Here’s What LACMA’s Lavish New Building Looks Like

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has finally unveiled its new flagship building, the David Geffen Galleries, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The concrete-and-glass structure famously straddles Wilshire Boulevard, featuring a continuous glass facade that offers panoramic views of the Los Angeles landscape and newly installed outdoor sculptures. Inside, the layout encourages a non-linear experience, moving visitors through varying light conditions and diverse gallery sizes that house a mix of contemporary and classical works.

Ancient Gaza artefacts meet contemporary Palestinian stories in Turin exhibition

A new exhibition in Turin, Italy, titled "Gaza, The Future Has an Ancient Heart," brings together over 80 ancient artefacts from Palestine with contemporary works by Levantine artists. Organized by Fondazione Merz in collaboration with the Egizio archaeology museum and the MAH – Museum of Art and History Geneva, the show features objects dating from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period, originally intended for a museum in Palestine but held in Geneva since 2007 due to conflict. Contemporary artists including Mirna Bamieh, Samaa Emad, Khalil Rabah, Vivien Sansour, Wael Shawky, Dima Srouji, and Akram Zaatari contribute works that explore archaeology, history, and memory, with Emad's "Genocide Kitchen" documenting recipes created amid war and shortages in Gaza.

Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy closing for summer, but 37 other exhibitions on view at museums in May

The article provides a roundup of museum exhibitions on view in Southwest Florida during May, highlighting five new openings, eight closings, and 25 continuing shows across museums from Sarasota to Naples. Featured exhibitions include Molly Hatch's site-specific ceramic installation "Amalgam" at Sarasota Art Museum, Jillian Mayer's interactive "Slumpies" sculptures, a group show "Something Borrowed, Something New" with works by Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close, David Hockney, Yoko Ono, Kara Walker, and Ai Weiwei, and Maria A. Guzman Capron's solo textile exhibition "Penumbra." The Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy is noted as closing for the summer.

Bridging East and West: The top Asia-Pacific art exhibitions in Europe in 2026

Europe is set to host a series of major exhibitions in 2026 that bridge the cultural divide between the East and West. Key highlights include a massive Yayoi Kusama retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, a showcase of Thai royal haute couture and Pierre Balmain’s designs at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and an exploration of ancient Korean gold at the Musée Guimet. Additionally, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London will partner with Australia’s QAGOMA for a large-scale survey of contemporary art from Asia and the Pacific.

In Belgio inaugura BRUSK. A Bruges un nuovo museo ibrido dall’arte antica all’AI

A new hybrid cultural center called BRUSK has opened in Bruges, Belgium, designed by Robbrecht en Daem and Olivier Salens. Part of the Musea Brugge network, the venue blends ancient art with contemporary and AI-driven works, featuring two inaugural exhibitions: "Bigger Picture. Connected Worlds of Bruges 900–1550," a historical survey co-curated with historian Peter Frankopan, and "Latent City," the first Belgian solo show of digital artist Refik Anadol. The building offers free ground-floor public spaces, including a café and a permanent mural by Laure Prouvost, aiming to attract both tourists and locals.

How Does an Art Fair Stand Apart? TEFAF NY Has an Answer.

TEFAF New York returns to the Park Avenue Armory from May 15-19, featuring 88 dealers and galleries from 14 countries across four continents. The fair distinguishes itself from competitors like Frieze, NADA, and Independent by offering an unusually broad range of works—from Modernist paintings and contemporary sculpture to ancient artifacts, fine jewelry, and design. Notable exhibitors include Gagosian showing Kathleen Ryan’s bejeweled fruit sculptures, Thaddaeus Ropac presenting newcomer Eva Helene Pade, and Belgian dealer David Lévy pairing Keith Haring with Willem de Kooning. Design is a particular highlight this year, with galleries such as Sarah Myerscough, Gomide&Co, and Modernity Stockholm showcasing everything from Shaker-inspired chairs to Brazilian modernist furniture and Scandinavian classics.

A History of the Human Body at “Costume Art,” the New Costume Institute Exhibit

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has announced its latest exhibition, "Costume Art," opening May 10. Curated by Andrew Bolton, the show brings together garments and objects from across the museum's curatorial departments to explore the relationship between fashion and the human body. The exhibition is organized into thematic sections including the Naked & Nude Body, Classical Body, Abstract Body, Reclaimed Body, Pregnant Body, Corpulent Body, and Disabled Body, featuring works by designers such as Walter Van Beirendonck, LÛCHEN, Georgina Godley, Ann-Sofie Back, Di Petsa, Alessandro Michele for Gucci, and Vivienne Westwood, alongside historical art objects from Greek ceramics to Mesopotamian sculptures.

