DACA Artist Uses Thread to Weave Immigration Stories

Arleene Correa Valencia, a DACA recipient and Bay Area artist, presents her debut solo exhibition "CÓDICE •• SOBREVIVIENDO A LA PERSECUCIÓN" at Fridman Gallery in Manhattan, on view through May 2. The show features large-scale acrylic and textile works on amate bark paper, including a 16-foot-long piece depicting border-crossing narratives. Valencia collaborates with her father, mother-in-law, and papermaker Jose Daniel Santos de la Puerta, and incorporates childhood letters that poignantly reflect family separation and undocumented life.

Art Movements: Meet The Met's New Photography Curator

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has appointed Oluremi C. Onabanjo as its new curator of photographs, bringing her expertise in African and Black diasporic histories from MoMA. This announcement leads a series of industry shifts, including Melissa Chiu’s move from the Hirshhorn to direct the Guggenheim, and the relocation of the influential gallery 47 Canal to Chelsea. Additionally, the New York Foundation for the Arts distributed nearly $500,000 in grants to 129 artists and organizations in Queens.

Remembering Calvin Tomkins, Rhoda Roberts, and Agosto Machado

This week's obituary column honors several significant figures from the art world who recently passed away. The list includes celebrated New Yorker art writer Calvin Tomkins, Houston art patrons Brad and Leslie Bucher, British airbrush artist Philip Castle, master jeweler Thomas Gentille, art historian Charlotte Gere, Alabama sculptor Robert L. "Larry" Godwin, comic artist Sam Kieth, photographer Carol Kitman, and Russian-Italian artist Swietlan Nicholas Kraczyna.

10 Exhibitions to See in Chicago This Spring

A guide highlights ten notable art exhibitions opening in Chicago this spring, focusing on shows at smaller, community-focused, and artist-run spaces like Good Weather, Hyde Park Art Center, and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Featured exhibitions include Hunter Foster's "Involition," which repurposes a Cold War siren to comment on infrastructure and threat, and Alison Ruttan's ceramic installation "The Paradox of Inaction," which visualizes climate disaster.

Artists Set Islamic Futurism Into Motion

A growing movement of artists is exploring Islamic Futurism, a framework that draws from Islamic philosophy, visual traditions, and speculative practices to imagine Muslim futures. Artists like Zarah Hussain, Ibrahim El-Salahi, and Soraya Syed are working across mediums—including light installation, digital animation, painting, and classical calligraphy—to reinterpret historical forms for contemporary and future contexts.

What the Met Gains from the Neue Galerie

Was das Met mit der Neuen Galerie gewinnt

The Neue Galerie, a private museum for German and Austrian art founded by billionaire collector Ronald S. Lauder, will be integrated into the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) as an auxiliary branch under the new name "The Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie." The transition, announced by founding director Renée Price, is set to be completed by 2028, with the Met assuming full operational control after a planned renovation of the historic townhouse on Fifth Avenue. The merger follows years of Lauder's stewardship and ensures the long-term future of the collection, which includes masterpieces by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Wassily Kandinsky, and Max Beckmann.

New York Galleries: Openings and Closings (04/27-05/03)

‘Quality always rules’: VIP day sales at Frieze London 2025

Frieze London 2025 opened with VIP day sales reflecting a cautious but resilient market. Gallerists reported solid sales, including Michael Landy's 'Multi-Saint' (2013) sold to the Walker Art Gallery for €125,000, and blue-chip works at Frieze Masters such as René Magritte's 'Le domaine enchanté' (1953) for $1.6m and Gabriele Münter's 'The Blue Garden' (1909) for SFr2.4m ($3m). Dealers noted a shift from speculative frenzy to more considered buying, with collectors taking longer to decide but still investing in quality works. The fair saw strong attendance, including wealthy individuals who had left London due to UK tax changes returning to buy.

