The Must-See Biennale Exhibitions in Venice

The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled "In Minor Keys," opens May 9 as a tribute to its late curator Koyo Kouoh. Alongside the Biennale, Venice hosts numerous concurrent exhibitions: Marina Abramović's "Transforming Energy" at Gallerie dell'Accademia (the only living female artist with a major show there); the Matthew Wong Foundation's inaugural exhibition "Interiors" featuring unseen works by the late Chinese Canadian artist; retrospectives of Michael Armitage at Palazzo Grassi and Lorna Simpson at Punta della Dogana; Hernan Bas's new paintings at Ca' Pesaro; Lu Yang's "DOKU The Illusion" at Espaces Louis Vuitton Venezia; and "Minimal Legends" at the Vincenzo de Cotiis Foundation, staging a dialogue among Minimalist masters.

Welcome to Venice: the shows you won’t want to miss at the 61st Biennale

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opens with a keynote exhibition conceived by the late Koyo Kouoh and realized by her team after her sudden death in May 2025. The show spans the Central Pavilion in the Giardini and the Arsenale, featuring 110 artists and collectives. Highlights include Bracha L. Ettinger's installation at the Hotel Metropole, where she transforms a room where Sigmund Freud wrote part of *The Interpretation of Dreams* into a feminist 'borderspace,' and works by artists such as Arthur Jafa, Richard Prince, Issa Samb, Beverly Buchanan, and Daniel Lind-Ramos. The exhibition explores themes of history, colonialism, war, and environmental destruction, aiming for a 'sotto voce' tone that nonetheless delivers powerful, liberating statements.

Amid ceasefire, Tehran museum opens ‘Art & War’ exhibit spotlighting US Jewish artist

Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art has opened an exhibition titled 'Art & War' featuring works by American Jewish artist Peter Saul, amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The show includes Saul's provocative paintings that critique war and political violence, marking a rare cultural exchange in a country where official rhetoric often opposes Israel and the United States.

Billboards celebrating peace will arrive in L.A. as part of the Broad's Yoko Ono exhibit

Yoko Ono will install seven digital billboards across Los Angeles bearing peace messages like "THINK PEACE" and "IMAGINE PEACE," as part of her upcoming exhibition "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind" at the Broad museum opening May 23. The billboards echo her 1969 "WAR IS OVER!" campaign with John Lennon. Ancillary programming includes re-creations of her performance works "Cut Piece" (1964) and "Sky Piece to Jesus Christ" (1965), plus a concert series "Yoko Only" guest-curated by Yuka Honda featuring Yo La Tengo, Nels Cline, Sleater-Kinney, and others.

Meet four artists behind the public art you'll see at L.A. Metro's new D Line stations

L.A. Metro opened the first phase of its D Line extension on Friday, May 1, 2026, adding three new underground stations connecting downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills: Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega. The stations feature nine site-specific public artworks by artists including Mariana Castillo Deball, Eamon Ore-Giron, Ken Gonzales-Day, Todd Gray, Karl Haendel, Soo Kim, Fran Siegel, Susan Silton, and Mark Dean Veca. The competitive selection process began a decade ago, drawing over 1,200 applicants, with finalists judged by a panel of art professionals including curators from Miracle Mile museums. Metro deputy executive officer Zipporah Yamamoto leads the agency's public art program, which is funded by a 0.5% construction budget set-aside.

The Museums of Verona have a new director. "This city can become a cultural laboratory," says Lorenzo Balbi

I Musei di Verona hanno un nuovo direttore. “Questa città può diventare un laboratorio culturale”, dice Lorenzo Balbi

Lorenzo Balbi, currently director of MAMbo in Bologna, has been appointed as the new director of the Musei di Verona, a civic museum network that includes the Arena di Verona, Casa di Giulietta, Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano, Museo Civico di Storia naturale, Museo degli Affreschi di G. B. Cavalcaselle, Museo di Castelvecchio, Museo Lapidario Maffeiano, and Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti. He will take office in September 2026, selected for his strategic vision to revitalize the system as a hub for cultural production, civic participation, and international dialogue.

