Artist Maria Britton presents "Second Sleep," a solo exhibition at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art featuring her "Draperies" series. Britton transforms discarded, patterned bedsheets into three-dimensional abstract works that blur the line between painting and sculpture through expert layering and pleating.
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg is presenting 'Transcendence,' a dual exhibition pairing Sheila Spence's 'Lexicon of Loss'—floral prints made by pressing roses on a flatbed scanner—with 'Observance,' a video installation by the late Toronto artist April Hickox, who died in 2025. The two artists, who first met at the Banff Centre in 1989, reconnected four years ago after both experienced profound loss: Spence's long-term partner died, and Hickox faced a cancer diagnosis. Their collaboration, conceived during daily conversations, brings together works that explore grief through botanical imagery and moving image.
Architect Koray Duman and his studio Büro Koray Duman (B-KD) have unveiled five major international projects, including designs for the UAE National Pavilion and Denniston Hill's special project at the 61st Venice Biennale, the 59th Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, the National Academy's "Future Schools" exhibition in New York, and a multi-generational upstate residential project. Duman's work emphasizes inclusivity, cultural exchange, and architecture as a social tool, with installations like "Chimera" for Denniston Hill and a sound-and-memory-focused pavilion for the UAE.
The article reviews "The Adventure of Domenico Gnoli," a retrospective at Lévy Gorvy Dayan in New York, focusing on the Italian artist's 1967 painting *L'inverno (Couple au lit)* and other works featuring intimate, fabric-rich domestic scenes. Gnoli (1933–1970), born into an art-world family, is often associated with Pop Art, but the author argues his work depicts a private, almost childlike world of memory and longing, contrasting with Pop's mass-produced commodities.
Art of Contemporary Africa (AOCA), the first Pan-African contemporary gallery in San Francisco, will open a major group exhibition titled *Memory in Motion: Identities, Materials and Resonances* on 2 May 2026. Curated by Gilles Yoro (Felin Light), the show brings together contemporary African artists including Gerald Chukwuma, Mederic Turay, Mwass Githinji, Ayanda Mabulu, Opa Bathily, Kebe Ibrahim Bemba, Ndabuko Ntuli, Kenof Franck Kemkeng Noah, Ange Arthur Koua, Alexis Daniel Onguene Tassi, and Dieudonne Djiela Kamgang. Their works in painting, sculpture, assemblage, and mixed media explore memory as an active, evolving force shaping identity across time, geography, and materiality.
Shota Nakamura's exhibition 'Apple' at Karma in Los Angeles presents a series of new paintings that explore familiar subjects—fruit, shells, sailboats, landscapes—through a dreamlike, tonally nuanced lens. The Berlin-based Japanese artist focuses on the tonality of light, using closely-valued hues to investigate relationships between color, luminosity, and illusion. Works such as 'Landscape with Apples' (2026), 'A Black Dog', and 'Violin Player' demonstrate his method of combining personal photographs, memory, and art historical references into compositions that balance representation with formal abstraction, often referencing modern Japanese painters like Zenzaburo Kojima and Morikazu Kumagai as well as Mark Rothko.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents "Marianne Vitale: On Liberty: A Summoning," an exhibition and performance project at SPACE gallery in downtown Pittsburgh, running from May 1 to October 11, 2026. Guest curated by Benjamin Tischer of New Discretions, the project explores the layered social and cultural history of the 818 Liberty Avenue building, a former hub of nightlife, performance, and queer gathering. Vitale's work incorporates sculpture, painting, film, and live activations, using decommissioned locomotive parts and industrial debris to engage with post-industrial America. The exhibition transforms into a functioning club during select Final Fridays, drawing on the site's history as home to venues like Pegasus Lounge, a key LGBTQ+ space during the AIDS crisis.