In Giverny, Monet does not benefit everyone

À Giverny, Monet ne profite pas à tout le monde

The article examines the economic paradox of Giverny, the French village where Claude Monet lived and painted. While Monet's gardens attract nearly one million visitors annually—with ticket sales estimated at €9-10 million—the village itself, with a population of just 430 and an annual budget of €600,000, sees almost none of that revenue. Visitors flood in for half-day trips, queue for hours to see the gardens, and leave by evening, spending little in local shops. The gardens, run by the Académie des beaux-arts, are tax-exempt and operate as a closed economic loop, with their boutique and restaurant generating income that stays within the institution.

Mapping the Invisible: Saudi Arabia’s A Necessary Fiction Unfolds in Venice

A new exhibition titled "A Necessary Fiction: Maps, Art, and Models of Our World" has opened in Venice, presented by the Saudi Ministry of Culture in tandem with the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Held at the Abbazia di San Gregorio from 6 May to 22 November 2026, the show is curated by Sara Almutlaq and Aurora Fonda, with associate curators Zaira Carrer and Amina Diab. It features historical maps and contemporary artworks by artists including Wael Shawky, Nasser Al Salem, Matilde Sambo, Monira Al Qadiri, Shilpa Gupta, Reena Saini Kallat, Manal AlDowayan, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Ibrahim Mahama, Trevor Paglen, Eva & Franco Mattes, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, and Yoko Ono, exploring cartography as an imaginative and ideological act rather than a neutral science.

The Must-See Off-Site Shows at the 61st Venice Biennale

The article, published by Frieze, highlights seven must-see off-site exhibitions during the 61st Venice Biennale. These shows are curated independently of the main Biennale program and feature works by artists such as Richard Tuttle and Lutz Bacher, presented at venues like Galerie Greta Meert and WIELS. The guide is written by critic Emile Rubino and aims to direct visitors to noteworthy satellite events that complement the official Biennale offerings.

Paul McCarthy’s Descent into the American Id

Frieze has published a critic's guide highlighting seven must-see exhibitions during Art Brussels, including Richard Tuttle's restless assemblages at Galerie Greta Meert and an expansive show of Lutz Bacher at WIELS. The guide, written by Emile Rubino, provides a curated selection of notable shows for visitors to the Brussels art fair.

7 Must-See Shows During Art Brussels

The article provides a critic's guide to seven notable exhibitions to see in Brussels during the Art Brussels fair. It highlights Richard Tuttle's assemblages at Galerie Greta Meert, an expansive Lutz Bacher show at WIELS, and other presentations by artists like Tarek Lakhrissi, Mire Lee, and Tiona Nekkia McClodden across various galleries and institutions.

The Angel of History Is Stuck in Jerusalem

The Jewish Museum in New York's exhibition 'Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds' is missing its central artwork, Paul Klee's 'Angelus Novus' (1920). The original, owned by Walter Benjamin and normally housed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, is absent due to "current conditions affecting international transport," a likely reference to the Israel-Hamas war. A reproduction stands in its place, alongside Benjamin's famous 'Angel of History' text, which interprets the angel as a figure witnessing the catastrophic pile-up of history.

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Painter and Civil Rights Luminary, Dies at 84

Mary Lovelace O’Neal, a painter, educator, and Civil Rights activist, died on May 10 at age 84 in Mérida, Mexico. Known for her monumental canvases and inventive “lampblack” works, she moved fluidly between abstraction and figuration, using layers of black pigment to assert Blackness and presence. Her career included studies at Howard University and Columbia University, activism with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and connections to the Black Arts Movement.

New York art world spared worst of logistics woes

New York's spring art fairs—including Frieze, Tefaf, Independent, and Nada—are proceeding largely on schedule despite ongoing disruptions from the war in Iran. Airspace closures, reduced flights, rising fuel costs, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have strained global art logistics, forcing rerouting, last-minute cancellations, and cost increases of up to 2,500%. Logistics firms like Hasenkamp and Gander & White report that while shipments are still arriving, the system has become fragile, with clients prioritizing safety and resilience over speed.

