Vasari Art Codex

article news schedule May 7, 2026 visibility 2 link 21 artists, 1 gallery

A Venice Biennale in Protest

Hundreds of protesters, led by the Art Not Genocide Alliance, blocked the entrance to the Israeli pavilion at the Venice Biennale on May 6, waving Palestinian flags and accusing Israel of operating a "genocide pavilion." Activists from Pussy Riot and FEMEN also staged a pink smoke-filled protest against Russia's participation. Meanwhile, the Biennale jury suddenly resigned, and Israeli pavilion artist Belu-Simion Fainaru made legal threats against the Biennale alleging antisemitism and discrimination. The article also covers exhibitions in Upstate New York, a tribute to Beat Generation icon Jack Kerouac, and obituaries for performance art champion Steven Durland, artist Georg Baselitz, cartoonist Nicole Hollander, and arts patron Doris Fisher.

newspaper Hyperallergic open_in_new Read original

candle obituary schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 3 link 20 artists, 1 gallery

Remembering Georg Baselitz, Nicole Hollander, and Doris Fisher

Hyperallergic's weekly 'In Memoriam' column honors seven figures from the art world who recently passed away, including German Neo-Expressionist painter Georg Baselitz, feminist cartoonist Nicole Hollander, and arts patron Doris F. Fisher, co-founder of The Gap. Other notable figures remembered are photographer Stephanie Chernikowski, West Coast assemblage artist George Herms, Spanish artist and designer José María Cruz Novillo, and Bay Area muralist Dan Fontes. The article provides brief biographies and highlights of their contributions to visual art, photography, comics, and public art.

newspaper Hyperallergic open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 4, 2026 visibility 9 link 21 artists, 2 galleries

SFMOMA reimagines our connection to 250 works of art across four floors.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has unveiled "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10," a major reinstallation of approximately 250 works from 35 artists across four floors. The project was led by project assistant curator Ted Mann and chief education and public engagement officer Gamynne Guillotte, who collaborated to transform how the collection is presented. Changes include rotating galleries, such as the Agnes Martin room, to improve sightlines, and incorporating artists' voices, archival video, and interpretive tools to make abstract works more accessible. The reinstallation marks the tenth anniversary of the Fisher Collection's long-term loan to SFMOMA, originally arranged in 2009 and later extended to 100 years.

newspaper 7x7 Bay Area open_in_new Read original

article local schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 12 link 52 artists, 6 galleries

What’s on now at San Francisco museums, May 2026

San Francisco museums are navigating a mix of upcoming exhibitions and financial challenges in May 2026. SFMOMA is closing "KAWS: Family" on May 3 and opening "Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal" from May 16 to September 13. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts has suspended operations due to funding issues, and SOMArts is also facing a budget gap. Meanwhile, the Museum of Craft and Design presents "Video Craft" through August 16, and the Letterform Archive hosts "Black Memory Scholar: The Language of Storytellers" and "Piet Zwart: Brand Architect." SFMOMA has announced three SECA award winners—CrossLypka, Em Kettner, and Chanell Stone—who will exhibit from December 2026 to May 2027, and the museum continues to showcase "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10" and new installations by Alexander Calder, Claes Oldenburg + Coosje van Bruggen, and Rose B Simpson.

newspaper Mission Local open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 4 link 2 artists, 2 galleries

Cecilia Vicuña: Minga for the Sea

Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo presents 'Minga for the Sea,' a major new commission by Chilean artist, poet, and activist Cecilia Vicuña, running from May 29 to August 9, 2026. This is Vicuña's first major presentation in Scandinavia, featuring two large horizontal quipus made from locally sourced raw wool, one dedicated to the Southern Hemisphere/Chile and the other to the Northern Hemisphere/Sápmi. The quipus incorporate contributions from Indigenous and environmental defenders, including poems, drawings, and videos, forming a polyphonic archive of cultural resistance against destructive resource extraction and pollution of marine environments.

newspaper e-flux.com open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 3 link 4 artists, 2 galleries

‘Art’s Selfish’: Canada Pavilion Artist Abbas Akhavan on What Comes After Venice

Abbas Akhavan, representing Canada at the 2026 Venice Biennale, has transformed the Canada Pavilion into a greenhouse-like installation titled “Abbas Akhavan: Entre chien et loup.” The pavilion’s wooden door has been replaced with glass, revealing a pond of pinkish water illuminated by sunlight and LED grow-lamps. Visitors encounter mossy boulders, a vintage fur coat sprayed with mist, sharpened bronze sticks, and frosted mirrors that blur the architecture. Three giant Bolivian water lilies, grown from seeds sent from Kew Gardens to Padua, will gradually fill the pond over the summer. Akhavan describes his role as a “custodian” rather than a controller, emphasizing the unpredictability of nature.

newspaper Cultured Mag open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 3 link 1 artist

US Border Wall Construction Damages 1,000-Year-Old Indigenous Land Art in Arizona

Construction crews building a barrier between the United States and Mexico have damaged a 200-foot-long etching of a fish embedded in the land in Arizona, known as the Las Playas Intaglio, which is thought to be 1,000 years old. According to a report in the Washington Post, workers destroyed a 60-to-70-foot portion of the ancient Indigenous land art as part of President Donald Trump’s $46.5 billion border-wall project. Satellite imagery confirmed the destruction, showing bulldozer marks running through about a third of the fish formation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged the incident, stating that a contractor inadvertently disturbed the cultural site on April 23, 2026, and that the remaining portion has been secured.

