BLANCA DE LA TORRE Y EL “MUSEO ANFIBIO”: “A MÍ ME INTERESA EL PÚBLICO, NO NECESARIAMENTE LAS MASAS”

Blanca de la Torre, director of the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM), discusses her concept of the "Museo Anfibio" (Amphibious Museum) in an interview for Artishock Revista's series on Ibero-American museum leaders. She proposes reimagining the museum as a relational institution that mediates between physical and symbolic territories, communities, and ecosystems, structured around two axes: Territories-Earth and Aquatic Environments. The interview is part of a series leading up to International Museum Day, with previous entries including Nicolás Gómez Echeverri of the Banco de la República de Colombia.

Greta Thunberg, Hugh Bonneville sign letter defending Southbank Centre chair Misan Harriman

A petition signed by Greta Thunberg, Hugh Bonneville, and other prominent figures defends Misan Harriman, the photographer and chair of London's Southbank Centre, against what the letter calls a "dishonest smear campaign." The controversy stems from two incidents: Harriman shared a social media post about a stabbing attack in Golders Green, noting that a Muslim victim received less press coverage than two Jewish victims, and later posted a video reflecting on the rise of the right-wing Reform party, citing a conversation about the Holocaust. Right-wing outlets like The Daily Telegraph accused him of equating Reform's electoral success to the Holocaust, leading to widespread backlash. Harriman denies making such equivalences, and nearly 70,000 people have filed complaints with the press regulator IPSO—the largest campaign in its history.

Art Show in London Canceled Over Allegations of Antisemitism from Pro-Israel Group

An exhibition by artist Matthew Collings at Delta House Gallery in London was canceled after UK Lawyers for Israel raised allegations of antisemitism. The show, titled "Drawings Against Genocide," had previously been displayed in Margate, where a review in the Telegraph described the works as "dripping with Jew-hate." One drawing depicted Sotheby's owner Patrick Drahi eating babies alive, while others showed Jews with horns or standing on skulls. Tom Berglund, chairman of Pineapple Corporation, which owns Delta House, said the exhibition was arranged without consultation and expressed hope for resolution in the Middle East. Collings defended the work on Instagram, arguing it satirizes the use of art to whitewash what he called "Zionist atrocity."

American Miners Photo Exhibition 'Beneath the Surface' Tour: National Gallery (DC)-Milwaukee Art Museum-Amon Carter Museum (Fort Worth, TX)

미국의 광부들 사진전 'Beneath the Surface' 순회: 내셔널 갤러리(DC)-밀워키미술관-에이먼카터미술관(포트워스, TX)

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will present 'Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography' from May 23 to August 23, 2026, the first exhibition to focus exclusively on the relationship between resource extraction and American photography. Featuring 150 photographs by over 100 artists—including Richard Avedon, Walker Evans, Lewis Hine, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks—the show spans nearly 200 years, from early daguerreotypes of the California Gold Rush to contemporary large-scale works. After its Washington run, the exhibition will travel to the Milwaukee Art Museum (October 23, 2026–January 18, 2027) and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas (February 14–May 9, 2027).

BlackBook Art Gallery Rewrites the Rules

BlackBook Art Gallery announces its 2026 season in Southampton, featuring two major exhibitions: "The Lost Generation: Then and Now," which pairs New York School legends like Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner with contemporary artists Julie Mehretu and Rashid Johnson, and "Summer Figuration," showcasing Amy Sherald, Kerry James Marshall, and Toyin Ojih Odutola. Founder Evanly Schindler frames the season around the concept of "urgency," drawing parallels between the postwar abstract expressionist era and today's climate of war, digital saturation, and political polarization. The gallery also plans to open a new location in Detroit's Eastern Market in fall 2026, with the Detroit Salon following in 2028.

5 exhibitions across the globe celebrating women who shaped art and culture

Five museums across the globe are opening exhibitions this month that celebrate women who have shaped art and culture. The shows include Björk's multidisciplinary "Echolalia" at the National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavík, Iris van Herpen's New York exhibition, Marina Abramović's historic showing at Venice's Gallerie dell'Accademia, the Tate Modern's first major Frida Kahlo retrospective, and centenary tributes to Marilyn Monroe. The article notes that despite women making up 51% of visual artists worldwide, their work remains underrepresented in public institutions, with 78% of London galleries showing more male than female artists.