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Collector Mirka Serrato and gallerist Jonny Tanna are launching Neighbors, a new satellite art fair debuting during Expo Chicago in April 2025. Located in a 1,200-square-foot neoclassical apartment in Chicago’s Gold Coast, the fair rejects traditional booth structures in favor of a domestic, intimate setting. The inaugural exhibitor list features a mix of local and international galleries, including London’s Gathering and Harlesden High Street, as well as spaces from New York and Dallas.

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Art Basel will launch a new fair, Art Basel Qatar, in Doha in February 2025, featuring around 50 exhibitors. The expansion into West Asia follows the fair's earlier move into Hong Kong in 2013 and reflects the region's growing wealth and cultural development. Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel's director of fairs, stated the company aims to attract collectors from the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as South Asia. The announcement has drawn interest from collectors and curators across Asia, including those from the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and India, who see the fair as a potential turning point for Doha's art scene.

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A shipment of artworks by artist Sam Ghantous, destined for a New York exhibition at YveYang Gallery, has been detained at Newark Airport by U.S. Customs. The works, which include prints on silicon wafers, contain materials similar to those used in microchips, leading to potential confusion over trade regulations. The exhibition, titled "your golf course made my GPU," explores the global supply chain of sand and raw materials used in technology. Gallery manager Erica Kyung reported the delay, and the artist noted that the wafers are non-functional and cannot be used in computers.

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Billionaire art collector and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin stated that the United States is “eroding” its brand due to economic policy changes during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days. Speaking at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on April 23, Griffin warned that the reputation and creditworthiness of US Treasuries are at risk, citing recent tariff-driven sell-offs of government bonds. He expressed concern about policy volatility undermining the goal of reshoring manufacturing and noted that investors using the euro as a reference have lost 20% of their value in four weeks. Griffin also voiced support for DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk, which has recommended cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Radiohead singer Thom Yorke opens Venice exhibition with Stanley Donwood.

Radiohead singer Thom Yorke and artist Stanley Donwood have opened their first-ever exhibition outside the UK at Castello 2432 in Venice. Titled "No Go Elevator (Not Without No Keycard)," the show features new ink drawings and a large-scale painting created in London earlier this year, timed to the start of the 61st Venice Biennale. The exhibition runs through June 7.

The Met’s blockbuster Raphael exhibition looks beyond the artist’s idealised Madonnas

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has opened "Raphael: Sublime Poetry," the first comprehensive exhibition of the Renaissance master in the United States. The ambitious show gathers 237 works, including 33 paintings and 142 drawings, spanning Raphael's entire career and featuring major loans like *The Alba Madonna* from the National Gallery of Art in Washington and *Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione* from the Louvre.

A Journey Through the Work of Lucía Pizzani on the Occasion of Her First Institutional Exhibition in London

UN RECORRIDO POR LA OBRA DE LUCÍA PIZZANI A PROPÓSITO DE SU PRIMERA MUESTRA INSTITUCIONAL EN LONDRES

Venezuelan artist Lucía Pizzani presents her first institutional exhibition in the United Kingdom, titled "Faunal Succession," at Focal Point Gallery in London, running through May 30. The show features new works created in collaboration with artists Cecilia Bonilla, Jaime Gili, and Javier Weyler, as well as community groups and local schools, reimagining the Essex coastline through the concept of deep time. The exhibition links geological transformation with contemporary issues such as climate change, migration, and social change, as explored in an interview with curator Inês Costa.

