Today's Art Pulse
Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince’s ‘Helter Skelter’ debuts at Fondazione Prada in Venice
The joint exhibition “Helter Skelter” opens at Fondazione Prada’s Ca’ Corner della Regina in Venice, running through November 23, 2026. Curated by former Guggenheim chief Nancy Spector, the show pairs Jafa and Prince, artists noted for aggressive appropriation of cinema, music and American iconography. Critics describe the work as lawless image scavenging that confronts viewers.
Anish Kapoor Condemns Inclusion of US in Venice Biennale
British‑Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor has publicly urged the exclusion of the United States from the 2026 Venice Biennale, condemning what he calls the nation’s “abhorrent politics of hate and its incessant warmongering.” The call follows a mass resignation of the Biennale’s five‑person jury after they refused to consider Israel and Russia for the top prize, amid ICC accusations of crimes against humanity. The controversy has sparked an open letter from participating artists demanding bans on the US, Israel and Russia, while the Biennale’s organizers defend a policy of cultural openness. Meanwhile, the EU announced it will rescind a $2.3 million grant slated for 2028, and Italy’s culture minister plans to boycott the event’s preview and opening ceremony.
Siteless Athens Arts Institution NEON Closing After 14 Years
NEON, the sit‑less Athens arts institution founded by billionaire collector Dimitris Daskalopoulos in 2012, announced it will close after fourteen years of operation. The organization never owned a permanent venue, instead staging forty‑four exhibitions in museums, archaeological sites and public...
San Francisco Art Fair Elevates Asian-American Artists Amid Anti‑Immigrant Rhetoric
The 14th San Francisco Art Fair showcased more than 70 Asian diaspora artists and the group show “Da Da Daam,” putting Asian‑American voices at the centre of the event. Fair director Kelly Freeman said the fair aims to celebrate immigrant...
A Landmark Benjamin Franklin Collection Is Hitting the Auction Block
A 150‑item Benjamin Franklin collection assembled by sports mogul Jay Snider will be auctioned at Sotheby’s New York on June 24, with a full catalogue valued between $3 million and $4.5 million. The lot includes a 1758 letter to Joseph Galloway, a bound set...
After the Afterparty: Berlin Art Tests Its Pulse During Gallery Weekend
Berlin’s annual Gallery Weekend proved the city’s art scene remains resilient despite recent funding cuts and heightened government censorship. Highlights included Alex Heide’s immersive photography at the new Klix space, a secret‑invite opening at CHB Fine Arts, and politically charged...
New Flagship Space for SAMoCA Announced As Part of Saudi Vision 2030
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, via the Diriyah Company, has pledged a $490 million grant to build a new flagship space for the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMoCA). The 77,000 square‑meter (≈19 acre) museum will be designed by Godwin Austen Johnson...
Preserve Art in Original Condition for Value and History
Whenever possible, keep your art in original condition as you created it, especially your best examples. Do not change it, including reworking it, replacing original frames or bases, taking it apart for shipping or storage, etc. Sometimes changes are unavoidable,...
The Art That Inspired the 2026 Met Gala Red Carpet
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute launched the 2026 Met Gala with the theme “Fashion Is Art,” linking runway couture to fine‑art expression. The accompanying “Costume Art” exhibition, opening May 10, explores the classical, overlooked, and universal bodies, highlighting clothing’s...
The Price Points Powering the Art Market
The $1‑$10 million price segment proved the strongest in 2025, delivering $3.5 billion in sales, a 20.8 % increase over 2024. The $100 000‑$1 million bracket posted $3.2 billion, up 6 %, while the >$10 million tier surged 36.1 % to $2.3 billion, highlighting volatility at the top. Lower‑priced categories...
Pedro Reyes’s New Lacma Commission Sparks Criticism in Mexico
Mexican artist Pedro Reyes unveiled *Tlali*, a four‑metre Olmec‑inspired stone sculpture, on LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries. The work has sparked a backlash from nearly 80 Mexican cultural figures who argue it repeats the missteps of a 2021 Mexico City...
