Singapore Art Museum at 30: tough decisions

The Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is celebrating its 30th anniversary while navigating the challenges of its 2022 relocation to Tanjong Pagar Distripark, a remote industrial building that has drawn mixed reactions—some visitors find it too inaccessible, while younger audiences applaud the move away from the colonial civic district. Director and CEO Eugene Tan defends the decision, citing the building's high ceilings and flexible spaces as ideal for contemporary art, and announces a fifth gallery opening by 2026 that will bring total exhibition space to 3,800 square meters. The museum also plans to experiment with open-air exhibition techniques in the new space, aiming to reduce energy demands.

Romanesco in a Max Mara Coat

Romanesco im Max-Mara-Mantel

Evelyn Taocheng Wang's first institutional solo exhibition in Italy, "Sweet Landscape," opens at the Museion in Bolzano. The Chinese-born, Rotterdam-based artist presents silk paintings, pastel canvases, and painted garments that probe the region's complex history beneath its idyllic Alpine scenery. Works such as "Frog Princess Checks Her Smartphone in front of Window of August Macke’s Hat Shop" (2026) and "Ancient Roman bust for Sale" (2026) blend local food motifs, cultural translation, and hybrid identity, questioning who gets to write history and how landscapes are perceived through secondhand experiences.

An outsider artist takes the world's biggest stage with the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

U.S. artist Alma Allen, a self-taught sculptor from Utah who works in Mexico, has been selected to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale with his exhibition "Call Me the Breeze" at the U.S. Pavilion. The selection process was fraught and opaque, with institutions declining to bid for the commission due to concerns about administration politics after the open call removed diversity, equity and inclusion language in favor of promoting "American values." A prior proposal for artist Robert Lazzarini fell apart after its institutional sponsor backed out, and Allen's project was quickly assembled with the American Arts Conservancy as sponsor and Jeffrey Uslip as curator. Allen, who has lived outside the critical art world for three decades, created a bronze evil eye for the pavilion's exterior and a headless sheep sculpture as a self-portrait of an outsider.

As Told By: Slavs and Tatars at Rossi & Rossi

Slavs and Tatars, the research-based art collective, opened their first solo exhibition in Hong Kong titled “胡 ( هو / who) are you?” at Rossi & Rossi, running until May 9, 2026. The show gathers iconic projects and new commissions across various media, playfully probing the philosophical question of identity and belonging. Co-founder Payam Sharifi discusses works such as the handblown glass melon sculptures in "Dark Yelblow" (2025), which explore cultural stereotypes and the figure of the Other, and the "Love Me, Love Me Not" series, which recovers original place names and scripts to reveal the layered complexity of empires.

Three Dinosaur Fossils Are Up for Grabs at This New York Art Gallery

Amanita, a New York art gallery, is presenting three Maiasaura dinosaur fossils alongside a John Chamberlain sculpture in an exhibition titled "Land Before Time: Three Dinosaurs and a Gondola" at its Bowery location through August 9. The fossils, sourced from Tucson-based Granada Gallery, include an 85 percent complete adolescent, a 68 percent complete adult, and a 62 percent complete juvenile—marking the first time a full Maiasaura growth cycle has been displayed. The Chamberlain piece, "Gondola Marianne Moore" (1982), was procured with help from Hauser and Wirth. Only the fossils are for sale, with prices undisclosed.

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.

‘Your homes will be destroyed, your family killed’: the US has dropped millions of war propaganda leaflets – but do they work?

The United States military has been dropping propaganda leaflets in psychological operations (psyops) for over a century, from World War I through the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A new interactive exhibit at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, organized by the digital archive group Khajistan, displays hundreds of these leaflets, including those dropped on Japan during World War II and in more recent conflicts. However, declassified internal documents, such as a 1971 US Air Force report, reveal that leaflets were often used as toilet paper, cigarette rolling paper, or souvenirs by enemy soldiers, undermining the official narrative of their effectiveness.

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."

