Art exhibitions to explore in the UAE this September

This September, the UAE is hosting a diverse array of art exhibitions across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, ranging from group shows to solo presentations and digital art showcases. Highlights include 'Summer Collective: Wavering Hope' at Ayyam Gallery, featuring 12 Syrian artists; Colombian artist Ana Escobar Saavedra's first solo show at 421 Arts Campus; 'To Know Malaysia Is To Love Malaysia' at the Cultural Foundation, presenting works by NYU Abu Dhabi MFA graduates; 'History Encoded' at kanvas, tracing digital art from algorithmic works to AI and blockchain; and Marwan Bassiouni's 'New Western Views' at Lawrie Shabibi, exploring mosque interiors in Western landscapes.

Making Waves – Breaking Ground

The third annual Space to Breathe summer art exhibition, titled 'Making Waves – Breaking Ground,' is on view at Bowhouse in St Monans, Fife, Scotland, from 19 July to 4 August 2025 and 16-31 August 2025. Organized by Sophie Camu Lindsay and Alexander Lindsay in collaboration with Purdy Hicks Gallery, the show features 11 artists and over 100 works—paintings, drawings, and photographs—that explore the natural world, particularly land and sea. The installation uses a unique hanging system in the 900-square-meter barn space, allowing visitors to create their own journey through the works. Artists push boundaries in technique, with many using innovative photographic processes that blur the line between photography and painting, such as Anaïs Tondeur's rayograms of radioactive plants from Chernobyl.

Fort Works Art Unveils ‘The Works’ This Fall

Fort Works Art Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas, will present 'The Works,' a group exhibition running from September 6 to October 25, 2025, with an opening reception on September 6. The show features both local and international artists, including Greg Bahr, Rachel English, Jodi Gerbi, Joshua Goode, Alonsa Guevara, Kerri Menchaca, James Razko, Lawrence Schiller, and Jay Wilkinson, with many pieces debuting for the first time across various mediums. The exhibition coincides with the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association’s Fall Gallery Night.

New Public Gallery to Open in Calgary

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) is opening a new public gallery called AFA's art house in the Edison gallery space in downtown Calgary. A grand opening is scheduled for September 10, 2025, featuring works by Alberta artists and pieces from the AFA Art Collection, which was established in 1972 to document the province's visual art history. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and AFA Chair Cynthia Moore are expected to attend. The Edison space previously hosted pop-up exhibitions from the Glenbow, which is currently closed for major renovations until 2026.

CLEARING to close its New York and Los Angeles galleries after 14 years.

CLEARING, a New York-based gallery known for representing artists such as Marguerite Humeau, Korakrit Arunanondchai, and Harold Ancart, is closing its Manhattan and Los Angeles locations after 14 years. Founder Olivier Babin announced the closure on Instagram, citing no viable path forward due to rising overhead costs for rent, shipping, and art fairs, alongside declining revenues. The gallery opened in Brooklyn in 2011, later expanded to Brussels, and moved to a larger Bowery space in 2023 before the financial pressures became unsustainable. Its final exhibitions were solo shows by Coco Young in New York and Henry Curchod in Los Angeles.

Inside the Former ‘Underworld’ Where Ai Weiwei Makes Art (Published 2025)

The New York Times profiles Ai Weiwei’s current studio, located in a former underground nightclub or 'underworld' space. The article offers a rare look at the artist’s working environment, his creative process, and the large-scale installations and political works he continues to produce there in 2025.

Recent NYC Exhibition Highlights: Beverly Fishman, NANNYCAM, Dena Novak, and more

The article reviews two recent New York City art exhibitions. The first, "Creators, Educators Art Show" at BASIS Independent on the Upper West Side (June 6-8, 2025), curated by Carmen Lucia Recio, featured works by 17 New York City art teachers and educators, including Noelle Salaun, Nicholas Leeper, Avani Patel, Lynne Marie Rosenberg, Chris Floyd, and Emily Linares. The second, "Samantha Thomas: Love in a Mist" at Anat Egbi Gallery in Tribeca (April 18-June 14, 2025), marks the artist's first New York solo show in over a decade, showcasing her abstract works blending Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, and Pattern & Decoration.

