Pinta Lima Offered Curated Content–and Context–for the Curious

Pinta Lima, the 13th edition of the art fair, opened with a vibrant VIP preview and strong attendance of 16,000 visitors. The fair features around 50 booths and special presentations, with a curation-driven approach that includes sections like NEXT (curated by Juan Canela) and RADAR (curated by Ilaria Conti), as well as FORO panel discussions. The fair emphasizes Latin American art, particularly Peruvian contemporary art, and is part of the broader Pinta network that stages fairs and Art Weeks across Latin America and the U.S. Textile, fiber, and ceramic works are notably prominent, recontextualizing indigenous craft traditions.

Wrapped for Travel: On "The American Connection" by Peter Halley and "Black Painter, White Figuration" by Maxwell Alexandre

Two simultaneous exhibitions at Almeida & Dale in São Paulo present contrasting visions: American artist Peter Halley's "The American Connection," curated by Antonio Gonçalves Filho, features his signature geometric abstractions using Roll-A-Tex and Day-Glo colors to critique digital confinement and post-industrial surfaces. Brazilian artist Maxwell Alexandre shows works from his "Clube" series, depicting Black bodies navigating exclusionary leisure spaces. The pairing is deliberate, not for aesthetic dialogue but to juxtapose an established international artist with a rising Brazilian talent, timed to coincide with SP-ARTE.

Artist relationship between Helen Frankenthaler and Anthony Caro examined

Yares Art in New York is hosting "SIMILITUDES: Color, Form, Friendship," a landmark exhibition exploring the creative dialogue between American painter Helen Frankenthaler and British sculptor Anthony Caro. Spanning nearly five decades of friendship that began in 1959, the show juxtaposes Frankenthaler’s soak-stained canvases with Caro’s steel armatures. The presentation includes archival letters and photographs that highlight their mutual influence, including a 1972 proposal from Frankenthaler to collaborate on a sculpture.

Hopkins Bloomberg Center exhibition to explore American art as cultural diplomacy

The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center is launching a new exhibition titled "Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad," showcasing four decades of American art commissioned for U.S. embassies worldwide. Opening April 7 at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery, the show features site-specific commissions, prints, and photographs from the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) collection, including works by Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, and Julie Mehretu.

Hopkins Bloomberg Center exhibition to explore American art as cultural diplomacy

The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center is set to launch a new exhibition titled 'Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad,' showcasing four decades of American art commissioned for U.S. embassies. Opening April 7 at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery, the show features works from the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) by renowned artists including Sam Gilliam, Ellsworth Kelly, Julie Mehretu, and Martin Puryear. Highlights include never-before-seen maquettes by Don Gummer and the late Frank Stella, alongside a replica of the Declaration of Independence donated by David M. Rubenstein.

New and relaunched satellite fairs spread across Los Angeles during Frieze

A wave of new and relaunched satellite art fairs is debuting in Los Angeles to coincide with Frieze Los Angeles, offering lower-cost alternatives for galleries and artists. Newcomers like the Indianapolis-based Butter Art Fair, the photography-focused Show LA, and the New York-centric Enzo Art Fair are positioning themselves as intimate, artist-centric, or zero-fee options. These ventures aim to capitalize on the influx of global collectors while bypassing the high overhead costs associated with major international fairs.

New Seton Gallery Exhibit Celebrates Life and Legacy of Acclaimed Connecticut Artist

The Seton Gallery at the University of New Haven is presenting "Embrace: Elizabeth Gourlay," an exhibition celebrating the life and work of the late Connecticut-based abstract painter Elizabeth Gourlay. The show features her richly layered, color-sensitive paintings and includes an opening reception on February 7 and an exhibition talk on February 22, running through March 10.

From street art to sculpture parks: how Dubai is becoming an open-air gallery

Dubai has transformed into an open-air gallery through initiatives by Brand Dubai, Dubai Culture, and government entities, fulfilling a 2018 vision by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The city now features murals, sculptures, and street art in neighborhoods like Karama and Satwa, alongside dedicated art zones such as Alserkal Avenue and Dubai Design District. Art festivals including Art Dubai, Sikka Art & Design Festival, Quoz Arts Fest, Dubai Design Week, and the newly launched Bluewaters Art Festival further enrich the public art landscape, making visual art accessible without tickets.

