Posh Somerset town's new art gallery kicks off with global exhibition of artists

A new art gallery, The Fred Levine Gallery, is opening in Bruton, Somerset, with an inaugural group exhibition titled "Landscapes of Time and Memory." The gallery, founded in 2019 by Frederick McDonald and Zsanett Der Levine, has operated nomadically in recent years, including in London, and has now chosen Bruton as a permanent location, describing it as "a special destination for contemporary art." The exhibition features eight international and UK-based artists: Rebecca Partridge, Fernando Casasempere, Silke Weißbach, Raffael Bader, Fred Sorrell, Elena Njoabuzia Onwochei Garcia, Abigail Booth, and Peter Matthews, whose works explore the relationship between landscape, history, memory, and time.

These Artisans, Showing at TEFAF New York, Push the Limits of Materials

TEFAF New York is showcasing a group of artisans who are pushing the boundaries of traditional craft. Exhibitors include a couple who grow their own furniture, an artist who polishes metal to a mirror-like finish, and another who collaborates with insects in their creative process. These works challenge conventional definitions of craft and material use.

On the Hunt for a Memphis Group-Style Lamp

The article follows a search for a lamp that visually mimics the distinctive style of the Memphis Group, the influential 1980s Italian design collective known for its bold, postmodern aesthetic. The hunt focuses on finding an affordable, Memphis-style light fixture rather than an authentic vintage piece from the group itself.

Dealers Face a Choice: Show Solo Artists? Or Groups?

Art dealers are weighing the strategic decision of whether to present solo artist booths or group shows at art fairs. Solo booths allow visitors to focus deeply on a single artist's work, avoiding the sensory overload of multiple artists, while group booths offer variety and broader market appeal. The choice often varies depending on the fair and the dealer's goals.

The Audacity of Art at the Obama Presidential Center

Barack and Michelle Obama commissioned 30 artists to create site-specific works for the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side, which begins visitor previews next week. The commissioned artworks span multiple media and will be integrated throughout the campus, reflecting the Obamas' commitment to public art and community engagement.

Group Efforts Succeed During Milan Design Week

Milan Design Week has become a primary stage for high-profile creative collaborations, where independent designers and major brands pool resources to debut experimental works. These partnerships range from limited-edition furniture collections to immersive installations, highlighting a shift toward collective production in the design industry.

Inside Dorian Grinspan’s Upstate Home, Where Japanese Handicraft Meets ‘British Whimsy’

Film producer Dorian Grinspan collaborated with a group of artists and friends to design his upstate New York home, creating a space that blends Japanese handicraft aesthetics with what he describes as 'British whimsy.' The project was a collective, evolving effort rather than a single architect's vision.

The Distance Between Art and Survival in Rojava

The article is a first-person dispatch from Rojava, a Kurdish-majority region in northeastern Syria, where the author meets artists and fighters living and working on the front lines against jihadist groups. It focuses on artist Diyar Hesso, who has exchanged his camera for a rifle, and YPJ fighter Hevi, who articulates the necessity of armed self-defense for women facing a genocidal enemy. Their stories illustrate the impossible choice between artistic creation and survival in a war zone.

JEZIK AND COSTA EXPLORE MEMORY AND EXILE IN A GROUP EXHIBITION

The Miguel Hernández University in Elche, Spain, presents "Vientos del pueblo. Voices of Exile and Resistance," a group exhibition curated by Mónica Sotos. Inspired by Miguel Hernández's poem "Vientos del pueblo," the show features Argentine artists Ježik and Costa alongside Eugenio Merino, Gloria Oyarzábal, Ricardo Calero, Óscar Seco, Pierre Valls, and María Rosa Aránega. Through photography, video, installation, drawing, and archival works, the exhibition examines violence, borders, exile, and colonial legacies, challenging dominant power narratives.

