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.
What Artists Sign Away
Artists increasingly discover that standard gallery contracts often sacrifice their control and earnings. A six‑month consignment clause can keep works tied to a gallery long after an exhibition, forcing artists to share sales even when they secure buyers themselves. Moral‑rights waivers in residency agreements allow institutions to alter or display work without the creator’s consent. The article argues these clauses are not neutral but structural tools that shift value and risk toward artists, reinforcing a market that rewards opacity over equitable terms.
Explore the Museum of the Human Web in SF
It was fun to work on this with @p0 Parallel - please visit the Museum of the Human Web online or in person next week in San Francisco https://t.co/w7gOJylLKH
Tribeca Shows Closing Soon
Three art exhibitions in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood are slated to close within the next few weeks, prompting a final chance for visitors to experience the featured works. The shows showcase a mix of emerging local talent and a few...
The Venice Biennale’s Polite Fiction of Being ‘Above the Market’ Is Wearing Thin
The 61st Venice Biennale, traditionally a non‑selling showcase, is increasingly entangled with market forces. Galleries are shouldering rising installation costs while auction houses shift from pavilion sponsorship to private client events and high‑profile sales, such as Christie’s exhibition at the...
Artist Foundations’ Net Worth Has Nearly Tripled to $9 B., Led by Cy Twombly Foundation’s $1.5 B. In Art and Assets
Research by the Aspen Institute’s Artist‑Endowed Foundation Initiative shows U.S. artist foundations now control roughly $9 billion in assets, a 17% rise from 2018 and nearly triple the 2011 level. Five foundations—led by the Cy Twombly Foundation with $1.5 billion—hold more than half...
The Antwerp List
Antwerp, once Europe’s wealthiest port, has reinvented itself as a global cultural hub where 16th‑century guildhalls sit beside avant‑garde fashion from the Antwerp Six and contemporary architecture by Axel Vervoordt and Vincent Van Duysen. The city’s culinary landscape boasts at least...
Vacheron Constantin Unveils Four Louvre‑Inspired Métiers D’Art Watches
Vacheron Constantin released four new Métiers d’Art timepieces on April 16, each built around a distinct ancient sculpture from the Louvre’s collection. The launch expands the brand’s Tribute to Great Civilisations series and deepens its partnership with the museum that...
Serpentine × FLAG Art Foundation Names Star‑Studded Jury for UK's Largest Contemporary Art Prize
The Serpentine × FLAG Art Foundation Prize has unveiled a five‑person selection committee that includes MoMA’s Michelle Kuo, Museum MACAN director Venus Lau, curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, artist Rirkrit Tiravanija and Jon Rider. The prize, the largest UK contemporary art award at £200,000 per winner,...
New York City Conductor Art Fair Strikes a Confident Note at Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn by Ruben Natal-San Miguel
The Conductor Art Fair launched its inaugural edition at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn, following the success of the Brooklyn Print Art Fair. Curated from both local and international galleries, the fair emphasizes diversity and a clear artistic vision while remaining...
The Defining Themes of Today’s Biennial Art
The latest analysis of the past four biennial cycles shows a tight cluster of artists—often appearing in nine or more shows—who dominate the global stage. Their work is unified by post‑colonial post‑conceptualism, family‑driven narratives, and research‑based practices that blend living...
Jarvis Cocker Is Bringing His Eclectic Eye to the Hepworth Wakefield
Jarvis Cocker, frontman of Pulp, and creative consultant Kim Sion will co‑curate a new exhibition called “The Hodge Podge” at the Hepworth Wakefield in May 2027. The show assembles works from artists such as Peter Doig, Barbara Hepworth, Jeremy Deller...
Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces $23M. Gift From Top 200 Collectors Jennifer Rubio and Stewart Butterfield
Jennifer Rubio, founder of travel brand Away, and her husband Stewart Butterfield, co‑founder of Flickr and Slack, have pledged a $23 million gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The donation is earmarked to fully fund the museum’s undergraduate and graduate...