Dahiye, il quartiere di Beirut che non esiste quasi più. Nelle foto di un artista italiano

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.

At the Venice Biennale, the Armenian Pavilion Transforms into an Artist's Workshop: Works Are Born in Front of the Public

Alla Biennale di Venezia il Padiglione dell’Armenia si trasforma in bottega d’artista: le opere nascono di fronte al pubblico

The Armenian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale will transform into a functioning artist's studio, where sculptor Zadik Zadikian will create works in real time before the public. Titled "The Studio," the project is curated by gallerist Tony Shafrazi and curator Tina Chakarian, and will operate daily from May 6 to November 22 at the Tesa 41 of the Arsenale. Zadikian, born in Yerevan in 1948 and now based in the US, will work with traditional Armenian plaster techniques alongside his son Aram and studio assistants, emphasizing the process of making over the finished object.

Auction house Phillips presents highlights of the next art and design auction in Milan

La casa d’aste Phillips presenta a Milano gli highlights della prossima asta tra arte e design

Phillips auction house is presenting a selection of highlights from upcoming auctions and private sales in Milan during the city's Art Week and Salone del Mobile. The exhibition, staged in a space with architecture and furnishings by Dimoregallery and Dimoremilano, features significant Italian post-war art and design pieces, including a notable 1983 'Mappa' by Alighiero Boetti made in Kabul, works by Carla Accardi and Piero Dorazio, and a Carmen Herrera painting slated for auction in New York.

Palate Cleansers at Frieze NY

Hyperallergic's coverage of Frieze New York and concurrent art fairs in the city frames the experience as overwhelming yet punctuated by standout works. Senior Editor Valentina Di Liscia compares the fair to an assembly-line salad, finding reprieve in art that evokes lush canopies, diaphanous portraiture, and ancestral gardens. The issue also includes dispatches from Future Fair, 1-54, TEFAF, NADA, and Independent Art Fair, alongside a tribute to Austrian performance artist Valie Export, who died at age 85, remembered for her radical feminist guerrilla performances that challenged the male gaze.

Blue Shields Placed at 34 Archaeological Sites Across Lebanon, Signaling Enhanced Protections

The Lebanese Culture Ministry has placed distinctive blue shields at 34 archaeological sites across the country. This action formally designates the sites as protected cultural property under the 1954 Hague Convention, aiming to shield them from destruction during the ongoing armed conflict involving Israel and Hezbollah.

tefaf managing director out dominique savelkoul

The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) and its managing director Dominique Savelkoul have parted ways after just over a year, making her the fourth managing director in six years (counting an interim). Savelkoul, a Belgian arts administrator who took up the post in September 2024, had never run an art fair before. TEFAF cited “differing views on the organisation’s future strategic direction” in a statement. Savelkoul succeeded Bart Drenth, who resigned in May 2023 after controversial social media posts. She previously held roles at the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Gallery in London, and Mu.Zee in Ostend.

ceo canadian national museum departs

Marie Chapman, CEO of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, stepped down on Thursday after a special commissioner's investigation found she had mistreated staff throughout her decade-long tenure. The report, released by the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, accused Chapman of serious code of conduct breaches, including using slurs and misogynistic language—such as referring to the senior leadership team as "sluts"—ranking female employees by age, and fostering a culture of fear that left some staff contemplating self-harm. Chapman was appointed under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and reappointed by the Trudeau government in 2016 and 2021; her contract expired in October but she had been granted a 90-day transitional term.

terracotta army damaged

A 30-year-old domestic tourist identified only by his surname Sun broke into the Terracotta Army Museum in Xi'an, China, on Friday, May 30. He scaled a fence and protective net surrounding an 18-foot pit, then pushed and pulled two of the ancient clay warriors, damaging them to varying degrees before being detained by security. Officials later stated that the man suffers from mental illness, and the incident is under investigation. The museum remains open to the public.