Now we open a Palestinian Pavilion at the Biennale. Interview with Tomaso Montanari

“Ora apriamo un Padiglione Palestina in Biennale”. Intervista a Tomaso Montanari

Tomaso Montanari, a member of the scientific committee for the exhibition "Gaza, il futuro ha un cuore antico. Materie e memorie del Mediterraneo" at Fondazione Merz in Turin, discusses the show's aim to highlight Gaza's 5,000-year history beyond the current war imagery. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Museo Egizio and the MAH – Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève, juxtaposes ancient artifacts with contemporary artworks to assert the cultural and historical significance of Palestine. Montanari also addresses the upcoming Venice Biennale, criticizing the lack of a Palestinian pavilion and suggesting that the Turin exhibition itself serves as a de facto Palestinian pavilion, while calling for accountability for Israel's actions.

Go big or go home: how The Lost Giants revived the ancient art of goliath-making

The Lost Giants (TLG), an art collective based in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, is reviving the British tradition of making processional giants—large, community-built figures made from wood, cloth, and papier-mâché. Founded three years ago by theatre designer Ruth Webb and her sister-in-law Amy Webb, the group has created giants for events ranging from local lantern parades to a harvest procession at Hauser & Wirth’s Somerset gallery. This New Year’s Eve, environmentalist Lisa Schneidau joined a massive procession of these giants in Lostwithiel, describing it as an extraordinary experience. The collective recently issued a public callout for an environmental group to collaborate on making a new beastie.

Lauren Sánchez Bezos unveils Met’s new exhibit amid gala backlash

Lauren Sánchez Bezos appeared alongside Anna Wintour at a press conference in New York to unveil the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new Costume Art exhibit, which opens May 10 ahead of the Met Gala. Sánchez Bezos and her husband Jeff Bezos are primary sponsors of this year's gala and exhibit, a role that has sparked backlash and a boycott campaign from the activist group Everyone Hates Elon. The exhibit explores themes of the dressed body through garments paired with ancient artifacts, featuring categories like "the naked body," "classic body," and "disabled body."

Jewelry artist Douriean Fletcher’s exhibition opens at Walters Art Museum this weekend

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is set to open "Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture," a major exhibition featuring over 100 works by the renowned jewelry artist. Fletcher, who gained international acclaim for her costume design work on Marvel’s "Black Panther" franchise, will see her contemporary Afrofuturistic pieces displayed alongside ancient artifacts from the museum's permanent collection, including items from Ancient Egypt and Ethiopia.

Venus Lespugue

The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens presents "Jeff Koons: Venus Lespugue," an exhibition pairing Jeff Koons' monumental stainless steel sculpture *Balloon Venus Lespugue (Orange)* (2013–2019) with ten certified copies of Paleolithic Venus figurines from major European museums. The Koons work, on public display for the first time, is loaned from the Homem Sonnabend Collection and directly references the 28,000-year-old Venus of Lespugue carved from mammoth tusk ivory.

A Venezia sta aprendo un nuovo Palazzo delle Arti e delle Culture grazie alla Fondazione Giancarlo Ligabue. L’intervista

A new Palazzo delle Arti e delle Culture – Collecto is opening in Venice at Palazzo Erizzo Ligabue, a 15th-century palace on the Grand Canal. The initiative, spearheaded by Inti Ligabue (45), son of the late paleontologist and entrepreneur Giancarlo Ligabue, will open to the public from May 7 to May 24, 2026, offering guided tours of a collection of over 400 pieces spanning from 4.5-billion-year-old fossils to contemporary works by artists such as Arcangelo Sassolino, Nico Vascellari, and Giorgio Andreotta Calò. The project builds on the Fondazione Giancarlo Ligabue, established in 2016 from the original Centro Studi founded in 1973, and will feature a residency by artist Marta Spagnoli.

Art world news selected by Artbox on Sky Arte

Le novità del mondo dell’arte selezionate da Artbox su Sky Arte

The new episode of Artbox, a weekly program on Sky Arte airing April 28, surveys current exhibitions across Italy. It features Isaac Julien's show "Museum Dreams" at gres art 671 in Bergamo, running until October 4, where the British artist presents five multi-screen video installations from the late 1990s to today. The episode also covers the exhibition "Etruschi e Veneti. Acque, culti e santuari" at Palazzo Ducale in Venice, exploring water cults through ancient artifacts including recent finds from San Casciano dei Bagni; the show "Giovanni Antonio Bazzi detto il Sodoma. Alla conquista del Rinascimento" at Museo Accorsi-Ometto in Turin; and a profile of Spanish artist Almudena Romero, who uses photosynthesis to create images on leaves. Regular segments include a feature on Symbolism by Maria Vittoria Baravelli and an arts news roundup.

Rocky Balboa statue takes up a new home inside Philly art museum

The iconic bronze statue of Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer portrayed by Sylvester Stallone, is moving inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the first time starting Saturday, as part of the museum's new exhibition "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments." The exhibition, which marks the 50th anniversary of the original film, features over 150 artworks and ancient artifacts, and explores how monuments are created and reinterpreted by artists and communities. The statue had stood outside the museum for more than 20 years and was originally a prop from the 1982 film "Rocky III."

