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.

Venice Biennale jury resigns in latest politically charged controversy at art exhibition

The entire jury of the Venice Biennale has resigned, including president Solange Farkas and members Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi. The jury had announced it would not consider for prizes countries charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, a stance that would affect Israel and Russia, both of which have national pavilions at the exhibition. As a result, the Biennale will not award several jury prizes, including the Golden Lion for best national pavilion and best artist in the group show, replacing them with visitor-voted awards.

Museum of Arts and Design Presents First Solo Museum Exhibition for Artist Jessica Lichtenstein

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York will present "Jessica Lichtenstein: Rewilding," the artist's first solo museum exhibition, from May 30, 2026, through April 18, 2027. The immersive installation transforms the third-floor gallery into a lush, overgrown terrain featuring thousands of digitally rendered female nudes that coalesce into forests, ruins, and flowering canopies, exploring themes of femininity, ecological imagination, and bodily autonomy.

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.

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.

From Rocky to Rizzo: Monument Expert Paul Farber Talks Statues and Public Spaces

Paul Farber, founder of Monument Lab, discusses his new exhibition "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The show moves the iconic Rocky statue inside the museum and examines how a fictional boxer's statue became Philadelphia's most famous work of art, exploring broader questions about collective memory and public commemoration. Farber also reflects on the dismantling of the Frank Rizzo statue and how unintentional monuments like the Berlin Wall shape cultural discourse.

9 Spectacular Art and Fashion Exhibitions You Can’t Miss in 2026

The article previews nine major art and fashion exhibitions scheduled for 2026 across Europe and the United States. Highlights include the V&A's first UK survey of Elsa Schiaparelli, tracing her radical approach to couture; ICA Miami's immersive Dolce&Gabbana showcase celebrating Italian craftsmanship; the Met's comprehensive Raphael exhibition featuring over 170 works; the Musée d'Orsay's exploration of Renoir's joyful modernity; and Palais Galliera's look at 18th-century fashion's lasting influence.

MAD, 제시카 리히텐스타인 개인전 'Jessica Lichtenstein: Rewilding'(5/30, 2026-4/18, 2027)

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York will present "Jessica Lichtenstein: Rewilding," the artist's first solo museum exhibition, from May 30, 2026, to April 18, 2027. The immersive installation transforms the third-floor gallery into a lush, overgrown terrain featuring thousands of digitally rendered female nudes that form forests, ruins, and flowering canopies. The exhibition is divided into four sections—Secret Garden, After the Fall, Leave Your Thoughts Here, and Shadow Play—and includes site-specific works like the 2026 piece "Secret Garden" and a 70-foot-long modular sculpture titled "Leave Your Thoughts Here" (2025).

William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin

The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin is hosting the first-ever exhibition of William Blake's work in Ireland, titled "William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy." The show features major works such as "The Night of Enitharmon’s Joy" (c. 1795) from Tate, and includes a life mask of Blake painted by Francis Bacon, connecting the Romantic visionary to the 20th-century Irish-born artist. The article explores Blake's radical politics, his arrest for sedition in 1803, and his enduring influence on figures like Bacon and the critic David Sylvester.

At the Venice Biennale, Canada’s entry blooms with unease

Montreal artist Abbas Akhavan's installation "Entre chien et loup" transforms the Canadian pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale into a living climate system, featuring a humid, Amazon-like environment with a pond of Victoria water lilies. The seeds were sourced from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and germinated at the Orto Botanico di Padova, with the lilies growing and blooming over the course of the biennale.

Notte Europea dei Musei 2026: tornano le aperture serali con biglietto a 1 euro. Il programma

The European Night of Museums returns on Saturday, May 23, 2026, with participating museums across Europe opening their doors for special evening hours. In Italy, the Ministry of Culture organizes extraordinary openings from 8 PM to midnight at the symbolic price of 1 euro, alongside events in theater, music, dance, literature, and cinema. Highlights include Rome's Notte dei Musei (16th edition) with civic museums open until 2 AM, Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este in Tivoli offering evening access and contemporary performances, and the Royal Savoy Residences in Piedmont featuring guided tours, exhibitions, and family activities.

Future Fair Is a Big Artist Party

Future Fair, held at Chelsea Industrial in New York from May 13–16, 2026, brought together 69 exhibitors from nine countries. Unlike traditional art fairs with segmented booths, the fair emphasized interconnectedness and interpersonal connection, featuring artist-run booths and family-led presentations. Notable participants included Nanor Hakimian showing her brother Garo's paintings, Olivia Janna Genereaux exhibiting with her son Hans Silas Jovine, and artists Cloe Galasso, John Vitale, and Miles Ingrassia. The fair also highlighted its profit-sharing model, dedicating 15% of proceeds plus exhibitor donations to subsidize emerging galleries.

