World-renowned glass artist returns to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

World-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly returns to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a new exhibition opening Saturday, his first at the venue since 2010. The show spans nearly 50 years of his career, divided into outdoor installations across the park's 158-acre property and a new indoor exhibit titled CHIHULY: Radiant Forms, featuring a massive glass garden centerpiece. The indoor galleries were custom-built to showcase different series of his work, creating dramatic transitions between spaces.

Beyond the Mona Lisa: MOSI’s Leonardo da Vinci exhibit showcases the ‘original innovator’ in Tampa

MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) in Tampa, Florida, is hosting an exhibition titled "Machines in Motion" that features 20 working machines built from Leonardo da Vinci's 15th-century designs. Created by Italian engineers using period-appropriate materials, the interactive display includes inventions such as ball bearings, an olive oil press, a printing press, and wartime weapons. MOSI President & CEO John Graydon Smith describes da Vinci as "the original innovator" and notes the exhibit aims to inspire creativity in both children and adults. The temporary exhibition runs until May 3.

Robert Longo: Angels of the Maelstrom | Pace Gallery | Art in Tokyo

Robert Longo, the New York-based artist known for monumental charcoal drawings, returns to Japan after thirty years with the solo exhibition 'Angels of the Maelstrom' at Pace Gallery Tokyo, on view until June 17. The show presents recent drawings and sculptures that juxtapose allegorical images of crashing waves, whales, tigers, and peonies with portraits of 20th-century American icons, centered on a large-scale depiction of Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani titled *Untitled (American Samurai)*, which Longo frames as a symbol of cultural convergence.

Sharjah Biennial 2027 dates, artists and theme revealed

Sharjah Art Foundation has announced details for the 17th edition of the Sharjah Biennial, titled “What remains, sits restive,” running from January 21 to June 13, 2027. The large-scale contemporary art event will feature 109 participants across multiple sites in the emirate, including Sharjah City, Al Dhaid, Khor Fakkan, and Kalba. Confirmed artists include Anri Sala, Hassan Khan, Ibrahim Mahama, Oscar Murillo, Zina Saro-Wiwa, and Angela Ferreira. The biennial will be curated by Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento, each presenting separate sections under a shared theme examining how past political and cultural histories shape present-day realities through time, memory, and space.

Shiva Zahed's Istanbul gallery opens new platform for Iranian contemporary art

Shiva Zahed, an Iranian collector and former physician, has opened a new gallery in Istanbul's Pera district dedicated to Iranian contemporary art. The gallery launched with the exhibition "echos," featuring works by Shaqayeq Arabi and Fereydoun Ave, which was extended through May 10 due to strong interest. Zahed frames the space as an active platform to reposition Iranian artists within a global context, rather than a conventional exhibition venue.

In Dancehall and Reggaetón’s Evolution, MCA Chicago Charts a Global Awakening

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has opened "Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón," an ambitious exhibition exploring the historical evolution of dancehall and reggaetón as cultural movements and their influence on contemporary art. Curated by Carla Acevedo-Yates, the show features over 40 international artists including Isaac Julien, Edra Soto, Alberta Whittle, Carolina Caycedo, supakid, and Lee "Scratch" Perry, tracing the genres' roots from Afro-Caribbean traditions through their emergence in Jamaica, Panama, and Puerto Rico to global mainstream dominance by figures like Daddy Yankee and Bad Bunny.

Shigeo Toya, 1947–2026

Japanese sculptor Shigeo Toya died of pneumonia in Tokyo on April 15, 2026, at age 78. Known for his conceptual approach, Toya spent five decades redefining sculpture beyond Western frameworks, creating works such as *Bamboo Grove II* (1975), the *Woods* series (shown at the 1988 Venice Biennale), and the *Minimal Baroque* series. He was a professor emeritus at Musashino Art University and received Japan's Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon and the Order of the Rising Sun.

The Great Festival of Contemporary Creativity in Parma Celebrates Its First 10 Years: The Events to See

Il grande festival di Parma sulla creatività contemporanea festeggia i suoi primi 10 anni: gli eventi da vedere

The Parma 360 Festival, a major contemporary creativity festival in Parma, Italy, celebrates its tenth edition with the theme "Lux. Visioni sulla Luce" (Lux: Visions of Light). Curated by Chiara Canali and Camilla Mineo, the festival features five exhibitions across special city locations, transforming Parma into a diffuse museum. Highlights include Antonio Barrese's "Morphology Light. Viaggio nella forma della luce" at Galleria San Ludovico, exploring light as plastic matter, and Michael Kenna's photographic exhibition "Il fiume Po. Scritture di luce" at Palazzo Pigorini, capturing the Po River through contemplative black-and-white imagery. Over its nine previous editions (2016–2025), the festival has presented more than 70 official exhibitions and involved over 200 artists.

