the exhumation of suppressed histories. Recent performances included Martiel’s "No Resurrection," a ritualistic piece involving his mother and a mound of earth, and Sneed’s readings that address the collective trauma and "urgent care" status of the LGBTQ+ community.

Anki King’s Nordic Noir

Anki King's solo exhibition at the Lace Mill in Kingston, New York, presents 40 works from 2015-2026 that explore themes of isolation and miscommunication through a moody, Nordic-inspired palette. The Norwegian-born, New York-based artist employs a distinctive visual language of featureless, long-limbed figures and recurring motifs like threaded ceramic heads and figures with leafless branches.

Selome Muleta at b-side

Selome Muleta presents a solo exhibition at b-side gallery in Jakarta, running from April 1 to May 3, 2026. Curated by 47 Canal, the show features works by the artist, with images provided courtesy of Muleta and Roh Projects, Jakarta. The exhibition is documented on Contemporary Art Daily with five images and no videos.

In ‘Piercing the Veil,’ Marina Kappos Gets to Know the Spectre of Grief

Artist Marina Kappos opens her solo exhibition 'Piercing the Veil' at SHRINE gallery in New York City, running from May 15 to June 27. The show features her signature acrylic-on-wood-panel paintings that use thin layers of pigment to create gauzy, prismatic effects. Inspired by the sculptural figures of grieving women she encountered at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Kappos explores themes of loss, memory, presence and absence, and the threshold between life and death. Works like 'Veil Study (Eclipse)' (2026) and 'Quantum Study (Green Entanglement)' (2025) depict hazy landscapes and keyhole-shaped portals that invite viewers to contemplate the unknown and the spiritual.

Wander through Adrienna Matzeg’s Embroidered, Late-Night City Explorations

Adrienna Matzeg’s solo exhibition "After Hours" at Abbozzo Gallery in Toronto presents embroidered textile works inspired by her late-night explorations of Kyoto, Tokyo, and Seoul during a July 2025 trip. The pieces capture quiet, illuminated scenes of convenience stores, markets, and roadside attractions, rendered on black linen with a diaristic, snapshot-like quality.

Get ‘Super/Natural’ Inside Judith Schaechter’s Stained Glass Sculpture

Judith Schaechter's large-scale stained glass sculpture "Super/Natural" has opened in a solo exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem. The immersive, eight-foot-tall installation, resembling a secular chapel, is filled with intricate depictions of flora and fauna and is designed for a single viewer to contemplate nature.

Brook Hsu ”The Barcelona Pavilion (including work by Georg Kolbe)” at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin

Brook Hsu's exhibition "The Barcelona Pavilion (including work by Georg Kolbe)" at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler in Berlin presents a series of works that interweave references to architecture, film, literature, and animal carcasses. The show's title alludes to Mies van der Rohe's iconic Barcelona Pavilion and the sculptor Georg Kolbe, whose work was originally installed there, while the list of pieces—ranging from paintings like "Daybreak:Orange Tree" to works dedicated to figures such as Anne Wiazemsky and Pasolini—creates a dense, associative network of cultural and personal memory.

Waterbury’s Mattatuck Museum Balances Art and Local

The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, balances art and local history, serving as a community hub. Director Bob Burns has integrated school programs reaching 7,000 local students annually, community art shows, contemporary works by artists like Yayoi Kusama and Simone Leigh, and a major exhibition "About Face: 250 Years of American Portraits" curated by Rebecca McNamara. The museum also features hyper-realistic paintings by Wende Caporale-Greene and a gallery of Waterbury's industrial past, with a focus on inclusivity after removing a physical barrier to Main Street in 2019.

Anyone who never feels uncomfortable as a tourist is not a good tourist

"Wer sich als Tourist nie unbehaglich fühlt, ist kein guter Tourist"

American painter Hernan Bas has created a new series of paintings inspired by Venice and its tourists, drawing from his long-standing relationship with the city. His first encounter with Venice came through an invitation to exhibit at Bruna Aickelin's renowned gallery Il Capricorno, and he has since shown there multiple times, considering Aickelin his Italian connection.

How Art Libraries Make Art Accessible

Wie Artotheken Kunst zugänglich machen

Artotheken, or art libraries, are public institutions that lend artworks to anyone with a library card, making art accessible beyond the traditional museum or gallery system. In Germany, over 100 such artotheken exist, often housed in public libraries, art associations, or museums. The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek in Berlin, for example, has a collection of 2,000 works, with around 300 currently on loan to homes, doctors' offices, and law firms. The lending process is informal: borrowers can eat, drink, and even touch the works, and transport by bus or bike is encouraged. A jury selects up to 15 new works annually, and the collection includes major names like Roy Lichtenstein and Niki de Saint Phalle, though most users choose pieces based on personal connection rather than prestige.

The Biennale of Quiet Tones

Die Biennale der leisen Töne

The 61st Venice Biennale's main exhibition, titled "Gardens, Processions, Art as Expression of Lived Realities," places humanity at its center. Curators revealed minimal biographical details for the 111 participating artists, only noting the oldest (Marcel Duchamp, born 1887) and youngest (Mohammed Z Rahman, born 1997), signaling a deliberate shift away from individual fame toward collective experience.

What We Throw Away Does Not Disappear

Was wir wegwerfen, verschwindet nicht

The Museum Ostwall at the Dortmunder U in Dortmund has opened a new exhibition titled "Müll – die globalen Wege des Abfalls" ("Waste – The Global Paths of Garbage"), curated by Christina Danick and Michael Griff. Featuring around 50 international artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, including two newly commissioned pieces, the show uses art to explore waste as material, motif, and aesthetic strategy. Key works include Kader Attia's "Los de Arriba y Los de Abajo," which addresses power imbalances through the lens of garbage in Hebron, and historical pieces by César Baldaccini, Arman, and HA Schult. The exhibition also highlights contemporary issues such as e-waste, global waste trafficking, and the environmental impact of industrial nations on the Global South.

