At the Venice Biennale, the Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat

The article reports on the opening of the 61st Venice Biennale, highlighting the central exhibition "In Minor Keys" conceived by the late Koyo Kouoh, along with national pavilions and collateral events. It notes standout contributions from artists such as Alvaro Barrington, Kaloki Nyamai, Florentina Holzinger, Ei Arakawa-Nash, Li Yi-Fan, and Dries Verhoeven, while describing the American pavilion as lackluster and the overall commercial offerings as uneven. The text also covers performances and exhibitions featuring nudity and body horror, including Tino Sehgal's "The Kiss" and Maja Malou Lyse's video with the collective DIS.

Naked jetskiers, giant bells and a celebrity seagull! Venice Biennale’s wildest moments – in pictures

The Guardian presents a photo essay capturing the most eccentric and memorable moments from the 61st Venice Biennale, running until 22 November 2026. Photographer David Levene documents installations including a concrete 'Origami Deer' evacuated from war-torn Pokrovsk, Ukraine, by artist Zhanna Kadyrova; a seagull that became a minor celebrity after nesting outside the Polish pavilion; and the Holy See pavilion's immersive sound installation curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Ben Vickers. Other highlights include the Egyptian pavilion's touch-and-smell 'Silence Pavilion' and a Polish pavilion film featuring deaf and hearing singers.

Amy Sherald comes home

Amy Sherald, the celebrated painter known for her official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, brings her traveling exhibition 'American Sublime' to Atlanta's High Museum of Art, where it will be on view from May 15 to September 27. The show, the largest presentation of her work to date, marks a homecoming for Sherald, who was born in Columbus, Georgia, and graduated from Clark Atlanta University. The exhibition includes paintings that explore themes of identity, the American South, and the Black experience, and features works such as 'A God Blessed Land (Empire of Dirt)' (2022) and 'They Call Me Redbone, but I'd Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake' (2009).

Nasher Museum’s ‘Everything Now All At Once’ Celebrates Diversity, Resilience, and Joy

The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University is presenting 'Everything Now All At Once,' an exhibition drawn entirely from its permanent collection that features works by over a dozen contemporary artists including Nick Cave, Ai Weiwei, Nina Chanel Abney, Wangechi Mutu, Jeffrey Gibson, Amy Sherald, and Barbara Chase-Riboud. The show focuses on painting and sculpture—deliberately analog mediums in an era of rapid technological change—and highlights pieces acquired over the past twenty years that center artists from historically marginalized backgrounds. Running since August 2025, the exhibition will rotate new works next month and continue through November 1 in Durham, North Carolina.

In Toscana il borgo di Monte San Savino si apre all’arte contemporanea con una mostra itinerante e di genere

The Tuscan hill town of Monte San Savino launched a contemporary art exhibition titled "Art Gender Gap" on International Women's Day, featuring 40 female artists and 53 works across multiple historic venues including the GAS, Chiesa di Santa Chiara, Palazzo Ciocchi di Monte, and the Renaissance Cisternone. Curated by Giuseppe Simone Modeo, Nicoletta Castellaneta, and Domenico de Chirico, the show includes loans from the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington (via its Italian committee president Claudia Pensotti Mosca), the Christian Levett collection, and the FAMM Museum in Mougin, France—a museum dedicated exclusively to women artists. Participating artists range from historical figures like Louise Bourgeois, Carol Rama, and Sonia Delaunay to contemporary names such as Kiki Smith, Pipilotti Rist, Marlene Dumas, Tracey Emin, and Mona Hatoum.

Exhibition | Kelly Akashi, 'Heirloom' at Lisson Gallery, 508 West 24th Street, New York, United States

Kelly Akashi presents her first exhibition with Lisson Gallery in New York, titled 'Heirloom,' featuring a new body of work that explores loss, grief, and absence through sculpture. The exhibition includes bronze, Corten steel, flame-worked glass, and carved stone pieces, many inspired by her garden and personal artifacts like an inherited stone ring and her grandmother's lace tablecloth. It coincides with her participation in the 2026 Whitney Biennial and a commission for John F. Kennedy International Airport's New Terminal One.