EFG LATIN AMERICA ART AWARD PRESENTS THE NOMINATED ARTIST AT SP ARTE 2026

The EFG Latin America Art Award, in partnership with ArtNexus, has named Brazilian artist Cristiano Lenhardt as the nominated artist at SP-Arte 2026. Lenhardt, represented by Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, was selected for his work *Lieoe* (2025), a mixed-media piece combining ceramic and embroidery on cotton that responds to the devastating floods in Rio Grande do Sul in May 2024. The selection was made with input from Fernando Oliva, curator of MASP, and Celia Sredni de Birbragher, director and editor of ArtNexus.

EFG LATIN AMERICA ART AWARD PRESENTA AL ARTISTA NOMINADO EN SP ARTE 2026

The EFG Latin America Art Award, in partnership with ArtNexus, has named Brazilian artist Cristiano Lenhardt as its nominee from SP-Arte 2026. Lenhardt, represented by Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, was selected for his work *Lieoe* (2025), a mixed-media piece combining ceramic, embroidery, and cotton fabric dyed by floodwaters from the Guaíba River. The work responds to the environmental tragedy of the May 2024 floods in Rio Grande do Sul, transforming trauma into a tactile, intuitive object. The nomination was made with input from Fernando Oliva, curator of MASP, and Celia Sredni de Birbragher, director of ArtNexus.

“Conspiracies” Aby Warburg Institute / London by Frank Wasser

The exhibition “Conspiracies” at the Warburg Institute in London, curated by Larne Abse Gogarty, brings together works by Hannah Black, Caspar Heinemann, Sam Keogh, and Shenece Oretha alongside panels from Aby Warburg’s Bilderatlas Mnemosyne. Through sculpture, drawing, collage, installation, and sound, the show resists the idea that conspiracy can be solved by exposure or critique, instead constructing unstable relations between historical images, speculative narratives, and material processes. Key works include Heinemann’s drawings reimagining Ted Kaczynski as “Theodora” and Keogh’s large-scale collage referencing medieval tapestries and surveillance systems.

À Florence, une touriste poursuivie pour avoir endommagé la fontaine de Neptune

In Florence, Italy, a 28-year-old tourist is being prosecuted for damaging the historic Neptune Fountain during a bachelorette party on the night of April 18-19. She allegedly climbed the monument on Piazza della Signoria after a dare from friends to touch the statue's intimate parts, causing an estimated €5,000 in damages to the horses' legs and a decorative frieze. This follows a similar incident in September 2023, when a 22-year-old German tourist caused €5,000 in damage to the same fountain while posing for photos.

Exhibition | Carlo D'Anselmi, 'Secrets and Mountains' at Fabienne Levy, Lausanne, Switzerland

Carlo D'Anselmi's solo exhibition 'Secrets and Mountains' opens at Fabienne Levy in Lausanne, Switzerland. The show presents a new body of work created during the artist's first stay in Switzerland, overlooking the French Alps, where he observed the transition from winter into spring. His dreamlike paintings blend figures, animals, and landscapes, exploring memory, light, nature, and the shifting boundary between reality and fiction. D'Anselmi holds an MFA from the New York Studio School and is represented by Thierry Goldberg Gallery in New York.

The project that brings Michelangelo's David to the Swiss Alps: a full-scale copy will be installed among the mountains

Il progetto che porta il David di Michelangelo sulle Alpi della Svizzera: verrà installata tra le montagne una copia a grandezza naturale

A full-scale marble replica of Michelangelo's David will be installed in the Swiss Alpine village of Klosters (Canton of Grisons) starting July 2, 2026. The copy, carved in 2017 from Michelangelo's preferred Polvaccio marble in Carrara, weighs over nine tons and was produced by Studi d’Arte Cave Michelangelo under Franco Barattini. The project is organized by Scultura Viva, a cultural initiative based in Klosters that focuses on reactivating sculptural heritage through public installations and educational programs.

A Napoli c’è una mostra ispirata a Emily Dickinson dove è la luce a creare le opere

Diego Perrone's exhibition "There's a certain Slant of light" opens at Galleria Umberto Di Marino in Naples, taking its title from an Emily Dickinson poem. The show features new photographic and painted works born from the artist's observation of light passing through domestic glass objects in Naples, where architecture and daily life are shaped by an interplay of light and shadow. Photographs are enclosed in hand-molded glass frames, while large surfaces created with airbrush, charcoal, and chalk present shadow fields on white backgrounds, forming a visual sequence that unfolds like a film in black and white.

