Gallerist Bruno Bischofberger, Who Catalyzed Basquiat/Warhol Collaboration, Dies at 86

Swiss art dealer Bruno Bischofberger, who catalyzed the famous collaboration between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, died on May 9 at age 86. His death was announced by his namesake gallery, which he had operated since 1963. Bischofberger played a pivotal role in introducing US Pop artists to Europe, representing Warhol and Basquiat, and commissioning collaborative works that led Warhol to return to painting after a two-decade hiatus. He also represented European artists like Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Gerhard Richter, and Jean Tinguely, and his idiosyncratic ads graced Artforum's back cover for nearly four decades.

Art Movements: New Museum Names Its First Artist Studio Residents

The New Museum has named Yun Choi, Alison Kuo, and Korakrit Arunanondchai as the first artists-in-residence for its new Artist Studio, a 730-square-foot space created by the museum's OMA-designed expansion. The residencies will run from spring 2025 through winter 2027, with each artist developing new work, onsite exhibitions, and public programs. Separately, Forge Project announced its 2026 fellows—six Indigenous artists including Jay Bellis, Heidi Brandow, and Tiare Ribeaux—who will each receive $25,000 and a three-week residency. In other news, the Robert Therrien Estate has left Gagosian for David Zwirner Gallery, Laurel Nakadate won the Maud Morgan Prize, and Frieze New York revealed a staff uniform designed by artist Reika Takebayashi.

Venice Biennale Controversies Continue, French Parliament Report Finds Flaws in Museum Security, and More: Morning Links for May 13, 2026

Iran has denied withdrawing from the Venice Biennale, with Mahdizadeh Tehrani, general director of visual arts at Iran's Ministry of Culture, stating the country still hopes to participate despite Biennale organizers announcing Iran would not be represented at its pavilion. Meanwhile, the Somalia Pavilion has sparked controversy, with the Somali Arts Foundation alleging it was led by diaspora figures and European collaborators without meaningful consultation of artists based in Somalia, and the queer collective Warbixinta Cidda demanding the removal of an Italian co-curator due to Italy's colonial history. Separately, a French parliamentary inquiry has exposed major security flaws in the country's museums, following the theft of France's crown jewels from the Louvre in October, calling for reforms in security resources and museum leadership appointments.

Remembering Bruno Bischofberger, Manuela Hoelterhoff, and Steven Durland

This week's In Memoriam column from Hyperallergic honors seven figures from the art world who recently passed away, including Swiss collector and dealer Bruno Bischofberger (1940–2026), Pulitzer-winning arts critic Manuela Hoelterhoff (1949–2026), and artist-editor Steven Durland (1951–2026). Other notable losses include British painter Ray Burgoyne, iconographer Christina Dochwat, German gallerist Jenny Falckenberg, realist painter Ward Nichols, and MoMA preparator Pamela A. Popeson. Each entry provides a brief biography and highlights their contributions to visual art, criticism, and cultural organizing.

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.

‘Harlem has always been evolving’: inside the Studio Museum’s $160m new home

The Studio Museum in Harlem is set to inaugurate its new $160 million, purpose-built home on Manhattan’s 125th Street. Designed by Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, the 82,000-square-foot facility nearly doubles the museum's previous exhibition space and replaces a repurposed 1914 bank building that lacked essential infrastructure like loading docks and large elevators. This milestone marks the first time in the institution's history that it will operate out of a structure specifically designed to support its mission of championing artists of African descent.

Tiny Cranach Painting That Vanished During WWII Returns to Dresden

A miniature portrait of Friedrich III (Frederick the Wise) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, missing since World War II, has been returned to the State Art Collections of Dresden, Germany. The painting was last documented in May 1945 in a limestone quarry shelter near Pockau-Lengefeld before vanishing. It resurfaced in 2024 when consigned to Parisian auction house Artcurial, whose provenance investigation revealed a matching inventory number from 1722–1728. The Dreyfus family in France, the modern owners, returned the work after negotiations and a financial agreement. It is now on view at the Coin Cabinet of the Royal Palace in a special exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of Friedrich III's death, and will later be permanently displayed in the Semper Gallery.

The Making of a Maintenance Artist

A new documentary titled "Maintenance Artist" (2025) traces the decades-long practice of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, a pioneering artist who focused on marginal, unpaid, and feminine labor. The film covers her career from her 1969 "CARE" manifesto, through her role as artist-in-residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation, to her first retrospective at the Queens Museum in 2017. It highlights her critique of art-world gender biases and her efforts to recognize discounted labor in all fields.

