Lubaina Himid on capturing the 'uneasiness' of Britain for her Venice Biennale pavilion

Lubaina Himid, the Turner Prize-winning artist born in Zanzibar and raised in England, is representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale with a pavilion that captures the 'uneasiness' of living in Britain. The exhibition features her signature paintings, prints, and cutout figures, alongside a soundscape by Magda Stawarska, designed to evoke ambiguous encounters and the gap between a question and an answer. Himid describes the pavilion as a reflection of Britain's everyday pleasantness undercut by a persistent sense of otherness, drawing on her own experience as an East African brought up by English women.

sandra mujinga stedelijk museum sculpture performance

Sandra Mujinga, a Congolese-born artist based in Berlin and Oslo, recently unveiled a new performance at the Park Avenue Armory in New York and has a major installation, "Skin to Skin" (2025), finishing its run at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam before traveling to the Belvedere museum in Vienna. The installation features 55 lithe, tentacular figures covered in the artist's own textiles, arranged around mirrored columns in a green-lit environment. In an interview, Mujinga discussed how fashion and clothing function as data and storytelling, reflecting identity and belonging, a theme that permeates her sculptures, videos, and performances.

Rene Matić wins 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize

Rene Matić has won the 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, becoming the first British winner in over a decade. The announcement was made at The Photographers’ Gallery in London on May 14, 2025, where Matić received £30,000 for their exhibition *AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH*, which uses photography, installation, and sound to explore identity and belonging. Matić was nominated for the show at the Center for Contemporary Arts Berlin (CCA Berlin) and is also a recent Turner Prize nominee. The prize exhibition runs at The Photographers’ Gallery until June 7, alongside works by fellow shortlisted artists Jane Evelyn Atwood, Weronika Gęsicka, and Amak Mahmoodian.

Romanesco in a Max Mara Coat

Romanesco im Max-Mara-Mantel

Evelyn Taocheng Wang's first institutional solo exhibition in Italy, "Sweet Landscape," opens at the Museion in Bolzano. The Chinese-born, Rotterdam-based artist presents silk paintings, pastel canvases, and painted garments that probe the region's complex history beneath its idyllic Alpine scenery. Works such as "Frog Princess Checks Her Smartphone in front of Window of August Macke’s Hat Shop" (2026) and "Ancient Roman bust for Sale" (2026) blend local food motifs, cultural translation, and hybrid identity, questioning who gets to write history and how landscapes are perceived through secondhand experiences.

As Told By: Slavs and Tatars at Rossi & Rossi

Slavs and Tatars, the research-based art collective, opened their first solo exhibition in Hong Kong titled “胡 ( هو / who) are you?” at Rossi & Rossi, running until May 9, 2026. The show gathers iconic projects and new commissions across various media, playfully probing the philosophical question of identity and belonging. Co-founder Payam Sharifi discusses works such as the handblown glass melon sculptures in "Dark Yelblow" (2025), which explore cultural stereotypes and the figure of the Other, and the "Love Me, Love Me Not" series, which recovers original place names and scripts to reveal the layered complexity of empires.

GABRIEL CHAILE UNFOLDS HIS ARCHAEOLOGY OF MIGRATION IN LONDON

Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile has opened a new commission titled "Archaeology of Memory" at London's Whitechapel Gallery. The site-specific installation features monumental adobe sculptures that incorporate everyday and decorative objects sourced from the surrounding East End neighborhood. Chaile, who is based in Lisbon, draws on the material traditions of Indigenous communities from northwest Argentina, blending roles as artist, anthropologist, and storyteller to explore themes of migration, identity, and cultural memory.

Studio Art MFAs Present Thesis Exhibition “TRANSIT”

American University's 2025 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, titled “TRANSIT,” is on view at the AU Art Museum from April 19 to May 18. The show features the culminating works of six graduating Studio Art MFA students: Phaedra Askarinam, Pooja Campbell, Patricia Edwine Poku, Connor Gagne, Andrés Izquierdo, and Julia Cheng Zhang. Their diverse practices span painting, ceramics, installation, and performance, unified by the theme of transit—interpreted as acts of passage, transformation, and self-discovery. Curated around this shared concept, the exhibition explores life transitions such as grief and parenthood, as described by Professorial Lecturer Molly Springfield.

