Inside The Met's New 'Costume Art' Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has announced a new exhibition titled 'Costume Art,' opening to the public on May 10 and running through January 10, 2027. The show inaugurates the Met's nearly 12,000-square-foot expansion adjacent to the Great Hall, providing a permanent home for the Costume Institute's annual spring exhibitions. Featuring nearly 400 objects—half garments and half traditional art like sculpture and painting—the exhibition explores how clothing alters and enhances the human body, dividing 'the body' into 13 types such as 'The Classical Body' and 'The Corpulent Body.' The show includes works from designers like Coco Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thom Browne, and Alexander McQueen, paired with historical artifacts and contemporary art. The exhibition follows this year's Met Gala, co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, which raised a record $42 million for the Costume Institute.

Lillian Bassman—the Avant-Garde Photographer Who Transformed Harper’s Bazaar—Finally Gets Her Due

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened "Lillian Bassman: Bazaar and Beyond," an exhibition on view through July 26 that examines the career of photographer Lillian Bassman. Curated by Virginia McBride, the show highlights Bassman's work at Harper's Bazaar and Junior Bazaar, as well as her independent photography known for radical darkroom manipulations. The exhibition was made possible by a gift of 70 works from Bassman's estate, produced in collaboration with her children Lizzie and Eric Himmel, and marks a homecoming for the artist who drew inspiration from the Met's galleries.

India at Venice Biennale 2026 curtain raiser: Many voices, one resonance

India has announced its participation in the 61st Venice Biennale with the India Pavilion exhibition titled 'Geographies of Distance: Remembering Home,' curated by Amin Jaffer. The exhibition, presented by the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Ministry of Culture, will feature works by five artists: Alwar Balasubramaniam, Ranjani Shettar, Sumakshi Singh, Skarma Sonam Tashi, and Asim Waqif. It will run from May 9, 2026, with previews from May 6-8. The pavilion is supported by Isha Ambani, chairperson of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, and Sunil Munjal, founder of Serendipity Arts Foundation. Additionally, on May 8, Kochi-Muziris Biennale president Jitish Kallat will announce the curator for its seventh edition.

Summer Previews: The Season’s Most Anticipated Shows

Artforum's editors preview twenty-five anticipated institutional exhibitions opening worldwide between May and August. Highlights include "Fade" at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the latest in its career-making "F show" series featuring seventeen emerging artists of African descent; "Modernity and Opulence: Women of the Wiener Werkstätte" at the Jewish Museum in New York, showcasing over 180 women designers from Austria's famed atelier; "Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz" at the Hessel Museum of Art, exploring the intersection of Navajo weaving and microchip history; the 59th Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art, with 61 artists spread across Pittsburgh venues; and "Mary Ellen Carroll: How to Talk Dirty and Influence People" at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

What’s on now at San Francisco museums, May 2026

San Francisco museums are navigating a mix of upcoming exhibitions and financial challenges in May 2026. SFMOMA is closing "KAWS: Family" on May 3 and opening "Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal" from May 16 to September 13. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts has suspended operations due to funding issues, and SOMArts is also facing a budget gap. Meanwhile, the Museum of Craft and Design presents "Video Craft" through August 16, and the Letterform Archive hosts "Black Memory Scholar: The Language of Storytellers" and "Piet Zwart: Brand Architect." SFMOMA has announced three SECA award winners—CrossLypka, Em Kettner, and Chanell Stone—who will exhibit from December 2026 to May 2027, and the museum continues to showcase "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10" and new installations by Alexander Calder, Claes Oldenburg + Coosje van Bruggen, and Rose B Simpson.

Charlottesville's Confederate statues are centerstage in West Coast art exhibition rooted in tragedy and trauma

The remains of Charlottesville's melted Confederate statue of General Robert E. Lee are now on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles as part of the 'Monuments' exhibition. The statue, originally standing in Market Street Park, was acquired by the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) in 2021, melted down at a secret location, and shipped to Los Angeles. The exhibition, presented in partnership with The Brick, also features artist Kara Walker's reconstruction of the Thomas Jackson statue. The bronze ingots and slag from the melting process are displayed alongside other works that reimagine Confederate monuments.

Museum Exhibitions Opening This Summer in Central Texas

Museums across Central Texas are opening a slate of summer exhibitions, including the Blanton Museum of Art's "Art in Every Corner: The Works Progress Administration (1935-1943)," featuring prints and paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and Dorothea Lange. The San Antonio Museum of Art will present "Microhistories of the Andes" with Andean artifacts, while the McNay Art Museum hosts "Garden Party: Nature on Paper" with works by René Magritte and Winslow Homer. Women & Their Work in Austin will showcase "MARK," a group drawing exhibition by 25 Texas women artists.

