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.
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.
Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin will present "Walter Pfeiffer: In Good Company," the first institutional survey in Italy dedicated to the Swiss artist's photographic work, running from April 30 to September 13, 2026. The exhibition features over one hundred photographs spanning from the 1970s to the present, exploring themes of artifice, desire, and the everyday.
Non solo Biennale: cosa vedere a Venezia nella primavera 2026 tra gallerie, spazi indipendenti e progetti speciali
The article highlights a curated selection of exhibitions to see in Venice during spring 2026, beyond the main shows of the 61st Venice Biennale. It features projects in galleries, independent spaces, and historic venues, including a group show titled "Waves" at Casa Sanlorenzo with works by Alexander Calder and Lucio Fontana, a video installation by Ieva Lygnugarytė at Oratorio dei Crociferi, a Judy Chicago survey at Galleria Alberta Pane, a solo show by Hanna Rochereau at Mare Karina, and a Barry X Ball retrospective at the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore.
After 36 years and over 400 exhibitions, the radical Parisian gallery Air de Paris is closing due to bankruptcy. Co-founders Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino decided to shutter the gallery after its financial situation became fragile, compounded by Bonnefous's health issues (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and their refusal to adapt to the increasingly profit-driven, corporatist art market. The gallery's final show, titled “Oh What a Time,” in Romainville featured works by artists including Joseph Grigely, Amy Vogel, Allen Ruppersberg, Pierre Joseph, Mona Varichon, Pati Hill, Lily van der Stokker, and Trisha Donnelly.
Berlin's Pergamon Museum, closed since October 2023, will partially reopen in June 2027, with only the north wing and central section accessible. The renovation and expansion project, launched in 2012, has faced repeated delays and its budget has ballooned to €1.5 billion. The partial reopening coincides with the bicentenary of Berlin's Museum Island and will bring back the Pergamon Altar, unseen for over a decade, along with redesigned permanent exhibitions for the Museum of Islamic Art and the Museum of the Ancient Near East. However, major attractions like the Ishtar Gate and the Market Gate of Miletus will remain closed until the 2030s, with full museum completion now estimated between 2037 and 2043.
Italian photographer Armando Perna (born 1981 in Reggio Calabria) has documented Dahiye, a southern suburb of Beirut known as Hezbollah's stronghold, using a digital camera hidden inside a car and controlled remotely via Bluetooth. His project, initiated in 2013 and exhibited in 2017 at the Fondazione Pino Pascali in Polignano a Mare (Bari), creates a street-view-style mapping of a neighborhood that has been heavily bombed by Israeli forces, most recently in the past weeks. The work was promoted by Planar gallery, founded by Antonio Ottomanelli, with Perna and Anna Vasta as part of the #showcase project.
A coalition of seven Zurich-based artist-run collectives, led by Peter Baracchi and his nomadic platform 6½, has taken over the former Museum Haus Konstruktiv building in Zurich's Selnau district. The project, titled "Oceans Flow Upwards," occupies 1,200 square meters across five floors and expands into over 2,000 square meters by activating the cellar, offices, storage, shop, café, and rooftop. Participating collectives include Hotel Tiger, Die Diele, Papillarya, MATERIAL, volumes, and zwischentext. Baracchi, who previously worked at Haus Konstruktiv as a technician and photographer, initiated the takeover after the museum relocated to Areal Löwenbräukunst, securing temporary cultural use from the City of Zurich in March. Rather than dividing the space into separate zones, the exhibition presents a single, integrated show where artists were invited by the collectives, not selected by open call.
On May 4, 2026, celebrities including Emma Chamberlain, Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Jenner, and Janelle Monae attended the Met Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, celebrating the opening of the "Costume Art" exhibition. The event featured arrivals at the museum and departures from The Mark Hotel, with performances by Joshua Henry, and was captured by photographers Evan Agostini, Andy Kropa, and Jamie McCarthy.