CUBA PRESENTS FREE MEN AT THE VENICE BIENNALE

Cuba presents Roberto Diago's installation "Hombres Libres (Free Men)" at the 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde and commissioned by Daneisy García Roque. The work, on view from May 9 to November 22, 2025, features a group of sculpted heads made from oxidized metals, wood, plastics, and reclaimed materials that advance toward viewers, bearing scars that evoke a history of pain and resistance.

The History of Art from Bogotá at MAP

THE HISTORY OF ART FROM BOGOTA AT MAP

Montenegro Art Projects (MAP) in Bogotá opens a group exhibition titled 'La historia del arte contada desde Bogotá' (The History of Art from Bogotá), featuring 30 artists. The show explores how art history is activated today, treating it not as a closed archive but as a field in constant transformation, with artists reinterpreting and appropriating historical images and gestures through contemporary sensibilities.

Art exhibits in the Dayton region to see this month

Several art exhibitions are opening or currently on view across the Dayton, Ohio region this month. Venues include the Dayton Art Institute, the Rosewood Gallery, and the University of Dayton's ArtStreet, featuring a mix of local artists, student work, and thematic group shows.

"Our regime does not represent our culture". Interview on the Belarusian project during the Venice Biennale

“Il nostro regime non rappresenta la nostra cultura”. Intervista sul progetto bielorusso durante la Biennale di Venezia

The article is an interview with Daniella Kaliada, curator of the Belarusian project "Official. Unofficial." presented at the Venice Biennale in the church of San Giovanni Evangelista. Organized by the Belarus Free Theatre, an independent underground group, the exhibition features site-specific paintings by Sergey Grinevich, a sound installation by Olga Podgayskaya, and large-scale sculptures by Vladimir Tsesler. The project includes a sphere of banned books crushed by a bulldozer, testimonies of recently released political prisoners, and sculptures made from prison bars, all addressing censorship and political trauma without direct representation of suffering.

In an exhibition in Naples it is possible to get lost without urgency in an unstable balance. The review

In una mostra a Napoli è possibile perdersi senza urgenza in un equilibrio instabile. La recensione

The exhibition "A Gentle Collapse," curated by Marta Ferrara at Andrea Nuovo Home Gallery in Naples, explores the contemporary psychic state through a spatial and perceptual construction. Featuring works in photography, painting, engraving, and installation, the show creates a sense of instability, with meaning emerging gradually through shifts between familiar and altered forms. Artists include Dorottya Vékony, Matteo Silverii, Flora Villaumié, and Zoë Pelikan, whose works engage with themes of genetic engineering, serial accumulation, and subtle disorientation across two gallery levels.

The Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is a political protest (also against the Biennale itself)

Il padiglione dei Paesi Bassi alla Biennale di Venezia è una contestazione politica (anche della Biennale stessa)

The Dutch Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "The Fortress" by artist Dries Verhoeven and curator Rieke Vos, transforms the modernist Rietveld Pavilion into a fortress-like enclosure. Inside, a rotating group of thirteen international performers will stage a series of performances throughout the Biennale, focusing on themes of geopolitical uncertainty, social disorder, and the search for stability in an unbalanced world. This marks the first time the Netherlands has used the Rietveld Pavilion for a performance-based project.

Creating Variety in Contemporary Rome: The Story of the Conventicola degli Ultramoderni on Sky Arte

Fare varietà nella Roma contemporanea: la storia della Conventicola degli Ultramoderni su Sky Arte

On Sunday, May 3, Sky Arte will premiere the documentary "Ultramoderni," which chronicles the rise of the Conventicola degli Ultramoderni, a unique artistic collective in Rome. Founded by Sior Mirkaccio and Madame de Freitas, who met in 2011, the group operates from a small hidden venue in the San Lorenzo district, blending music, cabaret, burlesque, and contemporary variety shows with a retro-futuristic aesthetic. The documentary, filmed in their Roman space, features interviews with the duo and excerpts from their performances, tracing how they built a diverse community of enthusiasts around their reinvention of past traditions.

