The exhibitions to see in New York during Art Week 2026

Le mostre da vedere a New York durante l’Art Week 2026

The article highlights a selection of must-see exhibitions in New York during the 2026 Art Week, spanning major museums and galleries. At MoMA, three shows explore memory, identity, and artistic experimentation: Elizabeth Murray's retrospective on fragmented painting, Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa's works addressing Guatemala's civil war, and Arthur Jafa's curated connections across the museum's collection. The Whitney Museum presents the 82nd Whitney Biennial, featuring 56 artists questioning what it means to be 'American,' alongside an Andy Warhol exhibition of rarely seen polaroids from 1972-73. Hauser & Wirth debuts its first Carol Rama show, highlighting six decades of her experimental, anticonformist art.

5 free exhibitions to enjoy without cost during the May long weekends

5 expositions gratuites pour profiter sans frais des ponts du mois de mai

Beaux Arts Magazine highlights five free exhibitions to enjoy during the long weekends of May 2026 in France. The selections include "Diseuses de silence" at Espace Monte-Cristo in Paris, featuring 21 female sculptors such as Prune Nourry and Niki de Saint Phalle; a retrospective of Ernest Pignon-Ernest at Musée Ziem in Martigues; and the first French retrospective of Peruvian photographer Javier Silva Meinel at Maison de l'Amérique latine in Paris. Other venues mentioned are the Musée Ziem and the Magasins Généraux in Pantin, offering diverse contemporary art experiences without admission fees.

7 Books We’re Looking Forward to in May

ARTnews has published a list of seven art books to look forward to in May 2026, covering a wide range of topics from contemporary theory and AI imagery to historical biographies and the Venice Biennale. Featured titles include Dena Yago's collected writings 'That Figures,' Victoria Johnson's biography of Frederic Church 'Glorious Country,' Trevor Paglen's 'How to See Like a Machine,' Nicholas Fox Weber's 'Anni Albers: A Life,' Massimiliano Gioni's 'High Waters: An Oral History of the Venice Biennale,' Rennie McDougall's 'Nonstop Bodies: How Dance Shaped New York City,' and Paul Elie's 'Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex and Controversy in the 1980s.'

‘Depraved in all the right ways’: why forgotten no wave visionary Gordon Stevenson is about to take off

The article profiles Gordon Stevenson, a forgotten visionary of the no wave movement in late-1970s New York, who was an artist, jewelry designer, musician, and filmmaker best known for the notorious film *Ecstatic Stigmatic*. Decades after his death from AIDS, a storage unit full of his lost work has been discovered, including jewelry, mail-art collaborations with Ray Johnson, and clues to a surviving print of his film. His family has also recovered hundreds of letters he wrote to his parents, chronicling his life in downtown New York and his experiences as one of the city's first AIDS patients. The piece traces his journey from a small town in Georgia, where he met his wife Mirielle Cervenka (who later renamed Exene Cervenka), to their punk-era jewelry brand LHOOQ and his lasting influence on gothic fashion.

Independent art fair makes the most of more spacious digs

The Independent art fair in New York has relocated from Spring Studios in Tribeca to Pier 36 on the East River, doubling its footprint while slightly reducing the number of exhibitors from 87 to 76. The move creates a more spacious, single-level layout with larger stands and improved circulation, allowing for more ambitious installations. Dealers report strong early collector turnout, with over a third of exhibitors presenting solo stands by artists showing in New York for the first time, including Omar Mismar and Julia Maiuri. Notable presentations include Charles Moffett’s revival of late textile artist Silvia Heyden, James Fuentes’s cross-generational downtown New York showcase, and a large-scale installation by Gretchen Bender.

The Enigma of Alison Knowles

Lauren Moya Ford reviews the only book dedicated to Fluxus artist Alison Knowles, who died six months ago. The book, "Performing Chance: The Art of Alison Knowles In/Out of Fluxus" by Nicole L. Woods (2026), attempts to illuminate Knowles's life and work, but Ford notes that much of her personal life remains mysterious despite the author's efforts. The article is part of a broader books newsletter that also features new tomes on Hans Holbein’s portraits, Jan Staller’s photographs of Manhattan construction sites, and a discussion of a Black Panther family album at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

“Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone” Reconstructs a Life Across Fragments

Boston Art Review (BAR) has published an article titled “Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone” that reconstructs the life of the 19th-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis across fragmented historical records. The piece examines Lewis’s career, her neoclassical marble works, and the challenges of piecing together her biography due to limited archival materials.

Edward Hopper Exhibition in Seoul Breaks Attendance Record

An exhibition of Edward Hopper's work at the Seoul Museum of Art has broken attendance records, drawing 330,000 visitors—the highest for any exhibition that year. The show marks the first solo exhibition of the American painter in South Korea, where Hopper was virtually unknown until the 1990s. The article traces Hopper's growing recognition in the country, from his first appearance in Korean media in 2002 to the 2011 co-hosted exhibition 'This Is American Art' at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, which introduced his work 'Railroad Sunset' (1929) to local audiences.

Rose Finn-Kelcey review – flying puns, smart pranks and prayers for 20p

The Guardian reviews "Rose Finn-Kelcey: House Rules," a posthumous exhibition at the new Arts Collective in Northampton, UK. The show features works by the British conceptual artist (1945–2014), including her 1972 flag installation "Power for the People" at Battersea Power Station, a prayer vending machine titled "It Pays to Pray," and pieces exploring permission, spirituality, and societal restrictions. The exhibition is presented as a homecoming for Finn-Kelcey, who was born in Northampton.

Curatori e allestitori ci raccontano la grande mostra dedicata a Franco Vaccari a Bolzano

A major retrospective exhibition titled "Feedback. Gli ambienti di Franco Vaccari" has opened at Museion in Bolzano, Italy, dedicated to the late artist Franco Vaccari (1936–2025). The show features over twenty immersive environments, historical works, and recent video experiments drawn largely from the museum's permanent collection and the Franco Vaccari Archive of Visual Writing. Curated by Frida Carazzato and Luca Panaro in collaboration with Fosbury Architecture, the exhibition explores Vaccari's cross-disciplinary practice spanning photography, writing, and participatory installation art.