Venice Biennale 2026: all the national pavilions, artists and curators so far

The 61st edition of the Venice Biennale, the world's oldest and most prestigious art biennial, will open on 9 May 2026 and run through 22 November. The main exhibition follows the curatorial plan of the late Koyo Kouoh, while national pavilions have been announcing their participating artists and organizers. The article provides a comprehensive list of confirmed pavilions so far, including artists such as Genti Korini (Albania), Matías Duville (Argentina), Khaled Sabsabi (Australia), Florentina Holzinger (Austria), Faig Ahmed (Azerbaijan), and many others, with details on venues and organizers.

Two Brazilian curators selected to organise 2027 Bienal de São Paulo

The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has appointed Brazilian curators Amanda Carneiro and Raphael Fonseca as chief curators for the 2027 Bienal de São Paulo, Latin America's largest and longest-running visual arts event. Carneiro, a curator at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) since 2018, also organized the main exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Fonseca, based in Lisbon, works at Culturgest, serves as curator-at-large for Latin American art at the Denver Art Museum, and is curating the Taiwan Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. The event will take place at the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo in Ibirapuera Park, with further details expected in coming months.

Inside Burger Collection: Tadanori Yokoo: A Visionary Renegade

The article profiles Tadanori Yokoo, the 89-year-old Japanese artist and graphic designer, who remains active despite a recent bout of Covid-19. It details his early life in Nishiwaki, his failed attempts to enter art school and the postal service, and his eventual career in commercial printing, which shaped his innovative approach to graphic design and painting. The piece highlights his ongoing exhibition at Tokyo's Setagaya Art Museum and his enduring influence in Japan's cultural world, including the Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art in Kobe.

Au boulot ! 10 œuvres qui célèbrent le travail

Beaux Arts Magazine presents a feature on ten artworks that celebrate labor, from ancient Egyptian frescoes to modern depictions of workers. The article highlights pieces such as Pieter Brueghel the Elder's "The Harvesters" (1565), Diego Velázquez's "The Spinners" (c. 1657), and Johannes Vermeer's "The Milkmaid" (c. 1660), examining how artists have elevated peasant, artisan, and domestic work from background detail to central subject. The feature coincides with the Musée d'Orsay's nationwide initiative "100 œuvres qui racontent le travail" (100 Works That Tell the Story of Work), which explores the history and representation of labor in art.

Zurbarán review – ecstatic visions, primitive surrealism … and the finest loincloths ever painted

The Guardian reviews a major exhibition of 17th-century Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán, highlighting his visionary and surrealist qualities. The show features works such as "The Apparition of Saint Peter to Saint Peter Nolasco" (1629), newly attributed paintings including a giant mask, and iconic pieces like "The Crucified Christ" and "Saint Serapion," all drawn from collections including the Prado and the National Gallery, London. The review emphasizes Zurbarán's ability to paint supernatural subjects with naturalistic conviction, his exquisite rendering of fabrics—especially loincloths—and his influence on modern artists like Salvador Dalí.

14 artists having major museum moments in 2026

The article previews 14 artists who will have major museum exhibitions in 2026, highlighting key shows such as a long-awaited US retrospective of Marcel Duchamp, a Calder exhibition in Paris, and a Rothko show in Florence. It also details concurrent auction highlights at Christie's New York, including works from the S.I. Newhouse collection by Brancusi, Lichtenstein, Matisse, and Pollock. Specific exhibitions covered include "Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Whitney Museum, and multiple European shows for Constantin Brancusi's 150th anniversary.

Ittai Gradel, Whistleblower in British Museum Gem Theft, Dies at 61

Ittai Gradel, the Israel-born Danish gem expert who alerted the British Museum to the theft of thousands of antiquities from its collection after discovering them for sale on eBay, died on April 28 of renal cancer at age 61. Days before his death, British Museum officials visited him in hospice and presented him with a rarely awarded medal for his service. Gradel first warned deputy director Jonathan Williams in 2021 that artifacts were being sold online, identified veteran curator Peter Higgs as the culprit, and provided detailed evidence. After the museum failed to act, Gradel contacted then-director Hartwig Fischer; two years later, Higgs was fired, and Fischer and Williams left the institution amid the scandal.