Former Hepworth Wakefield director appointed chief executive of London's Royal Academy

Simon Wallis, the director of the Hepworth Wakefield, has been appointed as the new secretary and chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, replacing Axel Rüger who left to lead the Frick Collection in New York. Wallis, who led the Hepworth Wakefield since 2008 and oversaw its opening in 2011, steps into the role at a time when the RA is undergoing significant cost-cutting measures, including a 15% workforce reduction through redundancies and unfilled vacancies.

Zóbel pieces headline Leon Gallery’s ‘The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction’

Leon Gallery's 'The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction' in Makati City features several key artworks from the Zóbel de Ayala family collection, including Fernando Amorsolo's 'The Burning of Manila'—one of the largest Amorsolo paintings ever auctioned—and multiple pieces by Fernando Zóbel, such as 'Versión en Toledo', 'Variante Sobre Un Tema de Cassatt', 'Talgo', and 'Pequeño homenaje a Stravinski'. Other notable lots include Anita Magsaysay-Ho's 'Water Carriers', Vicente Manansala's 'From the Market', and Hernando R. Ocampo's 'Miners'. The auction, scheduled for June 7, 2025, marks Leon Gallery's 15th anniversary in the art business.

Engineering a bold new chapter for the historic Buffalo AKG Art Museum

The article details the transformation of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum through its AK360 expansion project, led by engineering firm Buro Happold in partnership with OMA and Cooper Robertson. The centerpiece is the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building, a 29,000-square-foot structure adding three levels of gallery space, along with flexible event spaces, educational classrooms, and public areas like the Town Square and sculpture gardens. Buro Happold provided MEPFP engineering, IT/AV systems, security, and sustainability consulting to integrate modern infrastructure while preserving the historic campus.

Photographer Who Scales Buildings to Get the Perfect Shot Arrested at Opening Night of His First Solo Exhibition

Photographer Isaac Wright, known as Drift, was arrested at the opening night of his first solo exhibition, “Coming Home,” at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York City on May 15, 2025. A plainclothes officer tapped him on the shoulder while he was speaking with the crowd, and uniformed officers then led him out in handcuffs. The arrest stems from a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge linked to a photograph in the show, which Wright took after climbing the spire of the Empire State Building in 2024. Wright, a former Army soldier who began climbing buildings to cope with PTSD, has faced previous legal trouble for rooftop trespassing, including a 2020 arrest in Arizona.

Nelson-Atkins Museum picks architect for $160m expansion

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has selected the New York-based firm Weiss Manfredi Architecture Landscape Urbanism to lead a $160–170 million campus expansion. The decision followed an international competition that drew 182 firms from 30 countries, with six finalists—including Kengo Kuma & Associates, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Selldorf Architects, Studio Gang, and Why Architecture—presenting concepts publicly. Weiss Manfredi's design places a new 61,000-square-foot wing to the southwest of the original 1933 Beaux-Arts building, mirroring the Steven Holl Architects addition from 2007, and features curved glass walls that open onto the sculpture park. The project aims to accommodate growing attendance, which has doubled since director Julián Zugazagoitia joined in 2010, reaching about 600,000 visitors annually.

Taiwan's newest art institution taps into a flourishing local scene

A new art museum, the New Taipei City Art Museum (NTCAM), will open on 25 April in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Designed by Kris Yao of Artech, the 32,641 sq. m building features eight floors, five exhibition halls, and a 500-seat auditorium, part of a larger complex with a park and creative cluster. Director Lai Hsiang-ling, who previously led Shanghai's Rockbund Art Museum, aims to help the city emerge from Taipei's cultural shadow by leveraging its grassroots creative energy and industrial capabilities. Four inaugural exhibitions will showcase local artists including the Xindian Boys, Yuan Goang-ming, and Wu Mali, alongside an international advisory committee featuring Aric Chen, Patrick Flores, and Clara Kim.

