Julia Heyward “Voices of Many Voices” at Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster

The Westfälischer Kunstverein in Münster is presenting "Voices of Many Voices," a significant exhibition dedicated to the pioneering work of Julia Heyward. The show highlights Heyward’s multidisciplinary practice, which emerged from the 1970s New York performance scene, blending vocal experimentation, monologues, and complex multimedia orchestrations. By juxtaposing music, image, and language, the exhibition captures the artist's unique ability to navigate emotional extremes and the "simultaneity of opposites."

Calls for Artists: May 2026

Burnaway's May 2026 Calls for Artists roundup lists multiple opportunities with deadlines in early May. These include the Joan Mitchell Center's call for figurative works, the Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography for Gulf Coast photographers, the Center for Craft Teaching Artist Cohort offering $10,000 grants to mid-career craft artists, the Hopper Prize grants totaling $13,000, residencies at The Studios of Key West and Trillium Arts, and the National Performance Network Creation & Development Fund. Each opportunity has specific eligibility, fees, and deadlines ranging from May 3 to May 18, 2026.

Vancouver Art Gallery's "Future Geographies" Exhibit Explores How Art Responds to Climate Change

The Vancouver Art Gallery has opened "Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change," an exhibition curated by Eva Respini, the gallery's interim co-CEO and curator at large. Featuring over 30 artists and 35 works—including sculptures, paintings, video installations, and photographs—the show explores climate change through themes of living knowledge, consumed earth, speculative worlds, and material memory. Highlights include Brian Jungen's whale-skeleton sculpture made from plastic chairs and Clarissa Tossin's multimedia weaving of Amazon boxes. The exhibition also incorporates sustainability in its organization, using recycled cardboard for labels, overland shipping for loans, and commissioning local artists.

Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art: Online - Christie's

Christie's is presenting an online sale titled "Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art: Online" from June 2–16, 2026, in London. The auction features 62 lots by leading modern and contemporary artists from the Gulf, the Levant, Iraq, Iran, and North Africa, including works by Samia Halaby, Saliba Douaihy, Baya, Parviz Tanavoli, Mohamed Melehi, and Abdul Halim Radwi. The sale marks 20 years since Christie's inaugural Middle Eastern art auction in the UAE in 2006.

Art Gallery of NSW to unveil landmark exhibition exploring the many forms of Vishnu

The Art Gallery of New South Wales will open 'Avatar: Forms of Vishnu' in June, its largest exhibition of South and Southeast Asian art in over two decades. Featuring more than 200 works spanning 1,500 years, the show includes ancient sculptures, paintings, textiles, photography, and contemporary installations from institutions such as the British Museum, Ashmolean Museum, and National Museum of Cambodia. Curated by Melanie Eastburn and Chaitanya Sambrani, the exhibition explores artistic interpretations of Vishnu and his avatars across cultural, political, and spiritual contexts, with new commissions by Desmond Lazaro and Sumakshi Singh, and works by Nalini Malani, Pushpamala N, Gulammohammed Sheikh, and Jumaadi.

Museum Storytellers: Three Art Scholars Curate Exhibitions at the North Shore’s World-Class Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem is highlighting the work of its curatorial team, specifically focusing on how Lydia Peabody, Lan Morgan, and Ruthie Dibble are revitalizing the institution's collections. A primary focus is the exhibition 'Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone,' where Peabody integrated contemporary photography and video by artist Gisella Torres to create a dialogue with Lewis’s 19th-century neoclassical marble sculptures. Other initiatives include Lan Morgan’s 'Beyond the Broom' project, which uses short films to showcase a community-focused perspective of Salem beyond its 'witch city' reputation.

The largest regional gallery in NSW has opened just two hours from Sydney

Newcastle Art Gallery has officially reopened following a major $145 million site-wide transformation, doubling its footprint to become the largest public art gallery in New South Wales outside of Sydney. Designed by Clare Design in collaboration with Smith and Tzannes and Arup, the expansion adds 1,600 square metres of exhibition space, a new learning studio, and upgraded facilities to house a collection of over 7,000 works. The inaugural exhibition, "Iconic, Loved, Unexpected," features nearly 500 pieces ranging from colonial-era paintings to contemporary commissions by artists like Megan Cope and Shellie Smith.