In Venice, Hernan Bas Paints the Problem With Modern Tourism

American artist Hernan Bas has created a series of 40 paintings critiquing modern tourism, set to open in May at Ca' Pesaro–International Gallery of Modern Art in Venice during the Biennale. Titled "The Visitors," the exhibition depicts young white male American tourists engaging in objectionable behaviors worldwide—from begpacking to visiting disaster sites—painted with Bas's signature attention to clothing details. The works were developed during a residency in Venice, a city emblematic of overtourism, in collaboration with Victoria Miro, Lehmann Maupin, and Perrotin galleries.

KAWS | BEAUTIFUL LOSERS EXHIBITION POSTER (2004) | Art & Prints

An auction listing for KAWS's "Beautiful Losers Exhibition Poster" (2004) is featured on a digital marketplace, with bidding having ended. The work is an offset lithograph in color, measuring 17 × 11 inches, published by the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati. The listing includes a detailed biography of KAWS (born Brian Donnelly), highlighting his career from street art subversion in the 1990s to high-profile brand collaborations with Nike, Uniqlo, and Dior, and his record auction sale of $14.8 million at Sotheby's in 2019.

Sur Arte Radio et dans une expo, l’enquête d’Adrianna Wallis sur les traces de sa grand-mère peintre spoliée par les nazis

Artist Adrianna Wallis (born 1981) discovers that her paternal grandmother, painter Diane Esmond (1910–1981), was a victim of Nazi looting during World War II. After being contacted by historians Patricia Helletzgruber and Sophie Juliard, Wallis learns that much of Esmond's work was systematically destroyed by the ERR, the Nazi organization responsible for art theft in occupied countries. This revelation sparks a personal investigation that becomes a podcast for Arte Radio titled "Il restera la gravité," blending documentary, autobiographical inquiry, and sound installation. Wallis delves into archives, examining microfilms and lists that detail 46 of Esmond's paintings—each methodically described and declared destroyed, such as "Woman in blue evening dress: annihilated."

Museums and Art Galleries to Visit in Tokyo

This article provides a guide to notable museums and art galleries in Tokyo, including the Mori Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, The National Art Center Tokyo, Yayoi Kusama Museum, teamLab Planets Tokyo, Creative Museum Tokyo, and Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. Each entry includes details on opening hours, addresses, and highlights such as immersive installations, contemporary art collections, and unique architectural settings.

Maximilien Durand renouvelé au Louvre

Maximilien Durand has been reappointed to a leadership role at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The announcement was made in the May 2026 issue of Le Journal des Arts, though specific details of his new position or term were not provided in the available text.

Aileen Murphy Sleeps on the Ceiling

Aileen Murphy's third exhibition at Deborah Schamoni in Munich, titled "Sleeps on the Ceiling," presents five new paintings dominated by rosé and pink tones. The works revolve around a table-like motif, featuring animals, disembodied limbs, and surreal details such as a white cat with red eyes and a yellow snake. Murphy, who completed her studies in 2018, blends abstract gestures with detailed figuration, creating scenes that are both playful and uncanny. The exhibition's title is borrowed from Elizabeth Bishop's poem "Sleeping on the Ceiling" (1946), reflecting a dissolution of domestic interior, urban monument, and psychological landscape.

May 2026 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

Colossal's May 2026 opportunities roundup lists multiple open calls, residencies, and grants for artists worldwide. Featured opportunities include the Scenerium 2026 Art Award (deadline May 7), the Hopper Prize offering $4,500 and $1,000 artist grants (deadline May 12), and the SaveArtSpace Billboard Art Open Call curated by Gigi Chen (deadline May 7). Other listings include the YICCA Art Prize, CIFRA Award, Cass Art Prize for the U.K. and Ireland, Sunshine Coast National Art Prize in Australia, an opportunity to get published in Artistonish magazine, and the Abbey Mural Prize.

From intimate still lives to shadowed saints: the many sides of Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán go on show at London’s National Gallery

The National Gallery in London is opening a major survey exhibition of Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), the first on this scale since 1987. The show expands beyond his famous austere saints to include intimate still-lifes, late private devotional works, and large-scale altarpiece reconstructions. Curator Daniel Sobrino Ralston highlights two newly discovered paintings, including *Alcarraza on a Plate*, and a rare reconstruction of the second tier of the Charterhouse of Jerez de la Frontera altarpiece, reuniting works from museums in Grenoble and Poznań.