The soap opera continues. Minister Giuli will boycott the inauguration of the Venice Biennale

La telenovela continua. Il Ministro Giuli diserterà l’inaugurazione della Biennale di Venezia

Alessandro Giuli, Italy's Minister of Culture, has announced he will boycott the pre-opening and inauguration ceremony of the 61st Venice Biennale on May 9, 2026, escalating a political and cultural crisis. The dispute began when Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco allowed the Russian pavilion to reopen, absent since 2022 due to the Ukraine invasion, citing artistic freedom. Giuli demanded the removal of ministry representative Tamara Gregoretti from the Biennale board for failing to oppose the decision. Tensions flared during the Italy Pavilion press conference, where journalists were confined to a separate streaming room and questions were restricted. The European Commission condemned the Russian pavilion's reopening, cutting €2 million in funding and issuing a 30-day ultimatum, while 22 European countries signed a letter pressuring the institution. The Biennale's international jury, led by Solange Oliveira Farkas, then excluded Russia and Israel from award consideration, citing ethical guidelines against countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges for crimes against humanity.

Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Archivists and Activists

New York- and Ramallah-based Palestinian artists Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme present *Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom* (2025), an hour-long four-channel film installation at The Bell/Brown Arts Institute in Providence. The work layers psychedelic imagery of figures in nature with spoken and written testimonies from Palestinians formerly detained by Israeli authorities, exploring themes of incarceration, surveillance, and resistance through fragmented montage and poetic text. The exhibition also includes drawings by Abou-Rahme’s father and printed screenshots of reflections on the genocide in Gaza.

May we suggest the art you need to see this May?

Lifestyle Asia has published a curated list of art exhibitions and events to see in May, offering recommendations for art enthusiasts looking to explore new shows and installations during the month. The article serves as a guide to notable cultural happenings, likely highlighting both emerging and established artists across various venues.

In Pol Taburet’s New Show, Being Paranoid Is the Point

French artist Pol Taburet has opened a solo exhibition titled *Paranoia as Method* at Villa Medici in Rome, on view through July 15. The show features sculptures, large-format paintings, and charcoal drawings created during his spring residency at the institution, transforming the villa’s gardens, loggias, and salons into tense psychic landscapes. Taburet’s figures drift between human and animal, evoking transformation, mortality, and spiritual tension, drawing on his Caribbean roots, voodoo traditions, contemporary culture, and classical painting.

Major Exhibition Creates World Class Art Trail Across North Yorkshire

An exhibition featuring works by 50 leading contemporary artists will be staged across four venues in North Yorkshire, England, from April to September 2025, as part of the 20th anniversary of the Aesthetica Art Prize. The venues include Skipton Town Hall, the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, Scarborough Art Gallery, and Woodend Gallery, with free entry at most sites. The exhibition is a joint venture between Aesthetica and Culture North Yorkshire, the council's culture and archive service, and is divided into four thematic parts: Future(s), Perception, Intervention, and Transformation.

Beyond the Mission Statement: Everhart Museum

The Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, celebrates 119 years of connecting the community to art, science, and natural history. Founded in 1908 by Civil War surgeon Dr. Isaiah Everhart, the museum has evolved from a cultural centerpiece during the Industrial Revolution into a regional attraction featuring fossils, taxidermy, folk art, and traveling exhibits. Recent highlights include a NASA exhibit that brought astronaut Paul Richards back to the museum where he first visited as a child, and the museum's folk art collection is noted as one of the best in the country, with pieces borrowed by major institutions like the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

At 1-54 New York 2026, Afro-Brazilian art takes centre stage for the first time

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York (May 13–17, 2026) will debut a curated section titled '1-54 Presents: Brazil Beyond Brazil,' focusing exclusively on Afro-Brazilian art and artists. Organized by Brazilian curator Igor Simões, the section features works by ten Black Brazilian artists—including Ana Claudia Almeida, Rebeca Carapiá, and Rommulo Vieira Conceição—presented by leading Brazilian galleries such as Almeida & Dale, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Nara Roesler, and Aura. The initiative draws on archival research, reinterprets modernist legacies, and challenges narrow narratives around Afro-Brazilian art, highlighting the cultural links between Africa and Latin America.