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) held its annual Luncheon by Design fundraiser, celebrating the 60-year career of costume designer Bob Mackie as a prelude to the upcoming DIVA exhibition opening in fall 2026. The event featured a conversation between Joe McFate, Mackie's long-time design director, and Jill D'Alessandro, DAM's director and curator of the Avenir Institute of Textile Arts, sharing stories behind Mackie's iconic costumes worn by Cher, Tina Turner, and P!NK. Funds raised support the DIVA exhibition, which will run from October 4, 2026, to January 31, 2027, at the museum.
Academic museums at Princeton, Yale, Cornell, and Skidmore have organized several standout exhibitions worth visiting beyond TEFAF New York. These shows highlight the rich programming happening on campuses outside the city, offering diverse artistic perspectives and scholarly depth.
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is hosting "Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation," an exhibition running through June 21. It features over 60 works by Marie Watt, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation's Turtle Clan, including prints, monumental blanket stacks, hanging textiles, and small-scale sculptures. The show is drawn from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer, a top 200 collector recognized by ARTNews, whose foundation has supported more than 180 exhibitions and loaned works to over 130 museums at no cost.
È morto il grande artista Remo Salvadori. Aveva 79 anni
Italian artist Remo Salvadori has died at age 79. Known for his rigorous, independent practice, Salvadori explored matter, energy, science, philosophy, and spirituality through sculpture, installations, and site-specific works. Born in Cerreto Guidi, he studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze and moved to Milan in the early 1970s, where he participated in the experimental scene without joining any movement. His career included solo shows in Milan galleries from 1971, appearances at the Venice Biennale (1982, 1986, 1993) and Documenta in Kassel (1982, 1992), and works held in major museums worldwide. In 2019 he received the Premio Presidente della Repubblica for sculpture. A major retrospective in 2025 at Palazzo Reale, Museo del Novecento, and San Gottardo in Corte in Milan showcased over 50 works from 1969 to 2025.
A satirical workout video titled "20 minute workout" created by the Hawaiʻi-based artist initiative kekahi wahi is featured at the Whitney Biennial in New York. The video shows dancers in spandex stretching in front of the Captain Cook Monument at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaiʻi Island, set to electronic music. The project was part of a larger effort to reimagine public space and challenge commemorative monuments in Hawaiʻi, drawing on the energy of debates over Confederate statues in the continental U.S.
An exhibition titled "Docents on the Wall" was held at the Present Day Club in Princeton, NJ, featuring artwork created by docents from the Princeton University Art Museum. The show included paintings, photographs, weaving, and collage by participating artists Laura Berlik, Hetty Baiz, Dee Gozonsky, Judy Langille, Denise McDaniel, Elizabeth Quatrano, Ellen Rogers, Connie Shaffer, and Adria Sherman. Notable works included Denise McDaniel's "Nassau Hall" and Hetty Baiz's richly textured piece.
The Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM) in Turin has launched "Quarta Risonanza," an exhibition program running from May 21 through November 1, 2026. The program comprises four distinct projects: a major survey of works on paper from the museum's collections titled "Un altro Novecento," curated by Fabio Cafagna and Elena Volpato; an intervention by artist Pesce Khete as the program's "Intruso"; a photographic series by Lisetta Carmi exploring eroticism and authority at the Staglieno cemetery, presented in dialogue with sculptures; and a centenary exhibition for conceptual artist Vincenzo Agnetti, "Oggi è un secolo," curated by Chiara Bertola and Virginia Lupo, focusing on his Photo-graffi works from 1979–1981.
Parte la rigenerazione delle ex caserme di Roma, dove sorgerà anche il Museo della Scienza. Obiettivi e tempi del cantiere
The Italian government, through Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and COIMA Sgr, has launched the regeneration of the former Guido Reni military barracks in Rome's Flaminio district. The 5-hectare site, abandoned since 2019 and located opposite the MAXXI museum, will be transformed into a mixed-use urban district including housing, retail, a hotel, green spaces, and a new Museum of Science. Demolitions are set to begin in October 2026, with the project expected to be completed by 2029. The museum will be designed by Rome-based studio ADAT, which won an international competition in 2023.