vatican returns cultural objects indigenous groups canada

The Vatican will return several dozen cultural objects, including an Inuit kayak, to Indigenous communities in Canada. The objects are housed in the Vatican Museum's Anima Mundi ethnographic collection and have been subject to scrutiny from Indigenous advocates who argue that cultural heritage stolen during colonial periods should be repatriated. The return follows Pope Francis's 2022 "penitential pilgrimage" to Canada, where Indigenous leaders requested the return of war clubs, masks, and wampum belts. The Vatican plans to use a "church-to-church" model, handing the objects to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, with the understanding that Indigenous communities will be the ultimate custodians. An announcement is expected in the coming weeks, with the objects potentially arriving in Canada by the end of 2025.

musems worried trump will end major tax deduction funding

French museums are alarmed that the Trump administration may eliminate a key tax deduction mechanism known as the “equivalency determination,” which allows foreign organizations to receive tax-deductible donations from American patrons. The status is critical for museum-affiliated “American Friends” groups, such as the American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay and the American Friends of the Louvre, the latter of which raised $10 million last year. Lionel Sauvage, president of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, noted that about one-third of his museum’s annual donations—over $2 million—come from American donors. While no concrete action has been taken, Bloomberg reported in April that the administration was considering the move as part of a broader crackdown on tax-exempt nonprofits. Jewish philanthropic organizations have also expressed concern, with the Jewish Funders Network advising compliance amid uncertainty.

supreme court ruling advances trumps plan for mass layoffs of federal workers

The U.S. Supreme Court lifted a lower court order that had temporarily blocked the Trump administration's plan to lay off thousands of federal workers. The initial lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), 11 nonprofits, and local governments from states including California, Texas, and Illinois, challenging Executive Order 14210. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter, while liberal justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor sided with the conservative majority. The ruling allows mass firings and reorganizations at 19 federal agencies, including the State Department and Social Security Administration, to proceed, though a separate injunction protecting sub-agencies of Health and Human Services remains in place.

hauser amp wirth owners relocate switzerland from uk

Iwan and Manuela Wirth, owners of the global art gallery Hauser & Wirth, have relocated their permanent residency from the United Kingdom to Switzerland, where the gallery’s holding company is based. The move was registered in documents filed with Companies House this month, and the gallery confirmed to the Financial Times that the decision was for personal reasons, unrelated to tax law changes. Despite the relocation, the Wirths plan to open a new London location in 2026, and their UK gallery reported a 13 percent drop in turnover to £144 million in 2023.

israeli attacks on palestinian heritage sites constitute war crimes un report

A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Israeli attacks on cultural and religious sites in occupied Palestinian territory constitute war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination. The report focuses on ten specific sites in Gaza, including the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, the Great Omari mosque, Al Mat'haf Museum, and the Pasha Palace Museum, which were destroyed, looted, or severely damaged between October and December 2023. The commission found that Israeli security forces should have known the locations and significance of these sites and that their attacks violated international law, including intentionally directing attacks against religious and historic monuments and causing excessive damage to civilian objects.

mediterranean alliance for wetlands campaign against guggenheim museum expansion spain

The Mediterranean Alliance for Wetlands has launched a campaign against the Guggenheim Museum's proposed expansion into the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve in Spain. The campaign warns that building a new museum spanning Guernica and the protected reserve would harm biodiversity, water quality, and conservation frameworks, and has gathered over 2,400 signatures on a petition urging UNESCO, the Ramsar Secretariat, and the Spanish government to intervene.

ukraine russia icom expulsion open letter

A group of arts professionals, including art historian Konstantin Akinsha and Francesca Thyssen Bornemisza, has published an open letter in Le Monde calling for the International Council of Museums (ICOM) to expel Russia for violating its code of ethics. The group threatens to take ICOM to court in France if it fails to act, citing Russia's systematic erasure of Ukraine's cultural identity since the 2022 invasion, including looting of museum collections and destruction of cultural sites documented by UNESCO. Signatories demand the exclusion of ICOM Russia and Russian museum staff involved in looting, and seek either negotiation or legal proceedings in a French court.

terracotta warriors return bowers museum

The Bowers Museum in California is set to open "World of the Terracotta Warriors" on May 24, bringing together 110 newly discovered archaeological treasures from Shaanxi, China, including Terracotta Warriors, bronze vessels, chariot regalia, and jade and gold artifacts. The exhibition, curated by Tianlong Jiao, expands beyond the famed terracotta army to showcase decades of archaeological research across Shaanxi, highlighting social and cultural changes from about 2300 B.C.E. to 206 B.C.E., with finds from sites like Shimao and Zhaigou.