Cultural Compass: Cello takes centre stage, Antwerp galleries open their doors and wartime art

This week's cultural agenda in Belgium highlights three major events: the 75th anniversary of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, which focuses on cello for only the third time since 2017, featuring 64 young cellists from over 20 countries; the 12th edition of Antwerp Art Weekend, spanning 88 venues with a strong emphasis on emerging talent and politically engaged works; and a new exhibition at the Permekemuseum exploring Constant Permeke's formative years in wartime England. The competition includes a world premiere of 'Caffeine' by Belgian composer Harold Noben, and the winner will receive the use of Pablo Casals' historic 1733 Goffriller cello.

Exhibition | Tommaso Spazzini Villa, 'The Time That’s Left' at TOTAH, New York, United States

TOTAH gallery in New York presents 'The Time That’s Left', a solo exhibition of works by Italian artist Tommaso Spazzini Villa, opening May 14, 2026. The show expands on his recent large-scale mural on West 45th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, moving from public space to an intimate gallery setting. It features graphite drawings traced across antique book pages—sacred texts, epic poetry, theatre scores—depicting root-like forms that challenge linear language, alongside metal box sculptures with wire, light, and dried leaves that create fleeting shadow dioramas.

Venice Biennale’s jury resigns

The entire jury of the 61st Venice Biennale, presided by Brazilian curator Solange Farkas and comprising four other curators, resigned just nine days before the exhibition's scheduled opening on 9 May 2026. The jury had announced it would not award prizes to countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, a move widely understood to target Israel and Russia. In response, the Biennale's organisers cancelled the prize-giving ceremony and will instead award Golden Lions via a popular vote among ticketholders. The row escalated further when the Israeli representative, sculptor Belu-Simion Fainaru, accused the jury of discrimination and threatened legal action, prompting intervention from Italy's culture ministry.

How families can turn the Carnegie International into a family scavenger hunt

The Carnegie International exhibition, a prestigious contemporary art showcase held every four years, has opened at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. This year, the exhibit spans four locations across the city, and the article suggests families turn it into a scavenger hunt. KDKA-TV's Kristine Sorensen interviews Dana Bishop-Root, director of education at the museum, who advises letting children lead the exploration and asking simple questions like 'What do you see?' to spark conversation. Featured works include Ginger Brooks Takahashi's perilla plant garden outside the museum, Peter Jameson's painted van, a colorful sculpture at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, an immersive installation by two Peruvian artists at the Mattress Factory, and an animated piece by Torkwase Dyson at the Kamin Science Center's Buhl Planetarium.

Isamu Noguchi was never a designer, affirms High Museum of Art, Atlanta

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta presents "Isamu Noguchi: 'I am not a designer'," the first design retrospective of the Japanese-American sculptor in 25 years. Co-curated by Monica Obniski and Marin R. Sullivan, the exhibition features nearly 200 objects, including sculptural models, furniture for Herman Miller and Knoll, Akari light fixtures, and large-scale installations like Martha Graham's stage set for "Seraphic Dialogue" (1955). The show challenges Noguchi's own resistance to categorization by framing his multidisciplinary practice—spanning sculpture, design, architecture, and public art—through a design lens.

Phantasmagoria review: digital sorcery at the Henry Moore Institute

The Henry Moore Institute in Leeds presents 'Phantasmagoria: Folkloric Sculpture for the Digital Age,' a major group exhibition exploring how digital technologies are reshaping contemporary sculpture. The show features works by artists including Joey Holder, Jürgen Baumann, and Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, who fuse ancient folklore, occult practices, and modern digital tools such as AI, 3D printing, and video game mechanics. Highlights include Holder's immersive installation 'The Woosphere' with arcade-style consoles and Brathwaite-Shirley's interactive boat sculpture 'PIRATING BLACKNESS/BLACKTRANSSEA.COM.' The exhibition draws on the historical concept of phantasmagoria—18th-century theatrical spectacles using smoke and light—to critique the seductive illusions of digital capitalism.