Maine art museums overflow with summer exhibits

Maine's art museums are presenting a packed summer season with numerous exhibitions, including the collaborative show "By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth" organized by the Colby College Museum of Art, Farnsworth Art Museum, and Brandywine Museum, which explores the design influence of Andrew Wyeth's wife. Other highlights include the largest survey of Carl Spinchorn at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art and Bates College, "Shadow of the Eagle" at the Abbe Museum examining Native American perspectives on the Revolutionary War, and retrospectives of Phyllis Graber Jensen and Spindleworks Art Center at Bates College and Bowdoin College respectively. The Center for Maine Contemporary Art features new abstract sculptures by Bianca Beck, while Colby Museum also presents "Imagining an Archipelago" focusing on art from Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and their diasporas.

Eat Frida food off a Frida plate: Kahlo kitsch raises eye...

A major Tate Modern exhibition dedicated to Frida Kahlo and her circle opens next month in London, accompanied by a wave of commercial spin-offs including a Kahlo-inspired menu, dinner plates, a Netflix documentary, a clothing line, and an opera premiering in New York. The show, titled "Frida: The Making of an Icon," will also display over 200 souvenir objects and knick-knacks, examining Kahlo's transformation into a global brand. A new whodunnit novel by Oscar de Muriel reimagines Kahlo as a detective, and a culinary collaboration with Mexican chef Santiago Lastra will run at the Tate Modern restaurant.

Zurbarán at the National Gallery is more agony than ecstasy

The article reviews the exhibition 'Zurbarán' at the National Gallery in London, arguing that the show fails to capture the spiritual intensity and emotional power of the Spanish Baroque painter's work. It criticizes the curatorial choices, suggesting the display feels flat and lacks the ecstatic religious fervor that defines Zurbarán's best paintings, leaving viewers with a sense of agony rather than transcendence.

George Morrison painting highlights May 7, 2026 Heritage sale

Heritage Auctions will offer George Morrison's painting *Palisade* (1958) as the highlight of its May 7, 2026 Modern & Contemporary Art Signature Auction. The 76-lot sale features a global survey of postwar and contemporary abstraction, including works by Takeo Yamaguchi, Fritz Winter, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Wayne Thiebaud, Fernando Botero, David Bates, KAWS, and George Rickey.

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.

Philadelphia Museum of Art Launches Rocky Exhibition: A New Look at Monuments, Culture, and Legacy

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments” in April 2026, which examines the cultural significance of public monuments through the lens of the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa. Curated by Paul Farber and drawing on the work of Monument Lab, the show brings the iconic Rocky Statue inside the museum, placing it alongside classical and contemporary artworks by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, as well as historical objects spanning 2,000 years.

‘The pictures are evil!’ The great art-quake of 1910

The article reviews David Boyd Haycock's slim new book 'Art-Quake, 1910,' which examines the explosive 1910 exhibition 'Manet and the Post-Impressionists' at London's Grafton Galleries. The show introduced British audiences to revolutionary artists like Cézanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, and Picasso, provoking outrage from critics and the public, who called the works 'evil,' 'hysterical,' and a threat to civilization. The book is part of a series from Old Street publishing that also includes titles on the Degenerate Art exhibition and the Cultural Revolution.

Art for Our Age of Chaos

The article reviews two major New York exhibitions opening in 2026: the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, featuring over fifty artists, and "New Humans: Memories of the Future" at the newly expanded New Museum, with over a hundred artists. Both shows are described as enormous and defiant, responding to a distracted public and financial pressures. The reviewer notes that both exhibitions juxtapose large-scale immersive works with tiny, intimate pieces, and finds the Whitney Biennial lacking urgency, while preferring the New Museum's historical narrative about technology and modernity.

Work by Group of Seven's to be featured at Contemporary Calgary's LOOK2026

Contemporary Calgary has announced the details for its upcoming LOOK2026 auction fundraiser, featuring a prestigious selection of works by Canadian masters and contemporary stars. The auction will include pieces by Group of Seven member L.L. FitzGerald, Maxwell Bates, and Chris Cran, alongside contemporary works by artists such as Kablusiak. The event was bolstered by a significant contribution from Calgary-based philanthropist and collector John Lacey, who reached out to CEO David Leinster to support the institution's mission.