OSCAR MURILLO: PAINTING AS A WELL OF ACCUMULATION

ÓSCAR MURILLO: LA PINTURA COMO POZO DE ACUMULACIÓN

The article profiles Colombian-born artist Oscar Murillo and his expansive, socially-engaged practice. It details his rise to international prominence in the early 2010s with large-scale paintings that incorporate text, textiles, and studio detritus, and highlights his ongoing, collaborative project 'Frequencies,' which involves students from over thirty countries creating works on canvases attached to school desks. The piece also references his major solo exhibitions, including 'El pozo de agua' at kurimanzutto in Mexico City (2026), 'Masas' at WIELS in Brussels (2024), and 'The flooded garden' at Tate Modern (2024).

David Armstrong “Portraits” at Artists Space, New York

Artists Space in New York is presenting the first US survey of photographer David Armstrong (1954–2014), titled "Portraits." The exhibition brings together over 90 photographs that showcase Armstrong's experimental approach to portraiture, transforming landscapes, still lifes, and fashion imagery into explorations of intimacy, desire, and loss.

5 Must-See Exhibitions During Milan Art Week 2026

Milan Art Week 2026 features a robust program of institutional exhibitions alongside the miart and Paris Internationale Milano fairs. Key highlights include Cao Fei’s multimedia exploration of smart agriculture at Fondazione Prada, Anselm Kiefer’s monumental tribute to forgotten female alchemists at Palazzo Reale, and a major retrospective of Rirkrit Tiravanija’s architectural research at Pirelli HangarBicocca.

7 Artists to Watch at the New York Fairs This Weekend

The article highlights seven artists and presentations to watch at the New York art fairs this weekend, including Frieze, TEFAF, Independent, and NADA. Key highlights include Comme des Garçons' sculptural fashion display at Independent, Danish painter Eva Helene Pade's U.S. debut at Thaddaeus Ropac's TEFAF booth, and sold-out booths for Kelly Sinnapah Mary at James Cohan and Rachel Youn at G Gallery during Frieze. The piece notes that while no single viral spectacle dominates this fair week, a quieter but compelling mix of works and sales is drawing attention across venues.

Here’s What You Missed at MoMA PS1’s 50th Birthday Bash

MoMA PS1 held its annual gala on Tuesday night, celebrating the institution's 50th anniversary and honoring founding director Alanna Heiss and former MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry. More than 500 guests attended the Surrealist-themed event, which featured artistic direction by the fashion and art collective Women’s History Museum, with stilt walkers, custom posters, performances, and DJ sets. Notable attendees included artists Wolfgang Tillmans and Camille Henrot, dealers Jeffrey Deitch, and musicians Swizz Beatz, along with museum leadership and collectors.

Chloë Sevigny, Hari Nef, and Mickalene Thomas Just Partied at the Brooklyn Artists Ball

The Brooklyn Museum hosted its annual Brooklyn Artists Ball on Tuesday evening, serving as the opening celebration for the "Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" exhibition. The event drew a crowd of artists, patrons, designers, and downtown figures, including event hosts Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, Sylvana Durrett, Jordan Roth, Lizzie Tisch, and Amanda Waldron; co-chairs Regina Aldisert, Megan Brodsky, Victoria Rogers, and Carla Shen; CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson; designers Iris van Herpen and Wes Gordon; musicians Peggy Gou and Swizz Beatz; artists Mickalene Thomas, Keisha Scarville, Paul Arnhold, and Miles Greenberg; writer Derek Blasberg; and gallerist Saam Niami. Highlights included a special performance by dancers from the New York City Ballet in winged costumes, an afterparty with DJs Swizz Beatz and Runna, and a site-specific photo booth by artist Keisha Scarville.

How Artist Iréne Norén Used Painting to Reclaim Her Relationship to Her Body

Artist Iréne Norén, who began painting just three years ago after a personal crisis, is now mounting her first solo gallery show in New York. Titled "Reliquary of the Body: Returning to Eden," the exhibition opens at Harper’s Chelsea and explores themes of shame, self-acceptance, and the female body, drawing on Catholic art historical imagery and Renaissance altarpiece structures. Norén started painting after an abortion while living in New York without a work visa, using art as a tool for emotional expression and confidence.