Vancouver Art Gallery gifted more than 800 photographs by Stephen Shore

The Vancouver Art Gallery has received a major gift of over 800 photographs by the acclaimed American photographer Stephen Shore. Donated by the Chan family, the collection primarily features Shore’s seminal series "Uncommon Places" (1973–81), which documented North American landscapes and interiors in vivid color. This acquisition establishes the gallery as one of the world's leading repositories of Shore’s work, with a dedicated exhibition of the series scheduled to open on March 27.

Mandeville Art Gallery Presents Faith Ringgold: Full Circle – The Teachings and Her Legacy

The Mandeville Art Gallery at UC San Diego is presenting the exhibition "Faith Ringgold: Full Circle – The Teachings and Her Legacy," curated by Mashonda Tifrere. The show, which opens on February 28, 2026, features 19 works spanning from 1976 to 2023, tracing the artist's evolution as a multidisciplinary storyteller and her influential tenure as a professor at the university.

Rediscovered portrait by the Renaissance’s leading woman artist goes on display at the Winter Show

A rediscovered portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola, a pioneering female artist of the Italian Renaissance, has gone on public display for the first time in over a century at the Winter Show in New York. The painting, *Portrait of a Canon Regular* (1552), is Anguissola's earliest signed and dated work and was long considered lost until it was found in a private collection in North Carolina after being referenced in a 2019 monograph. It is being presented by Robert Simon Fine Art.

Groundbreaker Private Tour of the Spirit House Contemporary Art Exhibition at UW's Henry Gallery [SOLD OUT]

On January 8, 2026, Asia Society Seattle will host a private tour of the exhibition "Spirit House" at the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington, led by Associate Curator Swagato Chakravorty. The event is invite-only for the society's Advisory Council, Corporate Members, Groundbreaker and Innovator members, and donors. The exhibition, organized by the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, features 34 contemporary artists of Asian descent exploring themes of life, death, spirituality, and diaspora through works that engage with spirit houses and ancestral connections.

A stunning new contemporary art gallery has just opened in this Asian capital

Dib Bangkok, Thailand's first-ever international contemporary art gallery, opened on December 21 in a converted 1980s warehouse. Founded by businessman and art collector Purat 'Chang' Osathanugrah and designed by architect Kulapat Yantrasast, the 7,000-square-foot space features a neutral-toned interior with concrete, glass, and steel to create a meditative backdrop for art. The inaugural attraction is 'Straight Up', a light installation by James Turrell that includes his signature Skyspace, marking the artist's first full-scale work in Thailand.

Al Park’s picks of 2025 - local and international artists all make the cut

Al Park, a longtime music impresario in Lyttelton and Christchurch, shares his personal cultural highlights of 2025 in an end-of-year feature for The Press. His picks span books, films, music, poetry, and visual art, including the exhibition "Whāia te Taniwha" at Christchurch Art Gallery, which features works like Piri Cowie's bronze sculpture "Te Wheke – Aro Hā Series 2024." Park also looks ahead to 2026, noting his weekly event 'Al P and his P.A.Ls' and the upcoming "The Art of Banksy" exhibition at Christchurch Convention Centre Te Pae.

Joan Miro, Tamara de Lempicka shows headline 31 exhibitions at local museums in December

Southwest Florida museums are hosting 31 exhibitions in December, including three new openings and two closings. Highlights include "Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration" at Sarasota Art Museum, featuring 100 rare posters from the Crouse Collection celebrating the Art Deco centennial; "Selina Roman: Abstract Corpulence," a photo-based installation exploring body politics and femininity; and Molly Hatch's site-specific ceramic installation "Amalgam" (2023-24), commissioned for the museum's "Inside Out" program. Other venues from Sarasota to Naples continue ongoing shows from their permanent collections and traveling exhibitions.

Prague Redefines Contemporary Art. Prague Art Week 2025 Recap.