‘Art’s Selfish’: Canada Pavilion Artist Abbas Akhavan on What Comes After Venice

Abbas Akhavan, representing Canada at the 2026 Venice Biennale, has transformed the Canada Pavilion into a greenhouse-like installation titled “Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup.” The pavilion’s wooden door has been replaced with glass, revealing a pond of pinkish water illuminated by sunlight and LED grow-lamps. Visitors encounter mossy boulders, a vintage fur coat sprayed with mist, sharpened bronze sticks, and frosted mirrors that blur the architecture. Three giant Bolivian water lilies, grown from seeds sent from Kew Gardens to Padua, will gradually fill the pond over the summer. Akhavan describes his role as a “custodian” rather than a controller, emphasizing the unpredictability of nature.

The National Gallery of Canada, commissioner of Canada's participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, unveils the exhibition Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup

The National Gallery of Canada has unveiled the exhibition "Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup" for the Canada Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2026. The site-specific installation reimagines the pavilion's architecture as a Wardian case, a precursor to the terrarium used to transport plants across the British Empire, featuring a custom pool with giant Victoria water lilies. The artist replaced the facade with glass panels, making the plants visible from outside, and the installation is framed by additional sculptural works. The exhibition is curated by Kim Nguyen and accompanied by a fully illustrated publication.

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.

Exhibition | Daniel Crews-Chubb, 'The Belt of Venus' at Patricia Low Contemporary, Venezia, Venice, Italy

Daniel Crews-Chubb presents 'The Belt of Venus,' an exhibition of six new monumental paintings at Patricia Low Contemporary in Venice. The works draw inspiration from the atmospheric phenomenon of the same name, using its ethereal pinkish glow as a color palette. Crews-Chubb explores pareidolia—the brain's tendency to see faces in abstract forms—pushing his long-standing interrogation of the human figure into increasingly abstract territory. The paintings reference classical mythology, including the Roman goddess Venus, and incorporate fragmented forms reminiscent of ancient statuary, serving as memento mori.

Selling exhibition to support art: Déjà Vu at Alserkal heralds joint initiative

A multi-gallery selling exhibition titled 'Déjà Vu' opens at Concrete in Alserkal Avenue on April 25, running for 14 days. The exhibition features over 50 artists from 20 leading UAE contemporary art galleries and is curated by Kevin Jones, Nada Raza, and Zaina Zaarour. It is designed as a commercial initiative to support galleries impacted by recent events.

Forgers, One-Way Mirrors of the Art Market

Les faussaires, miroirs sans tain du marché de l’art

Anthropologist Monique Jeudy-Ballini has published a new book, "Peintres de l’ombre. Les faussaires à l’œuvre," in which she examines art forgers through an ethnographic lens. Drawing on autobiographical accounts, published interviews, and expert writings—including those of notorious forgers Wolfgang Beltracchi, Eric Hebborn, and Guy Ribes—she explores the motivations and practices of these clandestine figures, arguing that their work involves not only technical skill but also the creation of elaborate narratives and pedigrees for their forgeries. The book is part of the Ethnologiques series edited by Philippe Descola and published by Éditions Mimésis.

Kim Gordon Was Never Just the “Girl in the Band”

Kim Gordon, best known as co-founder of the influential indie rock band Sonic Youth, is the subject of a new exhibition titled "Count Your Chickens" at Amant in New York. Curated by Patricia Margarita Hernández, the show surveys Gordon’s visual art from 2007 to the present, including paintings, drawings, ceramics, and video works such as "Jeanetta and Alex" (2026). The exhibition explores themes of celebrity, gender, electricity, and the tension between public image and private reality, featuring pieces like "Paris, Paris" (2025) and the "Airbnb Series" (2019).

Wander through Adrienna Matzeg’s Embroidered, Late-Night City Explorations

Adrienna Matzeg’s solo exhibition "After Hours" at Abbozzo Gallery in Toronto presents embroidered textile works inspired by her late-night explorations of Kyoto, Tokyo, and Seoul during a July 2025 trip. The pieces capture quiet, illuminated scenes of convenience stores, markets, and roadside attractions, rendered on black linen with a diaristic, snapshot-like quality.

Brook Hsu ”The Barcelona Pavilion (including work by Georg Kolbe)” at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin

Brook Hsu's exhibition "The Barcelona Pavilion (including work by Georg Kolbe)" at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler in Berlin presents a series of works that interweave references to architecture, film, literature, and animal carcasses. The show's title alludes to Mies van der Rohe's iconic Barcelona Pavilion and the sculptor Georg Kolbe, whose work was originally installed there, while the list of pieces—ranging from paintings like "Daybreak:Orange Tree" to works dedicated to figures such as Anne Wiazemsky and Pasolini—creates a dense, associative network of cultural and personal memory.

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