A new contemporary sculpture park, Parco Sculture Todini, is set to open on May 23 within the Tenuta Todini estate in Collevalenza, near Todi, Umbria. The debut features two site-specific works: "VITE" by Matteo Attruia, which plays on the double meaning of vine and lives, and "Tempus Mirabilis" by Silvia Ranchicchio, a reflective environmental sculpture that changes with light and seasons. The park is curated by Massimo Mattioli and supported by the Arvedi steelworks of Terni and entrepreneur Luisa Todini.
Dorotheum opened its Contemporary Week in Vienna on May 19, 2026, with modern and contemporary art sales that achieved strong results, particularly for Italian artists. Carla Accardi set a new auction record when her 1986 triptych *Fonda Notte Pieno Giorno* sold for €520,000, while works by Piero Dorazio, Emilio Vedova, Marino Marini, and Gino Severini also far exceeded their estimates. Top lots included Claude Monet’s *Waterloo Bridge* (€611,000) and Mikuláš Medek’s *Too Deep a Sleep V* (€546,000).
A Venezia due nuove realtà culturali nel circuito dei Musei Civici: nasce un centro d’arte contemporanea a Mestre e entra nella rete il Museo Wagner
The Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (MUVE) has opened a new contemporary art museum called MUVEC (Casa delle Contemporaneità) at the Centro Candiani in Mestre, inaugurated on April 24. Simultaneously, MUVE has signed an agreement with the Casinò di Venezia and the Associazione Richard Wagner to bring the Museo Wagner in Ca' Vendramin Calergi into its network starting in 2027, expanding the MUVE circuit to 14 museums (excluding MUVEC). MUVEC features a permanent collection spanning from 1948 to the present, drawn from the Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Venezia Ca' Pesaro, and will host temporary exhibitions including a 2026 show on Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka and the body.
La grande artista che ha disegnato preziosissimi anelli per un brand italiano ispirandosi ai granchi
American multidisciplinary artist Pae White has collaborated with Milanese jewelry house Maison Vhernier to create a limited-edition ring collection inspired by crabs and marine life. The collection was unveiled in Venice during the launch days of the Venice Biennale, following a preview in Los Angeles at collector Eugenio Lopez's home. White drew inspiration from crab exoskeletons and shells found on the California coast, working with Vhernier's master artisans in Valenza to produce ten ring designs—each limited to two pieces—featuring abalone mother-of-pearl, jade, rock crystal, sapphires, and diamonds set in white gold.
Provincia Cosmica. Intervista a Giuseppe Stampone, l’artista che ha scelto il Gran Sasso come casa
Italian contemporary artist Giuseppe Stampone, born in Cluses in 1974, has returned to his native Abruzzo after years living in New York, Rome, and Brussels. Following the loss of his parents, he established his studio in the province of Teramo, where he is restoring a farmhouse under the Gran Sasso mountain to house the Archivio Giuseppe Stampone-Maria Crispal and an artist residency called Abruzzo Mon Amour. Stampone won the PAC2021 prize for his project "La natura delle cose," which explores his bond with the region and will create an archive dedicated to the flora and fauna of the Monti della Laga, Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, and Gran Sasso areas.
A new exhibition titled "Firenze Déco. Atmosfere degli anni Venti" has opened at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, running until August 25, 2026. Curated by Lucia Mannini and promoted by Città Metropolitana di Firenze with Fondazione MUS.E, the show explores the creative explosion of the 1920s in Florence, focusing on decorative arts, fashion, graphic design, and manufacturing. It highlights figures such as Gio Ponti for Richard-Ginori, Galileo Chini, Thayaht, Ferragamo, and Gucci, tracing how the city absorbed influences from Paris and the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs to forge its own distinctive Deco style. The exhibition features ceramics, furniture, jewelry, costumes, and period photographs, and is accompanied by an interview with the curator.
Arte e tecnologia si incontrano nella realtà aumentata dell’artista Lois He
Lois He, a Chinese-born artist now based in New York, creates immersive XR installations that blend art and technology, transforming viewers into active participants. Her works, such as "Rising River," an AI-driven virtual reality experience, and "The Silent Carnival," a digital reinterpretation of Goethe's Faust, explore identity, emotion, and the impact of external agents like technology and culture. He also collaborates with institutions like the Museo Dalí and the NYU Neuroscience Institute, merging art with literature and science.