Tracing the Arc of British Sculpture From Modernism to Today
The Bowman Sculpture gallery in London is hosting “Modern British: Modern & Contemporary British Sculpture,” on view through May 29, 2026. The show pairs iconic modernists such as Henry Moore, Eduardo Paolozzi and Lynn Chadwick with emerging voices like Rufus Martin and Joanna Allen, creating a cross‑generational...
Ciao, Venice.
The 61st Venice Biennale opened amid a wave of turmoil, including the untimely death of director Koyo Kouoh, the resignation of the international jury, and the cancellation of the South African pavilion. Despite these setbacks, the event features roughly 100 national...
The Egyptian Modernist Inji Efflatoun Gains International Exposure with New Biographical Collection
Inji Efflatoun, a leading Egyptian modernist painter and activist, is the subject of a new bilingual biography, *The Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun*, released in August 2025. The volume combines her translated diaries—covering childhood to imprisonment—with scholarly essays that situate...
Billionaire Collector Ken Griffin Buys Second Rare Constitution Printing
Billionaire hedge‑fund founder Ken Griffin has added a second first‑printing of the U.S. Constitution to his collection, making him the only private owner of two of the 14 surviving copies. The Van Sinderen copy was secured in a private deal after...
May Book Bag: From a Guide on Entering the Art World to a Publication About Artists Influenced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses
May’s Book Bag highlights four new titles that bridge scholarship and practice in the visual arts. Francesca Cappelletti and Frits Scholten edit *Metamorphoses: Ovid and the Arts* ($50), pairing Ovid’s mythic narratives with works by Cellini, Rodin, Bourgeois and others....
Magnified Sand Reveals the Hidden Beauty of Individual Grains
Magnified Sand is a continuous microscopic photography project by Robert Maronpot that captures individual sand grains at extreme close‑up, revealing vivid colors, intricate shapes, and crystalline structures invisible to the naked eye. The resulting images transform ordinary beach debris into...
SFMOMA Unveils 'Reimagined' Fisher Collection, Revamping 250 Works
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art opened 'Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10', a re‑curated showcase of 250 works by 35 artists across four floors. Curators Ted Mann and Gamynne Guillotte used video, audio and spatial redesigns to center...
FAD News: Offprint London Heads to 180 Studios for Its 2026 Edition
Offprint London 2026 will be held at 180 Studios from May 15‑17, gathering independent, experimental publishers across art, architecture, design, and visual culture. Founded in 2010 and backed by LUMA Arles, the fair now attracts more than 35,000 visitors annually. The...
Nahmad Seeks to Reopen Modigliani Restitution Case With New Witnesses
David Nahmad’s lawyers have filed a motion in New York seeking to reopen the restitution case over Amedeo Modigliani’s *Seated Man with a Cane*, arguing that the painting may have been misidentified. The motion relies on two new witnesses who...
‘A Remarkably Tenacious Motif’: The Many Faces of Marilyn Monroe Revealed in New Book and Show
The National Portrait Gallery in London will launch "Marilyn Monroe: a Portrait" on June 4, 2026, curated by Rosie Broadley and accompanied by a new 256‑page book. The show assembles works by Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, Pauline Boty, Rosalyn...
Got Artwork that Deserves Wall Space? Share It with Us!
Dazed Club has partnered with London‑based art‑print platform DROOL to scout emerging talent. Up to ten Dazed Club members will have their artwork turned into official prints sold on DROOL’s site, earning a commission on each sale. Selected pieces will...
Ruban I.P.’s 1964 Tretyakov Masterpiece Highlights Chartbook
Ruban I.P. Not for tourists. 1964. State Tretyakov Gallery, featured on today's Chartbook Top Links in the comment below. https://t.co/fudbk4AW4h
Ellie Kayu Ng: Catching the Big Fish
Brooklyn‑based painter Ellie Kayu Ng makes her UK solo debut at Twilight Contemporary with the exhibition “Catching the Big Fish,” on view May 8‑30, 2026. The show extends her decade‑long practice of painting herself into imagined scenarios, using borrowed garments to embody...
Eva Franco Mattes Are Bonafide Experts in Ragebait and Cat Memes
Eva and Franco Mattes are being hailed as leading practitioners of "ragebait," a term that topped the 2025 Word of the Year list for content designed to provoke anger. Their newest Venice exhibition, backed by the Autotelic Foundation, showcases AI‑generated...