Open letter calls for ousting of Art Gallery of Ontario trustee who led vote against Nan Goldin acquisition

A major controversy has erupted at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) following the revelation that trustee Judy Schulich led a successful effort to block the acquisition of a new work by photographer Nan Goldin. The museum's Modern and contemporary curatorial working committee voted 11-9 against jointly purchasing Goldin's video piece *Stendhal Syndrome* (2024) with two other institutions, after Goldin was reportedly labeled antisemitic and compared to Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl for her criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza. The decision prompted the resignation of the AGO's curator of modern and contemporary art and two volunteer committee members.

Your country needs you(r content): National Gallery of Art in Washington DC launches social media open call

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has launched an open call for 50 digital content creators to produce short videos reinterpreting 100 selected works from its collection. The campaign, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States, offers a $3,000 honorarium to each selected creator and will feature their work on the museum's social media channels and within the museum itself.

Inside Brussels's €230m Kanal-Centre Pompidou museum—opening in November

The Kanal-Centre Pompidou, a major new modern and contemporary art museum in Brussels, will open on November 28. Housed in a converted 1930s Citroën garage, the €230m institution will launch with ten exhibitions, including a 350-work show drawn from the Centre Pompidou's collection in Paris and installations by artists like Otobong Nkanga.

Show unpacks legacy of polymath architect who restored Paris's Notre-Dame (the first time)

The Bard Graduate Center in New York is opening the first major US exhibition on French architect Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), known for restoring Notre-Dame de Paris and other medieval French monuments. Titled "Viollet-le-Duc: Drawing Worlds," the show features over 150 drawings spanning five decades, from his teenage sketches to late studies of medieval weaponry, drawn largely from the archives of the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie. Co-curated by Martin Bressani and Barry Bergdoll, the exhibition highlights his creative approach to preservation, including his iconic spire for Notre-Dame, which was faithfully rebuilt after the 2019 fire.

Comment | Tate Britain’s Turner and Constable show got me thinking about Marxist art history

The author recounts traveling from Scotland to London to see Tate Britain's exhibition "Turner and Constable: Rivals and Originals," despite costly and slow train travel. The article also covers the Old Master sales at Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonhams, noting mixed results: a Flemish triptych sold for £5.7m, a Hans Eworth portrait set a record at £3.2m, and a Gerrit Dou fetched £3.8m, while a Panini capriccio lost value since 2005.

Winslow Homer’s mountaineer and Bob Ross's valley view: our pick of the January auctions

The article highlights five notable artworks heading to auction in January 2025, spanning sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams Skinner, and Heritage Auctions. Featured lots include Winslow Homer’s *A Mountain Climber Resting* (est. $1.5–2.5M) from the Max N. Berry Collection, Otobong Nkanga’s tapestry *The Pursuit of Bling: The Transformation* (est. £20,000–30,000), Bob Ross’s *Valley View* (est. $30,000–50,000), and Claes Oldenburg’s lithograph *Three Way Plug* (est. $3,000+). Each work comes with distinct provenance—from a Standard Oil heiress to a hardware pioneer—and reflects diverse market segments from blue-chip American painting to contemporary African art and pop-culture collectibles.

New Exhibition is a Compelling Rummage Through the Relics of an Artist's Radical Life

The New Mexico Museum of Art's Vladem Contemporary has opened "Lucy Lippard: Notes from the Radical Whirlwind," an exhibition curated by Alexandra Terry that showcases artworks gifted to the influential art critic and activist Lucy R. Lippard by artists she championed. The show features pieces by Melanie Yazzie, Ana Mendieta, and others, tracing Lippard's journey from a young art history graduate working at MoMA to a writer for Artforum and Art International, and ultimately to a vocal advocate for social justice who merged art with activism.

Arts Playlist: Delaware Art Museum's 'Imprinted: Illustrating Race'

The Delaware Art Museum has opened 'Imprinted: Illustrating Race,' an exhibition co-curated by University of Delaware professor Robyn Phillips-Pendleton that examines how race and identity have been depicted in popular illustration over more than a century. The show, which previously ran at the Norman Rockwell Museum, features works from books, magazines, advertising, trade cards, posters, and even a cookie jar, tracing the evolution of racial representation in American visual culture. It includes a notable shift by Norman Rockwell, who after decades of depicting predominantly white family scenes for the Saturday Evening Post, turned to socially relevant topics like civil rights in the 1950s.