In Gorizia, artists work with local companies under the banner of circularity and industrial waste

A Gorizia gli artisti lavorano con le aziende del territorio all’insegna della circolarità degli scarti industriali

The exhibition "The Matter Loop" has opened in Gorizia as part of the GO! 2026 European Capital of Culture celebrations, showcasing a unique collaboration between contemporary artists and local industrial companies. Curated by Vincenzo Alessandria and organized by the QuiAltrove Association, the project paired four artists from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region with local businesses to repurpose industrial waste—including textiles, metals, and organic residues—into new artworks.

In China, the Margiela Show is Staged Inside a Series of Containers

In Cina la sfilata di Margiela è allestita dentro una serie di container

Maison Margiela has launched a major traveling exhibition in China titled "Artisanal: Our Creative Laboratory," debuting in Shanghai before moving to Chengdu. Designed by OMA/AMO, the open-air showcase features over forty couture creations from the Artisanal line dating back to 1989, uniquely displayed within weathered shipping containers. The project aims to demystify the fashion house's secretive creative process, highlighting the techniques of deconstruction and manipulation that define the brand's aesthetic.

Atlanta gallery turns political tension into art with ‘Politically inCorrect’ exhibition

EuGene V Byrd III has curated the 'Politically inCorrect' group fine art exhibition, now open at Railroad ATL inside the Future Gallery in Atlanta. Featuring over 50 artists and 110 to 120 works across painting, photography, sculpture, and collage, the show addresses what Byrd calls an overdue conversation about art and social responsibility. Inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois, the open-call exhibition asks artists to speak their truth on political and social issues, with pieces like Faif Quin's photograph referencing the killing of Charlie Kirk and Naylon D. Mitchell's portrait 'Mama Rosa' among the highlights. The exhibition runs through May 30.

Luxe art gallery picks River Oaks District for first Texas location; major French brands reopen

Paris-based Opera Gallery plans to open its first Texas location in Houston's River Oaks District, with a $7 million build-out of a 3,000-square-foot space at 4444 Westheimer, Suite A115. Construction is scheduled from early September to December 2025, and the gallery has hired Houston-based Abel Design Group as the design firm. Opera Gallery, which began in 1994 with simultaneous openings in Paris and Singapore, caters to high-wealth collectors.

Slow Rot at Method Delhi Explores Human Fragility and Psychological Unrest Through Art

Method Delhi is presenting 'Slow Rot', a group exhibition featuring ten contemporary Indian artists whose works explore human fragility, psychological unrest, and the grotesque. The show runs from May 9 to July 3, 2026, at Method's New Delhi space in Defence Colony, with free entry. Participating artists include Aditya Dhabhai, Dhruvi Jain, M. Imran Ahamed, Milan Sharma, Mitali Das, Priyesh T., Revant Dasgupta, Riya Chandwani, Sajid Wajid Shaikh, and Tithi Das, working across painting, sculpture, and mixed media.

Window to the past: Worcester history on show in Denholm installation

A new public art installation titled “Uniquely Worcester: Celebrating Worcester’s Past & Present” has opened in the windows of the Denholm Building in Worcester, Massachusetts. The exhibition features work from 10 local artists across eight front windows, highlighting the city’s history through themes such as sports, the arts, and notable figures like rocket pioneer Robert Goddard, Valentine card popularizer Esther Howland, and smiley face creator Harvey Ball. One window showcases Abu Mwenye’s vibrant paintings inspired by his Kenyan and Tanzanian heritage, while another displays musical instruments spanning 250 years, including a rope drum from the American Revolution and a guitar made at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The installation runs throughout 2026 and was organized by project manager Melissa Mattson.

Gimpo Transforms into an Exhibition Space... Gimpo Cultural Foundation Showcases Local Artists' Achievements

The Gimpo Cultural Foundation announced it will host a series of visual arts exhibitions through June as part of the '2026 Gimpo Arts Activity Support Project.' The program features solo and group shows across multiple genres—including crafts, painting, ceramics, installation, photography, and sculpture—at local venues such as the Gimpo Peace Culture Center, Boreumsan Museum of Art, Janggi Library Exhibition Hall, Willow Tree Gallery, and Bukbyeon Gallery. Artists include Kim Jiyong, Kim Wakon, Lee Kyooho, Yoon Jeonghye, Park Younggyun, and Choi Nakjun, along with groups like Gongbang Dowon-yo and Susaranghoe.