‘Monochrome’ at the Seattle Art Museum bridges contemporary art between decades

The Seattle Art Museum's new exhibition, 'Monochrome: Calder and Tara Donovan,' opened May 13, pairing works by mid-20th-century American artist Alexander Calder with newly developed pieces by contemporary artist Tara Donovan. Curated by Catharina Manchanda, the show features Calder's iconic mobile 'Jacaranda' and his massive 'Mountains' stabiles alongside Donovan's site-specific works like 'Transplanted,' a slab of layered roofing tiles, and other pieces made from slinkys, mylar, and stir sticks. Donovan's process emphasizes letting materials dictate form, creating contrasts in mass and movement while engaging with the gallery space.

Lauder heir hands gallery and $135mn Klimt to New York’s Metropolitan Museum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has received a major donation from the Lauder family: a historic townhouse gallery on the Upper East Side and Gustav Klimt's 1907 portrait "Adele Bloch-Bauer II," valued at $135 million. The gift comes from the estate of Estée Lauder heir Ronald S. Lauder, a longtime museum trustee and collector, and includes the former Neue Galerie building at 1048 Fifth Avenue, which will be renovated to expand the Met's modern and contemporary art exhibition space.

Art as Collective Responsibility: Hestia Artistic Journey Grant Programme Winners

The Hestia Artistic Journey National Grant Programme (Artystyczna Podróż Hestii) has announced the winners of its third edition, selecting eight projects from nearly 200 applications across Poland. The programme, subtitled "Opening Time" (Czas otwarcia), supports artists and cultural institutions planning exhibitions that address collective responsibility for global issues. Winners include "Ślady pamięci" by Fundacja Szałfynster in Katowice, exploring memory and dementia; "Głodne drzewa/Thirsty Trees" by Przemek Branas at the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź, critiquing human greed through eucalyptus metaphors; and "Tymczasowa pława" by Norbert Delman at the State Art Gallery in Sopot, an installation on ecocide using a sunken fishing boat and amber. Each project will present an exhibition between July 2026 and the last quarter of 2027, with increased funding due to exceptional submissions.

Major Exhibition Creates World Class Art Trail Across North Yorkshire

An exhibition featuring works by 50 leading contemporary artists will be staged across four venues in North Yorkshire, England, from April to September 2025, as part of the 20th anniversary of the Aesthetica Art Prize. The venues include Skipton Town Hall, the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, Scarborough Art Gallery, and Woodend Gallery, with free entry at most sites. The exhibition is a joint venture between Aesthetica and Culture North Yorkshire, the council's culture and archive service, and is divided into four thematic parts: Future(s), Perception, Intervention, and Transformation.

Video interview with Cecilia Canziani and Chiara Camoni, curator and artist of the Italy Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

Video intervista a Cecilia Canziani e Chiara Camoni curatrice e artista del Padiglione Italia alla Biennale di Venezia

The article is a video interview with curator Cecilia Canziani and artist Chiara Camoni about the Italy Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. Camoni's installation, titled "Con te e con tutto," features large, monumental figures called "Sisters" that evoke ancient yet contemporary presences, created through a slow, collective, and materially responsive process. The pavilion is divided into two spaces: a vertical, sacred-like area and a horizontal, convivial one that includes a sub-exhibition called "Dialoghi." The project builds on years of friendship and collaboration between Canziani and Camoni, and involves a fluid community of international students, weavers, midwives, and artists working at Camoni's studio in Fabbiano, on the Apuan Alps.

At the Venice Biennale, protests, self-mutilation and rage against Israel and Russia. Is anyone left to talk about the art?

At the 61st Venice Biennale, protests and controversies have overshadowed the art itself. The Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) demonstrated against the inclusion of Israel and Russia, while the Israeli Pavilion became a flashpoint. Artist Belu-Simion Fainaru, presenting his installation "Rose of Nothingness" in a temporary space, complained that he was forced to defend his art's right to exist amid questions about politics rather than his work. The Biennale also saw barricades, strikes, the resignation of the Golden Lion jury, Iran's last-minute withdrawal, and anger directed at the American pavilion over Trump administration policies. The central exhibition, "In Minor Keys," curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, was eclipsed by these events.