Wafaa Bilal: ‘I see democracy slowly eroding now’

The article profiles Iraqi American artist Wafaa Bilal through his survey exhibition "Indulge Me" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, running until October 19. The show highlights his career-spanning works including the 2007 performance "Domestic Tension," where he lived in a gallery while online participants could shoot him with a paintball gun; "3rdi" (2010-11), featuring a camera surgically affixed to his head; and "Virtual Jihadi" (2008), a video game critiquing war's sanitization. Recent works like "Thumbsat Model" (2024), a golden bust of Saddam Hussein on a satellite to be launched into orbit, are also featured. Bilal, who fled Iraq in 1991 after arrest for anti-regime art, discusses his journey from refugee to NYU professor.

Spencer Finch and Lindsay Adams to create large-scale commissions for Obama Presidential Center

The Obama Presidential Center has commissioned new site-specific works by artists Spencer Finch and Lindsay Adams for its 19-acre campus in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. Finch will create a wall tile installation inspired by the color palettes of Honolulu, Nairobi, Jakarta, and Chicago—cities formative to Barack Obama's life—while Adams will translate her 2024 painting "Weary Blues" into silkscreened fabric panels for the public cafe. The center, opening in the first half of 2026, will feature over 20 commissioned artworks, including previously announced pieces by Maya Lin, Richard Hunt, and Julie Mehretu.

Chicago's cultural affairs department hits crisis point

Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is in crisis, with at least 18 staff members—about 25% of the department—leaving since Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed former legislative director Clineé Hedspeth as commissioner last year, replacing Erin Harkey (who became CEO of Americans for the Arts). Multiple formal complaints have been filed against Hedspeth alleging bullying, and staff report a lack of communication and strategic direction amid funding challenges. A new advocacy group, Artists for Chicago, delivered a letter with 270 signatures to the mayor on April 14, expressing concerns about dysfunction and unmet needs in the arts sector.

Local art advisors launch pop up art exhibit in Rancho Santa Fe village

A pop-up art exhibition titled 'This is Now' has opened in a long-vacant storefront in Rancho Santa Fe village, curated by the Ryan Campbell Garrett Art Advisory. The show features works by notable artists including Ed Ruscha, Hugo McCloud, Lynne Drexler, and Sam Gilliam, and will run through April 25. The exhibition aims to revitalize the space and engage the local community, with a successful opening reception held on March 29.

La restitution du lit de Louis XVI

The Château de Versailles has inaugurated the restored private bedroom of King Louis XVI, featuring a fully recreated bed that was burned during the French Revolution. The project, which took forty years of research and craftsmanship, involved reconstructing the bed from sparse 18th-century archives, including a sculptor's memorandum by Babel and a fabric sample preserved by the silk manufacturer Tassinari & Chatel. The restoration also includes a commode from the Château de Compiègne, as the original is at Chantilly, and follows principles of harmony in gilding and textile motifs.

"In Minor Keys" Hits All the Right Notes

The 61st Venice Biennale's international exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," opened with a somber curatorial press conference, as artistic director Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2024 at age 57, was not physically present. The exhibition features 110 invited participants across the Arsenale and Giardini, including works by Buhlebezwe Siwani, Johannes Phokela, Wangechi Mutu, Ebony G. Patterson, and Kambui Olujimi. Protests marked the opening, with gatherings at the temporary Israeli pavilion and Pussy Riot's presence at the Russian pavilion, while the exhibition itself asks viewers to look closer at overlooked forms of representation and consider innovative models of measuring the world.

Artists Pay Tribute to Koyo Kouoh in Poetry Caravan at Venice Biennale

At the Venice Biennale on May 7, 2026, Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons led a poetry caravan across seven locations in the Giardini to honor Koyo Kouoh, the late curator of the Biennale's main exhibition "In Minor Keys," who died of cancer at age 57 in 2025. The procession, inspired by a 1999 voyage Kouoh took with nine African poets from Dakar to Timbuktu, featured performances by poets Natalie Diaz, Robin Coste Lewis, Batool Abu Akleen, and Anne Waldman, kora player Saliou Cissokho, and Kouoh's husband, Swiss saxophonist Philippe Mall, who played a composition dedicated to her. The event was organized by a team of Kouoh's assistants and advisers, including Marie Hélène Pereira, who served as stand-in lead of the 2026 Biennale.

