The Brooklyn Museum is presenting an exhibition titled "Art of Manga," showcasing the artistic and cultural significance of manga as a visual art form. The show explores the history, techniques, and global influence of manga, featuring original drawings, printed works, and immersive installations.
The Icelandic Art Center will present "Pocket Universe," a multidisciplinary exhibition by artist, poet, composer, and filmmaker Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir, representing Iceland at the 61st Venice Biennale. The exhibition, held at the Icelandic Pavilion's new location at Docks Cantieri Cucchini, explores shifting perspectives through hope, imagination, and belief, blending sound, performance, moving image, sculpture, and installation. It features a moving image work centered on a character called "Creature Zero" searching for the "original rock," and incorporates themes of luck, chance, and transformation through playful, game-like structures.
The Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, will open a new exhibition titled "Russell’s Retreat: Summers at Glacier National Park" on May 2, 2026. The show focuses on Charles M. Russell’s life and work at his summer home, Bull Head Lodge, and features objects borrowed from museums and private collections, many displayed in Fort Worth for the first time. Highlights include the landscape painting "Storm Over Lake McDonald" (1906), birchbark paintings, and a replica of gnome figures Russell made from moss and twigs.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has introduced a new exhibition, "Personal Best," designed to welcome international visitors during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The exhibition blends fine art and athletics, connecting the global sporting event with Kansas City's cultural scene. The museum offers free general admission, making it an accessible attraction for soccer fans attending six matches at Arrowhead Stadium starting June 16, 2026.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened its new David Geffen Galleries, a landmark building designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The structure features floor-to-ceiling windows, spans Wilshire Boulevard 30 feet above the Miracle Mile, and houses galleries organized around maritime trade routes. The museum celebrated its inaugural events with a gala and ribbon-cutting, opening to the public on April 20, 2026. The new space displays over 155,000 art objects from the permanent collection, spanning ancient civilizations to contemporary works.
The article highlights several art exhibitions on view in Milwaukee in May 2026, curated around themes of graduation and motherhood. Featured shows include Ahmari Benton's solo exhibition 'No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear' at Mitchell Street Arts, Cameron Clayborn's solo show 'That's When Love Swallows You Whole, Right. Now' at Experimental Sculpture Room, the group exhibition 'Mom & Art' at Milwaukee Makers Market, and a youth art exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Many of the shows honor resilience, identity, memory, and the complexities of motherhood, with some featuring works by artists who have passed away.
The article highlights two must-see photography exhibitions in New Orleans this May. The New Orleans Jazz Museum presents "Less is More: The Photography of Steve Rapport," which opened April 21 and combines Rapport's earlier rock 'n' roll photography with new, emotionally charged portraits made since he moved to New Orleans—the first time both bodies of work are shown together. Meanwhile, the Ogden Museum is hosting "Herman Leonard: Images of Jazz" (through July 12), featuring the legendary photographer's iconic images of jazz musicians from the bebop and cool jazz eras, including a print of Ella Fitzgerald. Leonard lived in New Orleans later in life, and the Ogden Museum protected his negative archive during Hurricane Katrina.
Brooklyn-based disabled artist Finnegan Shannon's traveling exhibition "Don't mind if I do" is on view at the Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) in Northampton through June 28. The show features a conveyor belt that brings interactive artworks to seated visitors, challenging traditional museum layouts that require standing and walking. Shannon collaborated with curator Lauren Leving and technical director Peter Reese to create the experience, which includes works by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Pelenakeke Brown, Sky Cubacub, Emilie L. Gossiaux, Felicia Griffin, Joselia Rebekah Hughes, and Jeff Kasper. The exhibition has previously toured to moCa Cleveland, California State University Sacramento, and the University of Illinois Chicago.
The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) will open 'Tough Stuff: Women in the American Glass Studio' on May 16, 2026, running through January 10, 2027. This is the first survey exhibition dedicated to women artists working in glass during the 1960s and 1970s, featuring over 200 objects from artists including Claire Falkenstein, Audrey Handler, Margie Jervis, Susie Krasnican, Kathleen Mulcahy, Ginny Ruffner, Ruth Tamura, and Toots Zynsky. Curated by Tami Landis, the show draws from CMoG's permanent collection, the Rakow Research Library, and notable loans, presenting works that have never been displayed before.
Southern Guild, a Cape Town-based gallery, opened a permanent location in New York's Tribeca district on Friday, marking a major expansion for the gallery and a milestone for contemporary African art's international visibility. The inaugural exhibitions feature South African painter Mmangaliso Nzuza's "Ballad of the Peacock" and conceptual artist Usha Seejarim's "Used," both on view until May 17. Co-founder Trevyn McGowan described the 371m² space in a historic cast-iron building as both instinctive and strategic, following the closure of the gallery's Los Angeles outpost, which served as a testing ground for American audiences.