Si chiama Casabianca il nuovo spazio per l’arte da visitare a Como
A new art space called Casabianca has opened in Como, Italy, housed in a 1930s building designed by Piero Ponci. The project is spearheaded by hoteliers Paolo and Antonella De Santis, who have transformed the former luxury villa and bank into a domestic-style exhibition venue for their contemporary art collection. The space features works by artists such as Giulio Paolini, Stefano Arienti, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz, Marina Abramovic, and Joseph Kosuth, with no labels or didactics to preserve the feel of a private home.
Casa Sanlorenzo, the artistic division of the luxury yacht brand, has opened a new exhibition titled "Waves" in Venice, coinciding with the Venice Biennale. Curated by Sergio Risaliti and Cristiano Seganfreddo, the show spans 1,000 square meters across two floors plus a 600-square-meter garden, featuring works by seven artists: Alexander Calder, Lucio Fontana, Fausto Melotti, Tony Cragg, Marcello Maloberti, Christine Safa, and Friedrich Andreoni. The exhibition explores the concept of the wave as a metaphor for artistic expression, with a focus on sculpture and sound, including Melotti's poetic sculptures, Andreoni's immersive sound installation, and Calder's mobiles.
Nella sua mostra a Venezia, Hanna Rochereau vuole archiviare l’archivio
Hanna Rochereau (Paris, 1995) presents her first solo exhibition in Italy, titled "Data Divas," at Mare Karina gallery in Venice. The show explores archival systems through a dialogue between painting and sculpture: canvases depict orderly shelves and filing cabinets filled with impenetrable boxes, while sculptural elements—tailor's mannequins, scattered papers, open drawers—introduce disorder. Rochereau uses a restrained palette of white and wood tones, referencing early 20th-century cubist and metaphysical art, particularly Morandi. The exhibition runs until July 18, 2026.
The 24th edition of Ville Aperte in Brianza returns in 2026 with the theme "Storie che restano" (Stories That Remain), highlighting the ability of Lombardy's historic villas and gardens to preserve centuries of memories. The spring edition runs from May 9–17, and the autumn edition from September 19–October 4, featuring 48 cultural sites across 35 municipalities in the provinces of Monza and Brianza, Milan, Lecco, and Como. The symbol of this year is Villa Tittoni (Villa Cusani Traversi Antona Tittoni) in Desio, designed by architect Giuseppe Piermarini and later expanded by Pelagio Palagi. Special programs include guided tours by three associations of licensed guides, children's activities, and a school contest exhibition on the 80th anniversary of the Liberation.
Arte e politica: bisogna esporsi o no? Rispondono in 9 tra artisti e curatori
Nove tra artisti e curatori italiani rispondono alla domanda se l'arte debba esporsi politicamente, in un articolo pubblicato su Artribune. Marco Trulli, responsabile Cultura Arci e curatore, sostiene che l'arte non possa prescindere dal contesto storico e geopolitico, e che il mondo dell'arte debba mettere in discussione le connessioni tra istituzioni culturali, guerre e violenze sistemiche. Gabi Scardi, curatrice, rifiuta la categoria di 'arte politica' e invita gli artisti ad agire politicamente, citando esempi di padiglioni nazionali alla Biennale di Venezia (Turchia 2017, Israele 2015) come modelli di critica radicale dall'interno. Un altro contributo, legato al progetto 'Francesco 2026' per il Padiglione Internet a Venezia, propone una regola etica: l'arte deve minimizzare il danno alle persone più vulnerabili.
La pittura ironica e intellettuale di Renato Varese. La mostra a Conegliano
Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano is hosting a retrospective exhibition dedicated to Renato Varese (1926–2024), a versatile Italian painter, graphic artist, engraver, sculptor, and ceramist. Curated by Lorena Gava, the show marks the centenary of Varese's birth and features around fifty works spanning painting and graphic art, highlighting his ironic, intellectual, and visionary style often described as "Gothic." Concurrently, the artist's heirs have donated thirteen works to the city's civic collections, including the large canvas "Beati gli ultimi" (1997), now housed in a dedicated room named Sala L.R. Varese.