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.
Artist Colleen Barry presents her exhibition “Iconophilia” at Half Gallery in the East Village, featuring 14 recent paintings that explore motherhood, tenderness, and the complexity of image-making. The works include mythological references like the Capitoline Wolf and juxtapositions of ancient and modern imagery, such as a portrait of Grace Jones combined with the Roman god Janus. Barry, who grew up working class in New York and learned painting from her father, aims to counter contemporary distrust of images—especially among her children—by offering a reverent, iconophilic approach to visual culture.
The US Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, often called the 'art world Olympics,' is mired in controversy and delays under the Trump administration. Curator Jeffrey Uslip insists the process has been smooth and artistically autonomous, but the selection of sculptor Alma Allen and commissioner Jenni Parido—a former pet supply shop owner with a new nonprofit—has raised eyebrows. The usual vetting process by the National Endowment for the Arts was disrupted, new language banning diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts was added to applications, and a government shutdown left only six months to fundraise and plan the exhibition, which coincides with the US's 250th anniversary.
Ocula's editors have curated a list of 10 must-see collateral exhibitions in Venice that are not part of the main Biennale. Highlights include Shirin Neshat's film trilogy "Do U Dare!" about YouTuber Nasim Aghdam, Hernan Bas's ironic paintings of tourists at Ca' Pesaro, and the group show "Outta Love" featuring Francesca Woodman, Jenny Saville, and Wolfgang Tillmans. Another notable exhibition is "Turāndokht" from Parasol unit, which brings together 11 female artists from Central Asia to challenge Orientalist stereotypes.
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.
A new museum called Arthouse is opening in Marble Falls, Texas, on April 25, 2026, during the town's Paint the Town Festival. Its inaugural exhibition, "Words Matter," features text-based artworks by artists including Faith Ringgold, Ed Ruscha, Terry Allen, and Jenny Holzer, drawn from the collection of oil and gas entrepreneur Mickey Klein and his wife Jeanne, who are longtime art collectors named to ARTnews' Top 200 Collectors list. The building, designed by Lake Flato, is a limestone and metal structure on Main Street that will serve as both a public gallery and an office.
Milwaukee's Third Ward now hosts The Catacombs of Neto Art Museum, a bilingual museum-gallery hybrid founded by artist-couple Ernesto Atkinson and Jenny Urbanek. Housed in the Marshall building's basement tunnels, the one-and-a-half-year-old space serves as a permanent home for Atkinson's work, which he previously stored in his basement. The couple, inspired by visits to sites like Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona and the Milwaukee Art Museum, conceived the museum as a "sacred resting place" where art comes alive through viewer interaction. Atkinson, a licensed art therapist, integrates psychological and wellness elements into the museum, which also functions as a gallery, educational space, community hub, and introduction to art therapy.
Jenna Sutela, representing Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale, will present an exhibition titled *Aeolian Suite* in the Giardini pavilion. The work features sound sculptures that engage with wind as both a physical and political force, using meteorological data, wind machines, recorders, a children's woodwind orchestra, and recordings of winds from Venice, Helsinki, and beyond. Sutela explores noise as a creative medium, drawing on the concept of deep listening inspired by artist Pauline Oliveros, and connects her project to the Biennale's theme, *In Minor Keys*, curated by Koyo Kouoh.
The Clay Studio has organized "Radical Americana," a sprawling exhibition series featuring 45 artists across 22 sites in the Philadelphia area. Curated by Jennifer Zwilling, the project includes a central "welcome hub" at The Clay Studio and 25 satellite exhibitions at venues such as the Museum for Art in Wood, Cliveden, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Artists were prompted to reflect on the Declaration of Independence and envision a better future, resulting in works that explore feminism, social justice, and LGBTQ rights through media including ceramics, wood, fiber, metal, glass, paper, and bookmaking. Notable participant Roberto Lugo presents "American Crib: What's Happening?" at The Clay Studio, blending Puerto Rican heritage with historical references.