Lucas Museum Unveils `Star Wars’ Exhibition Details

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles has announced details for its inaugural exhibition "Star Wars in Motion," set to open on September 22. The show will feature props, costumes, and vehicle designs from the first six Star Wars films, including Luke's Landspeeder and General Grievous' Wheel Bike, as part of a broader lineup of about 20 inaugural exhibitions spanning visual storytelling from ancient art to modern film. The 300,000-square-foot museum, founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, will display over 1,200 artworks across 100,000 square feet of gallery space, with additional galleries dedicated to comic art, manga, children's literature, and works by artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Beatrix Potter, Jack Kirby, Alison Bechdel, Frank Frazetta, Norman Rockwell, Diego Rivera, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks.

The Met’s much-anticipated spring 2026 exhibit puts fashion on a fine art level

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute will open its spring 2026 exhibition, "Costume Art," on May 10, 2026, running through January 10, 2027. The show features nearly 400 objects from the Met's collection, pairing couture garments with paintings, sculptures, and decorative works across centuries. Organized by "body types" such as "Classical Body" and "Mortal Body," the exhibition will be housed in the new 12,000-square-foot Condé Nast Galleries. The Met Gala, co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, will kick off the exhibition with a dress code of "Fashion is Art."

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Ultimate 2026 Guide for Travelers

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is drawing record crowds in spring 2026 with its latest exhibitions, including newly restored ancient artifacts. The article, written by travel editor Elena Müller, positions The Met as a top cultural destination for American travelers, highlighting its location on Manhattan's Upper East Side, its Beaux-Arts architecture, and its proximity to Central Park. It also covers the museum's founding in 1870, its expansion into a neoclassical landmark on Museum Mile, and its role as a cornerstone of New York's cultural landscape.

Erster Teil des Pergamonmuseum öffnet im Juni 2027

The first section of Berlin's Pergamon Museum will reopen to the public on June 4, 2027, after years of renovation. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) announced the date, ending months of uncertainty. The museum has been completely closed since autumn 2023 for comprehensive refurbishment, and the reopening will finally make the famous Pergamon Altar accessible again. However, the south wing, housing the Ishtar Gate and Babylonian Processional Way, will remain closed until 2037, with full museum access expected that year.

SF Asian Art Museum provides cultural enrichment for visitors

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, located at 220 Larkin Street, offers a vast collection of both contemporary and ancient art from across Asia, including Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asian works. The museum features permanent exhibits with artifacts such as a Japanese tea set, Chinese jade, and a notable Buddha sculpture dated to 338 C.E., alongside rotating special exhibitions like Chiharu Shiota's "Two Home Countries," which uses red string installations to explore bicultural identity. The museum also hosts events like Mahjong and Mocktails, film screenings, and talks, with general admission at $14 for students and $20 for adults.

US exhibition unearths the Etruscans and their enduring cultural influence

The Legion of Honor in San Francisco will present "The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy" from 2 May to 20 September, featuring nearly 200 objects including jewellery, sculptures, and vessels from the ancient Etruscan civilisation. The exhibition highlights recent archaeological discoveries, such as the Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis—the longest surviving Etruscan text—and grave objects from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb, many making their US debut. Curator Renée Dreyfus aims to correct negative portrayals of the Etruscans by Greeks and Romans and showcase their cultural achievements.

The Etruscans Take Center Stage With the Legion of Honor’s Latest Exhibit

The Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco has opened a new exhibition titled “The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy,” running from May 2 to September 20. Curated by Renée Dreyfus, the show features over 20 objects from international institutions including the Vatican, the Louvre, and the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, highlighting the art, culture, and progressive social roles of women in Etruscan society through bronze and terracotta vessels, sculptures, and gold jewelry.

8,000-year-old artifact on display at Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery in Saskatchewan is presenting an exhibition titled "môso-tâpiskan: Indigenous Living Heritage," curated by local artist Sadi Rose Vaxvick. The show features artifacts from the permanent collection, including a projectile point identified by an archaeologist as 8,000 years old, as well as pottery pieces dating back 2,000 years. Vaxvick consulted an Indigenous advisory committee of elders, repatriation liaisons, historians, and Métis locals, and worked with language speakers to translate all artifact notations into their original Indigenous languages.

Star Wars Reveals Lucas Museum’s 1st Ever Cinema Exhibit With Name & Launch Date

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has announced its first-ever cinema exhibition, titled *Star Wars in Motion*, which will debut as part of the museum's opening lineup on September 22, 2026. The exhibition focuses on vehicles from the first six *Star Wars* films, including Luke Skywalker's landspeeder and General Grievous' wheel bike, highlighting how motion and transport are depicted in the saga. It is one of over 30 installations curated by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson from the museum's founding collection, featuring more than 1,200 objects across 100,000 square feet.