New York art world spared worst of logistics woes

New York's spring art fairs—including Frieze, Tefaf, Independent, and Nada—are proceeding largely on schedule despite ongoing disruptions from the war in Iran. Airspace closures, reduced flights, rising fuel costs, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have strained global art logistics, forcing rerouting, last-minute cancellations, and cost increases of up to 2,500%. Logistics firms like Hasenkamp and Gander & White report that while shipments are still arriving, the system has become fragile, with clients prioritizing safety and resilience over speed.

Hube Guide: What to Do in New York During Frieze

Frieze Art Fair returns to New York from May 13th to 17th, 2026, at The Shed for its 15th edition, featuring over 65 galleries from 26 countries. The fair emphasizes Latin American practices and includes a Focus section curated by Lumi Tan highlighting younger galleries and experimental works. Notable presentations include Reika Takebayashi’s ecological dreamscapes, Bruno Cançado’s meditations on Brazilian vernacular architecture, and Abraham González Pacheco’s graphite works. Beyond the fair, performances and installations extend to institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and Dia Art Foundation. The article also previews concurrent exhibitions: "Costume Art" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (May 2026–January 2027), a David Hammons and Jannis Kounellis show at White Cube (May 1–June 13, 2026), and Carol Bove’s exhibition at the Guggenheim (March 5–August 2, 2026).

2 exhibits at Portland Museum of Art show off photography, decorative arts

The Portland Museum of Art (PMA) is presenting two concurrent exhibitions: "Ming Smith: Jazz Requiem — Notations in Blue" (through June 7) and "Precious: The Value of Ornament" (through July 19). The Ming Smith exhibition showcases the pioneering Black photographer's emotive, manipulated images, including jazz club scenes and portraits, drawn from the museum's collection and loans from The Gund at Kenyon College. The decorative arts exhibition highlights the value of ornament in applied arts.

Out and About: What's Happening in Philly

This article is a roundup of events happening in Philadelphia, including a Mother's Day Weekend visit to the Barnes Foundation, a live stage show of "Dancing with the Stars," the Night Market at East Market, and Broadway productions of "Chicago" and "The Wiz." It highlights the Barnes Foundation's collection of impressionist and modern art, along with its new exhibition "Freedom Dreams" on view through August 9.

"Man besitzt Kunst nicht, man ist nur ihr Verwalter"

The 61st Venice Biennale opened on Saturday without ceremony or an opening celebration, amid political turmoil over the participation of Russia and Israel. Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli criticized Biennale director Pietrangelo Buttafuoco for not informing the government about Russia's participation request, suggesting it could have been used as leverage for a ceasefire in Ukraine. The entire jury resigned after attempting to exclude both Russia and Israel from prize awards, leading to the cancellation of the traditional jury decision in favor of a public vote, which over 70 participating artists have protested by withdrawing from this year's prizes. Separately, a rare photograph from the early 1940s has surfaced showing Lucas Cranach the Elder's painting "Venus with Cupid as Honey Thief" in Adolf Hitler's Munich apartment, raising unresolved questions about whether the work was looted from Jewish owners before 1935.

‘Overworked’: Çağla Ulusoy in Conversation With ArtReview

ArtReview and Dirimart London are hosting a conversation between artist Çağla Ulusoy and ArtReview editor Fi Churchman about Ulusoy's book 'Overworked', which features 83 selected abstract paintings and accompanying collages. The event takes place on 6 June 2026 at Dirimart's London gallery, coinciding with the group exhibition 'Colour is the Place', which includes Ulusoy's work alongside artists Hashel Al Lamki, Tala Worrell, and Berke Yazıcıoğlu. Ulusoy's practice integrates lived experiences from various cultures into abstract compositions using materials like acrylic, oil paint, sand, and wax.

WTF Is an “A-Corp”?

Hyperallergic's daily newsletter announces that Noah Fischer's comic "Prospect Heights Ghost Story" won a 2026 New York Press Club Award, thanks to collaboration with the Economic Hardship Project (EHRP). The edition also covers anti-Trump guerrilla protest art in Washington, D.C., including an arcade game titled "Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell" that satirizes the White House's foreign policy. Other stories include Ridgewood, Queens emerging as a new art hotspot, a feature on Francisco de Zurbarán's religious paintings, and Paddy Johnson's guide to what an "Artist Corporation" (A-Corp) is and whether artists should start one. The newsletter also reports that the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale closed on May 8 as part of cultural workers' strike for Palestine, and that nearly half of the artists in the international exhibition plus 22 national pavilions withdrew from awards consideration in solidarity with the jury's resignation.

