Art News. Vasari Codex

19 New Exhibits Coming to the Smithsonian Museums in 2026

The Smithsonian Institution has announced 19 new exhibitions opening across its museums in 2026, including shows at the African American History and Culture Museum, African Art Museum, Air and Space Museum, American Art Museum, American History Museum, and Asian Art Museum. Highlights include Nick Cave's immersive installation "Mammoth" at the American Art Museum, a photography survey of the U.S. Bicentennial, and a major reopening of the Air and Space Museum's final seven galleries after eight years of renovations. Several exhibitions tie into the nation's 250th anniversary, while others explore LGBTQ+ African art, HBCU collections, salsa music history, and contemporary water-themed paintings by Hiroshi Senju and Bingyi.

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National Museum of Asian Art Explores the Power of Water in New Exhibition Featuring Hiroshi Senju and Bingyi

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art will present “Into the Waters with Senju and Bingyi: Two Contemporary Paintings,” a new exhibition opening April 2 and running through Aug. 23. It features two recent paintings by Hiroshi Senju (born 1958) and Bingyi (born 1975), each offering hypnotic visualizations of water. Senju’s pair of folding screens reimagines waterfalls using traditional Japanese techniques and contemporary methods, while Bingyi’s hanging scrolls, created with cloth and paper wrapped around an uprooted tree, incorporate natural elements like sea breeze and humidity. The exhibition marks the first showing of these works, which were acquired to expand the museum’s contemporary collections.

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