Studio 34 Announces Open Studio Weekend + Opening of Collective Pulse Art Exhibition in LIC

Studio 34 Gallery in Long Island City, New York, announces its annual Open Studio Weekend on May 16–17, 2026, from 12:00–6:00 PM, alongside the opening reception of a group exhibition titled 'Collective Pulse' on May 16 from 6:30–9:30 PM. The free event invites the public to explore working artist studios, meet the creators, and experience the artistic process, with live music by Sunshine Music. The exhibition, curated by Alice Lipping and Tina Glavan, features 14 Studio 34 artists and 11 guest artists, and runs through June 7, 2026.

This art exhibit takes climate change seriously

Ceramicists Savannah Jacob and Abby Jo Elle are co-curating "Respect Your Mother," a group exhibition at Patina Gallery dedicated to climate change and environmental activism. Opening in honor of Earth Day, the show features works from over 50 artists across various mediums, including sculptures, collages, and paintings, with a strict prohibition on artificial intelligence to emphasize human-centric craft.

Open Exhibitions 2025 begin at Ferens Art Gallery

Two annual open exhibitions open this week at Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, UK. The main Open Exhibition features over 300 artworks by amateur and professional local artists across painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles, and film, with some pieces for sale. Alongside it, the Young Artist Open Exhibition showcases 559 submissions from artists aged 15 and under, submitted by individuals, schools, and community groups. Both exhibitions run from October 10, 2025 to January 11, 2026, with a public programme including artist talks.

SOBO Art Gallery's Young Creatives Showcase to open Oct. 2

SOBO Art Gallery in Orlando will host the Young Creatives Showcase on October 2, featuring artwork by high school and college students. The showcase, co-founded by Victoria Pestrichello, Branton Urbieta, and Fritz-Lee Saint Paulin, includes a collaborative piece that artists have been building together, as well as individual works in various media such as photography, pencil, and acrylic. Pestrichello, a UCF student, contributed handprints to the collaborative Dalmatian painting, while her own abstract piece, "Conosci il nemico? Do you know your enemy?", was inspired by negative news coverage.

New art gallery opens in old Boyle Heights Sears building

A new art gallery, Mark Jude Gallery, has opened in the historic Sears building in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. The 5,000-square-foot space, plus a repurposed satellite gallery, occupies part of the 1.8-million-square-foot former Sears mail-order plant, which closed in 1992 and shut its store in 2021. The gallery features works by artists Megan Mueller, Antonio Kim, and Caterina Piccardo, and plans to host immersive exhibitions including performance art, experimental film, and interactive storytelling. Owner Mark Jude, a former executive chef at the Smithsonian Institution, moved the gallery from the Arts District to take advantage of lower rent and more space.

Young Artists Explore Memory in ArtWorks Exhibition “Splendor in the Grass”

Artist-in-residence Julia Lipovsky leads a group of six emerging artists aged 16 to 24 in ArtWorks' Gallery Fellowship Program, creating an exhibition titled "Splendor in the Grass" at the Your Name Here Gallery. Inspired by Jackie DeShannon's 1968 song, the artists used its lyrics as prompts to produce works in various media, including India ink drawings and painted paper collages, with a focus on journaling and personal reflection.

Ari Emanuel to buy Frieze from Endeavor

Endeavor has announced the sale of Frieze, the leading art fair and media brand, to a new company founded by Ari Emanuel, Endeavor's former chief executive. The deal, reportedly valued at nearly $200 million, includes all seven Frieze art fairs, the magazine Frieze, and its gallery sharing initiative No.9 Cork Street in London. Emanuel, who co-founded Endeavor, created an as-yet-unnamed global events company backed by investors including Apollo Global Management and Redbird Capital Partners. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, and Frieze's leadership, including CEO Simon Fox, will remain in place.