Portland exhibit shows off multifaceted artists’ personal narratives | Column - Portland Press Herald

Mauricio Muñoz and Andrew Roberts' installation "The Harvest" (2021) is featured in "otherwise," a thesis exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D in Portland, running through Dec. 13. The show also includes works by Ayana V. Jackson, whose project "From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya" was targeted by Donald Trump in his attacks on the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibition explores how artists use storytelling and worldbuilding to cope with difficult contemporary issues and imagine better futures, serving as a companion to the Ogunquit Museum of American Art's "Where the Real Lies."

Comment | Fifty years on, John Berger’s writing is still relevant—and troublingly prescient

The article reflects on the enduring relevance of John Berger, the influential art critic and writer best known for his 1972 series and book "Ways of Seeing." It highlights two current cultural events that underscore his legacy: a new edition of his 1975 book "A Seventh Man," which examines migrant labor in Europe through text and photographs by Jean Mohr, and a dance-theatre collaboration between Nederlands Dans Theater and Complicité titled "Figures in Extinction," which draws on Berger's writings about humanity's relationship with nature and the economy of the dead.

Gauguin ‘fake’ is real, Mrinalini Mukherjee and her circle, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s head piece—podcast

This episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast 'The Week in Art' covers three main stories. Host Ben Luke discusses the authentication of Paul Gauguin's final self-portrait (1903) at the Kunstmuseum Basel, which was recently confirmed as genuine after being questioned earlier this year. He also interviews Tarini Malik, curator of 'A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle' at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and speaks with Katharina Lovecky and Georg Lechner about the exhibition 'Franz Xaver Messerschmidt: More than Character Heads' at the Belvedere in Vienna, featuring Messerschmidt's Character Head No. 25 as the Work of the Week.

Tate Britain’s Lee Miller exhibition seeks to go beyond her mythology

Tate Britain is opening a major survey of American photographer Lee Miller (1907-77), running from 2 October 2025 to 15 February 2026. Curated by Hilary Floe, the exhibition aims to refocus attention on Miller’s artistic output rather than her storied personal life—her roles as a Surrealist, fashion photographer, war correspondent, and muse to figures like Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, and Jean Cocteau. The show presents the UK’s largest survey of her work, deliberately selecting images based on artistic merit rather than biographical illustration.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur

Middlebury College Museum of Art presents 'Giovanni Battista Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur,' an exhibition showcasing the 18th-century Italian printmaker, architect, designer, and antiquities dealer. The show features prints, drawings, a book, a map, and a recently acquired sculpture drawn from Middlebury's collections, augmented by loans from the Yale University Art Gallery, the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, and private collections. Curated by architectural history professor Pieter Broucke, the exhibition includes label texts researched by Middlebury students in a January 2025 curatorial lab course.

Never-before-seen landscape photos on display at Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum has opened a new photography exhibition titled "What We've Been Up To: Landscape," featuring works acquired over the past 17 years that have never been publicly displayed before. The show, curated by the museum's photography department (established in 2008), includes a range of landscape photographs from historic images by Ansel Adams, Marion Post Wolcott, and William Henry Jackson to contemporary works by artists such as Abelardo Morell, Meghann Riepenhoff, and Steve Fitch. The exhibition occupies a few rooms on the sixth floor of the Martin Building and highlights the museum's recent acquisitions in photography.

Climate protestors install Anish Kapoor work on North Sea gas platform

Climate activists from Greenpeace installed a new artwork by Anish Kapoor on a Shell gas platform in the North Sea. Titled "BUTCHERED," the 12m by 8m canvas was attached to the platform and drenched with a blood-red liquid made from seawater, beetroot powder, and non-toxic pond dye to symbolize the environmental destruction caused by fossil fuel companies. The protest coincided with record-breaking heatwaves in Europe. Kapoor described the work as a tribute to activists and a "visual scream" against the climate crisis, while Shell condemned the action as dangerous and illegal trespassing.