At this year's Venice Biennale, a clash of politics and art exposes the need for a rethink

The 2026 Venice Biennale is plagued by controversy and structural issues. Curator Koyo Kouoh died of cancer in 2025, leaving her team to execute the main exhibition "In Minor Keys" without her. The Biennale's jury resigned after refusing to judge entries from countries charged with war crimes, and media coverage during preview week focused on protests against the Israeli and Russian pavilions rather than the art. The sprawling exhibition features 96 national pavilions and 110 artists, with works ranging from Daniel Lind-Ramos's found-material figures to María Magdalena Campos-Pons's tribute to Toni Morrison and Kouoh.

Lauder heir hands gallery and $135mn Klimt to New York’s Metropolitan Museum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has received a major donation from the Lauder family: a historic townhouse gallery on the Upper East Side and Gustav Klimt's 1907 portrait "Adele Bloch-Bauer II," valued at $135 million. The gift comes from the estate of Estée Lauder heir Ronald S. Lauder, a longtime museum trustee and collector, and includes the former Neue Galerie building at 1048 Fifth Avenue, which will be renovated to expand the Met's modern and contemporary art exhibition space.

Interview. Max Goelitz

In an interview marking the sixth anniversary of his gallery, Max Goelitz reflects on the founding and evolution of his two-location operation in Munich and Berlin. He discusses how his decade at Häusler Contemporary, where he served as director, prepared him for the unpredictable nature of running his own gallery. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a strategic pivot from international ambitions to a focus on the local German market, which proved unexpectedly sustainable. Goelitz also addresses the current challenges facing galleries, including generational shifts and a more difficult art market, while advocating for an "old-school" reconsideration of what defines a gallery in times of transition.

Art Biennale: artists reject the popular jury

Fifty-two artists and curators, along with sixteen National Participants of the 61st Venice Art Biennale, have withdrawn from the newly introduced 'Lions of the Visitors' (People's Prizes) competition. The boycott follows the resignation of the jury appointed by artistic director Koyo Kouoh, who died in 2025, and is a protest against the inclusion of Russia and Israel in the prize—countries initially excluded by the international jury. The controversy escalated after Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli publicly opposed the Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco's decision to allow Russia's participation, drawing in the European Commission and even Ursula von der Leyen, who warned of potential sanctions violations. The signatories include artists and curators from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, and several other nations.

Walker Art Center Exhibition Breaks Down Sound Barriers

The Walker Art Center, in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, presents "All Day All Night," a survey of the past 15 years of work by Berlin-based deaf artist Christine Sun Kim. The exhibition, on view until August 30, spans three galleries and includes drawings, videos, participatory pieces, and site-specific installations such as charcoal music notes on floors and stairwells. Kim's early works from the 2010s explore sound waves and Deaf culture, while later pieces incorporate her experiences as a mother and partner, using infographics and ASL-inspired imagery to challenge assumptions about spoken versus signed language.

This Museum Show Will Make You Question Whether You’re Still Human

The New Museum in New York has opened "New Humans: Memories of the Future," an exhibition curated by Chief Curator Massimiliano Gioni that explores a century of art predicting the fusion of humans and machines. The show features works by artists including Anicka Yi, Francis Picabia, Constantin Brancusi, and Marcel Duchamp, alongside robots and technological artifacts that blur the boundaries between bodies and technology. The exhibition is housed within OMA's newly expanded museum space on the Bowery.

New for 2026: Philly's Newest Museums, Galleries & Attractions

Philadelphia is celebrating America's 250th anniversary (the Semiquincentennial) in 2026 with the opening of several new museums, galleries, and attractions. These include Calder Gardens, a dedicated space for Alexander Calder's work on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway; Ministry of Awe, an immersive six-story art experience by Meg Saligman in a former bank; a new permanent Indigenous gallery at the Penn Museum; and a Netflix House experience at King of Prussia mall. The article also mentions the First Bank of the United States museum, the Philly Pride Visitor Center, and the Pennsylvania Hospital Museum as part of the city's anniversary additions.