How the GDR apron became Italian luxury

Wie die DDR-Schürze zum Italo-Luxus wurde

Italian luxury label Miu Miu has released dresses for summer 2026 that resemble 1980s East German kitchen aprons, with prices reaching up to €12,000 for crystal-embroidered versions. The collection debuted on the Paris runway in October, where actress Sandra Hüller opened the show in robust workwear, evoking factory workers from the former GDR. Designer Miuccia Prada, a former member of the Italian Communist Party, drew inspiration from Helga Paris's 1984 photo series "Frauen bei der Arbeit" (Women at Work), which documented female laborers in East Berlin's VEB Treffmodelle textile factory.

Laura K. Sayers’ Vibrant Postage Stamps Celebrate the Beauty of Everyday Moments

Laura K. Sayers creates intricate miniature postage stamps using cut paper, depicting everyday scenes from her home in Scotland and places she visits. Her solo exhibition "The Wee Small Hours" at N. atelier in Glasgow showcases these tiny tableaux, which also include works inspired by her residency at the Fiskars Artist-in-Residence program in Finland. The exhibition runs through this weekend.

From Micro to Mega, Jon McCormack’s Striking Photos Reveal Nature’s Patterns

Photographer Jon McCormack, who grew up in the Australian Outback and has traveled to all seven continents, has a new book titled "Patterns: Art of the Natural World," forthcoming from Damiani Books. The project emerged during the pandemic when limited travel led him to revisit local spots and develop a patient, attentive approach to capturing nature's hidden harmony and symmetry. The book features 90 images ranging from microscopic crystals to aerial views of flamingos in Kenya, along with text contributions from fellow photographers and conservationists.

New Currents: Jungeun Park

Jungeun Park, an artist based between New York and Seoul, creates sculptures that blend glass, ceramics, and textiles to evoke raw biological forms and alien organic matter. Her 2025 graduate presentation at the Rhode Island School of Design featured works like *Skin Mite (demodex)* (2024), sewn from old pillowcases, and *Period Chalice* (2024), made from resin, metal chain, metal ring, water, and strawberry syrup, which transform the repulsive into something tender and strange.

Speaking in Signs: Kwame Akoto’s Worlds Across Contexts.

Ghanaian painter Kwame Akoto, known for his vibrant signboard works blending bold imagery with urgent text, is the subject of his first major French exhibition, 'Almighty God Art Works', at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris. In an interview with ART AFRICA, Akoto discusses how his paintings transform when moving from the streets of Kumasi—where they function as everyday spiritual and commercial communication—into a European museum context, addressing themes of translation, shared authorship, and the shifting meanings of images across cultural and institutional boundaries.

SILENCE HAS MATTER ETHIOPIA BRINGS THE WORK OF TEGENE KUNBI TO THE VENICE BIENNALE

The Ethiopia Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "Shapes of Silence," an exhibition by artist Tegene Kunbi, curated by Abebaw Ayalew, running from May 9 to November 22, 2026, at Palazzo Bollani. The show marks the culmination of Kunbi's thirty-year practice, exploring silence as a social and political condition through abstraction, textiles, and assemblage, drawing on Ethiopian folkloric traditions and material histories.

Special Private Tour and Luncheon Hosted by the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum

On April 25, 2026, the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell, New Jersey, hosted a private tour and luncheon led by wildlife artist Dwayne Harty, whose exhibition "Bison Legacy" had recently concluded at the museum. The event welcomed over thirty guests, including friends of the artist and Foundation Board President James Bellis Jr. Harty, trained at the Art Students League of New York under Bob Kuhn, Robert Lougheed, and Clarence Tillenius, is known for his accurate and expressive wildlife depictions. The museum will present its Permanent Collection starting at the end of May 2026.

Art, museum exhibits in Kenosha, Racine counties this week

This article provides a weekly listing of art and museum exhibits in Kenosha and Racine counties in Wisconsin, including details on hours, locations, and current or permanent exhibitions. Featured venues include the Anderson Arts Center, Artists Gallery, Carthage College Art Gallery, Civil War Museum, Dinosaur Discovery Museum, Kenosha History Center, Kenosha Public Museum, Lemon Street Gallery, OS Projects, and Photographic Design Gallery & Framing.