In Toscana il borgo di Monte San Savino si apre all’arte contemporanea con una mostra itinerante e di genere

The Tuscan hill town of Monte San Savino launched a contemporary art exhibition titled "Art Gender Gap" on International Women's Day, featuring 40 female artists and 53 works across multiple historic venues including the GAS, Chiesa di Santa Chiara, Palazzo Ciocchi di Monte, and the Renaissance Cisternone. Curated by Giuseppe Simone Modeo, Nicoletta Castellaneta, and Domenico de Chirico, the show includes loans from the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington (via its Italian committee president Claudia Pensotti Mosca), the Christian Levett collection, and the FAMM Museum in Mougin, France—a museum dedicated exclusively to women artists. Participating artists range from historical figures like Louise Bourgeois, Carol Rama, and Sonia Delaunay to contemporary names such as Kiki Smith, Pipilotti Rist, Marlene Dumas, Tracey Emin, and Mona Hatoum.

A Roma è tutto pronto per il weekend delle gallerie d’arte: mostre, progetti speciali, inaugurazioni. Il programma

The fourth edition of Roma Gallery Weekend will take place from May 15 to 17, 2026, featuring 31 galleries across Rome. The event kicks off with a new Gallery Night on May 14, where simultaneous openings and special projects serve as a concentrated prologue. Participating galleries include established names like Gagosian, Galleria Continua, and Lorcan O'Neill, as well as emerging spaces such as Amanita and Cantadora. Highlights include exhibitions of Francesca Woodman, Tracey Emin, Friedrich Kunath, and Carlos Garaicoa, alongside site-specific interventions and group shows.

C’è un libro che racconta il sorprendente rapporto storico tra arte, biciclette e ciclismo

Antonio Colombo, the Italian entrepreneur behind Columbus and Cinelli, has published a memoir titled "A.C. Confidential. La mia vita tra arte, bicicletta e design" (Ediciclo Editore, 2026, co-written with Giacomo Pellizzari). The book traces his family's engineering legacy—his father Angelo Luigi Colombo supplied steel tubes to Bauhaus designer Marcel Breuer in 1933—and Colombo's own career fusing technical precision with artistic vision. He acquired Cinelli in 1978, collaborated with artists like Keith Haring, Alessandro Mendini, and Barry McGee, and introduced groundbreaking bicycle models including the Rampichino mountain bike (1985) and the Laser, which won the Compasso d'Oro design award in 1991. The narrative also covers his friendships with artists Mario Schifano (who designed Tour de France jerseys) and his role in the Red Hook Criterium fixed-gear race.

All the complexity of Cézanne on display at the legendary Fondation Beyeler in Basel

Tutta la complessità di Cézanne in mostra alla mitica Fondation Beyeler di Basilea

The Fondation Beyeler in Basel has opened a major exhibition dedicated to Paul Cézanne, marking the 120th anniversary of his death. Curated by senior curator Ulf Küster, the show features 80 works—58 paintings and 21 watercolors—drawn from public and private collections across Switzerland, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, and the United States. Highlights include nine versions of Mont Sainte-Victoire, rare comparisons of two watercolor versions of "Boy in a Red Waistcoat," and two versions of "The Card Players" from the Courtauld Gallery and the Musée d'Orsay. The exhibition runs until May 25, 2026, and is accompanied by a catalog published by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

The End-of-Term Grand Interview with Stefano Boeri After 8 Years as President of Triennale di Milano

La grande intervista di fine mandato a Stefano Boeri dopo 8 anni da presidente della Triennale di Milano

Stefano Boeri reflects on his eight-year tenure as president of Triennale Milano in a wide-ranging exit interview. He discusses the institution's transformation into a more international and accessible cultural hub, highlighting key achievements such as the three major International Exhibitions—"Broken Nature" (2019), "Unknown Unknowns" (2022), and "Inequalities" (2025)—and the physical reclamation of spaces like the "Cuore" hall and the garden-level floor, which were opened free to the public. Boeri also touches on financial management, governance challenges, and his hopes for the future leadership.

The Château de Boutemont: An Architectural Gem to Discover in Normandy

Il Castello di Boutemont: un gioiello architettonico da scoprire in Normandia

The Château de Boutemont in Ouilly-le-Vicomte, Normandy, has reopened for its new season running through November. Now in its sixth year under owners Johanna Wistrøm-Monnier and Bruno Monnier, the property has seen steady growth in visitors thanks to investments in its gardens and the opening of three castle rooms. Bruno Monnier founded Culturespace in the 1990s, a private company that manages museums such as the Palais des Papes in Avignon and the Ateliers des Lumières immersive art centers. Johanna Wistrøm-Monnier, formerly director of the Dan Graham Foundation, now dedicates herself full-time to the estate, which features gardens designed by famed landscape architect Achille Duchêne.