newspaper ARTnews open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 3 link 2 artists

1,000-year-old archaeological site bulldozed during construction of Mexico-US border wall

On 24 April, a Department of Homeland Security contractor bulldozed a 1,000-year-old intaglio—a 280ft by 50ft etching in the desert sand—during construction of the US-Mexico border wall in Arizona's Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. The site, sacred to local Indigenous communities including the Hia-Ced O’odham, was part of a UNESCO biosphere and contained over 3,000 petroglyphs. Despite warnings from tribal members and refuge staff, the contractor destroyed a 70ft stretch of the fish-shaped intaglio, which elders and archaeologists describe as an irreplaceable cultural and archaeological treasure.

newspaper The Art Newspaper open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 2, 2026 visibility 1 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

RTRU* (*Raudive Technoculture Research Unit) at KAJE

The exhibition "RTRU* (*Raudive Technoculture Research Unit)" is on view at KAJE in Brooklyn from April 4 to May 17, 2026. Curated by the Riga Technoculture Research Unit (Zane Onckule and Elizaveta Shneyderman), the show features works by Ka Baird, Scott Benzel, Valdis Celms, Cal Fish, Jason Isolini, Voldemārs Matvejs, Karlīna Mežecka, Adriana Ramić, Konstantīns Raudive, and Ieva Rubeze. The press release and checklist are available, and images of the exhibition are provided courtesy of the artists and the gallery.

newspaper Contemporary Art Daily open_in_new Read original

article news schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 2

Bulldozer Plows Across Thousand-Year-Old Indigenous Land Art During Border Wall Construction

Construction workers building the Trump administration's border wall between the US and Mexico accidentally damaged a two-hundred-foot-long Indigenous land art figure known as the Las Playas Intaglio, a colossal fish etched into the earth near Ajo, Arizona, that is thought to be over a thousand years old. Satellite imagery showed bulldozer tracks cutting a sixty-to-seventy-foot-wide path across the intaglio, and a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed the disturbance, stating the remaining portion had been secured and would be protected in place.

newspaper Artforum open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 3 link 1 gallery

SMFA at Tufts Presents Passages, the 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (SMFA at Tufts) presents "Passages," the 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition, on view from May 5 to 17 at Tufts University Art Galleries in Medford, Massachusetts. The show features thesis work by nineteen MFA candidates, exploring themes of journey, transition, and exploration across media including painting, sculpture, assemblage, and artists' books. Works incorporate found visa documents, portraiture, clay cities, and symbolic animals such as goldfish, black birds, and a dog-headed cynocephalus.

newspaper Hyperallergic open_in_new Read original

article local schedule May 5, 2026 visibility 2 link 3 artists

Carson High artists dazzle at Nevada Artists Association Student Art Show

Several Carson High School art students earned top honors at the Nevada Artists Association Student Art Show. Senior Serenity Rodriguez placed first in the 3D category for her piece “Buried in Flowers,” while freshman Abbey Ortega earned third place for “Comic Book Art” and an honorable mention for “Cat Caught Fish.” Other students received honorable mentions across 2D and 3D categories. The Spring 2026 High School Art Exhibition features 69 entries from Carson, Dayton, Douglas, and Whittell high schools, on view at the Nevada Artists Association Gallery in Carson City through May 8.

newspaper Carson Now open_in_new Read original

article local schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 7 link 2 artists

Opening Reception For Show "AWE And DELIGHT" At Blue Streak Gallery Opens May 1st

Blue Streak Gallery in Wilmington, Delaware, is hosting an opening reception on May 1st for its new group exhibition titled "AWE and DELIGHT." The show features 20 artists, each contributing one painting that depicts something that brings them delight, showcasing a range of styles, techniques, and subjects. Participating artists include Ruth Ansel, Lisa Bartolozzi, Susie Benarcik, Jeremy Butler, Karen Delaney, Mary Page Evans, Alida Fish, Craig Hable, Sutton Hays, Annie Oldach, Annie Patrizi, Rachel Romano, Lynda Schmid, Libbie Soffer, Bill Spiker, Carol Spiker, Steve Tanis, and Valetta. The exhibition runs through June 2nd.

newspaper townsquaredelaware.com open_in_new Read original

museum exhibitions schedule May 1, 2026 visibility 6 link 2 artists

RISD Museum Puts Spotlight on Diversity

The RISD Museum in Providence is spotlighting diversity through a series of exhibitions and programs in spring 2026. Highlights include the third Black Biennial, titled "Please Catch Me When I Fall," organized by students Karma Johnson, Khalil McKnight, and King Meulens, featuring over 50 works by Black artists from the school and local community. Other exhibitions range from "A Shared Journey: The Barkan Contemporary Ceramic Collection" to "Natchiq | Onkeehq | Isuwiq: Indigenous Artists Honor the Seal" and "The Artistry and Reunion of Two Surimono Albums," alongside ongoing displays like "Shimmering Beauty: Kingfishers in Art and Poetry."

newspaper providenceonline.com open_in_new Read original