Steven Durland, Champion of Performance Art, Dies at 75

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*.

The Major Exhibitions at LUMA Arles in France: Zaha Hadid, Gerhard Richter and Patti Smith

Le grandi mostre al LUMA di Arles in Francia: Zaha Hadid, Gerhard Richter e Patti Smith

LUMA Arles in France will launch a new exhibition cycle on May 1, 2026, followed by a second series starting July 4. The program, presented by CEO Mustapha Bouhayati and artistic director Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, includes a major show of Gerhard Richter's "Overpainted Photographs" in the Frank Gehry-designed tower, a Zaha Hadid retrospective titled "I Think There Should Be No End to Experimentation" marking the tenth anniversary of her death, and a centennial celebration of the influential art magazine Cahiers d'Art. The exhibitions aim to bridge visual arts with music, performance, and live events, bringing together voices from diverse geographies and disciplines.

Kim Gordon Was Never Just the “Girl in the Band”

Kim Gordon, best known as co-founder of the influential indie rock band Sonic Youth, is the subject of a new exhibition titled "Count Your Chickens" at Amant in New York. Curated by Patricia Margarita Hernández, the show surveys Gordon’s visual art from 2007 to the present, including paintings, drawings, ceramics, and video works such as "Jeanetta and Alex" (2026). The exhibition explores themes of celebrity, gender, electricity, and the tension between public image and private reality, featuring pieces like "Paris, Paris" (2025) and the "Airbnb Series" (2019).

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.

Chicana Painter Criselda Vasquez Says ICE Detained Her Father

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained the father of Chicana painter Criselda Vasquez, who served as the primary subject for her acclaimed 2017 painting "The New American Gothic." The artist reported that her father, a resident of the United States for over 40 years, was racially profiled and arrested while returning from work in California. In response, the family launched a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised nearly $68,000 in ten days to cover legal fees and lost wages.

When a Palestinian Artist Asserts Her Own Humanity

Palestinian artist Basma al-Sharif faced a coordinated smear campaign and threats after being invited to screen her film "Morgenkreis" at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. The controversy erupted not over the film's content, but over her social media posts referencing Palestinian resistance and historical injustices, leading to demands from public officials and advocacy groups to cancel the event.

Los Angeles’s Getty Center will close for renovations ahead of the 2028 Olympics.

The Getty Center in Los Angeles has announced a temporary closure beginning March 15, 2027, to undergo its most extensive renovation since opening in 1997. The modernization project aims to enhance the visitor experience across the campus through a series of facility upgrades and reimagined spaces.

A Delightful Short Film Highlights the Remarkable Self-Taught Art of George Voronovsky

Ukrainian-born artist Jonko “George” Voronovsky transformed his modest retirement room at Miami’s Colony Hotel into a dense, vibrant sanctuary of over 5,000 artworks. After surviving the horrors of the Russian Revolution, Nazi labor camps, and permanent separation from his family, Voronovsky immigrated to the U.S. and spent his final years creating "memoryscapes." These works, crafted from found materials like pizza boxes and soda cans, depicted idyllic, colorful scenes of his youth in Ukraine, contrasting sharply with the trauma of his past.

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.

Art Basel Miami Beach Diary: love on the brain for Randy Andy, A$AP Rocky and a steamy Art Gaysel party

The article reports on events surrounding Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, including the inaugural Art Basel Awards ceremony at the New World Center, where artists Nairy Baghramian and Cecilia Vicuña were honored. It also covers the Satellite Art Show featuring Andy Warhol's blow-up doll 'Randy Andy' on public display for the first time, pop star Rihanna supporting partner A$AP Rocky at the Ray-Ban Clubhouse launch, the tenth anniversary of the queer satellite fair Art Gaysel at Hôtel Gaythering, and artist Marc Hundley's affordable T-shirt project at Canada gallery.