A Guide to the 2026 Venice Biennale National Pavilions
The 2026 Venice Biennale will feature 100 official national pavilions and 31 collateral events, anchored by the main exhibition titled “In Minor Keys.” Controversy surrounds the inclusion of Russian and Israeli pavilions, with EU officials arguing the move breaches sanctions....
A New Bjork Exhibit Is a Great Excuse to Plan an Art-Filled Trip to Iceland
The National Gallery of Iceland will host "Echolalia," an immersive Björk exhibition from May 30 to June 14 as part of the 2026 Reykjavík Arts Festival. The show features installations like "Metamorphlings," a performance piece "Sorrowful Soil," and new material tied to...
Paul McCarthy: ‘The World Is Now an Extreme Absurdity. The Work Is a Reaction to That’
American artist Paul McCarthy’s latest show, SS EE Saint Santa Eva Elf, opens at Hauser & Wirth in Paris, reviving his long‑standing Santa Claus character through a six‑channel video installation and a series of large, floor‑based drawings. The works were generated in real time with German actress...
SMFA at Tufts Presents Passages, the 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts is hosting “Passages,” the 2026 MFA thesis exhibition, running May 5‑17 in the university’s art galleries. Nineteen graduating MFA candidates present work across painting, sculpture, installation, and mixed media that explore...
When the Confederacy Came to LA
The exhibition *MONUMENTS* opened in October 2025 at the Geffen Contemporary of MOCA and runs through May 2026, showcasing decommissioned Confederate statues reimagined through contemporary art. Curated by Hamza Walker and Bennett Simpson, the show features Kara Walker’s transformed Stonewall Jackson...
When Fashion Made Art Uncomfortable
Susan L. Siegfried’s new book *The New Taste* examines the turbulent 1820s‑30s when European fashion accelerated dramatically and forced visual artists to confront its fleeting, commercial nature. The study shows how print culture readily adopted fashion’s speed, while painting and...
Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker to Curate New Art Exhibition at Hepworth Wakefield with Wife Kim Sion
Britpop icon Jarvis Cocker and his wife Kim Sion will co‑curate "Hodge Podge," a new exhibition at the Hepworth Wakefield opening in May 2027. The show blends works by established figures such as Jeremy Deller, Peter Doig and Barbara Hepworth with previously...
Future Fair 2026 Opens May 14‑16 with 70 Galleries Emphasizing Emerging Artists
Future Fair will open May 14‑16 at Chelsea Industrial, featuring nearly 70 galleries, artist‑run initiatives and collaborative platforms from nine countries. Co‑founders Rachel Mijares Fick and Rebecca Laliberte say the program prioritises evolution, access and growth, signaling a shift away...
US Exhibition Unearths the Etruscans and Their Enduring Cultural Influence
An exhibition titled "The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy" opens at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, showcasing nearly 200 artifacts that trace the civilization’s 800‑year legacy. Highlights include the third‑century BC Liber Linteus, the longest surviving Etruscan text, and...
Cosmic, Concrete, Earthy: Nancy Holt’s Land Art on Show in UK
Nancy Holt’s first major UK retrospective opens at Goodwood Art Foundation, showcasing both indoor and outdoor works for the first time in Britain. The show features a posthumous installation of "Hydra’s Head," re‑created in a chalk quarry, and the kinetic...
Must-See Museum Shows in New York This Spring
Spring 2026 brings a packed lineup of museum exhibitions across New York, featuring Isamu Noguchi’s unrealized Central Park playground at the Noguchi Museum, the Metropolitan Museum’s “Raphael: Sublime Poetry” with over 170 works, the Met’s “Gothic by Design” showcasing medieval...
Zurbarán in London, the Carnegie International, Walter Sickert’s Ennui—Podcast
The National Gallery in London launches the most extensive career survey of 17th‑century Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán since the 1980s, showcasing over 200 works and traveling to Paris and Chicago through 2027. Simultaneously, the 59th Carnegie International opens in Pittsburgh...
FAD News: Winners of Fourth Plinth Schools Awards Announced.
The Fourth Plinth Schools Awards 2026 announced its three winners, whose artwork will be displayed at London City Hall until mid‑June. The competition, now in its tenth year of Cass Art sponsorship, attracted 1,800 students and awarded 51 prize packs of...