Prague Art Week 2025 (PAW25) took place from September 25 to 28 across multiple venues in Prague, including the Mánes Exhibition Hall, galleries in Prague 1 and Prague 7, and the Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery. The program featured exhibitions such as HAC#2 celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Havrlant Art Collection, group shows like Interlude at C12 gallery and IT at HYB4, solo exhibitions by Lenka Glisnikova and Stanislav Zábrodský, the Jindřich Chalupecký Award exhibition, and the duo show With Feathers and Flesh. Activities included guided tours, artist talks, and open studios, with works by Czech and international artists exploring themes of digital transformation, corporeality, identity, environmental crisis, and spirituality.

2025 Late Summer Exhibit - Art Galleries

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) is hosting its 2nd annual summer group exhibition from July 1–31, 2025, featuring forty-two Northern Nevada artists. The show, titled "Myself/My Space: Collage Interpretations of Self-portraits & Environment," is presented by WEDGE OUTSIDE THE BOX in connection with Artown 2025. An opening reception will be held July 9 at TMCC’s Main Art Gallery in the V. James Eardley Student Center, Reno, NV. The exhibition explores identity and place through two- and three-dimensional mixed-media collage works.

Take a Peek Inside Peter Zumthor’s New Building for LACMA -

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) opened its new David Geffen Galleries, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor in collaboration with SOM, for a summer preview before the building's official opening in April 2026. The 110,000-square-foot exhibition space, elevated on seven pavilions and made of concrete and glass, was opened to the public for three days with performances by 120 musicians. The preview also includes outdoor sculptures, commissioned artworks by Mariana Castillo Deball and Sarah Rosalena, and new dining and retail spaces.

LOOK25 Gala supports Contemporary Calgary and Butterfly Ball raises funds for Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre

The LOOK25 Gala in Calgary, held on May 31 and presented by MAWER, raised over $1.2 million for Contemporary Calgary. Themed “Noir Nouveau” after textile artist Simone Elizabeth Saunders, the event featured a VIP dinner by Holt Renfrew, performances by Justine Tyrell and Timothonius, and a live auction led by Heather Edwards that included works by Saunders, June Clark, Evan Penny, and a circa-1960 Jean-Paul Riopelle. An after party sponsored by Masters Gallery drew 600 guests. Separately, the Butterfly Ball in Toronto, now in its 26th year, raised $1.27 million for Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre, with co-chairs Claire MacNamara and Trish Del Sorbo, and an auction handled by Christie’s consultant Brett Sherlock.

Queer Arts Festival opens Portals for emerging artists and contrasting journeys

The Queer Arts Festival (QAF) in Vancouver opens its 16th annual edition from June 6 to 28, featuring a signature visual exhibition titled "Portals" at Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art from June 21 to August 23. Curated by Mark Takeshi McGregor and Diane Hau Yu Wong, the exhibition showcases six emerging and local artists—Arkah, Evan Matchett-Wong, Sena Cleave, Miles Saraswat, Christian Yves Jones, and Naomi Maya Leung—whose works explore themes of queerness, migration, diaspora, and belonging through photography, sculpture, embroidery, film, and mixed media. The festival also includes concerts, media screenings, and community events, serving as a sanctuary for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities amid rising anti-trans and anti-queer rhetoric.

Without Consciousness, No Creativity

"Ohne Bewusstsein keine Kreativität"

Matthias Hornschuh, a speaker at the German Creative Economy Summit in Hamburg, discusses artificial intelligence and its impact on art and creativity in an interview with Monopol. He argues that AI systems lack intentionality and true creativity, describing them as "probability-based imitation" rather than genuine creative tools. Hornschuh warns against the hype surrounding AI, noting that efficiency gains are often overstated and that users can become trapped in unproductive interactions with these systems.

What Hans Memling's Last Judgment Still Tells Us

Was uns Hans Memlings Jüngstes Gericht noch sagt

Hans Memling's 15th-century triptych "The Last Judgment" is currently undergoing restoration at the National Museum in Gdańsk, Poland, and is expected to be off view until the end of the year. The artwork, painted before 1465, has a dramatic provenance, having been captured at sea by a privateer en route from Bruges to Florence and eventually finding a permanent home in Gdańsk after various displacements.