Perrotin New York presents 'Antechamber,' an exhibition of over twenty new paintings by Swedish artist Jens Fänge. The works feature distorted, labyrinthine interiors populated by people, animals, and mannequins, using layered materials like oil, vinyl, linen, and burlap to create compositions that blur the line between figuration and abstraction. Recurring motifs such as doors, windows, halos, and locusts shift meaning across the show, which draws inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales and Nathanael West's surrealist novels.
Western Washington University’s art department has opened its 2026 biennial exhibition, featuring 20 faculty and staff artists with works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation. The show runs through May 2 in the Fine Arts Building, with free admission and interactive pieces that invite viewer participation. New gallery director Kelly Lindner curated the exhibit, which includes works such as Jennifer Anable’s “Tulip Vase (Hell Fire)” and collaborative pieces by multiple artists.
Western Washington University’s art department has opened its 2026 faculty and staff biennial, featuring 20 artists with works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation. The exhibition is held in the Fine Arts Building, room 124, and runs Monday through Saturday until May 2, with free admission. New gallery director Kelly Lindner curated the show, which includes interactive pieces and collaborative works. Featured artist Jennifer Anable contributed three works inspired by Skagit Valley and dark humor, emphasizing the importance of students seeing their teachers’ professional practice.
Interdisciplinary St. Louis artist Jen Everett will discuss her work in the Elevate exhibition at 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis, joined by artist-scholar Dr. Blair Ebony Smith. The conversation will focus on themes of Black interiority, memory, archives, deep listening, sound, and collaboration, followed by an audience Q&A. The event takes place on April 26, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
The Government of Yukon has added 11 new works to the Yukon Permanent Art Collection (YPAC), featuring artists Eugene Alfred, Misha Donohoe, Basia Hinton, Jane Isakson, Stephanie Luneta-Stevens, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Margret Njootli, Andy Pelletier, Dustin Sheldon, Maria Rose Sikyea, and Michelle Williams. Eight of these artists are represented in the collection for the first time. The pieces were selected from 134 submissions by 64 artists through an annual call for submissions process managed by the Yukon government and the Friends of Yukon Permanent Art Collection. An exhibition of the works is planned for fall 2026, and images are available on Yukon.ca.
Melville Open Studios returns for its ninth year, transforming the Western Australian suburb into an open-air gallery for one weekend. Seventy-seven local artists will open their home studios and dedicated hubs—including Atwell House, Goolugatup Heathcote, Applecross Art Gallery, Feld & Co., and Myaree Ceramics—to the public. Visitors can explore ceramics, painting, printmaking, floristry, mixed media, and textiles, purchase artworks commission-free, and take guided bus tours across six routes. Coordinator Jennifer Gaye, who took over the event from the City of Melville in 2022, reports that last year's edition attracted 5,000 visitors and generated over $100,000 in direct sales for artists.
Casa Ramos Art Gallery in Los Osos, California, will open a group exhibition titled “Happy” on May 2, featuring new works by eight Central Coast artists: John Ramos, Mike Golling, Phillip Lopez, George Jercich, Jon Miller, Adrianne Jenkins, Dan Rider, and Elena Ramos Peffly. The show is curated around themes of happiness, color, and optimism, with pieces spanning painting, ceramics, glass, and jewelry. John Ramos will also debut three new prints at the opening reception, which runs from 2 to 6 p.m. at 1034 Los Osos Valley Road and is free to the public.
ArtReview Podcast episode 6 features artist Hyeree Ro, who speaks with associate editor Jenny Wu about her practice, including her attraction to objects with ambiguous functions. Ro discusses her work *Niro* (2024), a skeletal car installation exploring her relationship with her late father, and her upcoming exhibition at the Korean pavilion for the 61st Venice Biennale. The episode also touches on gardens and maintaining friendships as artists, with references to the Soswaewon garden and Hua Hsu's memoir *Stay True*.
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.