Walk My World Is a Darkly-Compelling Immersive Dystopia
Walk My World, Recirquel’s new immersive production, converts Budapest’s former Millenáris factory into a stark dystopian environment. Attendees surrender phones, wear masks, and navigate dark corridors that serve as a portal to an alternate reality. The experience blends choreography, sound...
Gallery Weekend Berlin Opens Ranks as City Faces Identity Crisis
Gallery Weekend Berlin (GWB) expands from 50 to 57 galleries by launching "Perspectives," a rotating showcase for emerging dealers. Participants in Perspectives pay half the usual €9,000 fee (≈$9,720), with the $4,860 discount funded by the Berlin Senate. The move...
Botticelli Under UK Export Ban Purchased by Klesch Collection
A 1470s Botticelli masterpiece, *The Virgin and Child Enthroned*, was saved from export after the UK government placed an export bar on the work valued at £10.2 million (≈ $13 million). The painting was purchased by the Klesch Collection, which will loan it...
Zoe Leonard Departs Hauser & Wirth for New York’s Maxwell Graham Gallery
Zoe Leonard, a celebrated photographer and installation artist preparing for the Venice Biennale, has left the multinational Hauser & Wirth to join New York’s boutique Maxwell Graham gallery. Maxwell Graham will represent her alongside her long‑standing partners Galeria Gisela Capitain...
The Daily Heller: Does AI-Generated Art Demand a Seal of Disapproval?
The article questions whether AI‑generated artwork should carry a clear authenticity label, similar to traditional credits like “photo‑illustration” or “collage.” It notes that some creators already use tags such as “AI Assisted,” but as AI takes on a larger creative...
London’s Prokofiev Studio Opens, Showcasing Censored Soviet Abstracts
Gabriel Prokofiev and his siblings have opened Prokofiev Studio in Hackney, London, to exhibit the abstract paintings of their father Oleg Prokofiev that were banned in the Soviet Union. The inaugural exhibition, "Bending Time," marks the first public display of...
FAD News: Powerhouse Parramatta Set to Open in Late 2026 as Australia’s Biggest New Cultural Project.
Powerhouse Parramatta, a 30,000‑square‑metre museum on Dharug land in Western Sydney, is slated to open in late 2026. Billed as Australia’s biggest cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, it will house seven exhibition spaces, a 600‑seat theatre, rooftop...
Issue 148
Art Asia Pacific’s Issue 148 rolls out a comprehensive snapshot of contemporary art across Asia and the Pacific, featuring an editor’s letter, in‑depth reports, artist profiles, essays, features, and global reviews. The issue spotlights urgent topics such as cultural heritage...
ArtReview April & May 2026 Issue Out Now
ArtReview’s April‑May 2026 issue examines the limits of artistic expression against a backdrop of international conflict, centering on the 61st Venice Biennale. The cover features performance artist Ei Arakawa‑Nash with his family, reflecting his installation in the Japanese Pavilion and...
Daiga Grantina: Lilacs
The Mead Gallery at Warwick Arts Centre is presenting “Lilacs,” the most extensive UK solo exhibition of Latvian artist Daiga Grantina, running from May 2 to June 28, 2026. Building on her acclaimed New Museum show, the exhibition explores the tension between organic...
Inside the International Center of Photography’s 42nd Infinity Awards Gala
The International Center of Photography hosted its 42nd Infinity Awards gala on May 1, 2026, honoring five photographers—Tarrah Krajnak, Joel Meyerowitz, Haruka Sakaguchi, Collier Schorr, and Betty Catroux, who received the Image Icon Award. The ceremony, chaired by trustees Stefano Tonchi and Jessica Nagle, featured speeches, a multi‑course...
Venice Biennale Jury Resigns, and Other News.
The 2026 Venice Biennale’s international jury quit en masse, forcing the organizers to postpone awards and shift to visitor‑selected prizes. Meanwhile, British billionaire Joe Lewis will auction a £150‑200 million private collection at Sotheby’s London, the UK’s most valuable single‑owner sale to date....