The Musée d’Orsay in Paris has opened a new room in its permanent display featuring 13 artworks recovered from Germany and Austria after World War II, whose provenance remains unknown. The museum is inviting visitors to help identify the original owners of these pieces, which were looted or displaced during the war and later restituted to France.
Brenda Zlamany returns to her ancestral village near Pollino National Park in Italy, where she paints in a converted sausage factory and grows her own olives. The 336th installment of Hyperallergic's 'A View From the Easel' series profiles her studio life in a remote, car-free village that her grandfather left as a cobbler 100 years ago.
EAT/ART Space, a collaborative project merging food and visual art, will take over ETSU's Tipton-Ashe Galleries. The initiative transforms the gallery into an interactive environment where visitors can engage with art through culinary experiences, blurring the lines between gallery viewing and dining.
Branchport Galleries in Long Branch, New Jersey, presents "The New Botanical," an exhibition curated by Ellen Martin that reimagines traditional botanical art through contemporary works by Suzan Globus, Kevin Hinkle/Ellen Martin, Daniel Sroka, and Gao Yuan. The show, on view from May 14 to June 30, 2026, features techniques such as flower-pounding, extreme close-up photography, and photo-based wall sculptures, moving away from classical precision toward essence and abstraction. An opening reception and artist talk are scheduled.
Art House Productions in Jersey City, NJ, presents "Playing Favorites," a solo exhibition by artist Bryant Small, curated by Andrea McKenna. The show runs from May 2 to May 31, 2026, at the Art House Gallery, featuring a selection of Small's most cherished works, many never publicly exhibited before. The exhibition includes an opening reception on May 2 and an artist talk on April 17, with all artwork available for purchase in person and online.
Unionized workers at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, have demanded that the institution remove the name of top funder Les Wexner from its moniker, citing his close ties to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In a letter to Ohio State University leadership, Wexner Workers United (WWU) argued that Wexner’s name on the building harms the center’s mission and community trust. Wexner, a billionaire retail magnate and art collector, donated $25 million to the center’s construction in the 1980s and has been mentioned over a thousand times in the Epstein Files; Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre named Wexner as among those she was trafficked to, though Wexner denies the allegations.
More than one hundred employees at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) announced their intent to unionize on May 13, delivering a letter to museum director and CEO Scott Stulen. Organizing as Seattle Art Museum Workers United (SAMWU) under the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28, the staff—spanning over twenty departments—cited unsustainable wages, subpar health benefits, and top-down decision-making as key issues. They filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board but will withdraw the petition if the museum voluntarily recognizes the union by May 27. Stulen acknowledged receipt of the letter and committed to good-faith negotiations.
The Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMoCA) will receive a new flagship space as part of the government-backed Diriyah Company's Saudi Vision 2030 initiative. The museum, financed by a $490 million grant from the Diriyah Company (owned by the Public Investment Fund), will be designed by British architecture firm Godwin Austen Johnson and built by Albawani Company and Hassan Allam Construction – Saudi Arabia. Spanning 77,000 square meters, the project is part of the $63.2 billion Diriyah giga-project aimed at transforming the city into a premier cultural destination.
Tony Chrenka's studio in the Gowanus neighborhood of New York City is the subject of this article, which explores his artistic practice centered on salvaged materials and industrial processes. Chrenka works with PET plastic (Mylar) and polyester fabrics, creating collages and sculptures that investigate the gap between use-value and exchange-value. His upcoming exhibition at Toby78 in Brooklyn will feature new works made from pleated polyester textiles, inspired by Issey Miyake's Pleats Please clothing line.
Joy Machine presents 'Feel Free', a group exhibition featuring new works by Rachel Hayden, Paulina Ho, Hanna Lee Joshi, and Jeremy Miranda. The show opens with a reception on May 15, 2026, and runs through June 27, 2026. Each artist explores the tension between chaos and control, using diverse media—from acrylic and gouache to Japanese indigo on thrifted textiles—to capture moments of impermanence and unexpected harmony.
Deux nouveaux tableaux italiens pour la Collection Bemberg à Toulouse
The Collection Bemberg in Toulouse has acquired two new Italian paintings, including a still life by Bernardo Strozzi (1581-1644) purchased at the Maastricht art fair from Galerie Canesso. The work, a vibrant depiction of peonies and fruit, was previously sold at Sotheby's London in July 2013 and first published in 1985. The acquisition continues the museum's decade-long strategy of enriching its holdings with major works sourced from the art market, guided by its scientific council.