‘Rightstarter’ art exhibit at Antioch revisits hip-hop’s golden era

The Herndon Gallery at Antioch College is opening a group exhibition titled 'Rightstarter: Resistance, Rap and the Golden Era,' curated by artist Joshua Whitaker. The show, launching with a reception on May 9, explores the rap counterculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, featuring works by artists from Dayton and beyond. It includes drawings, paintings, sculpture, installations, video, and performance, with a live jazz performance by G. Scott Jones and the Freedom Ensemble. The exhibition highlights how hip-hop served as a platform for social commentary against the backdrop of Reaganomics, the crack epidemic, the war on drugs, and the AIDS crisis.

Emerging and Mid-Career Craft and Design Artists Gather at KCDF Open Call Exhibition

The Korea Craft and Design Foundation (KCDF) announced the launch of its "2026 KCDF Craft and Design Open Call Exhibition" on April 27, selecting 10 emerging artists, 6 mid-career artists, and 3 groups through a professional review. The program opens with a solo exhibition by mid-career artist Seo Junghwa, titled "Ambiguity," featuring metal furniture that blurs boundaries between natural and artificial objects, running from April 29 to May 10 at KCDF Gallery. Additional window gallery shows include Jeon Young Eun's "Showcase of Extinction" (April 15–May 10) and Lee Hyungchan's "Supporting [ ]s" (May 13–June 7). Since 2018, the Foundation has supported 154 exhibitions through this initiative.

Rock Falls Tourism Announces Calls for Artists for 2026 Art in the Park Sculpture Walk/Outdoor Art Gallery

Rock Falls Tourism has announced two Calls for Artists for the 2026 Art in the Park Sculpture Walk and Outdoor Art Gallery, to be held on August 29, 2026, in the RB&W District in Rock Falls, Illinois. The Outdoor Art Gallery will feature a juried exhibition of original artwork from 10AM to 4PM, with a $250 Best of Show prize, while the Sculpture Walk seeks eight sculpture pieces for a year-long rotating public exhibit, offering selected artists a $1,250 stipend. Applications for the gallery are due June 2, 2026, and for the sculpture walk by June 1, 2026.

Reston Art Gallery Presents its May Exhibit “ Down the Shore ” by Pat Macintyre

Reston Art Gallery and Studios (RAGS) in Reston, Virginia, is presenting its May exhibition titled “Down the Shore,” featuring acrylic paintings by gallery director and artist Pat Macintyre. The show depicts coastal scenes from the Eastern Shore, Isle of Wight Bay, and Ocean City, including images of rural villages and large shells on pale canvases. A reception will be held on May 10 from 2-4pm, and the exhibit runs through May 31.

Miller Art Museum Announces Student Award-Winners

The Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, announced the award winners of the 52nd-annual Salon of Door County High School Art at a free public reception on April 6. The exhibition features original artwork by 105 students from five local high schools—Gibraltar, Sevastopol, Southern Door, Sturgeon Bay, and Washington Island. Awards of Excellence were given to Abigail DeMeuse, Lilian Saltou, Audrie Schley, Rowan Ploor, and Thomas Pratt, while honorable mentions went to Molly Virlee, Lola Georgenson, Angelina LeCloux Herrera, Ryan Felhofer, and Teagan McGrane. Gianna Roman of Sevastopol won the fourth-annual Jim Rericha Legacy Award, named after a longtime art teacher, which included a $100 cash prize. The museum also announced a Potter’s Panel on May 9 featuring master potters discussing the legacy of Abraham Cohn, and the return of its Art and Treasures fundraiser starting May 30.

Nearly 70 Student Artists Featured in SUNY Oneonta’s Annual Juried Art Show

Nearly 70 student artists are featured in SUNY Oneonta’s 2026 Juried Student Show, now on display at the Martin-Mullen Art Gallery through May 2. The exhibition includes over 90 works in media such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, digital art, and mixed media, selected by faculty from more than 100 submissions. A public reception with 17 awards will be held on April 30.

Young artists make a strong impression at juried art show

The 15th Annual High School Juried Art Show at the Mann Art Gallery in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, held its awards ceremony at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre, drawing students, families, teachers, and community leaders. Peter Smallboy, a Grade 12 student from Big River Public High School, won Best in Show for his charcoal work "Inner Sight," inspired by the beauty of the human eye. Other award winners included Alice Rosetti, Tatianna Trautmann, Cristyn Mitchell, Jorja Hanson-Lemaigre, Arrow Anderson, Kiara Levesque, and Abeedah Saka-Bello, with 67 artists exhibiting works in media ranging from painting and sculpture to photography and textiles.