Group of Seven, Van Gogh and Renoir works will be showcased at new downtown gallery

A new commercial gallery, Cowley Abbott Fine Art, is opening in downtown Calgary with a three-day public preview starting April 23, 2026. The gallery will showcase rare masterworks by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Canadian icons like Emily Carr and Lawren Harris of the Group of Seven. Notably, an Emily Carr painting from the 1930s, last exhibited nearly a century ago, will be on view.

Seattle May art shows include speakeasy-style gallery attached to house

A series of diverse art exhibitions are opening across Seattle in May. Highlights include a show exploring the influence of Japanese woodblock prints on Northwest artists at the Cascadia Art Museum, a site-specific installation in a private garage gallery called Double Garage, and a large-scale display of drawings on sticky notes by Clare Johnson at Gallery 4Culture. Other featured shows include Emma Bergman's surreal multimedia installation at Specialist Gallery and a landmark retrospective of light artist Tom Lloyd at the Frye Art Museum.

This exhibition by Aurore Guez invites you to talk to the paintings—our photos.

Artist Aurore Guez presents 'LE CAFÉ,' a free, immersive exhibition at the Wilde Galerie in Paris on April 25-26, 2026. The installation transforms the gallery into a fictional café featuring interactive painted portraits that visitors can converse with via recorded voice clips and AI, alongside a fully designed environment that blurs the line between artwork, décor, and performance.

2026 BFA and MFA thesis exhibitions to open at NMSU Art Museum

New Mexico State University's University Art Museum will host its annual BFA and MFA thesis exhibitions, opening May 1. The MFA exhibition, 'Where We Ended Up,' features interdisciplinary artists Arch Jones and Ezekiel Martey, while the BFA show, 'Raw Perception,' showcases works by nine graduating students across diverse media including painting, sculpture, photography, and ceramics.

25/8 Art Gallery – when blue meets blue

Artist Joanna Tam's solo exhibition "when blue meets blue" opened at the 25/8 Art Gallery on April 13, 2026. The show, presented in partnership with the Harvard Square Business Association and Intercontinental Management, features photographic works and installations exploring the ocean and sky as motifs tied to migration, memory, and the complex duality of nature. Tam, who grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the US, draws from personal experience to create a space for meditation on comfort, freedom, trauma, and tension.

11 can’t-miss art shows to see in Phoenix this spring

Phoenix is hosting a diverse array of spring art exhibitions across the city. Highlights include the 19th Annual Erotic Art Show at Exposed Gallery, Amy Menousek's feminist fiber work at Five15 Arts, Rachel Rinker's interactive sound and painting show at Tempe Center for the Arts, a group show of Japanese artists in Arizona at Shemer Art Center, and the "Art is History" exhibition at Lisa Sette Gallery, which critically examines art historical narratives.

Beyoncé, Bezos, baubles and bustiers: What to know about the 2026 Met Gala

The 2026 Met Gala, scheduled for May 4, will serve as the fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, with a theme inspired by the new exhibition "Costume Art." The event is co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with lead sponsorship from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, and will inaugurate the museum's new Conde M. Nast Galleries.

6 Reasons You Can’t Miss “Giants” This Spring

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) has opened the exhibition "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys." Featuring over 130 works drawn from the music power couple's private collection, the show spotlights Black American and diasporic artists and is on view from April 18 through August 9, 2024.

The Photography Show fair’s 45th edition explores medium’s full history from its origins to AI

The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (Aipad) has opened the 45th edition of The Photography Show at New York's Park Avenue Armory. The fair features around 65 exhibitors in its main section, with a new Focal Point sector highlighting 13 solo presentations by boundary-pushing artists. Returning participants include major New York photography galleries, alongside first-time exhibitors and galleries returning after an absence.

CHIHULY AT MEIJER GARDENS TO TRANSFORM MEIJER GARDENS MAY 2 TO NOV. 1 WITH EXPANSIVE OUTDOOR AND INDOOR EXHIBITION, FEATURING ENHANCED EXPERIENCES INCLUDING RADIANT FORMS AND INSIDER TOURS

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park will host a major exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work from May 2 to November 1. The expansive show, titled 'CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens,' will feature large-scale installations across 12 outdoor locations on the 158-acre campus, complemented by indoor gallery displays, making it the largest Chihuly exhibition in the institution's history.