The Newest Docent at This Historic Italian Palace Is a Robot

Palazzo Madama in Turin, Italy, has introduced a four-foot-tall robot named R1 as a docent for its Baroque collection. The robot, developed by the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) under Project Convince with €4 million in EU funding, guides visitors through the former royal apartments, narrating the history of the House of Savoy and detailing paintings, tapestries, and furniture. R1 can interact with visitors via LED eyes, answer questions, and autonomously navigate the museum's first floor, though it cannot climb stairs. It has been learning on the job since 2025, completing 30 tours in December 2025, and uses corrective software to relocalize itself if lost.

LA LECHUZA DE MINERVA

The Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, founded in 1926 by a small group of artists, has launched a centenary exhibition titled "La lechuza de Minerva" (The Owl of Minerva). Curated by Isabella Lenzi, the project revisits the institution's most disruptive exhibition, "El sueño imperativo" (1991), curated by Mar Villaespesa, which invited twelve artists to intervene in both exhibition spaces and transit areas, challenging traditional display logic. The new exhibition features works by artists including Dagoberto Rodríguez, Elo Vega, Rogelio López Cuenca, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, Itziar Okariz, Los Carpinteros, María Salgado, Pedro G. Romero, Regina Silveira, Silbatriz Pons, and Tino Sehgal, who activate hidden and unexpected corners of the building through visual and sound actions. The project also restores Nancy Spero's 1991 intervention "Minerva, Sky Goddess," which had largely disappeared, through archaeological research led by restorer Rocío Casasus.

Book uncovers the life of Barnett Newman, an artist who ran for New York mayor

A new biography titled "Barnett Newman: Here" by Amy Newman (no relation) explores the life of Abstract Expressionist painter Barnett Newman, revealing his little-known 1933 run for mayor of New York City at age 28 under a platform of cultural and environmental reforms. The book details his upbringing as the son of Jewish immigrants in the Bronx, his philosophical studies, and his eventual reinvention as a painter who pioneered the 'zip' painting style with works like Onement I, while also chronicling his combative personality and lifelong battles against political machines and critics.

Lucas Museum Aims to Tell the History of Storytelling via 1,200 Objects

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles has announced details of its inaugural exhibitions, set to open on September 22, 2026. Founded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, the museum will feature over 1,200 objects across 30 galleries, tracing the history of visual storytelling from ancient sculptures to Renaissance paintings, photography, comics, and manga. The collection draws from Lucas's personal trove of more than 40,000 works of illustrator art, including pieces by N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta, Beatrix Potter, and Jack Kirby, as well as large-scale murals and photography by artists like Judy Baca and Dorothea Lange. The museum, designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, also includes archives of Lucas's film sets, props, and costumes.

Picturing Absence – 3 Photographs in the DAM's Collection

The Denver Art Museum (DAM) highlights three photographs from its collection that explore themes of absence and presence. Yoko Ikeda's 2008 image of a Japanese home threshold captures the unseen inhabitants through details like slippers. Keisha Scarville's "Untitled #17" (2017) uses her mother's clothing to evoke grief and memory after her death. David Maisel's "Library of Dust (267)" (2005) documents corroded copper urns containing cremated remains of unclaimed patients from Oregon State Hospital, revealing unique mineral blooms that symbolize individuality.

Where did the great artist Joseph Beuys live? The comic story by Gianluca Costantini

Dove viveva il grande artista Joseph Beuys? Il racconto a fumetti di Gianluca Costantini

In the summer of 2022, the author visited Düsseldorf and discovered that Joseph Beuys's former home at Drakeplatz 4 in Oberkassel was for sale, but the city's cultural department declined to purchase it. Beuys lived and worked there from 1961 until his death in 1986, using the space as both a residence and studio. The article recounts the intimate details of family life there, including how Beuys painted the main room white for his wife Eva's photography, and how the family navigated the blend of private life and artistic practice. Two years later, the Brunhilde Moll Foundation acquired the house and opened it to the public, though it was closed for renovations when the author returned. The house now displays about sixty works from Beuys's creative period and will host artist residencies and events.