Art Films Can Make You More Creative
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara conducted a randomized experiment with nearly 500 participants, comparing artistic short films to humorous home‑video compilations. Viewers of the experimental art shorts scored significantly higher on tasks measuring conceptual expansion and story originality, indicating a...
Beyond the Canvas
Lucia Shuyu Li, a Chinese‑American multidisciplinary artist, uses painting, installation, and performance to probe power, cultural identity, and the blurred line between perception and reality. Her recent paintings—Judge Me, I Am Dead Therefore I Was Alive, and Who Cried Walking...
Artist Kasper Eistrup Maps the Human Condition on Canvas
Danish artist Kasper Eistrup, known for material world‑building, debuted his first solo exhibition in Germany at Galerie Schimming in Hamburg. The show, titled “Bridges Over Magma,” presents a new body of mixed‑media works created during his artist‑in‑residence program, exploring the fragile...
TLDR Damien Hirst | The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
In this TLDR episode, host Kyle Wood gives a rapid overview of Damien Hirst’s career, focusing on his provocative use of preserved animals, luxury materials, and market‑shaking strategies. He highlights five quick facts, including the 1988 Freeze exhibition, the formaldehyde‑preserved...
Isabelle Bscher And Galerie Gmurzynska’s Picasso & Wifredo Lam Exhibition
Galerie Gmurzynska is mounting "Lam/Picasso," the first comprehensive U.S. exhibition of Pablo Picasso and Cuban‑Afro artist Wifredo Lam since 1939. Running April 23‑June 30, 2026 in the Fuller Building, the show presents roughly 50 paintings, frescos, ceramics and collages spanning 1918‑1978, including two...
Erwan Sene at Bonny Poon / Conditions, Toronto
Erwan Sene’s exhibition "Checked or four attacks that will never happen" transforms 1970s Delsey suitcases into autonomous sculptures that combine industrial polycarbonate, infrasound antennas and vintage François Villon shoes. By assembling legally permissible components, the work exposes gaps in ICAO...
Swansea Chosen to Host British Art Show 10 in 2027, Boosting Wales' Contemporary Art Profile
Swansea has been selected as the sole Welsh stop for British Art Show 10, running Feb. 12‑May 16, 2027 at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and multiple city venues. The appointment, announced by Hayward Gallery Touring, underscores the city’s growing cultural clout and brings...
Three Famous Patterns Created by Artists
The article highlights three iconic visual patterns—Yayoi Kusama’s infinite polka dots, William Morris’s handcrafted botanical repeats, and Keith Haring’s interlocking subway figures—and explains how each originated from personal or cultural impulses. Kusama’s dots grew from childhood hallucinations and now cover everything from sculptures...
What Biennials Reveal About the Art World
In this episode of The Art Angle, Ben Davis and Joe Lawson‑Tancred examine recent trends in global art biennials, focusing on the upcoming Venice Biennale curated by the late Koyo Kuo. Their data‑driven analysis reveals a sharp swing back to...
Artists Must Captivate, Not Blame Viewers for Scrolling
Artists wonder if or how much today's viewers care about contemplating art for any length of time. Or whether people are so addicted to scrolling online or in real life that quick looks are enough. Easy answer. It's on artists...
Make Data Centers as Iconic as Serpentine Pavilions
The Serpentine Pavilion in London is an annual, renowned architectural commission that features a new pavilion in Kensington Gardens designed by a different architect each year… Can we get a commission going of famous and new architects to make all of...
Prince Albert II and Princess Caroline Launch Monaco Art Week 2026
Prince Albert II and Princess Caroline of Hanover opened Monaco Art Week 2026 at the New National Museum on April 29, unveiling a fourteen‑venue program that spans historic and contemporary art. The royal launch underscores Monaco’s ambition to cement its...
Pokemon X Kogei Art Exhibition to Open in Japan in 2026 (UPDATE)
Pokémon and Japanese craft organization Kogei are launching the “Pokemon x Kogei: Playful Encounters of Pokemon and Japanese Craft” exhibition in Japan from April 26 to June 15, 2026. The show will present works by 20 Japanese artisans, among them several Living National...