Yapı Kredi Culture Arts and Publishing has opened a landmark exhibition in Istanbul titled "Imprints on the Century: The Koç Group and the Arts," running until November 29, 2026, at the Yapı Kredi Culture Center in Galatasaray. Curated by YKYM Gallery Director Didem Yazıcı over two years, the show commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Koç Group, tracing its evolution from a small business registered by Vehbi Koç in 1926 to a global industrial conglomerate. The exhibition draws on archives from the Sadberk Hanım Museum, Arter, and the Rahmi M. Koç Museums, highlighting the group's contributions to archaeology, museology, contemporary art, publishing, and theater, including milestones like the first color film in Turkey and the Bauhaus-inspired Küçük Sahne theater.
A multi-gallery selling exhibition titled 'Déjà Vu' opens at Concrete in Alserkal Avenue on April 25, running for 14 days. The exhibition features over 50 artists from 20 leading UAE contemporary art galleries and is curated by Kevin Jones, Nada Raza, and Zaina Zaarour. It is designed as a commercial initiative to support galleries impacted by recent events.
A diverse array of international photography festivals and exhibitions are scheduled for May 2026. Key events include Bieler Fototage in Switzerland, focusing on vulnerability as a social condition; Photo London, which is relocating to the Olympia and introducing new curated sections; Hard Copy New York at the ICP, exploring photocopied imagery; Fotofestival Lenzburg, an open-air exhibition in Switzerland; and several other events across Europe and the US.
Axel Vervoordt Gallery in Antwerp is presenting the first Belgian solo exhibition of Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich. The show features a new body of work, including large-scale sculptures made from bamboo, rattan, hand-forged copper, and recycled aluminum, as well as wall-based pieces. Visitors can physically enter some of the large sculptural forms.
A group exhibition titled 'Human Traces: Presence, Absence, and Material Memory' is on view at the Axel Vervoordt Gallery in Antwerp. It features works by four artists—Ida Barbarigo, William Turnbull, El Anatsui, and Bosco Sodi—who explore themes of memory and transformation through material, shifting focus from the human body to its traces.
Two Brazilian artists have secured new gallery representation. Flávia Ventura, whose work explores the body, sexuality, and power through painting, has joined São Paulo's Nara Roesler gallery. Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro-based A Gentil Carioca gallery is now representing Mariana Rocha, an artist whose practice investigates the body, memory, and the feminine through drawing, painting, and photography.
This article presents Robert Moore's "Lil' Lucy Figure" (2022), a mold-injected vinyl sculpture measuring 8 × 3 3/20 × 3 inches, available through APC Gallery in Miami Beach and Los Angeles. The work is hand-signed by the artist, comes with a certificate of authenticity, and is part of Moore's "Lil Lucy" series. Moore, a self-taught multidisciplinary artist born in 1983 in Des Moines, Iowa, creates paintings, sculptures, and installations that explore mental health, Black identity, and social justice, drawing on personal biography, art-historical references, and American iconography.
Banksy has installed a new sculpture in Waterloo Place, central London, depicting a suited man with his face covered by a flag walking off a plinth toward his demise. The artist confirmed his authorship via an Instagram video and left his signature on the base. The statue was covertly placed in the early hours of April 29, among existing monuments celebrating the British Empire, including King Edward VII, Florence Nightingale, and the Crimean War Memorial.
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.
Artist Jule Korneffel's solo exhibition 'In Search of Lost Light' is on view at Spencer Brownstone Gallery through May 2. The show features seven paintings from 2023 to the present, including a site-specific wall work, that explore themes of fading light, memory, and melancholia through a nuanced palette of grays and blues.
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.
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.
Wen Wu's exhibition "The Body Thinks in Colour" opens at Paul Smith's Westbourne House in Notting Hill, London, running from 14 May to 28 September 2026. Curated by Virginia Damtsa and Katie Heller, the show presents Wu's paintings that explore the body as a site of consciousness, memory, and emotional intelligence, using gesture and color to create psychological space within a fashion retail environment.
NIKA Project Space in Paris presents "Sour Things: The Door," a new installation by Palestinian artist Mirna Bamieh, on view from April 17 to May 23, 2026. Curated by Anne Davidian, the exhibition marks Bamieh's return to the gallery following her solo presentation that inaugurated NIKA's Paris space in 2024, and serves as the latest chapter in her ongoing "Sour" series.