The Whelm of Massive Group Shows, and My Tender Eyes

The article reflects on the overwhelming experience of massive group exhibitions, using examples like Lawndale's "The Big Show" (77 artists in 2025), "Hecho en Dallas" (66 artists), and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's 1999 MFA thesis show (around 150 artists). The author, a gallerist, recounts visiting two recent San Antonio shows—"A Postmodernist Says ¿Que?" at Centro de Artes and "Fan of a Fan 3" at C7 Space—which feature dozens of works hung salon-style, forcing viewers to make choices about where to focus attention.

A Singaporean Gallery Lands In The Heart Of Paris

Cuturi Gallery, founded by Spanish gallerist Kevin Troyano Cuturi, has opened its first European space in Paris's Domaine National du Palais-Royal, following its original establishment in Singapore in 2019. The gallery occupies the former boutique of legendary couture dealer Didier Ludot and launched in March with a group show. Its forthcoming exhibition, "Arbres de la Forêt, Vous Connaissez Notre Âme" (May 28 to September 26, 2026), is a solo presentation for French artist-designer Hubert Le Gall, curated by Bruno Gaudichon. The project extends to Villa Noël in Provence, which will serve as a second exhibition space for large-scale outdoor sculptures.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Unveils Its Fashion Galleries, Highlighting Fashion’s Place in Museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled the new Condé M. Nast Galleries, a nearly 12,000-square-foot suite of exhibition spaces designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office. Located adjacent to the museum's Great Hall, the galleries relocate fashion exhibitions from a previously tucked-away basement space to one of the museum's most visible and architecturally significant locations. The new spaces debuted with "Costume Art," an exhibition organized by The Costume Institute and curated by Andrew Bolton, which places roughly 200 garments and accessories in dialogue with 200 artworks from the museum's collection, exploring themes such as "The Classical Body," "The Aging Body," and "The Disabled Body." The design, by architects Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, uses a restrained material palette of grey marmorino plaster and oak doors framed by limestone arches to create permanent-feeling yet flexible spaces that harmonize with the museum's historic Beaux-Arts architecture.

Racine Art Museum announces sizzling slate of summer events

The Racine Art Museum (RAM) and its Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts campus have announced a packed schedule of summer events for 2026, including new programs like the Twilight Garden Series, which combines cocktails, creativity, and themed activities. Highlights include Free First Friday, a Master Workshop with artist Liandra Skenandore on black ash plaiting, Kids Day inspired by the Handcrafted exhibition, and City Movie Night featuring a screening of Lilo & Stitch (2025). Wustum also offers one of Wisconsin's largest museum-based studio arts programs with over 60 class options in ceramics, drawing, glass, fiber, jewelry, painting, and paper arts.

Sex, desire and intimacy explored in Singapore art exhibition for over-18s

National Gallery Singapore (NGS) is presenting "Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art," an exhibition for over-18s that explores eroticism and desire through more than 70 works spanning 800 years. The show is structured into three chapters—"Asian Mythos and Rituals," "Conventions of the Erotic," and "Public Arenas/Private Interiors"—and includes pieces such as a 14th-15th century Tantric Buddhist sculpture and Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook's video work "I’m Living" (2002). Senior curator Adele Tan, a co-curator, says she wanted to use the lens of eroticism to uncover overlooked narratives in the museum's collection.

New exhibition charts motherhood from the 15th century to today

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has opened a new exhibition titled 'Mother,' curated almost entirely from its existing collection. The show traces the experience of motherhood from the 15th century to the present, beginning with a juxtaposition of Giovanni Toscani's Madonna and Child and a 1998 birth mat by Elizabeth Birritjama Ngalandjarri. Co-curators Sophie Gerhard and Katharina Prugger organized the exhibition around the 'life cycle' of a mother, covering themes from matrescence to loss. It features works by artists including Kate Just, Kyra Mancktelow, Destiny Deacon, and Hannah Brontë, with a strong emphasis on First Nations perspectives and fiber arts.