Bow Arts launches open call for 2027 East London Art Prize

Bow Arts has announced an open call for the 2027 edition of the East London Art Prize, now entering its third cycle. The prize will support 12 shortlisted artists with exhibitions, mentoring, and career development, awarding one artist £15,000 and a solo exhibition at Nunnery Gallery, and another a year-long studio residency. The judging panel includes Brendan Cormier, Alex Needham, Marine Tanguy, and artist Michelle Williams Gamaker, with submissions open from 14 May to 16 August 2026.

Memorial Art Gallery raises $9 million to make admission free in 2027

The Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) at the University of Rochester has raised over $9 million through its "Free for All, Forever" fundraising initiative, surpassing its original goal and timeline. The museum will now open its doors free of charge to all visitors sometime in 2027, much sooner than anticipated. Key donors include Alexander and Lucy Levitan, who contributed a $1 million capstone gift; Doug and Abby Bennett and the Sands Family Foundation, who gave a $3 million leadership gift; and Mary Ellen Burris, who donated $2 million. The announcement was celebrated at MAG's Flourish For All, Forever gala on May 9, 2026.

Tate St Ives to host first UK museum exhibition of groundbreaking artist

Tate St Ives will present the first UK museum exhibition of Aleksandra Kasuba, a Lithuanian American artist (1923–2019), from May 2 to October 4, 2026. The show spans seven decades of her career, featuring early paintings, mosaics, sculptures, and public artworks, including the spatial environment *Spectrum: An Afterthought* and a recreation of her *Live-In Environment*. Works are drawn from the Lithuanian National Museum of Art's collection, where Kasuba donated her pieces.

For the People: Lubbock’s First Friday Art Trail Engages Thousands of Art-Goers Each Month

Lubbock’s First Friday Art Trail (FFAT), now in its 22nd year, has grown from a small gathering of a few dozen attendees to regularly drawing thousands to the downtown arts district each month. In October 2025, the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) distributed 6,000 wristbands before running out. The event features exhibitions, open studios, craft vendors, music, hands-on activities, drinks, and food trucks, with streets closed to traffic and visitors moving on foot or by trolley. The trail began organically in August 2004, spearheaded by artist Steve Teeters of St. Eligius Studio, and was inspired by a First Friday event in Corpus Christi.

Khaled Sabsabi’s Rocky Road From Australia to the Biennale

Lebanese-Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi was nearly removed from his commission for the Venice Biennale after being accused of supporting terrorism, but was later reinstated. He is now arriving in Venice to present not one but two works at the prestigious international exhibition.

Dries Verhoeven on Representing the Netherlands at the 61st Venice Biennale

Dries Verhoeven will represent the Netherlands at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026) with a new work titled *The Fortress*, installed in the Dutch Rietveld Pavilion in the Giardini. The 25-minute performance piece transforms the sunlit pavilion into a darkened bunker, featuring a raw vocal composition using only false vocal cords. Verhoeven describes the work as a meditation on transition and self-preservation, reflecting a Western society caught between its enlightened self-image and a dark vision of the future. The piece responds to geopolitical unrest outside the Biennale grounds and is designed to be melancholic and confrontational, contrasting with the main exhibition's theme, *In Minor Keys*.

San Francisco’s Vaillancourt Fountain Catches Fire During Controversial Removal

San Francisco's Vaillancourt Fountain, a Brutalist concrete structure at Embarcadero Plaza since 1971, caught fire on Wednesday morning as workers used blow torches to disassemble it. The fire ignited rubber tubing and debris inside the sculpture's cantilevered arms, producing smoke that forced the temporary evacuation of nearby paddle board courts. The fountain is being removed to make way for a $32.5 million redevelopment of the plaza and playground into a five-acre park.

The other side of the art world

Isabel Adair recounts her visits to commercial art galleries in London and Cambridge, describing the experience of viewing Eva Pade's exhibition at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac in Mayfair and the abstract works at Byard Art near King's College. She highlights the contrast between the polished, elite atmosphere of a high-end Mayfair gallery and the more accessible, profit-driven local gallery, while noting the freedom and openness of these spaces to the public.

Venice Biennale Diary: An Editor on the Ground

Andrew Durbin reviews national pavilions at the Venice Biennale, contrasting a vacuous US presentation with incisive and moving installations from Britain and Germany. The article is part of Frieze's Critic's Guides series, published on May 6, 2026.