Zurbarán at the National Gallery - an unmissable show of baroque genius

The National Gallery in London presents a landmark exhibition of Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), the first major retrospective of the Spanish Baroque master in Britain. In collaboration with the Louvre and the Art Institute of Chicago, the gallery has assembled over 40 works from institutions worldwide, including Seville and San Diego. The show features Zurbarán's electrifying religious paintings and radiant still lifes, displayed in darkened galleries that echo the chiaroscuro of his compositions. Highlights include the shattering *The Crucifixion* (1627) and *Saint Peter Nolasco's Vision of Saint Peter the Apostle* (1629), which demonstrate his hyper-real, sculptural approach to sacred subjects.

Scene Calendar: Harn exhibit on Florida, 'Million Dollar Quarter' at Hipp

The article is a scene calendar listing upcoming events in the Gainesville, Florida area, including art exhibitions and a theatrical production. Key visual art events include the Santa Fe College Student Juried Art Exhibition, the Santa Fe Springs Plein Air Paintout, the Gainesville Fine Arts Association's 'NEXT: High School and College Juried Exhibition', and the Harn Museum of Art's exhibition 'Florida in the Frame: A Century of Artists’ Reflections on the Sunshine State', which features works by Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, and Florida Highwaymen painters. The calendar also lists non-visual-art events such as the Levitt AMP Alachua Music Series and the Hippodrome Theatre's production of 'Million Dollar Quartet'.

Music & Maker's Night with “Get Surreal (A Surreal Lens)” Tour, May 14

The Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, is hosting a Music & Maker's Night on May 14, featuring a guided tour of the exhibition "Get Surreal (A Surreal Lens)" led by Co-Senior Curator Joshua Johnson. The event includes an art-making activity and live music in the museum's Quad City Bank & Trust Grand Lobby. The exhibition explores how photographers from the earliest days of the medium have used techniques like montage, double exposure, and digital manipulation to distort reality and create dreamlike imagery, featuring works by artists such as Alan Cohen, György Kepes, Olivia Parker, and Emmet Gowin.

Picturing Absence – 3 Photographs in the DAM's Collection

The Denver Art Museum (DAM) highlights three photographs from its collection that explore themes of absence and presence. Yoko Ikeda's 2008 image of a Japanese home threshold captures the unseen inhabitants through details like slippers. Keisha Scarville's "Untitled #17" (2017) uses her mother's clothing to evoke grief and memory after her death. David Maisel's "Library of Dust (267)" (2005) documents corroded copper urns containing cremated remains of unclaimed patients from Oregon State Hospital, revealing unique mineral blooms that symbolize individuality.

Dataland, World's First A.I. Arts Museum, Will Open in June, and Other News.

Dataland, billed as the world's first museum dedicated to AI-generated art, will open June 20 at The Grand LA in downtown Los Angeles, founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç. Its inaugural exhibition, 'Machine Dreams: Rainforest,' uses vast environmental datasets to create multi-sensory AI interpretations of nature. In other news, Tuan Andrew Nguyen's 27-foot-tall sandstone Buddha sculpture has been installed on New York's High Line Plinth; Chanel is launching its first-ever Coco Beach pop-up in Shanghai; Kengo Kuma collaborated with Jaipur Rugs on a carpet collection unveiled at Milan Design Week; and Pittsburgh's new $31 million Arts Landing civic space opened in the Cultural District.

How ‘Continnum’ reimagines art in domestic spaces

The exhibition 'Continuum,' curated by artist-curator Gauri Minocha at The Art Hub Gallery in Gurugram, presents over 100 artworks by South Asian artists within a refurbished house turned home gallery. Works are displayed across rooms, hallways, stairways, and terraces, moving away from the traditional white cube model to allow viewers to experience art in a domestic setting. The show spans from the 1950s to 2026, featuring modern masters like Ram Kumar, Jamini Roy, and Rubin Mondal, with each room defined by a distinct color palette and mood.

Bilingual Catacombs of Neto Art Museum is much more than art on a wall

Milwaukee's Third Ward now hosts The Catacombs of Neto Art Museum, a bilingual museum-gallery hybrid founded by artist-couple Ernesto Atkinson and Jenny Urbanek. Housed in the Marshall building's basement tunnels, the one-and-a-half-year-old space serves as a permanent home for Atkinson's work, which he previously stored in his basement. The couple, inspired by visits to sites like Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona and the Milwaukee Art Museum, conceived the museum as a "sacred resting place" where art comes alive through viewer interaction. Atkinson, a licensed art therapist, integrates psychological and wellness elements into the museum, which also functions as a gallery, educational space, community hub, and introduction to art therapy.