Yoshiko Shimada, a Japanese feminist and antiwar artist, is featured in a conversation with ArtAsiaPacific ahead of her inclusion in the 2026 Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh under the theme "In Minor Keys." The article explores Shimada's decades-long practice of excavating the gendered scars of Japanese imperialism, focusing on her collaborative work with BuBu de la Madeleine, which uses drag and irony to critique imperial frameworks and the erasure of wartime atrocities. It also highlights her revival of the Chū-pi-ren movement, a 1970s feminist group that fought for abortion rights and access to birth control, arguing that their legacy remains urgent in 2026 given Japan's slow progress on women's bodily autonomy.
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The article highlights standout artists from the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale, focusing on those whose works range from quiet observations of daily life to broader explorations of identity, memory, and community. Among them is Billie Zangewa, a Malawian-born artist based in Johannesburg, who uses raw silk to stitch intimate domestic scenes such as a morning in a bathrobe or a child in arms, transforming overlooked moments into tactile, narrative artworks.
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.
Annette Messager entre avec tout son bestiaire au musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
The Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris is hosting a major exhibition dedicated to the animal-themed works of Annette Messager. Titled "Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps," the show integrates Messager’s diverse practice—including drawings, sculptures, and her signature use of plush toys—into the museum’s permanent collection of taxidermy and hunting artifacts. Curated by Colin Lemoine, the exhibition spans three floors and features works ranging from a ceramic cat from the artist's own kitchen to provocative installations like a taxidermied dachshund wearing a surgical mask.
King's Leap gallery in New York presents "There were gardens," a group exhibition running from April 3 to May 9, 2026, featuring works by Dara Birnbaum, Gina Folly, Collin Leitch, Chris Marker, Jeff Preiss, Julia Scher, Jason Simon, and Mira M. Yang. The show includes 37 images documented in the Contemporary Art Library, with photography by Stephen Faught.
Louisiana Channel has released a new film titled "7 Artists on Soft Sculptures," featuring artists Sheila Hicks, Nick Cave, Shoplifter, and Kaarina Kaikkonen, among others. The film explores the tactile and emotional power of textiles in contemporary art, with each artist discussing their unique approach—from Hicks's call for softness in a hard world to Cave's use of found objects in identity-masking suits, Shoplifter's vibrant synthetic hair installations, and Kaikkonen's deeply personal incorporation of her late father's clothing.
BEATRIZ GONZÁLEZ EN EL BARBICAN: IMÁGENES CONTRA EL OLVIDO
The Barbican Centre in London is hosting a major retrospective of the late Colombian artist Beatriz González, marking her first solo exhibition in the United Kingdom and her most extensive show in Europe to date. Featuring over 150 works, the exhibition traces her six-decade career, from her early experiments with pop-inflected figuration to her iconic use of domestic furniture as canvases. Central to the show is her 1965 masterpiece 'Los suicidas del Sisga,' which exemplifies her method of translating degraded press photographs into vibrant, critical paintings that challenge historical erasure.
The Malta Biennale 2026, titled "Clean / Clear / Cut," launched on March 11 and runs through May 29, transforming historical sites and cultural landmarks across Malta and Gozo into venues for contemporary art and critical dialogue. The biennale is under the artistic direction of international curator Rosa Martínez.
Wallace Chan, a Hong Kong-born sculptor and jeweler who once lived as a Buddhist monk, is presenting his latest exhibition “Vessels of Other Worlds” at the Chapel of Santa Maria della Pietà in Venice on May 8, coinciding with his 70th birthday and the Venice Biennale, followed by a show at Shanghai’s Long Museum on July 18. The exhibition features three monumental titanium sculptures standing seven, eight, and 10 meters tall, evoking religious oil vessels, and explores themes of birth, growth, and rebirth through the demanding medium of titanium, which Chan describes as the material closest to eternity.