Paul Stopforth | HERE COMES EVERYBODY 5 (2026) | For Sale

Paul Stopforth's artwork "HERE COMES EVERYBODY 5" (2026) is being offered for sale through The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The piece is a unique gouache on panel measuring 16 × 16 inches, priced at US$900, hand-signed by the artist, and includes a certificate of authenticity. Stopforth, born in 1945 and originally from South Africa, emigrated to the United States 27 years ago and has since lived and worked in Boston, Cambridge, and Provincetown. His career includes teaching at Harvard University, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and the Fine Arts Work Center, with his works held in public collections including the Harvard Film Archive, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and the National Gallery in Cape Town.

Khaled Sabsabi: Splintered Worlds

Khaled Sabsabi, a Lebanese Australian artist, explores the intersection of spirituality and perception through video and mixed-media installations rooted in Sufism. His work, such as the 18-minute video *Lefke Morning* (2012–18), captures the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order's dawn meditations, using blurred imagery and soundscapes to challenge Islamophobic media tropes and evoke a sense of unity. Sabsabi's practice also draws on hip-hop, which he performed as "Peacefender" in the 1980s, using music to address social issues and support marginalized communities in Western Sydney.

Salone Diary – Day One

Diario del Salone – Tag eins

The author begins a daily diary from the Milan Design Week, navigating the sprawling Fuorisalone exhibitions that run parallel to the Salone del Mobile furniture fair. The overwhelming experience prompts a search for genuine innovation amid a sea of installations merging fashion, art, and design, leading to the first lesson of the week: accepting the inevitability of missing out on some events.

At the Venice Biennale, the Armenian Pavilion Transforms into an Artist's Workshop: Works Are Born in Front of the Public

Alla Biennale di Venezia il Padiglione dell’Armenia si trasforma in bottega d’artista: le opere nascono di fronte al pubblico

The Armenian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale will transform into a functioning artist's studio, where sculptor Zadik Zadikian will create works in real time before the public. Titled "The Studio," the project is curated by gallerist Tony Shafrazi and curator Tina Chakarian, and will operate daily from May 6 to November 22 at the Tesa 41 of the Arsenale. Zadikian, born in Yerevan in 1948 and now based in the US, will work with traditional Armenian plaster techniques alongside his son Aram and studio assistants, emphasizing the process of making over the finished object.

Art Gallery of Swan Hill Opens Three Powerful First Nations Exhibition

The Art Gallery of Swan Hill in Victoria, Australia, will open three significant First Nations exhibitions on 29 May 2026. The shows are: 'JXSH MVIR: Forever I Live', the first major solo retrospective of the late Yorta Yorta, Gunditjmara and Barkindji artist Josh Muir, co-curated by his partner and mother; 'Gulgawarnigu | Thinking of Someone. Something', a touring digital portrait and landscape exhibition by young Indigenous artists from Roebourne, Western Australia, developed through a partnership with NEO-Learning and Big hART; and 'Big Place', a new exhibition drawn from the gallery's permanent collection featuring works from Western Australia, the Northern Territory, the Tiwi Islands and South Australia.

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.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Unveils Its Fashion Galleries, Highlighting Fashion’s Place in Museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled the new Condé M. Nast Galleries, a nearly 12,000-square-foot suite of exhibition spaces designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office. Located adjacent to the museum's Great Hall, the galleries relocate fashion exhibitions from a previously tucked-away basement space to one of the museum's most visible and architecturally significant locations. The new spaces debuted with "Costume Art," an exhibition organized by The Costume Institute and curated by Andrew Bolton, which places roughly 200 garments and accessories in dialogue with 200 artworks from the museum's collection, exploring themes such as "The Classical Body," "The Aging Body," and "The Disabled Body." The design, by architects Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, uses a restrained material palette of grey marmorino plaster and oak doors framed by limestone arches to create permanent-feeling yet flexible spaces that harmonize with the museum's historic Beaux-Arts architecture.

Rollstone Bank commits $100K to Fitchburg Art Museum

Rollstone Bank & Trust has committed $100,000 to sponsor free admission at the Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM) through 2029, the final year of the museum's Centennial celebration. The gift eliminates all admission fees, replacing previous categorical free programs with universal access, and is expected to significantly increase the museum's annual attendance of 14,000 visitors.

'Greater New York' Exhibit Gets Real at MoMA PS1

MoMA PS1 opened the sixth edition of its quinquennial exhibition 'Greater New York,' featuring over 50 artists from the New York area. The show, which debuted in 2000 as the first joint project between the Museum of Modern Art and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, fills all floors of the Queens museum with works addressing local themes such as immigration, taxi drivers, massage parlors, rats, and bodega cats. Notable installations include 'Unfree Free Time' by fields harrington, which pays a delivery driver minimum wage for each hour his bike is displayed, and a mural by the Cevallos Brothers, known for their posters for local businesses.