Maximilien Durand

Maximilien Durand has been appointed to a new role in the art world, as reported by Le Journal des Arts. The article announces his position, though specific details of the appointment are not provided in the given text.

For the 61st Venice Biennale, a quest for beauty despite a troubled world

Pour la 61e Biennale de Venise, une quête de beauté malgré un monde troublé

Koyo Kouoh, the Swiss-Cameroonian curator who was set to become the first African woman to direct the Venice Biennale, died suddenly on May 10, 2025, at age 57, just weeks before the opening of the 61st edition she had conceived. Titled "In Minor Keys," the exhibition at the Giardini and Arsenale will proceed posthumously based on her detailed directives, featuring 111 artists including Laurie Anderson, Wangechi Mutu, and Kader Attia, with a focus on beauty, resilience, and radical emotional connection amid global turmoil.

A Curator Died Suddenly. Could the Venice Biennale Be Saved?

Koyo Kouoh, the curator of the Venice Biennale’s centerpiece exhibition, died suddenly of cancer at age 57, just months into her tenure. She left behind a detailed plan for the exhibition, which her assistants are now working to realize in her absence.

John Riepenhoff at Cooper Cole

John Riepenhoff's solo exhibition "Out of Mind" is on view at Cooper Cole in Toronto from March 28 to May 2, 2026. The presentation includes 80 images documenting the show, with press release, checklist, and venue details available through the gallery's website and the Contemporary Art Library.

SACHA INGBER: TWO

Brazilian artist Sacha Ingber presents 'Two,' a solo exhibition at Uffner & Liu in New York, featuring works in pigmented resin, ceramics, and functional objects that explore themes of pairing, connection, and codependence. The show includes paired notebooks, ceramic figures sharing handles, and a backgammon board designed for two players, all emphasizing the relational space between objects and bodies.

Lucio Santiago | LA ESPERA (2015) | For Sale

Lucio Santiago's bronze sculpture "LA ESPERA" (2015) is listed for sale at US$3,400 through Bernardini Art Gallery & Auction House. The work measures 23 × 19 × 19 cm, is unique, and signed. Lucio Santiago, born in 1987 in Oaxaca de Juárez, is the son of artist Alejandro Santiago. His artistic training includes workshops in photography at the Manuel Álvarez Bravo center and with Katy McFadden, as well as graphic art at Gráfica Bambú and a three-year residency at La Ceiba in Xalapa. His first solo exhibition was in 2007, and he has since shown in Europe and the US. His work explores themes of life and death, incorporating wings, skeletons, mutilated bodies, and animals like eagles, fish, and coyotes.

Linocuts by Eduardo Robledo Celebrate Mexican Heritage and Community

Eduardo Robledo, a Mexico City-based artist from Xochimilco, creates detailed linocuts that celebrate Mexican heritage, community, and spiritual motifs. His work features traditional symbols like skulls, skeletons, and Sacred Hearts alongside regional animals and cultural references such as Xochimilco's canal boats. Robledo also engages in social activism through printmaking, viewing it as a democratic medium for spreading messages about causes he supports. His prints are available at Hecho a Mano in Santa Fe, and he co-founded Lugar de Huida, a gallery in Mexico City that highlights Mexican printmakers.

'Intersection: Kisho Kakutani and Kosuke Harasawa' at Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong on 16 May–4 Jul 2026

Whitestone Gallery Hong Kong presents 'Intersection', a duo exhibition featuring Japanese artists Kisho Kakutani (b.1993) and Kosuke Harasawa (b.1997), running from 16 May to 4 July 2026. Kakutani's works capture bright, humid mornings with frosted, detailed depictions of beaches and cityscapes, while Harasawa focuses on rain-soaked Hong Kong night scenes populated by ghostly figures with transparent umbrellas, blending nostalgia with urban transformation.

Top Five: April 30, 2026

Glasstire's "Top Five: April 30, 2026" highlights five art events across Texas, including solo exhibitions by Alfredo García at Monterroso Gallery in Houston, Angela Weddle at Un Grito Gallery in San Antonio, and Ludwig Schwarz at Conduit Gallery in Dallas, as well as a group show "Homeward Bound" at DORF in Austin. The article provides details on dates, opening receptions, and artist statements for each event.