In Venice, the Passion of Life and the Ghost of Art

The 2026 Venice Biennale, the world’s oldest art exhibition, has opened with a theme centered on vitality and the celebration of life. The edition is described as both a passionate embrace of energy and a reminder of art’s lingering ghosts, offering a mixed but compelling experience for visitors.

Huang Yulong 黄玉龙 | Top Dog (2020) | For Sale

Chinese artist Huang Yulong's 2020 sculpture 'Top Dog' is being offered for sale through NextStreet Gallery in Paris. The limited-edition aluminum work, measuring 80 × 50 × 30 cm, is hand-signed by the artist and includes a certificate of authenticity. Huang, born in 1983 in Anhui Province and a graduate of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, is known for his sculptures of Buddhas in hoodies that blend Eastern tradition with Western contemporary style. The work is listed on Artsy with a price-on-request basis.

Diego Gualandris “Floralia” at ADA, Rome

Diego Gualandris presents "Floralia" at ADA gallery in Rome, an exhibition that explores themes of growth, nature, and human intervention through a poetic lens. The show features works that evoke the cycle of life and decay, using floral motifs to reflect on the fragility of existence and the tension between natural processes and external forces.

On Being American: Contemporary Artworks, Echoes of the Past

From May 13 to June 20, 2026, Lippitt House Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, will host an exhibition titled "On Being American: Contemporary Artworks, Echoes of the Past." The show features new works by five local contemporary artists—Susan Hardy, Steven Easton, Amalia Galdona Broche, Lynne Harlow, and McDonald Wright—who draw on the museum's architecture, period, and stories to explore themes of American identity. A special opening reception and artist talk will take place on May 13, with additional open house hours throughout the run.

The Venice Biennale of Art has begun! The pavilions you should not miss this year

The Venice Biennale of Art has officially opened, showcasing national pavilions and exhibitions from around the world. The article highlights key pavilions that visitors should prioritize this year, offering a curated guide to the most notable presentations at the prestigious international art event.

“KRANKIE II: Middle of the Food Chain” Exhibition at 81C in St. Thomas

81C in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, is presenting "Krankie II: Middle of the Food Chain," an immersive contemporary art exhibition by collaborative duo Emily Braswell (strawberriemilk) and Jenna Rees (warmmilkwithsugar). Opening on May 15, 2026, the show features painting, video, sculpture, and installation that construct a cinematic, psychologically charged world centered on a fictional 1980s movie star, offering absurdist commentary on fame in the pre-internet era versus today. The exhibition is a dual-location activation, also including a component at the XIIID Research and Strategy Innovation Center at the University of the Virgin Islands, with a free opening reception featuring DJ Carbar.

Six contemporary artists reimagine ‘the Gothic’ for new Tyntesfield exhibition

Six contemporary artists have created new works reimagining the Gothic aesthetic for an exhibition at Tyntesfield, a Victorian Gothic Revival house in Somerset, England. The artists were invited to respond to the architecture, collections, and atmosphere of the National Trust property, producing paintings, sculptures, and installations that engage with themes of the macabre, the supernatural, and the uncanny.

China Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia: Dream Stream

The China Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia has been announced under the title "Dream Stream." The pavilion will be part of the prestigious Venice Biennale, one of the world's most important contemporary art exhibitions, and is organized by the Chinese government or cultural authorities. The announcement was made via a press release distributed by PR Newswire, highlighting China's continued participation in this global art event.

"In Full Bloom" Art Exhibition Explores Bodily Autonomy Through A Lens Of Transformation

An art exhibition titled "In Full Bloom" is exploring themes of bodily autonomy through a lens of transformation. The show presents works that use floral and organic imagery to address issues of personal agency, identity, and physical change, likely featuring multiple contemporary artists whose pieces engage with the body as a site of political and personal expression.