Art & Light Gallery has partnered with The Anchorage restaurant in Greenville to host an exhibition of works by local artist Eric Benjamin. The show, available virtually on the gallery's website and on view through July 7 at the restaurant, features Benjamin's landscape paintings characterized by bold color and abstract energy created with hand-mixed oil paints. A ticketed artist talk is scheduled for June 18.
The inaugural Enzo art fair has launched in Echo Park, Los Angeles, featuring nine galleries primarily from New York’s Chinatown and Lower East Side. Founded by collector R Parmar at Alabaster Projects, the fair operates on a unique fee-free model for exhibitors and visitors alike, removing the traditional financial barriers of booth fees and wall build-outs. The opening saw a vibrant atmosphere with works ranging from Peggy Chiang’s suspended sculptures to Radek Szlaga’s textile installations.
The article reflects on the art market's turbulent 2025, marked by gallery closures, weak auction results, and canceled art fairs. Rather than viewing this as a collapse, the author argues it represents a necessary "right-sizing" of an industry that over-expanded during boom years. Key figures like Philip Hoffman of the Fine Art Group advocate for leaner, more agile business models, such as his new advisory firm New Perspectives Art Partners. Meanwhile, dealers in New York and Los Angeles are adapting through shared exhibition spaces and strategic mergers, including Marian Goodman Gallery hosting Jenkins Johnson Gallery and the formation of Hoffman Donahue.
Architetture, progetti e visioni. La storia del Santa Maria della Scala va in mostra a Siena
The Fondazione Antico Ospedale Santa Maria della Scala in Siena has launched a new regeneration project for the historic complex, 40 years after it ceased functioning as a hospital. The foundation, led by president Cristiano Leone and director Chiara Valdambrini, commissioned Luca Molinari Studio to analyze the original design by Guido Canali and coordinate a collaborative masterplan involving three international architecture firms: LAN Architecture, Odile Decq with Pangalos Feldmann Architectes, and Hannes Peer Architecture. An exhibition titled "Santa Maria della Scala. Architetture, progetti e visioni" will open on May 30, 2026, curated by Luca Molinari, showcasing the architectural plans and visions for the site.
In Toscana una nuova rassegna porta l’arte contemporanea nelle aziende agricole con mostre e residenze d’artista
The first edition of CARMI.CO 2026 – Carmignano Contemporanea will take place from May 15 to 24, 2026, in the Carmignano area near Prato, Tuscany. The festival features five exhibitions and five artist residencies hosted by local wineries and agricultural estates, alongside talks, workshops, and studio visits. Exhibitions are staged at venues including the Rocca di Carmignano, Museo Archeologico di Artimino, and Museo delle Maioliche di Bacchereto, with works by artists such as Marco Bagnoli, Qiu Yi, Gola Hundun, Rachel Morellet, Fargo, Marco Ulivieri, Serena Fineschi, and others. Residencies take place at Tenuta di Capezzana, Colline San Biagio, Tenuta Le Furre, Tenuta di Artimino, and Fattoria Il Grumolo, involving artists Max Magaldi, Ronaldo Fiesoli, Vittorio Cavallini, Graziano Riccelli, and Gola Hundun.
A major retrospective exhibition titled "Feedback. Gli ambienti di Franco Vaccari" has opened at Museion in Bolzano, Italy, dedicated to the late artist Franco Vaccari (1936–2025). The show features over twenty immersive environments, historical works, and recent video experiments drawn largely from the museum's permanent collection and the Franco Vaccari Archive of Visual Writing. Curated by Frida Carazzato and Luca Panaro in collaboration with Fosbury Architecture, the exhibition explores Vaccari's cross-disciplinary practice spanning photography, writing, and participatory installation art.
Mafalda incontra Pimpa. A Roma il dialogo tra due autentiche icone del fumetto: intervista ai curatori
A new exhibition in Rome titled "Mafalda & La Pimpa" brings together two iconic comic strip characters for the first time. Created by Quino (1964) and Altan (1975) respectively, Mafalda and Pimpa represent different approaches to childhood: Mafalda critically questions adult society, while Pimpa explores a gentle, wonder-filled world. The show runs from May 14 to July 11 at the Instituto Cervantes, featuring over 120 original strips and plates, and is organized in collaboration with ARF! Festival and other partners. Curators Stefano Piccoli and Daniele Bonomo designed the exhibition to highlight both the contrasts and surprising analogies between the two beloved figures.
Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D), in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at MECA&D, presents the 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition, showcasing the culminating work of nine graduate candidates in the Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art program. The exhibition features artists Abigail G. Cloutier, Harley Ngai Grieco, Molly Knobloch, Stephen Medeiros, Darby Miller, Dylan Ouellette, Caitlin Perrigo, Jonathan Spath, and Isaac L. Stern, working across ceramics, drawings, photography, prints, sculpture, sound, and video installations. The show runs from May 7–16, 2026, at the ICA in Portland, Maine.
Due fotografi hanno provato a raccontare la Toscana oltre i soliti cliché
The article profiles photographers Gioconda Rafanelli and August Kaciuruba, who are contributing to the "How Italy Feels" project curated by Marina Serena Cacciapuoti and Cesare Cacciapuoti of Italy Segreta. The project involves twenty local photographers capturing Italy beyond stereotypes. In the Tuscany chapter, Rafanelli and Kaciuruba present a lived, off-duty vision of the region, blending fashion, architecture, and cinematic influences. They discuss their collaborative process, their shared gaze, and how their work shifts between the fast pace of Milan and the slower rhythms of Tuscany, drawing inspiration from filmmakers like Wong Kar-wai, Stanley Kubrick, Luchino Visconti, and Michelangelo Antonioni.
The article announces the opening of the Museo Igor Mitoraj in Pietrasanta, Italy, scheduled for June 6, 2026, after several years of delays. The museum is the first space entirely dedicated to the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj, who died in 2014 and was known for transforming Tuscan marble into works blending classical forms with fragmented, contemporary themes. Designed by OBR, Politecnica, and Studio Lumine, the museum results from collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Pietrasanta, and the artist's heirs, united in the Fondazione Museo Igor Mitoraj. Frank Boehm, director of the foundation, envisions the space as a research-oriented center that will engage with different artistic languages and contemporary issues, not limited to Mitoraj's work alone.
The third edition of the De Linea Art Festival took place on May 2-3 at the Certosa di Pontignano near Siena, Italy. Curated by Matteo Marsan and Riccardo Guasco, the event transformed the historic monastery into a living laboratory of drawing, illustration, and performance. Nine illustrators—including Marina Marcolin, Francesco Poroli, Elisa Macellari, Gianluca Folì, Ale Giorgini, Gloria Pizzilli, Matteo Berton, Giovanna Giuliano, and Daniele Caluri—participated in a week-long residency, producing works inspired by the site and the festival's theme "Crepe e spiragli" (Cracks and Glimmers), a contemporary interpretation of a Leonard Cohen quote. Over 500 visitors attended workshops, talks, and shared creative sessions, including a workshop by Fondazione Il Bisonte and performances by actress Daniela Morozzi and graphic poet Alessandro Valenti (Alvalenti).
A Venezia torna il Padiglione della Siria dopo il crollo del regime. L’intervista
The Syrian Pavilion returns to the Venice Biennale after the fall of the regime, marking the country's first participation since 2024. The pavilion, curated by artist Sara Shamma, is housed in the former refrigerated warehouses of Santa Marta at the Iuav University of Venice and runs until November 22. It features an installation inspired by the ancient funerary towers of Palmyra, combining painting, architecture, light, sound, and scent to explore cultural heritage and the restitution of looted antiquities.
The article announces Chiara Camoni's project "Con te con tutto" for the Italian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, curated by Cecilia Canziani. The project emphasizes relational and communal practices, rejecting the identity-driven rhetoric of national representation. It stems from a fifteen-year dialogue between artist and curator, incorporating workshops, shared readings, and collaborative works like "La Giusta Misura." The pavilion is conceived as an ecosystem of artworks, texts, and activations rather than a linear exhibition, with a catalog designed as a critical reader.
Le opere di Alfredo Pirri per la primissima mostra del Polytropon Arts Center in Toscana
The Polytropon Arts Center, founded by Greek-born architect Maria Papadaki Badanjak, opens its inaugural exhibition "Quello che avanza" featuring works by Italian artist Alfredo Pirri. The venue, a converted former spinning mill located between Pelago and Pontassieve near Florence, hosts the show through June 21, 2025. The exhibition includes 144 cyanotypes created between 2014 and 2017, along with Pirri's "Arie" series in plexiglass, crystal, feathers, and colors. The show is accompanied by a musical program curated by artistic director Andrea Cavallari, with concerts scheduled for May 17 and June 21. Pirri and Cavallari previously collaborated in 2019 at the Museo Novecento in Florence as part of the "Firenze Suona Contemporanea" festival.