​Walid Nayif’s painting exhibition at Yassin gallery is not to be missed

Walid Nayif is holding a painting exhibition at Yassin gallery, which the article describes as not to be missed. The article also lists numerous other art events in Cairo, including photographic projects, immersive digital exhibitions, and ceramic showcases, featuring artists such as Judi Yassin, Tia Khalil, Mostafa El-Razzaz, Khaled Taher, Mahmoud Hamdi, and Pierre Jeanneret, as well as the 'Beyond Van Gogh' immersive experience directed by Mathieu Saint-Arnaud.

Kevin Troyano Cuturi On Building A Singapore Art Gallery With Global Reach

Kevin Troyano Cuturi, raised on museum visits across Europe and trained in physics and finance, founded Cuturi Gallery in Singapore after co-founding Mazel Gallery in 2017. The gallery now operates a Paris outpost in the former Didier Ludot boutique and runs a discoveries platform for emerging artists, a residency program hosting over 20 artists, and has nurtured Singaporean talents like Aisha Rosli and Faris Heizer.

Semiha Berksoy: The Turkish Artist Who Made Her Life a Total Work of Art

Semiha Berksoy: l’artista turca che ha reso la sua vita un’opera totale

A major retrospective titled "Aria of All Colors" at the Istanbul Modern, running until September 6, celebrates the multifaceted Turkish artist Semiha Berksoy (1911–2004). Featuring over 200 works, the exhibition showcases her pioneering career as a painter, sculptor, opera singer, actress, costume designer, and performance artist. Berksoy became the first Turkish soprano to perform on European stages after studying in Berlin, and she helped found the Ankara State Opera. Her deeply personal paintings, often depicting her mother and cultural figures, are marked by a graphic, childlike style and a recurring "line of destiny." The show includes costumes, sketches, archival footage, and even a refrigerator door painted with her daughter's portrait.

Metropolitan Museum receives $23m to endow internship programme

On 30 April, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a $23m pledge from the Rubio Butterfield Foundation, led by newly elected trustee Jennifer Rubio and her husband Stewart Butterfield, to permanently endow the museum's internship program. The internships, offered for nearly 30 years with 100 participants annually, have only been paid since 2021. The article also explores broader trends in museum philanthropy, featuring insights from former directors Gary Vikan, Gary Tinterow, and Maxwell Anderson on how donors are often guided to fund endowments for curatorial positions, operations, or awards rather than art acquisitions.

Parasol Unit returns with a showcase of women from Central Asia and beyond

Parasol Unit, the London non-profit exhibition space that closed in 2020 after 16 years, has relaunched with a new exhibition titled "Turandot: To the Daughters of the East" as an official collateral event of the Venice Biennale. Held at the historic Palazzo Franchetti, the show features 11 female artists from Central Asia and surrounding regions, curated by founder Ziba Ardalan. The exhibition spans video, installation, sculpture, painting, textile, and sound works by artists including Lida Abdul, Huma Bhabha, Mona Hatoum, and Tala Madani, and runs from 9 May to 31 October.

Political Fallout Rocks Venice Biennale Prize System

Dozens of artists participating in the 2026 Venice Biennale have withdrawn from consideration for the newly created Visitor Lion awards, replacing the traditional Gold and Silver Lion prizes. A total of 57 artists from the main exhibition and 22 national pavilions signed a statement published on e-flux on May 9, acting in solidarity with the five-person prize jury that resigned on April 30 over the continued participation of Russia and Israel. The jury had objected to awarding prizes to artists from countries whose leaders face International Criminal Court charges, including Russian president Vladimir Putin and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In response, the Biennale organizers postponed the awards ceremony to November 22 and introduced visitor voting, a move they described as consistent with openness and dialogue. Meanwhile, the Russian Pavilion, which returned after lending its space to Bolivia in 2024, faced protests, closure after previews, and a €2 million funding pull by the European Union for the 2028 Biennale.

Blank Spaces. Sung Tieu by Sarah Johanna Theurer

Sung Tieu's installations, characterized by austere, bureaucratic surfaces, explore the hidden architectures of power embedded in everyday systems. The article examines her series of works that deconstruct administrative forms used in asylum procedures, reducing them to blank spaces and quantified grids to expose how institutional power operates through seemingly neutral documents. Her exhibition "In Cold Print" at Nottingham Contemporary physically manifests these themes by using steel fences to control viewer movement, drawing direct parallels between minimalist sculpture and the dehumanizing design of border controls.