Remnants of an Optimistic Era
Erik Otsea’s solo exhibition “Clever Animals & Static” at Alto Beta showcases hand‑built ceramic sculptures that evoke Soviet‑era brutalism while softened by pastel accents. The show pairs the three‑dimensional pieces with a grid of 25 black‑and‑white panels created 35 years...
Walter Pfeiffer’s World of Beauty and Desire
Walter Pfeiffer, the 90‑year‑old Austrian photographer, opened his latest solo show, “Walter Pfeiffer. In Good Company,” at Turin’s Pinacoteca Agnelli. The exhibition, known for its erotic and surreal portraiture, only introduces formal fashion photography in a striking triptych featuring supermodel Eva Herzigová in sequinned outfits and a...
ASIAN DOPE BOYS, Ziúr and More to Play at Kuboraum’s Venice Biennale Takeover
Kuboraum is staging a four‑day "We Travel to Know Our Own Geography" program at the Venice Art Biennale from May 6‑9, hosted at the historic Pier Fortunato Calvi State Secondary School. The lineup blends performance art, music, and multidisciplinary collaborations, featuring...
Dozens of Venice Biennale Artists Stage ‘Drone’ Perfomance in Protest of Israel’s Participation
The Venice Biennale’s professional pre‑opening featured about 60 artists staging a “Solidarity Drone Chorus” to protest Israel’s participation. The performers hummed a Gaza‑originated “Drone Song,” aiming to sonically occupy the space and echo the daily drone strikes that Palestinians endure....
Si Newhouse's Collection Sells $60 Million Picassos
Si Newhouse was a helluva collector. This latest sale from his collection features Picassos valued at up to $60 million each. https://t.co/pLtyrxczf8
AI Reshapes Art Creation without Hurting Artists' Earnings
AI is changing creative work, but not replacing it. Early data shows little evidence of broad income declines for artists, even in fields highly exposed to generative tools. The reality is more nuanced. AI is reshaping how art is made, not whether...
The Stone Sculptures of Joan Bennàssar in Can Picafort, Spain
Mallorca artist Joan Bennàssar installed a series of stone and cement figures along Can Picafort’s waterfront in 2016. The sculptures, grouped under the themes "El Deseo," "El Ritual," "El Tesoro" and "La Herida," range from solitary female forms to a...
Nicholas Pope, Sculptor Whose Career Came in Two Acts, 1949–2026
Nicholas Pope, a British sculptor known for his organic wooden columns, died in May 2026. He first gained prominence in the 1970s alongside peers like Tony Cragg and Antony Gormley, culminating in a 1980 showing at the British Pavilion in...
On View: Joan Semmel
The Jewish Museum is presenting “In the Flesh,” a career‑spanning survey of painter Joan Semmel that runs through May 31. The exhibition features only sixteen of Semmel’s large‑scale works, arranged chronologically around a central wall that also displays paintings and photographs...
Venice Biennale’s Fierce Pussy Group Says City Censored Posters About Queer and Trans People
Lesbian artist collective fierce pussy announced that its Venice Biennale posters celebrating queer and trans people were censored by the city of Venice before the exhibition opened. The works, featuring slogans like “Welcome queers and trans people” alongside a cat‑rendered...
Phillips Collection Launches 'Miró and the United States' Exhibition Mapping Transatlantic Legacy
The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., opened the exhibition “Miró and the United States,” a comprehensive survey that maps Joan Miró’s artistic dialogue with America. Curators present newly researched works and archival material, positioning the Spanish modernist within a broader...
Rhythm in the Blues
Rhythm in the Blues, co‑presented by Octavia Art Gallery founder Pamela Bryan and curator Julia Campbell Carter, opens at 14 Percy Street in London from May 11‑20, 2026. The group show features five international artists—Alia Ali, Aigana Gali, Azadeh Ghotbi, Naomie Kremer...
How the Adoption of Canvas in Venice Changed the Way Artists Painted
In the 16th century Venice, artists shifted from wall frescoes and wooden panels to canvas, a medium better suited to the city’s humid climate and easier to ship. Historian Cleo Nisse’s new book reveals how painters such as Titian, Veronese...