Stockholms Auktionsverk's spring auctions, The Modern Art Sale and The Contemporary Art Sale, achieved strong results including a world record for Lena Cronqvist's sculpture "Flicka med flätor och parasoll", which sold for nearly SEK 1.9 million. Other top sales included Andy Warhol's "Queen Elizabeth II" at SEK 2.5 million, Jean-Paul Riopelle's "Arthur" at SEK 1,875,000, and Warhol's triptych "Ingrid Bergman" at SEK 1.25 million. Karin Parrow also set a new personal record with "Kappseglingsdag" selling for SEK 231,250.
This article explores the enduring fascination that visual artists have with opera, tracing a historical lineage from figures like Oskar Kokoschka and David Hockney to contemporary practitioners such as William Kentridge and Tacita Dean. It examines how opera's fusion of music, drama, and visual spectacle has inspired artists to create set designs, costumes, and even direct productions, often blurring the boundaries between fine art and performance.
Stockholms Auktionsverk is holding two live auctions, The Modern Art Sale and The Contemporary Art Sale, on May 20 and 21, 2026, at Nybrogatan 32 in Stockholm. The sales feature a curated selection of Swedish and international artists from the early 20th century to the present day, including works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Tony Cragg, Lena Cronqvist, and a newly discovered painting by Gösta Adrian-Nilsson. The Modern Art Sale highlights modernist masterpieces by Otte Sköld, Sigrid Hjertén, and Ragnar Sandberg, while The Contemporary Art Sale pays tribute to Ola Billgren and includes works by David LaChapelle, Cindy Sherman, and Britta Marakatt-Labba.
Mexican artist Paulina Carretero's exhibition "Reminiscence and Furor" is moving from the Laredo Center for the Arts to La Posada Hotel starting May 8. The show, which opened in March for International Women's Month, features paintings that pay tribute to seven historical women artists: Artemisia Gentileschi, Berthe Morisot, Georgia O'Keeffe, Tamara de Lempicka, María Izquierdo, Remedios Varo, and Yayoi Kusama. Carretero created two works for each artist—one capturing their spirit and another reflecting her personal vision. The exhibition also includes a large-format painting titled "El Juego de la Consciencia (The Game of Consciousness)" that incorporates magical realism. Carretero will mark the closing at the Laredo Center for the Arts on May 1.
Jemima Wyman's retrospective "Deep Surface" surveys three decades of her work exploring DIY aesthetics of concealment, protest iconography, and political solidarity. Born in Sydney and based in Los Angeles since 2004, Wyman is known for collages of masked protesters, activist signage, and street rally residues, as seen in works like *Aggregate Icon (RBW)* (2016) and *Mass Monument (Y & B)* (2018). The exhibition highlights her early inspiration from Fluxus, Minimalism, and Yayoi Kusama, as well as the influence of Brisbane's late-1990s art scenes and postcolonial Indigenous Australian art debates. Wyman, who has Indigenous (Palawa) heritage, uses camouflage and disguise to blur boundaries between visibility and concealment, figure and ground.
The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens presents "Jeff Koons: Venus Lespugue," an exhibition pairing Jeff Koons' monumental stainless steel sculpture *Balloon Venus Lespugue (Orange)* (2013–2019) with ten certified copies of Paleolithic Venus figurines from major European museums. The Koons work, on public display for the first time, is loaned from the Homem Sonnabend Collection and directly references the 28,000-year-old Venus of Lespugue carved from mammoth tusk ivory.
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.
Zane Bennett Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, presents "Lucid Perturbations: The Sewn Drawings and Books of China Marks," the first major solo exhibition dedicated to the artist's sewn works. Featuring over 200 pieces from the last 23 years of Marks's practice, the show runs from May 15 to July 11 and includes pieces like "At the Winter Palace" (2018) and "Above and Below" (2022). Marks, who pivoted from painting to sewing at age 59 in 2000, creates fabric-based narrative tableaux that blend personal and political themes.
The article lists current and upcoming art exhibitions in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area, including shows at The Orchard Gallery of Fine Art, Garrett Museum of Art, Clark Gallery, ArtSpace/Lima, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Artlink, Ruth Koomler Art Gallery, Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory, Visual Arts Gallery at Purdue University Fort Wayne, Allen County Public Library, Langhinrichs Art Gallery, and Atelier. Featured artists include Heidi Malott, Hope Wallace, Greg Lookerse, Jim Gabbard, Angela Green, Chuck Sperry, Jeff Schofield, Katherine Kratzer, Julie Wall, Andrea Granger, and KristinA, with exhibitions ranging from oil paintings and mixed-media to photography, printmaking, and electric vehicle art.