A Venezia apre al pubblico per la prima volta uno spazio inedito dell’Arsenale. Ospiterà performance
For the first time, the Galeazze—historically used for constructing the Serenissima fleet—will open to the public during the 2026 Venice Art Biennale on May 5 and 6. Artist and choreographer Faustin Linyekula has conceived a site-specific performance titled The Galeazze Project, activating the monumental, water-adjacent spaces of the Arsenale Nord. Collaborating with musician Heru Shabaka-Ra, Linyekula integrates the architecture into the performance, involving local performers and musicians. The project, conceived by Cosimo Ferrigolo and Dirk Bell and curated by Edoardo Lazzari, features scaffolding, platforms, and an irregular lighting system, inviting the audience to move freely and redefine the relationship between bodies and space.
Un artista argentino inaugura a Torino le attività di un nuovissimo spazio dedicato alla fotografia
A new photography space called K! has opened in Turin's San Salvario district, inaugurated by Argentine artist Emilio Nasser with his exhibition "La Cornuda de Tlacotalpan." The space is the latest curatorial project of the Kublaiklan collective (Rica Cerbarano, Francesco Colombelli, Elsa Moro, Aleksander Masseroli Mazurkiewicz) and focuses on research, production, and education centered on the relational power of photography. Nasser's exhibition reinterprets a fading Mexican legend from Tlacotalpan by involving the local community in a collective reconstruction through drawings, transcriptions, and mud masks, resulting in a choral portrait of the mythical Cornuda creature.
Anche per questo 2026 il Fuorisalone è pieno di moda. Ecco gli eventi a metà strada tra fashion e design
The 2026 Fuorisalone in Milan continues to be a major platform for the convergence of fashion and design. Numerous fashion brands are presenting immersive installations, special collections, and cultural formats across the city, transforming urban spaces into narrative environments. Key presentations include YOOX's digital installation with Keta Bart, Gucci's archival project by Demna, Prada's symposium curated by Formafantasma, and new collections from Armani, Fendi, Dior Maison, and Louis Vuitton.
Valorizzare l’alta sartoria. Issey Miyake e Ensamble Studio insieme al Fuorisalone 2026
Satoshi Kondo, a director at the Miyake Design Studio, has partnered with the Madrid-based architecture firm Ensamble Studio to explore the creative potential of the Paper Log, a byproduct of Issey Miyake's signature pleating process. The collaboration will culminate in an exhibition titled 'The Paper Log: Shell and Core' during the 2026 Fuorisalone in Milan, featuring prototype furniture and sculptural forms made from the compressed paper rolls and unfolded pleated paper.
Milano Design Week 2026: guida sulle cose da vedere al distretto di Isola (che compie 10 anni)
The Isola Design Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary during Milan Design Week 2026 with the theme "TEN: The Evolving Now." Originally founded to provide an affordable platform for independent and young designers, the festival has expanded from a local neighborhood initiative into a global organization with a permanent presence in Dubai. The 2026 edition centers on the historic Fabbrica Sassetti, a 1930s wool mill, alongside various venues across the Isola district including Fondazione Catella and Stecca3.
Gli alberi sono un modello da seguire. A Modena c’è un festival che lo conferma
The Alberi Festival in Modena transforms the Villaggio Artigiano Ovest into an open-air laboratory focused on the intersection of botany, architecture, and urban planning. Inspired by the seminal 1960s research of Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi, the event features exhibitions, installations, and discussion tables centered around the "Officina Botanica," an experimental green regeneration project housed in a former industrial warehouse.
In una villa storica a Prato una mostra che fa incontrare artificiale e naturale
Artist Andrea Marini presents "Anomale Intrusioni" (Anomalous Intrusions) at the historic Villa Rospigliosi in Prato, an exhibition organized by Associazione Chorasis. Curated by Riccardo Farinelli, the show features sculptural interventions that blend conceptual minimalism with the villa's centuries-old architecture and natural landscape. Marini’s works function as "programmed interferences," creating a dialogue between the organic and the artificial through metallic structures and zoomorphic forms that react to the surrounding environment and climate.
Mexican artist Elina Chauvet has accused Romanian news anchor Alessandra Stoicescu of plagiarizing her famous installation, "Zapatos Rojos" (Red Shoes). The dispute arose after Stoicescu organized a public intervention titled "Dragostea poartă pantofii roșii" outside the Romanian Athenaeum to mark new femicide legislation, featuring hundreds of red shoes in a manner nearly identical to Chauvet’s long-running global project. Chauvet claims this is the second time Stoicescu has co-opted her work without authorization or credit, following a similar incident in 2018.