Walter Pfeiffer, the Cult Photographer of Beauty, Sex and Outsiders
Walter Pfeiffer, the Austrian photographer whose raw, candid images of beauty, sexuality and marginal figures have long circulated in underground circles, is now receiving mainstream museum attention. Recent retrospectives in Europe and North America showcase his 1970s‑80s work, emphasizing his unvarnished...
Met Gala 2026 Unveils 'Costume Art' Theme, Curator Bolton Says Every Body Matters
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute announced that the 2026 Met Gala will revolve around the theme “Costume Art,” a concept championed by chief curator Andrew Bolton. The theme spotlights inclusive, body‑positive design and sets the stage for a...
Chanel and Guggenheim Launch Transatlantic Curatorial Fellowship
Chanel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation have announced a one‑year curatorial fellowship that will alternate between the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice beginning in 2027. The program targets MA‑ and PhD‑level scholars, offering...
Aaron Kudi at 1-54 New York: Material Abstraction and the Weight of Witness
Adegbola Gallery made its inaugural appearance at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York, presenting a new body of work by Nigerian‑born, London‑based artist Aaron Kudi. The paintings, executed on glazed tarpaulin and cotton duck, employ liquid metal,...
Michael Moore’s ‘Frankenstein’ Machines Make Waves in Artforum’s People’s Artist Contest—Here’s How to Cast Your Vote
In this episode of the Not Real Art Podcast, host Sourdough welcomes back longtime friend and multidisciplinary creator Michael Moore, who is competing in the Johnny Depp‑presented People’s Artist award backed by Art Forum and the Art of Elysium. Moore...
The World's Biggest Museum for Illustrations Is Coming to London – and the Official Opening Date Has Been Revealed
The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, a £12.5 million museum dedicated to illustration, will open in Clerkenwell on 25 June 2026. Housed in a refurbished 18th‑century waterworks, the venue offers three galleries, a shop, café, free library and a studio for emerging...
Derrick Adams Installs Large-Scale Tribute to Late Curator Koyo Kouoh in Venice, and Other News.
Artist Derrick Adams unveiled a monumental portrait honoring late curator Koyo Kouoh on a Venice Biennale façade, while Iran withdrew from the same event amid rising geopolitical tensions. The 2026 Met Gala swapped its iconic red carpet for a moss‑covered...
Emilie Dubois Turns the Living Room Into a Map of Belonging at BFAF
The Bassam Freiha Art Foundation in Abu Dhabi has opened Emilie Dubois’s exhibition “Home Is Not A Place,” running from 11 February to 31 May 2026. Central to the show is an interactive living‑room installation where visitors can touch and...
Lynn Chadwick Post War Sculpture Celebrated At Houghton Hall – Miranda Carroll
Houghton Hall in Norfolk is showcasing a comprehensive retrospective of post‑war sculptor Lynn Chadwick, with works spread across the historic house and its surrounding park. The exhibition, running from early May to early October 2026, includes rare pieces such as...
Rebecca Ward: Lighter Later
Brooklyn-based artist Rebecca Ward returns to Ronchini Gallery with "lighter later," a solo show running from June 11 to September 30, 2026. The exhibition features new sewn canvases that blur the line between painting, sculpture and craft, employing a labor‑intensive process that begins...
When Francis Bacon Shocked the Art World: Viewers Were Horrified by His Paintings, But Couldn’t Look Away
Francis Bacon’s 1953 masterpiece, *Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X*, shocked audiences with its visceral intensity, turning a classic papal portrait into a nightmarish vision. The painting was created from a faded copy of Velázquez’s work, allowing Bacon...
Audible Edge Review: A ‘Sublimely Curated’ Festival of Exploratory Music
Audible Edge, Perth’s sole artist‑led experimental music festival, celebrated its 10th anniversary from May 1‑3, 2026 at the historic Victoria Hall in Fremantle. Curated by composer Josten Myburgh and sound artist Annika Moses, the three‑day event featured a mix of local and...
Lynn Boggess (Update)
West Virginia painter Lynn Boggess, known for applying paint with cement trowels, is currently showcasing a solo exhibition at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia. The show opened on April 24, 2026 and is expected to run for about a...