In Genoa, an exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Korompay, the Futurist who loved Pink Floyd

A Genova una mostra dedicata a Giovanni Korompay, il futurista che amava i Pink Floyd

A major retrospective exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Korompay, a Venetian painter, sculptor, and illustrator associated with the second wave of Futurism, has opened at the Wolfsoniana in Genoa Nervi. Titled "Korompay, un’antologica," the show runs until November 1st and features around sixty works, including paintings, sculptures, graphic works, photographs, and documents. It explores Korompay's evolution from traditional training under Ettore Tito to his embrace of Futurist aeropainting, exemplified by works such as "Alta velocità" (High Speed), which celebrates a 1934 world speed record set by a Macchi-Castoldi MC 72 seaplane. The exhibition is curated by Alex Casagrande, Matteo Fochessati, Franco Tagliapietra, and Anna Vyazemtseva, with loans from public museums (Mart, Mambo), private collections, and the Fondazione Korompay.

Basquiat's intense works on paper are at the center of his first exhibition in Denmark

Le intense opere su carta di Basquiat sono al centro della sua prima mostra in Danimarca

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, is hosting "Headstrong," a retrospective of 50 works on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat, running until May 17. The exhibition focuses on Basquiat's depictions of the human head and body, created between 1981 and 1983, and first shown posthumously in 1990. It is the first solo museum presentation of Basquiat in Scandinavia, featuring loans from private collections and international museums, highlighting a lesser-known aspect of the artist's practice.

Is there really an energy transformation in Marina Abramović's exhibition in Venice?

Nella mostra di Marina Abramović a Venezia c’è davvero una trasformazione di energia?

At the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Marina Abramović's exhibition "Transforming Energy" opens to the public from May 9 to September 30, 2026, as part of the 2026 Venice Biennale. The show is designed as an experiential device that moves beyond traditional exhibition formats, inviting viewers to determine their own presence through a sequence of rooms built around relationships between body, materials, and time. Crystals and locks of hair function not as decoration but as presences to be inhabited, demanding radical attention rather than spectacular participation. During the press conference, Abramović and curator Shai Baitel insisted that the materials, especially the crystals, possess real energy capable of directly affecting the viewer's body and perception, not merely as metaphor but as an active condition.

Working in the Arts: Opportunities from Cascina Lagoscuro, Ministry of Tourism, PhEST, Fundació Joan Miró, C2C Festival

Lavorare nell’arte: opportunità da Cascina Lagoscuro, Ministero del Turismo, PhEST, Fundació Joan Miró, C2C Festival

This article from Artribune compiles five current job and opportunity listings in Italy and Europe for creative professionals. The openings include a creative residency at Cascina Lagoscuro (a regenerative farm in northern Italy) for dancers, artists, writers, chefs, designers, educators, artisans, and activists; a national exam for tourist guide certification by Italy's Ministry of Tourism; a pop-up open call for artists and photographers from the PhEST international photography and art festival; a director search at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona; and a curator training program for music curators by C2C Festival.

È morto Bruno Bischofberger, il gallerista e collezionista svizzero che fece lavorare assieme Warhol e Basquiat

Bruno Bischofberger, the influential Swiss gallerist and collector, has died at age 86. A pivotal figure in the contemporary art market, he opened his first gallery in Zurich in 1963 and was instrumental in introducing American Pop Art to Europe, exhibiting Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg. He later championed Minimalism, Land Art, and Neo-Expressionism, representing artists like Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, and Francesco Clemente. Most famously, Bischofberger discovered Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1981 and orchestrated the legendary collaboration between Warhol, Basquiat, and Clemente. His close relationship with Warhol included a first-refusal agreement on future works and the suggestion of standardized portrait commissions that became Warhol's primary income source.