refik anadol's DATALAND opens june 2026 in los angeles as the first museum of AI arts

Refik Anadol Studio will open DATALAND, the world's first Museum of AI Arts, on June 20, 2026, at The Grand LA in downtown Los Angeles. The 2,320-square-meter institution will feature five galleries, including the Infinity Room, and launch with the inaugural exhibition "Machine Dreams: Rainforest," running through January 31, 2027. The museum integrates AI systems into its architecture, powered by the studio's Large Nature Model trained on ecological data from the Smithsonian and Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

London exhibition explores untold history of how homelessness was criminalised

A new exhibition titled "Criminal: The Untold History of Homelessness" opens at the Museum of Homelessness in London, exploring the origins of homelessness in the UK and how it has been criminalized. The exhibition challenges the typical focus on the 19th-century Vagrancy Act, instead tracing the "Homelessness Big Bang" to the early 1600s, when land enclosures, economic shifts, and colonial expansion began penalizing unhoused people. Staged in a meadow at Finsbury Park, the show features artists and activists including the anonymous graffiti artist 10 Foot, designer Matt Bonner, and poet Gemma Lees, with works such as 10 Foot's first sculpture "Fairie Newbuild"—a skip-shaped object made from palisade fencing containing a hawthorn tree.

Mark Milroy Sees, Remembers, and Imagines at Once

Artist Mark Milroy, an observational painter in his mid-50s who gained a following during the pandemic through Instagram and online shows at Nancy Margolis Gallery, is now holding his debut New York exhibition, "Jumbo," at JJ Murphy gallery through May 16. The show features 18 oil paintings and 12 colored pencil drawings, with subjects ranging from still lifes and portraits to a titular painting referencing the famous P.T. Barnum elephant killed in Milroy's hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, in 1885. Milroy's work blends personal memory, art historical insight, and a deliberate gaze, drawing influences from Cedric Morris and 15th-century Florentine painting.

BE PART OF A COLLECTIVE ART WORK BY CHIHARU SHIOTA FOR THE CURITIBA INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL

Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota has announced a new site-specific installation titled *The Space Between Us* for the 16th Curitiba International Biennial – THRESHOLDS, opening June 14 through November 15, 2026 at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON) in Curitiba, Brazil. Curated by Tereza de Arruda, the work invites the public to submit letters—in text, collage, or other manual forms—which Shiota considers self-portraits of each participant’s inner universe. Submissions must be sent by May 20, 2026, and will be woven into a large-scale collective installation that makes visible the hidden experiences of individuals.

Finally, Culture Minister Giuli visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale and made peace with President Buttafuoco

Finalmente il Ministro della Cultura Giuli ha visitato il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale di Venezia 2026 e ha fatto pace con il Presidente Buttafuoco

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli finally visited the Italy Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale alongside Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, marking their first public appearance together after earlier tensions led Giuli to skip the opening ceremony. During the visit, Buttafuoco proposed that the work of artist Chiara Camoni, whose exhibition "Con te con tutto" is curated by Cecilia Canziani, should find a permanent home after the Biennale ends, sparking discussion about the future of pavilion artworks.

Where to see artworks in Marin

This article is a comprehensive listing of art exhibitions and events across Marin County, California, from May through August 2025. It includes details on dozens of shows at venues such as the Belvedere Tiburon Library, Anthony Meier, Blunk Space, Bolinas Museum, Gallery Route One, and many others, featuring works by artists like Carol Thomas, Saif Azzuz, Ian Collings, and Drew Frazier. The listings cover photography, painting, sculpture, and mixed-media exhibits, with opening receptions, artist talks, and benefit events noted.

Artist Felipe Pantone's home is a 'permanent exhibition' - with its own indoor nightclub

Spanish-Argentinian contemporary artist Felipe Pantone, who never reveals his face to the public, opens the doors to his striking home 'Casa Axis' in Valencia, Spain. Originally built between 1972 and 1975 by architect Pascual Genovés and designer Antonio Segura, the property was known as the 'Revolving House' before Pantone renamed it. After a two-year renovation, the 7,000 sq m estate now includes an indoor swimming pool designed by the artist, a private tennis court, a dance club, and rooms filled with natural light. Pantone and his partner Victoria Fernández host artists from around the world at the home, which also served as a backdrop for Netflix's Black Mirror.

Rising Voices: Inside the V&A’s Landmark Exhibition Of Asian, Australian & Pacific Art

A new exhibition, 'Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia, and the Pacific,' opens this weekend at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It features over 70 works by more than 40 artists from 25 Asia Pacific countries, including sculpture, painting, photography, ceramics, and textiles, many never before exhibited outside the region. The show is presented in partnership with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane and co-curated by Daniel Slater, the V&A's director of exhibitions.