Local artist to feature at one-day-only Calgary art gallery

Local Strathmore artist Emmeline Keeling will participate in the one-day Obsidian Art Show at the Calgary Chinese Cultural Center. She is among over 50 artists selected for the event, which is organized by the Public Display Agency to connect artists with gallery owners from Webster Galleries, The New Gallery, and Gallery Underground.

What You Need to Know About the Venice Biennale’s Russian Pavilion Controversy

The Russian pavilion is set to return to the Venice Biennale for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, presenting an exhibition titled 'The tree is rooted in the sky.' This has sparked significant controversy, with artists, curators, and politicians from Ukraine and several European nations calling for the pavilion's exclusion, citing the ongoing war and sanctions. The Biennale organizers have refused to remove Russia, stating they lack the authority to exclude a state recognized by Italy and emphasizing the event's role as a neutral space for cultural dialogue.

From texture to 3D and optical illusion, Jack Lockhart invites the public to experience art differently

A solo exhibition titled "Beyond Imagination" by Canadian artist Jack Lockhart is on view at the Alex Dufresne Art Gallery in Callander. The show features roughly 35 paintings spanning 60 years of Lockhart's career, highlighting his evolution from traditional watercolour, acrylic, and oil painting to innovative 3D works created using ChromaDepth glasses.

Bikaner House to host Japanese artist Mari Ito’s first solo exhibition in India, Origin of Desire

Japanese artist Mari Ito will hold her first solo exhibition in India, titled 'Origin of Desire,' at Bikaner House in New Delhi. The week-long show, presented by the gallery GEEK/ART, opens on April 25 and features new paintings and a special installation, introducing Ito's botanical, surreal, and Nihonga-influenced work to a new audience.

Art for art’s sake, but for people’s health too | Letter

Art Fund director Jenny Waldman responds to a philosophical article about art's intrinsic value, arguing that while art should be enjoyed for its own sake, promoting its measurable health benefits can serve as a crucial entry point for new audiences. She cites the organization's National Art Pass adverts and recent research with King's College London, which demonstrated immediate physiological responses to viewing original art, as tools to invite people who might otherwise feel excluded from cultural institutions.

In Giuseppe Penone’s Sculptures, Humankind and Nature Are One

Giuseppe Penone is preparing for his exhibition 'The Reflection of Bronze' at Gagosian's New York flagship, running from April 22 through July 2. The show, curated by former Whitney Museum director Adam D. Weinberg, features eighteen artworks from 1995 to the present, including the new sculpture 'Marsia (Marsyas)', and is designed to create a forest-like sensory immersion using materials like cork.

Isaac Julien review – Gwendoline Christie meets a cyborg starfish in a pleasure-seeker’s postmodern parlour

A new film by artist Isaac Julien, featuring actors Sheila Atim and Gwendoline Christie as science-fiction deities, is on view at the Cosmic House in London. The 25-minute work, which incorporates themes from Octavia E. Butler's novel *Parable of the Sower*, explores concepts of change, interconnectedness, and fluid identity through a visually rich, postmodern lens.

Vibrant Sea Creatures Spring to Life in Lisa Stevens’ Textured Sculptures

Bristol-based artist Lisa Stevens creates vibrant ceramic sculptures inspired by marine life. Her work features sea urchins, coral, and nudibranchs, transformed into unique pieces with colorful glazes and textures that often blend aquatic forms with celestial and anatomical references.

Author Graci Harkema to visit Grand Rapids Art Museum

Author Graci Harkema will visit the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) for a free public conversation about her life journey, coinciding with the museum's photography exhibition "As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic." The event, titled "RISING: A Conversation with Graci Harkema," allows attendees to view the exhibition before the talk.

5 Exhibitions in Avignon and its Surroundings to Shine from Spring to Summer

5 expos à Avignon et ses environs pour rayonner du printemps à l’été

A series of five art exhibitions are scheduled from spring to autumn 2026 in and around Avignon, France. The program includes a refreshed permanent display of 1980s art at the Collection Lambert featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat and Nan Goldin, a solo show by Julien Prévieux critiquing artificial intelligence at Le Grenier à Sel, a photography exhibition of South Korean landscapes by Michael Kenna at Galerie Rousset, and other shows focusing on artists from Asia and the Middle East.

