Finding art in the uncanny aesthetics of MAGA

Spielzeug gallery, founded in 2025 in Bushwick by Evan Karas and Eleanor Hicks, opened a pop-up show titled MAR-A-LAGO FACE on May 13 at a former restaurant on Allen Street in New York. The exhibition critiques the plastic-surgery aesthetics associated with Republican figures like Matt Gaetz, Laura Loomer, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kristi Noem, featuring works by queer, trans, and Latin American artists. The opening blurred the line between exhibition and party, with a DJ, themed drinks, and a bouncer checking bags.

SHE: Exhibition of street art at Rome gallery

Rosso20sette arte contemporanea in Rome is hosting a group exhibition titled 'SHE Street (Art) – Her (Art) – Exhibition,' featuring six internationally acclaimed female street artists: Swoon, Faith XLVII, Sandra Chevrier, Jacoba Niepoort, Handiedan, and Patrícia Mariano. Curated by Giorgio Silvestrelli, the show presents works on paper and canvas, some never previously exhibited and others created specifically for the occasion. The exhibition runs until 10 July at the gallery on Via del Sudario 39.

UMich art museum glorifies left-wing protests

A new exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) titled “American Sampler: The Art, Language and Legacy of Protest” features posters, pamphlets, and video from 1960s and ‘70s left-wing protest movements, including the Black Panthers, Vietnam War protesters, and the anarchist Yippies. Guest curator Julie Ault organized the show using materials from U-M’s Labadie Collection, which holds radical literature. Conservative commentator Bobby Mars, writing for the Michigan Enjoyer, criticizes the exhibit for allegedly glorifying violence and anti-American sentiment, arguing that the museum’s framing encourages today’s students to protest against the government.

Generations A Solo Exhibition by Julie Torres May 15 – July 11, 2026

Julie Miller Torres, a Tallahassee native and Maclay School graduate now based in Atlanta, is presenting a solo exhibition titled "Generations" at the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum in Quincy, Florida, from May 15 to July 11, 2026. The exhibition showcases her signature works—woven screenprints and paper quilts—that blend everyday materials like crochet and weaving with themes of freedom and empowerment. One of her most recognized pieces, "Super Diva," a portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is part of the permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Torres holds degrees from the University of Florida, the University of Miami, and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and her work appears in major collections including Delta Airlines, the Ritz-Carlton, SCAD, and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.

Stark Museum of Art to present America 250 exhibition

The Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas, will present a new exhibition titled "America 250: Three Presidents - Lincoln, Grant, and Garfield" to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. The show features three watercolor paintings by Taos artist Oscar E. Berninghaus, each depicting a formative moment from the early lives of Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and James Garfield, highlighting their humble beginnings and aspirations. The exhibition runs from May 16 to December 23, 2025, as part of the broader America 250 and SETX 250 celebrations across Southeast Texas.

The Picasso of India: Amrita Sher-Gil exhibit opens in Drents Museum

The Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands, has opened a major exhibition of works by Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), the Hungarian-Indian painter often called the Picasso of India. Titled “Europe is Picasso’s, India is Mine,” the show features nearly 50 paintings and drawings on loan from the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, marking the first-ever Sher-Gil exhibition in the Netherlands and the first in Europe in nearly two decades. Originally scheduled for March, the opening was delayed due to geopolitical tensions linked to the war in Iran, which postponed the transport of the artworks. The museum worked for six years to secure the loan, and 23 Dutch museums stepped in to create an alternative exhibition during the delay.

Taos Art Museum The pull of the landscape

The Taos Art Museum has opened a new exhibition titled “Land, Legacy, and Perspective: Landscapes of Northern New Mexico” on May 12, 2026, in the Janis and Roy Coffee Gallery. Featuring 30 works from the museum’s permanent collection and select loans from private collections, the show includes paintings and works on paper by artists such as Ernest L. Blumenschein, Leon Gaspard, Gene Kloss, Barbara Latham, Joseph Henry Sharp, Victor Higgins, and E. Martin Hennings. Spanning the early to mid-20th century, the exhibition captures scenes of Taos Pueblo, adobe villages, Black Mesa, snowy mountain passes, and aspen groves in various media.

Artist Yeesookyung Reimagines Works Through AI in Seoul-Jeju Exhibition

Artist Yeesookyung, known for her "Translated Vase" series that repairs broken ceramics with gold, has created new AI-driven video works for the exhibition "Fail Better," jointly held at Forum & Space in Seoul and Vido Gallery in Jeju through June 13. The two-person show, curated by Kim Yoon-kyung, also features media artist Yangachi and includes works like "Moonlight Crown," which uses real-time GPS and weather data to generate ever-changing forms, and "Oh, Rose!," a digitally bred rose series produced through an AI generative system.