The Prairie Arts Council in Princeton, Illinois, is hosting a May exhibition featuring mixed-media artist Jennifer Eustis. The show runs weekends in May 2026, with an opening reception on May 1. Eustis, based in Peru, Illinois, works across 2D and 3D sculpture, silversmithing, and textile arts, often described as "Modern Folk." Her work reimagines historical influences like Santos Cage Dolls through contemporary techniques, including copper etching. Her pieces have been exhibited across the Midwest and East Coast and are held in private collections internationally.
The Bienal de São Paulo has appointed Amanda Carneiro and Raphael Fonseca as chief curators for its 37th edition, opening in fall 2027. Both are Brazilian curators: Carneiro is a curator at MASP and previously assisted Adriano Pedrosa on the Venice Biennale's main exhibition; Fonseca, based in Lisbon, also curates the Taiwan Pavilion in Venice and works at Culturgest and the Denver Art Museum. The selection follows the success of Cameroonian curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung's 2023 edition.
The Niverville Foundation is hosting its annual spring art show on May 7, 2026, at the Golden Friendship Centre, combined with the foundation's annual general meeting. The event features four local emerging artists: returning talents Jolene Pauls and Jenn Lundy, along with Joey Dean and international award-winning artist Margaret Switala. Tickets are $25, available at the Niverville Credit Union or at the door, with wine and charcuterie served during the exhibition.
Tate Britain held a press preview for its upcoming exhibition "The 90s: Art and Fashion" (8 October 2026 – 14 February 2027) at The Groucho Club in London. The show, curated by former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful alongside Tate curators, explores the creative energy of the 1990s, featuring works by artists such as Damien Hirst, Corinne Day, Helen Chadwick, and Jenny Saville. Enninful emphasized that the exhibition is not solely focused on the Young British Artists (YBA) moment but presents a broader cultural narrative.
Centenaire d’Elizabeth II : deux statues colossales de la reine seront érigées à Londres, dans St James’s Park
London has unveiled the final design and models for a colossal memorial to Queen Elizabeth II in St James's Park, to be completed by 2028. The centerpiece is a seven-meter bronze statue of the queen at age 28, inspired by a Pietro Annigoni portrait and created by sculptor Martin Jennings. It will be accompanied by a statue of Prince Philip by Jennings and a second, more intimate statue of the queen in old age by Karen Newman. The project marks the centenary of Elizabeth II's birth (1926–2022) and is designed by Foster + Partners. Models are on display at the British Museum until June 21.
Six Black-owned galleries—Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Gallery Guichard, Galerie Myrtis, Richard Beavers Gallery, and Jenkins Johnson Gallery—are profiled for their success in placing artists into major museum collections. Each gallery has built institutional relationships that lead to acquisitions by museums such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Bronx Museum, often retaining artists through the placement stage to capture long-term market value.
Le sculture biomorfiche di Alma Allen nel Padiglione USA alla Biennale d’Arte di Venezia 2026 (tra le polemiche)
Alma Allen, a self-taught American sculptor, has been selected to represent the United States at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with the exhibition "Call Me the Breeze." The pavilion, curated by Jeffrey Uslip, will feature site-specific biomorphic sculptures that explore the concept of "elevation" through a hybrid creative process combining pre-industrial carving and hand-modeling with advanced robotic sculpting. Works will incorporate local American materials such as walnut burl, Cantera green volcanic rock, and Yule marble from Colorado, and the pavilion is tied to America250, the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts (MKFA) has announced the recipients of its 2026 Infinite Expansion Grants (IEG), awarding funding to nine contemporary arts organizations across Los Angeles County. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the grant program, with six of the nine organizations receiving MKFA funding for the first time. The grantees include Art in the Park, Clockshop, and Color Compton, among others, each undertaking projects that explore themes of place, memory, diaspora, and community resilience through exhibitions, installations, and public programming. The grants were selected by a jury of five arts professionals including Tiffany Barber, Jibz Cameron, Justen Leroy, Jenny Lin, and Rodrigo Valenzuela.