2 art exhibits in Woolwich, Portland illuminate in more ways than one - Portland Press Herald

Two solo exhibitions by artists Josefina Auslender and Billy Gerard Frank are on view in Woolwich and Portland, Maine, through mid-May. Auslender's "La Chimera de Oro (The Golden Chimera)" at Sarah Bouchard gallery features new ink-on-paper drawings exploring themes of artistic truth and the seductive danger of commercial success, while Frank's show at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design (ICA at MECA&D) addresses the legacy of slavery through multimedia installations.

Franco Bellucci “Works (c. 2010–2018)” at a. SQUIRE, London

Franco Bellucci's exhibition "Works (c. 2010–2018)" is on view at a. SQUIRE gallery in London. The show features his sculptures, which are composed of knotted, humble, and mass-produced materials like socks, bandages, cables, and plastic bags, reflecting a direct engagement with his immediate surroundings.

Feeling Nature According to Nicolas Poussin

Ressentir la nature d’après Nicolas Poussin

An exhibition titled "Le sentiment de la nature. L’art contemporain au miroir de Poussin" has opened at the NMNM – Villa Paloma in Monaco. Curated by Guillaume de Sardes, it places Nicolas Poussin's 1651 painting *L'Orage* in dialogue with works by over twenty contemporary artists, including Sarah Moon, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Thomas Demand, Pierre Thoretton, Ange Leccia, Marine Wallon, and Claudio Parmiggiani.

La MansA Launches Its Magazine

La MansA lance son magazine

La MansA – Maison des mondes africains has launched MansA Magazine, a bilingual (French/English) semiannual cultural publication. The magazine, available at newsstands, bookstores, and online, features essays, interviews, and portfolios focused on African and Afro-diasporic art scenes, adopting a critical and documentary approach. The cover of the inaugural issue features Guillaume Diop, the first Black male principal dancer at the Paris Opera.

Emma the joke-telling robot cracks up the care home: Paula Hornickel’s best photograph

Photographer Paula Hornickel captured a moment between an elderly care home resident named Waltraud and a social robot named Emma in Albershausen, Germany. The robot, designed for companionship in settings with staff shortages, engages residents in conversation, tells jokes, and discusses topics like favorite flowers, simulating social interaction.

Family Tours of the Jeff Koons: Venus Lespugue Exhibition at Museum of Cycladic Art

The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens is organizing special family tours for its ongoing 'Jeff Koons: Venus Lespugue' exhibition. The tours, scheduled for three Sundays in April, May, and June, are designed for parents and children aged 8-12 and will explore both the Koons exhibition and the museum's permanent collection of Cycladic art.

The Most Unique and Research-Focused Exhibitions to See in Brussels in Spring 2026

Le mostre più particolari e ricercate da vedere a Bruxelles nella primavera 2026

Brussels is hosting a series of niche and research-focused contemporary art exhibitions in spring 2026, coinciding with the 42nd edition of Art Brussels. Highlights include Jean-Michel Othoniel's "Diary of Happiness" at the Boghossian Foundation, Caroline Achaintre's "Extrazimmer" at La Verrière, a six-decade survey of the Art & Language collective at Fondation CAB, and a dialogue between Nassos Daphnis and Rita McBride titled "Abstract Constructions."

Viandalism: the exhibition bridging street art and contemporary art at the Mona Bismarck

The Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris is hosting an exhibition titled 'Viandalism' from May 7-8, 2026, bringing together 40 artists from graffiti and contemporary art backgrounds. The show features installations and site-specific interventions within the 1,000 m² private mansion, aiming to create a dialogue between the artworks and the venue's unique architecture and atmosphere.

Nobody Can Handle Me: Brazil Rewrites the Pavilion as Living Memory.

Brazil's 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion, curated by Diane Lima, presents a radical, sensorial exhibition titled 'Comigo ninguém pode' featuring artists Adriana Varejão and Rosana Paulino. The show transforms the modernist pavilion into an active participant, where historical and new works by the two artists create friction and resonance, exploring themes of colonial violence, the Black female body as archive, and spiritual resistance.

MixHaus Gallery opens new exhibit

MixHaus Gallery in Comfort, Texas, has opened a new exhibition titled "Songs of the Ocotillo," featuring a collaboration between local poet Lucy Griffith and Marfa-based mixed-media artist Darlene Marwitz. The show, which launched on April 10, combines Griffith's poetry with Marwitz's textured artworks to explore themes of the ocotillo plant and the landscape of the southern borderlands.