Emily Carr University spotlights the first graduating class of its next century at The Show 2026, from May 13 to 27

Emily Carr University of Art + Design is presenting The Show 2026, an annual exhibition featuring final projects from more than 400 graduating students across Fine Arts, Media Arts, and Design. Running from May 13 to 27 at the ECU campus in Vancouver, the free public event showcases works in painting, sculpture, performance, interaction design, animation, film, and sound, marking the university's centennial year and the first graduating class of its second century.

Wrapped for Travel: On "The American Connection" by Peter Halley and "Black Painter, White Figuration" by Maxwell Alexandre

Two simultaneous exhibitions at Almeida & Dale in São Paulo present contrasting visions: American artist Peter Halley's "The American Connection," curated by Antonio Gonçalves Filho, features his signature geometric abstractions using Roll-A-Tex and Day-Glo colors to critique digital confinement and post-industrial surfaces. Brazilian artist Maxwell Alexandre shows works from his "Clube" series, depicting Black bodies navigating exclusionary leisure spaces. The pairing is deliberate, not for aesthetic dialogue but to juxtapose an established international artist with a rising Brazilian talent, timed to coincide with SP-ARTE.

World’s first AI art museum opens in LA

Dataland, the world's first museum dedicated to generative AI art, will open in Los Angeles on June 20. Founded by media artist Refik Anadol and his wife Efsun Erkılıç, the museum is located in the Grand LA cultural complex alongside The Broad, MOCA, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Spanning 3,250 square meters, it debuts with the exhibition "Machine Dreams: Rainforest," featuring a machine-generated rainforest created by Anadol's proprietary Large Nature Model, trained on data from the Smithsonian Institution, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Natural History Museum in London.

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.

Brancusi

The Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, in cooperation with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, has opened the first major exhibition of sculptor Constantin Brancusi in Germany in over 50 years. Featuring more than 150 works—including sculptures, photographs, drawings, films, and archival materials—the show presents key pieces such as "The Kiss," "Bird in Space," "Sleeping Muse," and "Endless Column," alongside a partial reconstruction of Brancusi's legendary studio, shown outside Paris for the first time since its bequest to the French state in 1957.

New Perspectives: "Roy Lichtenstein in the Studio"

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) and the Nasher Sculpture Center have jointly opened "Roy Lichtenstein in the Studio," a landmark two-venue exhibition celebrating the pop artist's centennial. Organized by curators Dr. Catherine Craft, Ade Omotosho, and Dr. Emily Friedman, the show features over 50 works gifted by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, which is closing its operations. The exhibition marks the first collaboration between the neighboring institutions since "Matisse as Sculptor" nearly 20 years ago, and includes prints, drawings, maquettes, and sculptures that establish Dallas as a study center for Lichtenstein's work.

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.

Why Jaume Plensa’s New Exhibition at Denver Botanic Gardens Is a Must-See This Summer

Spanish artist Jaume Plensa has opened a major exhibition at the Denver Botanic Gardens, titled *Jaume Plensa: A New Humanism*, which includes both outdoor sculptures and indoor gallery works. The show features iconic pieces like the 11-foot-tall steel sphere "Self-Portrait with Music" and a retrospective spanning from 2002 to the present, including portrait heads, a door inscribed with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and letter-based sculptures. Plensa describes the hybrid setting as a first for him, where children interact freely with the art.

Losing Frida Kahlo in "The Making of an Icon"

The article critiques the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's (MFAH) exhibition "Frida: The Making of an Icon," arguing that it perpetuates a fetishized, commercialized view of Frida Kahlo by focusing on her biography—her marriage to Diego Rivera, her affairs, her accident—rather than her artistic skill. The author contrasts this with a visit to the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) in Mexico City, where the exhibition "Relatos modernos. Obras emblemáticas de la Colección Gelman Santander" presents Kahlo's work alongside other Mexican masters in a quiet, understated manner that allows viewers to appreciate her technical abilities without overwhelming narrative.