Venice exhibition rethinks curating and creativity in the AI era

A new exhibition titled *Metamorphosis: Beyond the Real. Searching for Victoria Lu – When Humans and AI Think Together, the Story Begins* has opened at Ca' Foscari Esposizioni in Venice, running parallel to the 2026 Venice Biennale. The show centers on Victoria Lu, a pioneering Chinese curator whose five-decade career helped shape contemporary Asian art. It features archival materials, AI-generated works, and collaborative experiments exploring the intersection of human creativity and artificial intelligence.

Guillaume Dénervaud at PAGE (NYC) and Dracula's Revenge, New York

Guillaume Dénervaud presents a two-venue exhibition titled "Demeter" at PAGE (NYC) and Dracula's Revenge in New York, running from April 24 to May 30, 2026. The show includes a press release, checklist, poster, and 17 images documenting the works on view, with images courtesy of Page (NYC).

Blood-Red Landscapes by Andrew McIntosh Conjure the Terrifying Unknown

Scottish artist Andrew McIntosh presents a new series of crimson-hued landscape paintings in his solo exhibition "I Hope This Transmission Finds You Soon" at School Gallery in Folkestone, U.K. The works, including pieces titled "Whitney," "K2," "Gasherbrum," and "Matterhorn" (all 2026), transform familiar mountain forms into eerie, otherworldly scenes with glowing orbs and uncanny light, drawing inspiration from Cormac McCarthy's novel "Blood Meridian." The exhibition runs through May 30.

At Joy Machine, ‘Feel Free’ Plumbs the Tension Between Chaos and Control

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.

New exhibition to celebrate Birmingham pop art pioneer Peter Phillips

A free outdoor exhibition titled 'Pop Goes Brum!' will honor Birmingham-born Pop artist Peter Phillips at Snow Hill Square from June 9 to June 30, 2026. Curated by art historian Ruth Millington and organized by Birmingham Colmore, the showcase features Phillips' striking artworks and photographs, alongside contemporary works by current Birmingham School of Art students. Phillips, who studied and later taught at the Birmingham School of Art, was a key figure in the international Pop art movement alongside David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Peter Blake, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein. He passed away in June 2025 at age 86.

Lucid Perturbations: The Sewn Drawings and Books of China Marks

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.

Due giovani artisti in una mostra a Matera si confrontano sulle tracce della memoria

The article reports on "Remain(s)," a dual exhibition at Momart Gallery in Matera, Italy, featuring young artists Luca Granato and Michela Rondinone. Curated by Antonella Marino, the show explores the aesthetics of fragments and memory through installations, sculptures, and video works. Granato's pieces address loss, migration, and climate change, while Rondinone's works focus on childhood, play, and relational practices. The exhibition runs until May 26, 2026.

ICYMI: From the Princeton Art Museum to the Present Day Club – Docents on the Wall

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.

Para verte mejor, en todo tiempo

The Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney is presenting "Para verte mejor, en todo tiempo" (To see you better, at all times), a solo exhibition by Venezuelan-born artist Nadia Hernández. The show features an immersive textile collage, mural, and soundscape that draws on Venezuelan protest songs, musical traditions, and the artist's own diasporic experiences to explore memory, displacement, and resistance. It includes recent works such as "En todo tiempo (at all times)" 2024 and "El segundo verso (the second verse)" 2025, and is part of the gallery's Contemporary Projects series highlighting artists from New South Wales and wider Australia.

Barrie artist bringing Louvre-inspired realism to Aurora gallery

Micak Gallery in Aurora is presenting "Gilded Gold," a solo exhibition by Barrie-based artist JR Newton, featuring new oil paintings on view from May 16 through June 13, 2026. The show includes a live painting event on May 16 and an artist talk and reception on June 4. Newton's highly technical realist works, inspired by a recent trip to the Louvre, reimagine Renaissance portraiture, femininity, and historical grandeur through a contemporary lens, incorporating drapery and jewelry as central motifs.

A new AGWA exhibition will showcase giant 12-metre paintings by a WA street artist

Perth-raised street artist Stormie Mills will present his first-ever solo exhibition at an Australian state gallery, titled *All the secrets are buried between the oceans and the mountains*, at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) from August 1 to November 8, 2026. The show features works from his four-decade career, including two monumental 12-metre-long paintings inspired by the sea and mountains, exploring themes of connection, isolation, and human vulnerability.

Art Gallery of Burlington opens vibrant spring exhibition you have to experience

The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) opens its spring exhibition "A material called Earth, Volume 1: The life of corners" on May 16th, featuring the immersive textile art of Argentinian artist Celina Eceiza. The installation transforms the main gallery with hand-dyed, stitched, and embroidered works, including sculptures ranging from palm-sized to near-monumental, and incorporates ceramics from the AGB's collection. A public opening on May 16th includes a talk and tour with curator Sylvie Fortin and the artist, plus free programming by artist Camila Salcedo and refreshments from local vendors.