Weekly News Roundup: May 22, 2026

This weekly roundup from ArtAsiaPacific covers four major developments in the art and architecture world. Chinese architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu have announced the theme for the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale, titled “Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality,” emphasizing hands-on, context-driven design. The 2026 Sovereign Asian Art Prize winners were revealed, with Balinese artist Citra Sasmita winning the Grand Prize for her work "Poetry of the Fountain" (2025). Dubai announced plans for the Museum of Digital Art (MODA), a new institution dedicated to new media and immersive technologies, as part of a major district expansion. Finally, the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) named 70 grantees for its 2026 cycle, awarding over USD 1.6 million to support cultural exchange between the US and Asia.

Jill Westwood’s Archive of Feminine Power

Jill Westwood's 1980s photographic and sculptural work exploring feminine power, kink, and queer identity is being exhibited at NEVEN gallery in London. The exhibition presents archival material that was largely unseen for decades, focusing on themes of dominance, submission, and the female gaze within subcultural scenes.

At 90, the Korean artist Lee Ufan Finds Energy in His Art

The Korean artist Lee Ufan, now 90 years old, remains actively engaged in his artistic practice, working daily and preparing for three upcoming exhibitions. Among these is a display of his pivotal paintings at the Venice Biennale, underscoring his enduring creative output and continued relevance in the contemporary art world.

With ‘Sister Dreamer’ Park, Lauren Halsey Brings Her Heroes Home

Artist Lauren Halsey has unveiled a new installation titled 'Sister Dreamer' Park in South Central Los Angeles. The work features stone monuments that elevate familiar faces from the neighborhood, celebrating local heroes and community members. The installation is part of Halsey's ongoing practice of centering Black and brown communities in her art, using architecture and sculpture to create spaces of empowerment and memory.

Honoring Frederic Church: Beyond the Hudson River School

Art historians and curators are re-evaluating the legacy of Frederic Church, arguing that his contributions extend far beyond his traditional classification as a Hudson River School landscape painter. New research highlights his sophisticated engagement with 19th-century science, his architectural achievements at his estate, Olana, and his role as a global traveler who captured the spirit of the Andes and the Arctic.

Marisol Mendez wins 2026 Saltzman-Leibovitz Photography Prize

Bolivian artist Marisol Mendez has won the 2026 Saltzman-Leibovitz Photography Prize for her work *MADRE*. The award includes a $15,000 cash prize, and Mendez's winning piece will be exhibited alongside works by other nominees at Photo London from May 13 to 17. The prize was founded in 2025 by photographers Lisa Saltzman and Annie Leibovitz. Miranda Barnes took second place, with Cole Ndelu, Lindeka Qampi, and Bettina Pittaluga also nominated.

Goen Choi and Hyeree Ro on Representing South Korea at the 61st Venice Biennale

Goen Choi and Hyeree Ro are representing South Korea at the 61st Venice Biennale, which runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026. In an interview with ArtReview, Choi describes his sculptural installation "Meridian," featuring ruptured copper pipes that traverse the Korean Pavilion in the Giardini, exploring unseen infrastructures and unstable relations between fixed structures. Ro presents "Bearing," a membranelike waxed fabric installation with eight stations for mourning, remembering, and mending, inspired by Korean gardens and temples. Both artists respond to the Biennale's theme "In Minor Keys," emphasizing subtle forces, low vibrations, and contemplative spaces.

Sharjah Biennial announces theme and artists

Jenna Sutela on Representing Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale

Jenna Sutela, representing Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale, will present an exhibition titled *Aeolian Suite* in the Giardini pavilion. The work features sound sculptures that engage with wind as both a physical and political force, using meteorological data, wind machines, recorders, a children's woodwind orchestra, and recordings of winds from Venice, Helsinki, and beyond. Sutela explores noise as a creative medium, drawing on the concept of deep listening inspired by artist Pauline Oliveros, and connects her project to the Biennale's theme, *In Minor Keys*, curated by Koyo Kouoh.