Arte contemporanea, fiabe e favole nel racconto di Artbox su Sky Arte

The article previews an upcoming episode of the Italian television program "Artbox" airing on Sky Arte on Tuesday, May 12. The episode visits Castello di Miradolo in Piedmont, where the exhibition "C'è oggi una fiaba" (There Is a Fairy Tale Today) runs until June 21, blending art, literature, and music around childhood themes. Curator Roberto Galimberti and Fondazione Cosso director Paola Eynard discuss the show. The episode also features art historian Maria Vittoria Baravelli's segment "Invito al viaggio," reinterpreting fairy tales as dynamic spaces for growth, referencing artists Luigi Serafini and Luigi Ontani. Additionally, curator Gražina Subelytė discusses the exhibition "Peggy Guggenheim a Londra. Nascita di una collezionista" in Venice, and curators Stefania Bossi, Michele Tavola, and Valentina Cane present the show "Regina. Sperimentatrice geniale" about a prolific sculptor. The program includes a book segment on Orsina Simona Pierini's "I colori delle case. Milan Interiors 1923-1978."

The best and worst we saw at the Venice Art Biennale 2026. Artribune's hits and flops

Il meglio e il peggio che abbiamo visto alla Biennale d’Arte di Venezia 2026. Top e flop di Artribune

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" and directed by Koyo Kouoh, opened amid significant turmoil: the death of a newly appointed curator, diplomatic tensions over the presence of Russia and Israel, political protests, and the unprecedented collective resignation of the jury, which led to the Golden Lions being awarded by public vote for the first time. Despite this chaotic backdrop, the exhibition—featuring a record 100 national pavilions—has been widely praised for avoiding moralistic pedagogy and instead embracing visual seduction, formal quality, and sensory joy while addressing themes of identity, memory, colonialism, ecological crisis, and violence. The article highlights top and flop moments from the opening week, including strong showings by Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and a standout exhibition at Fondazione Prada.

Interview with the artist of the enchanting New Zealand Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Intervista all’artista dell’ammaliante Padiglione Nuova Zelanda alla Biennale Arte 2026

Fiona Pardington, a Māori artist from Devonport (1961), will represent New Zealand at the 2026 Venice Biennale with a deeply spiritual and ecologically conscious installation in the national pavilion. Her project centers on the takahe, a bird long thought extinct, using photography, sound, and immersive space to evoke loss, memory, and transformation. Pardington’s work draws on Ngāi Tahu culture, colonial history, and natural history, featuring a taxidermied takahe specimen from the British Museum that she re-photographed and chromatically restored.

In Belgio inaugura BRUSK. A Bruges un nuovo museo ibrido dall’arte antica all’AI

A new hybrid cultural center called BRUSK has opened in Bruges, Belgium, designed by Robbrecht en Daem and Olivier Salens. Part of the Musea Brugge network, the venue blends ancient art with contemporary and AI-driven works, featuring two inaugural exhibitions: "Bigger Picture. Connected Worlds of Bruges 900–1550," a historical survey co-curated with historian Peter Frankopan, and "Latent City," the first Belgian solo show of digital artist Refik Anadol. The building offers free ground-floor public spaces, including a café and a permanent mural by Laure Prouvost, aiming to attract both tourists and locals.

How Dayanita Singh Organized a Major Show in Venice Without Institutional Funding

Dayanita Singh has organized a major exhibition titled "ARCHIVIO" at the State Archives of Venice, marking the first time the institution has opened its doors to the public for an art show. The exhibition, which runs until July 31, features collapsible wooden pillars covered with black-and-white photographs that explore Singh's 25-year relationship with Italy and her broader engagement with archival documents from both Italy and India. Singh achieved this without major institutional funding, instead relying on a "friendship economy" of bartering, negotiation, and individual patrons, and even arranged for local art students to serve as docents in exchange for professional mentorship.

MFA's Nude Exhibition Challenges Art History's Gender Norms

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has opened a new exhibition that challenges traditional gender norms in art history, featuring a dozen artists who disrupt the conventional nude. The show includes Xandra Ibarra's performance "Nude Laughing," where she paraded naked through the museum's European galleries, and works by Betty Tompkins, whose "Fuck Paintings" and "Women Words Painting" series confront misogyny and the male gaze. The exhibition juxtaposes these contemporary pieces with historical works like Jean-Léon Gérôme's "Moorish Bath" to highlight entrenched racial and gender hierarchies in art.