Queer Saints, Big Egos

Queere Heilige, große Egos

Andrew Durbin's new biography examines the intertwined lives of artists Peter Hujar and Paul Thek, focusing on their art, desire, and self-staging. The review notes that while the book covers their creative circles—including figures like David Wojnarowicz, Divine, John Waters, and Susan Sontag—it loses sight of the urgent political and social context that animated their work, particularly the AIDS crisis and Reagan-era repression.

Berlin Museum of Prints and Drawings Wins Award in New York

Berliner Kupferstichkabinett gewinnt Auszeichnung in New York

The Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) in Berlin has acquired two new works from the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair in New York. The purchases were funded by the museum winning the Richard Hamilton Acquisition Prize, which provided a $10,000 grant specifically for acquisitions at the fair. The new additions are a 2005 paper work titled "Europa" by German-American artist Kiki Smith and a 2001 lithograph titled "Pregnant Caryatid" by Louise Bourgeois.

An Era Ends When the Illusions Underlying It Are Exhausted

"Eine Ära endet, wenn die ihr zugrunde liegenden Illusionen erschöpft sind"

A media roundup covers several art world stories. The Art Newspaper reports that the ongoing Middle East conflict is unsettling the Gulf art market, causing fair postponements and shaking Dubai's image as a stable luxury hub, though galleries emphasize they continue to work. Meanwhile, the search for a new director for Germany's Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz continues after a protracted legal battle, with applications open until May 31. The New Yorker presents a reading of Johannes Vermeer's quiet scenes as fragile refuges from a violent historical context, while the Berliner Zeitung critiques the global commercialization of Frida Kahlo into a licensed brand.

I Have Always Been Drawn to the Despised

"Ich habe mich schon immer zum Verachteten hingezogen gefühlt"

Irish artist Alice Maher discusses her ongoing exploration of patriarchal structures, mythology, and the symbolic power of female hair in her practice. Her current work focuses on large-scale drawings of Sibyls—ancient female prophets—whose excessive hair serves as a metaphor for identity, power, and the 'monstrous feminine.' Maher reflects on her career-long engagement with Irish history, from collecting hair during the Troubles to her collaborative textile masterpiece, "The Map," which reclaims the legacy of Mary Magdalene from Catholic institutional narratives.

À Bordeaux, la métamorphose du MADD

The Musée des arts décoratifs et du design (MADD) in Bordeaux has reopened its design-focused wing after three years of renovation, featuring a new entrance pavilion designed by Antoine Dufour Architectes that connects the historic Hôtel de Lalande and the former municipal prison. The overhaul includes a monumental shelving display of eighty vases by designers such as Andrea Branzi and Gaetano Pesce, a new "gallery of know-how" dedicated to rotating thematic presentations (starting with ceramics), a graphic arts cabinet showcasing the Jacques Sargos collection of over 130 drawings, and improved climate control for conservation.

Venice Biennale 2026: The Pavilions Not to Be Missed

Biennale de Venise 2026 : les pavillons à ne surtout pas manquer

The 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh as an invitation to slow down and reconnect with emotions, features a constellation of contemplative and powerful proposals across the city. Notable national pavilions include the Holy See transforming a monastic garden into an immersive sound experience by Soundwalk Collective, Canada exploring colonial heritage through giant water lilies by Abbas Akhavan, and Austria electrifying the Giardini with radical performances by Florentina Holzinger. Other highlights include Spain dissecting collective memory through postcards, Poland imagining new forms of language between human and underwater worlds, and India's pavilion exploring notions of home.

For the 61st Venice Biennale, a quest for beauty despite a troubled world

Pour la 61e Biennale de Venise, une quête de beauté malgré un monde troublé

Koyo Kouoh, the Swiss-Cameroonian curator who was set to become the first African woman to direct the Venice Biennale, died suddenly on May 10, 2025, at age 57, just weeks before the opening of the 61st edition she had conceived. Titled "In Minor Keys," the exhibition at the Giardini and Arsenale will proceed posthumously based on her detailed directives, featuring 111 artists including Laurie Anderson, Wangechi Mutu, and Kader Attia, with a focus on beauty, resilience, and radical emotional connection amid global turmoil.

6 Artworks That Define the 2026 Venice Biennale’s Main Exhibition

The 2026 Venice Biennale's main exhibition opens this week, curated by Koyo Kouoh—the first African woman to hold the role—who was announced in 2024 but passed away suddenly in 2025. The article highlights six artworks that define her curatorial vision, which connected the international art world to artists and institutions from Africa and the Global South.

8 Artists to Follow if You Like Elsa Schiaparelli

The article profiles eight contemporary artists whose work resonates with the legacy of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. It highlights creators like Shona McAndrew, whose soft sculptures explore the body's interior, and Kiki Smith, known for visceral, anatomical forms, drawing direct parallels to Schiaparelli's surrealist and corporeal inspirations.

7 Contemporary Artists to Follow If You Like Cecily Brown

The article presents a curated list of seven contemporary artists whose work shares aesthetic or thematic connections with the painter Cecily Brown. It highlights artists like Jenna Gribbon, known for intimate, luminous portraits; Issy Wood, who blends Old Master techniques with contemporary malaise; and others such as Flora Yukhnovich, Doron Langberg, Louis Fratino, Maia Cruz Palileo, and Somaya Critchlow, each exploring figuration, sensuality, and painterly abstraction in distinct ways.