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme “Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom” at The Bell Gallery, Providence

The Bell Gallery at Brown University is presenting "Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom," a new exhibition by internationally renowned sound, video, and installation artists Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme. The show is co-curated by Kate Kraczon, Director of Exhibitions and Chief Curator of the Brown Arts Institute (BAI) / The Bell, and Thea Quiray.

Buhlebezwe Siwani “uYana umhlaba” at Consonni Radziszewski, Milan

Consonni Radziszewski inaugurates its Milan space with "uYana umhlaba," the first solo exhibition in Italy by South African artist Buhlebezwe Siwani. The show presents a new body of work that expands on research begun in 2020 with the Inkanyamba series, first exhibited at the Galeria Municipal de Almada in Portugal.

You can retrace the entire career of the legendary designer Alessandro Mendini in this exhibition in Verbania

Si può ripercorrere tutta la carriera del mitico designer Alessandro Mendini in questa mostra a Verbania

A new exhibition titled "Alessandro Mendini. COSE. Stanze come mondi" has opened at Villa Giulia in Verbania, Italy, running until September 27. Curated by art historian Loredana Parmesani, the show condenses the career of legendary designer Alessandro Mendini (1931–2019) into seven rooms, each centered on one of his iconic objects—such as the Poltrona di Paglia (1974) and the Poltrona di Proust (1978)—alongside 130 total pieces including drawings, paintings, and texts. The selection was made with Mendini's daughters Elisa and Fulvia, and the layout follows the villa's 19th-century plan, turning each space into a distinct chapter of his creative journey.

In Lombardia la Fondazione dello scultore Giancarlo Sangregorio inaugura un nuovo spazio dentro un parco

The Fondazione Giancarlo Sangregorio in Sesto Calende, near Varese, has inaugurated a new exhibition space called Spazio Luce, created from the renovation of an old rural building. The space opens with the show "Incontri. Da Fontana a Baj, da Rotella a Mondino. Una collezione svelata," curated by Lorella Giudici, featuring 34 works from Sangregorio's personal collection, including pieces by Lucio Fontana, Enrico Baj, Mimmo Rotella, Aldo Mondino, and Giancarlo Sangregorio himself. The exhibition runs from May 16 to September 27, 2026.

Obey racconta la sua mostra a Napoli ad Artbox su Sky Arte

The article covers the latest episode of Artbox on Sky Arte, focusing on the exhibition "OBEY: Power to the peaceful" at Gallerie d'Italia in Naples, running until September 6. Curator Giuseppe Pizzuto, artist Shepard Fairey (OBEY), and Michele Coppola of Intesa Sanpaolo discuss the show, which features over 130 works addressing global imbalances and peace as a political act. The episode also includes a segment on overtourism by Maria Vittoria Baravelli, a book review of "Misia e Basta" by Francesca Frigerio, and a feature on the interdisciplinary exhibition "La Maddalena di Piero di Cosimo" at Palazzo Venezia in Rome, curated by Edith Gabrielli.

A Firenze c’è da vedere una mostra sulla creatività degli Anni Venti

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.

Linda Lach, Diane Severin Nguyen at Gunia Nowik Gallery

Gunia Nowik Gallery in Warsaw presents a two-person exhibition featuring artists Linda Lach and Diane Severin Nguyen, running from April 10 to May 23, 2026. The show is organized in collaboration with Galerie Molitor and includes a bilingual guide in English and Polish. Documentation of the exhibition comprises 18 images, photographed by Katarzyna Legendź.

Color in Full Bloom: Chihuly Transforms Meijer Gardens

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will host "CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens" from May 2 to November 1, 2026, featuring the largest exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work ever held at the institution. The show includes 12 large-scale outdoor installations, over 80 indoor glass pieces, and 40 related drawings, with a 30-foot tower and glass boats in the Japanese Gardens. This marks the third Chihuly exhibition at Meijer Gardens, following shows in 2002 and 2010, and is one of only two 2026 exhibitions of the artist's work worldwide—the only one in America.

New art exhibition to open this summer as part of Glasgow International 2026

A new two-person exhibition titled "Painting, our mutual friend" will open at Glasgow Print Studio on June 4, 2026, as part of Glasgow International 2026. Featuring artists Lorna Robertson and Andrew Cranston, who are life partners, the show runs through August 1 and includes etchings, monoprints, watercolours, and oil paintings that explore their individual and shared experiences. The works were developed through experimental residencies at the studio between 2025 and 2026.

Inspiring Connections

An exhibition titled "Jean F. Watson: An Artistic Legacy" at the City of Edinburgh showcases over 40 historical and contemporary Scottish artworks acquired through the Jean F. Watson Bequest Fund. Featured artists include Arthur Melville, JD Fergusson, Anne Redpath, Joan Eardley, Eduardo Paolozzi, Elizabeth Blackadder, Alison Watt, and Leena Nammari, among others. Highlights include Fergusson's "The Blue Hat, Closerie des Lilas," Blackadder's "Irises," and a pandemic-inspired installation by Virginia Hutchison. The display spans drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture across 250 years.