Controversial Costumes at the Met’s Newest Galleries

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has opened the new Conde M. Nast Galleries, designed by the Brooklyn-based firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The inaugural exhibition, titled "Costume Art," features 200 pieces from various museum departments and will run until January 10, 2027. The 12,000-square-foot space, located off the Great Hall, incorporates historic structural elements and uses subtle lighting and materials to create a quiet backdrop for the display of fragile costumes and art objects.

Best Bets: Rosemont hosts Spring Fun Fest and Anime Central

This article is a roundup of upcoming events in the Chicago area, primarily focused on the Rosemont suburb. It announces the annual Spring Fun Fest at Parkway Bank Park on May 16, featuring family activities and music, and the return of Anime Central, a major anime and Japanese pop-culture convention, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center from May 15-17. The article also lists several other cultural happenings, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's all-French program, a new exhibition at the Driehaus Museum titled "Ink & Outrage: 18th Century Satirical Prints in London & Dublin," an improv performance by Bluebird Improv at the Studebaker Theater, and a Chamber Blues concert by Corky Siegel at Space in Evanston.

Multi-Museum Exhibition Spotlights Legacy of Betsy James Wyeth

A major multi-museum exhibition titled *By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth* will open across three U.S. institutions in 2026, re-examining the life and legacy of Betsy James Wyeth. The collaborative project—organized by the Farnsworth Art Museum, Colby College Museum of Art, and Brandywine Museum of Art—is the first to fully explore her role as an innovative designer of immersive spaces and key creative collaborator to her husband, Andrew Wyeth. Each venue highlights a different aspect of her work: the Farnsworth focuses on her built environments in Maine; Colby examines Allen and Benner Islands with new commissions by contemporary artists; and Brandywine centers on Brinton’s Mill and the Wyeths’ creative partnership, drawing from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.

Australian Sculptor Ron Mueck Returns to Tokyo

A major retrospective of Australian sculptor Ron Mueck has opened at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, featuring eleven of his meticulously crafted figurative works, including the Japan premiere of 'Mass' (100 giant human skulls). The exhibition, co-organized by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, travels to Tokyo after stops in Paris, Milan, and Seoul, and includes iconic pieces such as 'Woman with Sticks' and 'Angel', the latter installed on the museum's 53rd floor overlooking the city.

All New for 2026: The Greatest Exhibitions in Greater Philadelphia

Greater Philadelphia is launching a year-long Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026, featuring a series of major exhibitions across the region. Highlights include "A Nation of Artists" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the "What Now" festival by ArtPhilly, and "Bells Across PA," a statewide display of painted Liberty Bell replicas. Other notable shows include the Museum of the American Revolution's "The Declaration's Journey," The Franklin Institute's immersive theme park exhibit, The Academy of Natural Sciences' Indigenous re-examination of its Lewis and Clark collection, and the Independence Seaport Museum's look at early American commerce. The Clay Studio presents "Radical Americana" across 20 sites, the National Liberty Museum opens three exhibitions on the First Amendment, and a new show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art explores monuments, curated by Paul Farber.

Former Hornets player returns to Charlotte with new art exhi...

Former Charlotte Hornets player Elliot Perry and his wife Kimberly Perry have opened an exhibition of their abstract art collection at the Harvey B. Gantt Center in Charlotte. Titled "Beyond Boundaries: Black Abstraction in the Elliot and Kimberly Perry Art Collection," the show features 40 works by Black artists from the early 1920s to the present, including recent college graduates. The exhibition spans all three of the Gantt Center's galleries and runs through August 30. Elliot Perry, who played for the Hornets in the 1991-92 season, was introduced to art in 1996 by former NBA player Darrell Walker.

Summer 2026 Midnight Moment Program

Times Square Arts has announced the Summer 2026 Midnight Moment program, featuring three artists: Sonia Boyce (June), Tromarama (July), and Maia Chao (August). Boyce's 'Transform' presents a kaleidoscopic film of Andean ancestral movements, presented with the Queens Museum. Tromarama's 'Turn On #2' examines technology's impact on reality and the environment, presented with The Kitchen. Maia Chao's 'Studies for American Idle' draws from a 2025 site-specific performance in Times Square. The works will be shown nightly from 11:57 pm to midnight on nearly 100 electronic billboards.