‘Your homes will be destroyed, your family killed’: the US has dropped millions of war propaganda leaflets – but do they work?

The United States military has been dropping propaganda leaflets in psychological operations (psyops) for over a century, from World War I through the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A new interactive exhibit at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, organized by the digital archive group Khajistan, displays hundreds of these leaflets, including those dropped on Japan during World War II and in more recent conflicts. However, declassified internal documents, such as a 1971 US Air Force report, reveal that leaflets were often used as toilet paper, cigarette rolling paper, or souvenirs by enemy soldiers, undermining the official narrative of their effectiveness.

Why global gallery studies matters now

University College Cork (UCC) has launched an MA in Global Gallery Studies (Online), a two-year part-time programme designed to prepare students for careers in the international gallery sector. Directed by Dr Mary Kelly, the programme combines core modules in global gallery studies, global art histories, and digital arts with practice-based learning, including online fieldwork connecting students with galleries across multiple countries, guest lectures by international gallery practitioners, and a project-led onsite internship in the second year.

How Frida Kahlo Became This Year's Cultural Obsession

In 2026, Frida Kahlo has become a global cultural obsession, with museums, opera houses, and cinemas worldwide celebrating her legacy. The Metropolitan Opera in New York City will premiere Gabriela Lena Frank's Spanish-sung opera *El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego* on May 14, which imagines Diego Rivera summoning Kahlo back to life three years after her death. Set and costume designer Jon Bausor drew inspiration from the trees, veins, and cracked imagery in Kahlo's paintings.

Inside New York’s Rogue Project Spaces

A digital cover story profiles New York City's rogue project spaces—artist-run venues like U-Haul Gallery, Desnivel, Spielzeug, Catbox Contemporary, and 95 Gallon Gallery—that operate in unconventional locations such as trash bins, moving trucks, bodegas, laundromats, buses, and cat towers. The article features interviews with founders including Maria De Victoria (Desnivel), James Sundquist and Jack Chase (U-Haul Gallery), and others, highlighting how these spaces counter the bureaucracy of institutional exhibitions by prioritizing artist freedom, intimacy, and community engagement.

Brandywine Conservancy Unites Global Partners for $100 Million, 325-Acre Expansion

The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art has announced a $100 million, 325-acre expansion project that will add new art galleries, classroom spaces, walking trails, and a nature preserve. The redesign, led by Tokyo-based Kengo Kuma & Associates and Philadelphia-founded Field Operations, will connect the museum to the historic homes and studios of Andrew and N.C. Wyeth, creating a unified campus. Construction is set to begin in spring 2027, with completion expected in fall 2029, and includes flood prevention measures following damage from Hurricane Ida in 2021.

kengo kuma's first US museum emerges within vast art and nature campus in pennsylvania

Kengo Kuma & Associates has unveiled the design for its first museum in the United States, a wood-clad pavilion complex at the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art in Pennsylvania. The 3,716-square-meter structure, part of a major expansion, will transform the 6-hectare campus into a 131.52-hectare public preserve and garden designed with Field Operations. Construction is planned to begin in spring 2027, with an opening in fall 2029, adding 80% more exhibition space and integrating art, ecology, and conservation.

Museum Moves 1 – 7 May 2026

Tate has appointed Daisy Desrosiers as its Britton Family Curator at Large, North America, based in the US, focusing on developing North American art in Tate’s collection through research and acquisitions. Meanwhile, Lycia Lobo, chief operating officer at the Design Museum, has been confirmed as chair of the board of trustees of Chiswick House & Gardens Trust. Several new exhibitions are opening across UK museums, including 'Colour' at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter, 'Aleksandra Kasuba: Shelters for the Senses' at Tate St Ives, 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, and 'Helios' by Luke Jerram at National Museum Cardiff. Additionally, the Museum of Archaeology at Palace Green Library has received a £217,844 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for gallery redevelopment.

Annette Messager's 'A Swallow Does Not Make Spring' exhibition brings her menagerie to life at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature

An exhibition titled 'A Swallow Does Not Make Spring' by French artist Annette Messager has opened at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. The show transforms the museum's spaces with a menagerie of taxidermy, drawings, and installations, blending the artist's signature surreal and feminist sensibilities with the museum's focus on hunting and nature.