Tutt’Italia riscopre Bice Lazzari. Dopo la mostra a Brera, ecco la seconda tappa alla Galleria Nazionale di Roma
The major retrospective "Bice Lazzari: The Languages of Her Time" has arrived at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAMC) in Rome following its debut at Palazzo Citterio in Milan. Curated by Renato Miracco and featuring over 200 works, the exhibition traces the Venetian artist’s journey from her early collaborations with architects to her late-career mastery of abstract painting. The show highlights her constant experimentation across various media, including textiles and jewelry, before she fully dedicated herself to painting in her fifties.
I dimenticati dell’arte. La storia dell’architetto e scultore Pietro De Laurentiis
The life and legacy of Pietro De Laurentiis, a multifaceted Italian architect, sculptor, and cultural activist, are being rediscovered through a retrospective look at his prolific career. Born into a peasant family in Abruzzo, De Laurentiis rose to prominence in Rome's mid-century art scene, balancing a forty-year teaching career at the Faculty of Architecture with significant public commissions, including bronze panels for the ACEA headquarters and marble works for INPS. His artistic style evolved from rural-inspired figuration to a unique geometric abstraction that blended Cubism with folk traditions.
Il soft power dell’Italia in Cina grazie a due grandi mostre su Pompei e Palladio
The National Museum of China in Beijing is currently hosting two major exhibitions celebrating Italian cultural heritage: "Pompeii: An Eternal Discovery" and "Geometry, Harmony and Life: The Architecture of Andrea Palladio from Antiquity to Classicism." These exhibitions, marking the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and China, were inaugurated by Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli. The Pompeii showcase traces 250 years of archaeological history using artifacts and multimedia, while the Palladio exhibition explores the Renaissance master’s influence on Western architecture and creates a cross-cultural dialogue with traditional Chinese building techniques.
Di testamenti e di trasfigurazioni. Intervista alla poeta Silvia Righi
Italian poet Silvia Righi discusses her latest collection, *Ex voto suscepto*, published by Pungitopo as part of the Remedia series. The book originated from a narrative concept involving the arrival of God's daughter on Earth and features a unique interdisciplinary collaboration with artist Mattia Barbieri, who provided China ink illustrations. The interview explores the collection's focus on the decaying body, the fluidity of the lyrical 'I', and the intersection of poetic language with visual art.
La galleria The Flat di Milano trasloca: nuovo spazio da 280 mq vicino alla Stazione Centrale
The Flat – Massimo Carasi gallery is relocating to a new 280-square-meter space near Milan’s Central Station after 18 years in the Porta Venezia district. To mark the opening on April 9, 2026, the gallery will present "Here… Now!", a group exhibition featuring artists such as Hiva Alizadeh, Michael Johansson, and Leonardo Ulian. The show serves as a retrospective of the gallery’s history since its founding in 2002, showcasing the experimental and international practices that define its program.
New York City’s Fifth Avenue was transformed into a vibrant public gallery on April 5, 2026, for the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival. Participants gathered outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral to showcase elaborate, hand-crafted headpieces ranging from Eduardo Escobar’s rotating 'Trip to the Moon' hat to Shayna Strype’s hot-air balloon ensemble. The event featured a diverse array of creators, including climate-conscious artist Cristian Pietrapiana and mixed-media sculptor Gail Trunick, who utilized the street as a stage for avant-garde millinery and performance art.
A Firenze l’arte crea comunità e confronto nello spazio Bagasseria. Intervista al suo fondatore
Painter Samuele Alfani has launched Bagasseria, a new independent art space and studio in the Sant’Ambrogio district of Florence. Named after the Catalan word for a house of prostitution as a gesture of reclamation and freedom, the venue functions as a porous community hub that blends artistic production with public engagement. Its inaugural exhibition, "Bau Bau Baby," is a group show curated by Luigi Presicce and Anna Capolupo featuring artists such as Francesco Lauretta, Davide Serpetti, and Thomas Berra.
Qatar is planning to build the Gulf region's largest full-service fine art storage and logistics facility, developed by QC+ (a strategic partner of Art Basel Qatar and Qatar Sports Investments) in collaboration with Gulf Warehousing Company Q.P.S.C. The facility, located near Hamad International Airport in a designated free zone, will offer art preservation, storage, conservation, and viewing rooms, allowing artworks to be stored and traded outside customs territory. The announcement follows Qatar's broader art infrastructure expansion, including a planned museum of international modern and contemporary art and the upcoming Art Basel Qatar fair.