Pio Abad Explores Home and Diaspora for the 2026 Venice Biennale

Filipino artist Pio Abad is presenting a series of intricate, hand-drawn works at the 2026 Venice Biennale as part of the exhibition "In Minor Keys," conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh. The works, created over four years with a 0.3-millimeter pen, include pieces such as "I’m Singing a Song That Can Only Be Born After Losing a Country" (first shown at the Ashmolean Museum in 2024), "Banua" (his first drawing on fabric), and "1897.76.36.18.6," which reflects on the looting of the Benin Bronzes. Abad, born in the Philippines and based in London, explores themes of migration, memory, exile, and the itinerant nature of objects and language.

Royal artist returns to Devon with stunning new exhibition

Alan Cotton MBE, a Westcountry artist known for his palette knife technique and royal connections, is returning to Devon with a new exhibition of landscapes from the Otter Valley and North Devon. The show, held at Kennaway House in Sidmouth from April 28 to May 4, marks his first public gallery showing in the region since 2015. Cotton, who once served as tour artist for King Charles when he was Prince of Wales, has works in the King's collection and exhibited at Buckingham Palace in 2025. His early life included homemade paint brushes made from his mother's hair, and he later became a BBC presenter and honorary professor at the University of Bath.

"She's Like the Wind"

The article reviews "She's Like the Wind," an annual all-female group exhibition at Deep Space gallery in Jersey City, featuring works by artists Delilah Ray Miske, Leigh Cunningham, and SarahGrace. Miske's painting "Lemon Lime Toe of God" shows only a woman's leg and foot, while Cunningham's oil paintings present figures as blurred forms seen through a translucent curtain, and SarahGrace's textile works depict headless female nudes with suggestive titles like "Provoke" and "Dominate." The show marks a departure from the gallery's typically family-friendly, sex-averse programming.

Nathaniel Mary Quinn's Museum Show | Herbie Hancock Returns Home | The Lake Plans Opening

Nathaniel Mary Quinn, a Chicago-born artist who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes, will present his first solo museum exhibition in his hometown at the National Public Housing Museum. The show, titled "Nathaniel Mary Quinn: A Love Letter To My Mother," features ten works on canvas and paper, a recreated living room from his family's apartment circa 1984, and a reading room with historical materials about the housing project. Separately, Mariane Ibrahim gallery now represents Chicago-based artist Leasho Johnson, whose work draws on Jamaican mythology and appeared on the cover of Newcity's April 2026 issue. In other local news, a new social club called The Lake is set to open in River North this fall, designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects, and construction has begun on the next phase of the Southbridge development on the site of the former Harold Ickes Homes.

Marianne Vitale exhibition and performance in Pittsburgh

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.

The AfD Rehearses the Seizure of Power

Die AfD probt die Machtergreifung

The article reports that in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the far-right party AfD could achieve an absolute majority in the upcoming September election—a first in postwar German history. The state government has preemptively introduced a cultural funding law to protect the arts. The AfD's platform includes a "new patriotic cultural policy" under the slogan "#deutschdenken," which explicitly targets the Bauhaus and modernist art as symbols of an "identity disorder" they promise to "heal."

Where did the great artist Joseph Beuys live? The comic story by Gianluca Costantini

Dove viveva il grande artista Joseph Beuys? Il racconto a fumetti di Gianluca Costantini

In the summer of 2022, the author visited Düsseldorf and discovered that Joseph Beuys's former home at Drakeplatz 4 in Oberkassel was for sale, but the city's cultural department declined to purchase it. Beuys lived and worked there from 1961 until his death in 1986, using the space as both a residence and studio. The article recounts the intimate details of family life there, including how Beuys painted the main room white for his wife Eva's photography, and how the family navigated the blend of private life and artistic practice. Two years later, the Brunhilde Moll Foundation acquired the house and opened it to the public, though it was closed for renovations when the author returned. The house now displays about sixty works from Beuys's creative period and will host artist residencies and events.

Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair Returns May 7–10

Printed Matter's LA Art Book Fair (LAABF) returns to ArtCenter South Campus in Pasadena, California, from May 7 to 10, 2026. The fair will feature 250 exhibitors, including international artists, publishers, and booksellers, alongside programs such as talks and panels in The Classroom, music and performances on The Stage, and special Project Spaces presentations by groups like Archivos Desviados, Bread & Puppet Press, and Getty. An Opening Night celebration on May 7, co-organized with Orange Radio & Homebody, will include live music by sonrisita and Mia Carucci, a limited edition ticket by Amia Yokoyama for the first 500 guests, and a new collaborative artist edition by Deanna Templeton and Ed Templeton.