In Rotterdam, a new art museum explores the city's rich history of migration

The Fenix Museum of Migration opens in Rotterdam on May 16, housed in a former warehouse transformed by MAD Architects into a dramatic space centered on a double-helix staircase called the Tornado. The museum explores migration through art, with a major exhibition titled *All Directions* featuring over 100 artists, a photography show *The Family of Migrants*, and a maze built from 2,000 suitcases. Director Anne Kremers and foundation director Wim Pijbes emphasize the museum's role in telling stories of both departure and arrival in a city shaped by centuries of global movement.

Artist Isaac Spellman on creating spaces for the misunderstood through art

Artist Isaac Spellman discusses his creative practice and upcoming presentation at the Affordable Art Fair 2026 in an interview. Spellman, whose style blends Art Deco graphic posters with elements of Chinese gongbi silk painting, has attracted commercial clients including Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Bang & Olufsen. For the fair, he will debut two original series: "Red, White, Bright and Young," inspired by London's Bright Young Things of the 1920s and their queer-inclusive social scene, and "Pretty Monster," which portrays whimsical monsters embracing their differences.

Three artists explore belonging in new exhibition at Craighead Green Gallery

Craighead Green Gallery in Dallas is opening a new three-person exhibition featuring artists Faith Scott Jessup, Linda McCall, and Damián Suárez. The show explores themes of belonging, heritage, and personal history through diverse styles ranging from realism and impressionism to abstraction. Suárez presents his 'Kinetic Landscape' series using threaded thread on wood panels, Jessup offers surrealist 'Duets' paintings of empty dresses, and McCall displays impressionist 'Rituals' scenes capturing private moments. Gallery director William Bardin notes the intentional pairing of artists with distinct practices but a shared narrative.

SouthCoast artists to showcase work inspired by residency in the Azores

Six artists from the SouthCoast region of Massachusetts recently completed the inaugural Hotel Papel residency on the island of Faial in the Azores. The residency, designed to celebrate the sister city relationship between Greater New Bedford and the Azores, allowed the participants to explore local culture, traditions, and landscapes. Their resulting works, spanning ceramics, photography, film, writing, and painting, will be showcased in a group exhibition titled "The Same Sea" at the Massachusetts Design Art and Technology Institute (DATMA).

Suzann Victor installation lights up Art Basel Hong Kong

Singaporean artist Suzann Victor has unveiled a major installation at Art Basel Hong Kong, showcasing her signature blend of large-scale spectacle and deep conceptual inquiry. The Sydney-based artist, recognized as a pioneer of contemporary art in Southeast Asia, utilizes her multidisciplinary practice to challenge viewers to confront the enduring psychological and cultural impacts of postcolonialism.

Local artists wanted for CK Queer Portraits art exhibit

Thames Art Gallery in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, is organizing an exhibition titled "Queer Portraits" that celebrates the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The gallery is now accepting submissions from artists, with entries required to show a meaningful connection to Chatham-Kent, be created from the perspective of or in allyship with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and portray a specific person or their defining characteristics. A jury will review submissions, which are due by 4 p.m. on May 29, with up to two pieces per artist accepted across various media.

Crealdé celebrates America250 with people, places and ideas

Crealdé School of Art is presenting "American Mosaic: Stories in Color, Clay and Canvas," an exhibition celebrating the nation's 250th birthday. The show features works like Stefan Alexandres' "The Journey," which uses mixed media to explore literal and symbolic references to an immigrant's experience, reflecting the exhibition's focus on people, places, and ideas that shape America.

Mansfield/Richland County Public Library hosts art show about identity and belonging

The Mansfield Public Art Commission and the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library have partnered to present a new art exhibition titled “Where You Belong,” running until November 14, 2025. The show features works by local artists exploring themes of identity, place, and community, and celebrates the library's recently launched slogan of the same name, which emphasizes inclusivity and belonging for all visitors.

Art Exhibition Explores Identity and Belonging in Scarborough

Three Scarborough art galleries—the Old Parcels Office, Gallery 33, and Mandy Apple—are collaborating on a multi-venue exhibition titled "Here We Are" from June 28 to July 13, 2025. Featuring over 20 local artists, the show presents works in textile, ceramics, sculpture, and fine art that explore themes of identity, belonging, and the artists' experiences of living in and around Scarborough. Visitors can collect stamps on a special flyer to receive a free badge and participate in free workshops held on Saturdays.