Stories the Soil Remembers Exhibition by Jyoti Tyagi to Open at Shridharani Gallery in New Delhi

A solo exhibition titled "Stories the Soil Remembers" by Delhi-based artist Jyoti Tyagi will open from 8 May to 14 May 2026 at Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. Curated by poet and art critic Prayag Shukla, the show features works in charcoal, acrylic, and mixed media on paper and canvas, exploring themes of nature, memory, and ecological sensitivity. Recurring motifs such as trees, birds, and landscapes reflect on the interdependence between humans and nature, while Tyagi's technique of scratching into painted surfaces evokes a sense of time and transformation.

May First Friday: 8 shows to see this month around Missoula

Missoula artist Julia LaTray presents a solo exhibition titled "Animal Pleasures" at Bob's Your Uncle gallery in May, featuring paintings of animals on glitchy, digitized backgrounds alongside lighting and other works. The gallery is only open to the public on dedicated nights, so the exhibition is paired with performances, comedy, and readings on May 1, 8, 15, and 29. Separately, Hanis Coos artist Sara Siestreem brings her major exhibition "Acts of Love, Refusal and Resistance" to the Missoula Art Museum, filling the museum's main galleries with large-scale mixed-media paintings and sculpture, including handmade baskets and ceramic molded versions with gilded flourishes. The museum hosts a First Friday reception on May 1 and a "Coffee and Conversation" with the artist on May 2.

How LACMA Is Centering Curation Around Cross-Cultural Exchange

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) opened its new David Geffen Galleries on April 19, featuring a groundbreaking installation organized around four bodies of water—the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea—rather than by country of origin or chronological sequence. Designed by architect Peter Zumthor, the 900-foot-long single-level space holds 2,500 to 3,000 objects, with 45 curators collaborating to arrange works from vastly different cultures and centuries together, allowing visitors to meander without prescribed pathways.

‘Don’t mind if I do’: Northampton exhibit brings art to visitors in a unique and accessible way

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.

Southern Guild’s New York moment signals a shift for African art

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.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Presents “Musical Bodies” Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will open a major exhibition titled "Musical Bodies" on June 7, 2026. The free exhibition will feature over 130 objects, including musical instruments, paintings, sculptures, and drawings, to explore the 4,000-year relationship between musical instruments and the human body. It will be organized into six thematic sections and includes items from ancient Egyptian rattles to a guitar owned by Prince.

Exciting evolution for SJIMA

Blake DeYoung is stepping down as Executive Director of the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) at the end of May to become Executive Director of the Skagit Valley College San Juan Center branch, replacing Randy Martin. Deputy Director Wendy Smith will serve as Acting Director during the transition. The museum board remains unchanged, and the institution views this as an opportunity to realign its structure and build on recent successes, including record attendance in 2025.

‘Lillian Pitt: Art, Memory, Home’ exhibition to open May 21 at The Museum at Warm Springs

A major exhibition titled 'Lillian Pitt: Art, Memory, Home' opens at The Museum at Warm Springs on May 21, featuring the contemporary art of celebrated Pacific Northwest Native artist Lillian Pitt alongside works from her personal collection and other institutions. The show, curated by Angela Anne Smith with contributions from Rebecca Dobkins, explores six themes in Pitt's life and work and includes an opening reception sponsored by The Ford Family Foundation.

Why artists’ love for opera will never die

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.

Jemima Wyman

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.

An exhibition in Milan brings visionary contemporary landscapes into dialogue with a great Turner watercolor. Review and interview

Una mostra a Milano fa dialogare visionari paesaggi contemporanei con un acquerello del grande Turner. Recensione e intervista

The exhibition "Continuum" at Robilant+Voena in Milan marks the first solo show in the city for American artist Maria Kreyn. It presents a selection of her contemporary landscapes—charged with pathos, abstract geometries, and references to art history—alongside a rare watercolor by J.M.W. Turner, *The Splügen Pass* (1842–43). Kreyn’s seascapes, influenced by her background in mathematics and philosophy, feature turbulent waves, ovoid and parabolic forms, and a sense of latent tension, creating a visual dialogue with Turner’s Romantic vision of nature.

Lee Jong-gu turns 'Pensive' in self-reflective solo exhibition at Hakgojae Gallery

Veteran Korean artist Lee Jong-gu, a key figure in the 1980s minjung art movement, has opened a solo exhibition titled "Pensive" at Hakgojae Gallery in Seoul. The show features 38 paintings that mark a shift from his decades-long focus on social realism toward a more contemplative approach, centering on the bangasayusang (contemplative bodhisattva figures) from the National Museum of Korea. Lee blends these sacred images with nude bodies, flames, and crowd scenes, drawing on the Buddhist concept of non-duality to explore themes of life, death, and the sacred versus the profane. The exhibition runs through June 20.