Iranian artist Kamrooz Aram is currently experiencing a significant institutional and commercial moment, with his work appearing in three major exhibitions across two continents simultaneously. Critic Aruna D’Souza highlights Aram’s ability to synthesize Islamic visual idioms with Western abstraction, creating a painterly language that transcends cultural hierarchies and treats historical narratives with a unique lightness.
Hyperallergic's April newsletter features a roundup of the best April Fools' jokes from the art world this year, compiled by staff writer Rhea Nayyar. The issue also highlights critic Aruna D'Souza's meditation on the work of abstract painter Kamrooz Aram, who is having a prominent year with appearances from Mumbai Art Week to the Whitney Biennial.
Kamrooz Aram is the subject of multiple major exhibitions in early 2026, including a solo show at Alexander Gray Associates in New York, a presentation at Nature Morte in Mumbai for Mumbai Art Week, and a significant inclusion in the 2026 Whitney Biennial. The artist, known for his work with the grid, uses painting to explore the connections between Western modernist abstraction and non-Western decorative traditions, particularly from Western Asia.
L’orientalisme, contes et histoire au Louvre-Lens
The Louvre-Lens has launched "Beyond the Arabian Nights," an ambitious exhibition exploring the evolution of Orientalism in France. Moving past simple clichés of odalisques and flying carpets, the show features over 300 items, including masterpieces by Delacroix, Ingres, and Gérôme, alongside popular culture objects like porcelain figurines and film clips. The exhibition traces cultural exchanges from medieval trade and the Crusades to the 19th-century obsession with Islamic art, utilizing a scenography that emphasizes the construction of fictional narratives.
Four Indianapolis-based artists—Salma Taman, Alejandra Carrillo, Bailey Jörk, and Iryna Bondar—are creating work that directly responds to contemporary political and social crises, including the war in Gaza, immigration, and political division. Their art, ranging from Taman's Arabic calligraphy painting promoting forgiveness to Carrillo's digital drawing protesting a migrant detention center, serves as a form of personal and communal expression in a fraught global climate.
The Frist Art Museum in Nashville has announced the upcoming exhibition "Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven," scheduled to run from May 22 through August 30, 2026. This career-spanning survey features two decades of the Pakistani American artist's work, including her signature immersive light installations, drawings, and sculptures. The exhibition highlights major pieces such as "All the Flowers Are for Me (Red)" and the poignant installation "A Flood of Tears (Gathering Storms)," which reflects on the catastrophic 2010 Pakistan floods.
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has launched a long-term exhibition titled 'Guests of Honor,' featuring significant loans of Jewish ceremonial objects from the Jewish Museum in New York. Running through January 2027, the display includes intricate items such as Torah crowns, pointers, menorahs, and spice boxes sourced from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The objects are integrated into various galleries, including the Arts of the Islamic World section, to highlight shared aesthetic motifs and historical connections between different cultures.
The Princeton University Art Museum’s Art@Bainbridge space has launched "Faig Ahmed: Textiles of Consciousness," a solo exhibition featuring the innovative woven sculptures of the Azerbaijani artist. The show presents ten textiles across four themed galleries, including works from his "GLITCH" series that utilize digital aesthetics and pixelated distortions to subvert traditional carpet-weaving forms. Notable pieces like "The Knot" and "Kutab" illustrate Ahmed's signature style of blending classical Islamic patterns with surreal, melting, or fragmented geometries.
Fragilità e resistenza di un’artista dell’Iran in mostra a Roma
The Galleria Anna Marra in Rome is hosting "Assemblages," the first Italian solo exhibition of Iranian artist Sepideh Salehi. The show features works that blend collage, Japanese paper, photography, and drawing to depict Iranian women living in the United States who have shared experiences of displacement and political upheaval. Salehi’s figures often avert their gaze or conceal their faces, symbolizing a "calligraphy of refusal" and a quiet resistance against the historical traumas of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.
The Islamabad Art Gallery has launched 'Souch Say Saqafat Tak,' a landmark exhibition showcasing the debut works of recent art school graduates from across Pakistan. Curated by Raheel Arshad in collaboration with Khyal Art Space, the show features a diverse array of mediums including digital glitches, traditional calligraphy, and abstract portraiture. The opening event drew significant cultural figures, including writer Irfan Ahmed Urfi and photographer Mobeen Ansari, highlighting a collective effort to bridge the gap between academic training and professional practice.
Visual artist and poet Suporna Alice Gomes has launched her debut solo exhibition, "Burnt Expressions—the Realms of Fantasy," at Safiuddin Shilpalay in Dhaka. The showcase features 59 works, including acrylics and unique series utilizing watercolor and coffee on paper. The collection is characterized by a monochromatic, rusted aesthetic intended to evoke "burnt expressions" and nostalgic memories, featuring portraits of iconic Bangladeshi figures like Kazi Nazrul Islam and SM Sultan alongside nature-inspired landscapes.
The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) has opened “Ancient Splendor: Roman Art in the Time of Trajan,” a major traveling exhibition featuring a seven-foot-tall marble statue of Emperor Trajan and a vast array of artifacts from his reign. Organized in collaboration with the Italian organization StArt and curated by Roman expert Lucrezia Ungaro alongside SLAM’s Hannah Segrave, the show is structured into three thematic sections: the imperial household, the domestic lives of everyday Romans, and the public sphere. To enhance immersion, the museum has integrated sensory elements including scent stations that replicate ancient fragrances and a commissioned soundscape.
The Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi recently hosted the fourth edition of 'Rangon Ki Lehr,' an exhibition showcasing over 90 paintings by 80 artists with Down syndrome. Organized by the Karachi Down Syndrome Program (KDSP), the event featured works created by students in the 'Education for Life' program, drawing participants from Karachi, Islamabad, and Faisalabad. The exhibition serves as a professional platform where artists take full creative control of their canvases, choosing their own techniques, colors, and subjects.
The City of Rahway has announced the upcoming exhibition "Face(t)s of America" at Gallery Space, running from April 18 through June 13, 2026. Featuring works by six artists—Rodríguez Calero, Dong Kyu Kim, Carlos Mateu, Roxanna Meléndez, Diane Phares, and Duquann Sweeney—the show utilizes portraiture and painting to explore themes of identity, heritage, and belonging in the United States. The exhibition will include a public reception on April 24 featuring performances by the New Jeru Poetry Slam Team.
A rare 17th-century Mughal astrolabe, crafted in Lahore in 1612 by brothers Qa'im Muhammad and Muhammad Muqim, is heading to Sotheby's London on April 29 with an estimate of £1.5 million to £2.5 million ($2 million to $3.4 million). Weighing nearly 20 pounds and measuring the diameter of a large cooking pot, it is one of only two known astrolabes by these makers—the other resides in the National Museum of Iraq. Commissioned by Aqa Afzal, a Safavid-born deputy governor of Lahore, the instrument lists 94 cities, 38 stars, zodiac signs, and includes quadrants for trigonometry and solar calculations, blending Islamic and Sanskritic astronomical traditions.