Today's Art Pulse
Venice Biennale Jury Resigns, Prompting Massive Auction by Joe Lewis
The 2026 Venice Biennale’s international jury quit en masse, forcing 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.
7 Artists Discuss the Power and Urgency of Textiles
A new Louisiana Channel film spotlights seven artists who use textiles to explore softness, memory, and identity in an increasingly digital world. The documentary features Nick Cave’s armor‑like suits made from found objects, Icelandic creator Shoplifter’s vivid hair installations, and Kaarina Kaikkonen’s reclaimed‑clothing sculptures rooted in personal loss. By weaving personal narratives with experimental materials, the film argues that tactile, fiber‑based art offers a counterbalance to virtual experiences. The piece also includes contributions from Ernesto Neto and archival studio visits, underscoring the medium’s broad relevance.
Art Cologne Debuts Palma Mallorca Fair, Attracts 88 Galleries and 10,000 Visitors
Art Cologne launched its inaugural Palma Mallorca edition from April 9‑12, 2026, featuring 88 galleries across 20 nations and welcoming more than 10,000 visitors. The fair’s strong sales and packed weekend days underscore Palma’s emerging role as a Mediterranean meeting...
A Stolen Roman Statue Sat in an American Museum for 58 Years. Until One Bizarre Clue Gave It Away.
A bronze headless statue of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, stolen from Turkey’s Boubon site in 1967, spent nearly six decades on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Scholarly research by Jale İnan and subsequent scientific testing linked the piece to its...
The Sculpture Garden of the Museo Sa Bassa Blanca in Alcúdia, Spain
Nestled on Mallorca’s La Victoria peninsula, the Museo Sa Bassa Blanca’s sculpture garden showcases 100 installations, most crafted by founders Yannick Vu and Ben Jakober. The remote “Es Mal Pas” access road deters casual tourists, positioning the site as a...
Alec Egan: "The Groundskeeper" At Vielmetter Los Angeles
Alec Egan’s solo exhibition “The Groundskeeper” opens at Vielmetter Los Angeles, marking his first show since a 2025 wildfire destroyed his Pacific Palisades home and studio. The show juxtaposes serene “Dawn House” canvases with darker “Night House” pieces, reflecting the...
The Avant-Garde Path to God
James K. A. Smith’s new book argues that abstract and experimental contemporary art can foster mystical contemplation, countering traditionalist critics like Roger Scruton who dismiss modern art as merely provocative. Smith illustrates his point with visits to works by Agnes Martin...
Podcast Episode: Edward J. Sullivan on Latino & Latin American Art 1970-2001
The Yale University Press podcast features scholar and curator Edward J. Sullivan discussing his new book, *Latino New York: Art and Experience 1970‑2001*. The volume documents how Latino and Latin American artists entered and transformed the New York art scene from...
Russia’s Venice Biennale Pavilion Will Be Closed To The Public
The Venice Biennale will display Russia’s pavilion for only four preview days (May 5‑8) before sealing it shut for the rest of the 61st edition, substituting live art with window‑mounted screens. The decision follows months of diplomatic friction, with Italy’s culture...
Filipa Ramos Appointed Curator of 2027 Lofoten International Art Festival
Filipa Ramos, a Basel‑based curator and author of *The Artist as Ecologist*, has been named curator of the 19th Lofoten International Art Festival, scheduled for 28 May‑27 June 2027. The Arctic‑circle biennial, Scandinavia’s longest‑running art event, will spotlight site‑specific works that explore human‑nonhuman...
Mexican Cultural Workers Denounce Pedro Reyes Sculpture at LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has installed Pedro Reyes’s new stone sculpture “Tlali” in its recently opened Elaine Wynn Wing. The work, a reworked version of a controversial 2021 Mexico City commission, sparked an open letter signed by...
Bold Solos, Global Dialogues: Inside Frieze New York 2026
Frieze New York returns to The Shed from May 13‑17, 2026, unveiling a program that blends solo, dual and curated presentations. The fair will host 33 New York galleries alongside 11 emerging international exhibitors in its Focus section, emphasizing diasporic...
Watch: Wallace Chan Returns to the Venice Biennale with ‘Vessels of Other Worlds’
Wallace Chan returns to the 61st Venice Biennale with “Vessels of Other Worlds,” a two‑city exhibition that opens in Venice on May 8, 2026 and moves to Shanghai’s Long Museum West Bund on July 18. The project showcases large‑scale titanium sculptures that explore birth,...
“I Deny the Concept of Sole Ownership of Artwork”: David Lamelas on His Survey at Dia
David Lamelas’s retrospective, "The Machine," opened at Dia Chelsea, showcasing site‑specific installations that the artist re‑creates for each venue. Curated with deputy director Humberto Moro, the show features seminal works from the late 1960s, including the Vietnam‑war‑themed office installation, alongside...
The Ignorant Art Historian: View of Notre Dame
Hal Foster’s new column, “The Ignorant Art Historian,” seeks to make art‑viewing accessible by encouraging readers to interpret works without specialist jargon. The inaugural essay dissects Henri Matisse’s 1914 oil View of Notre Dame, a blue‑dominated canvas punctuated by black vectors...
Online Auctions Continue to Draw in First-Time Art Buyers as Sales Grow
Online‑only sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, Bonhams and Artnet Auctions rose 8% in 2025, reaching $423.9 million. The average price per lot jumped 8.6% to $14,309, while the number of lots sold stayed near 29,600. Sales are now 270% higher than...
1990s: The Decade That Rewired British Culture
Tate Britain’s new exhibition, "The 90s: Art and Fashion," opens on 8 October 2026 and runs until 14 February 2027, presenting over 100 works by nearly 70 artists, photographers, and designers. It traces the decade’s shift from glossy 80s aesthetics to lo‑fi photography, the...
Romania Unveils ‘Black Seas’ Pavilion for 2026 Venice Biennale
Romania announced its 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion, titled “Black Seas – Scores for the Sonic Eye,” curated by Corina Oprea and Diana Marincu and featuring Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán. The large‑scale audiovisual installation uses sound, sculpture and scientific data...
✘ Limitation, Lineage, and Building Worlds: Lyra Pramuk's Voice
Berlin vocalist and trans performance artist Lyra Pramuk received an Orchestral Tools microgrant for her pioneering work that constructs entire soundscapes from her own processed voice. Her debut album Fountain—and its follow‑up Hymnal—were built using granular synthesis, spectral morphing and...
Sally Webster’s Mystical Detritus
Good morning from the mystical visions of detritus and other baryonic matter of #SallyWebster as seen at the studio-gallery-home of rbwntrs Posted on @raymondfoye and robertgoldmanbobbyg
Drink or Get Vomited: Save Your Soul
'It's puke or be puked on' — Drunken Goddess Reflux from @AllianceArtsEN has you drinking to save your soul. https://t.co/4a8lUVL1LL
An Immersive Full-Scale Sistine Chapel Exhibition Is Coming to London This Summer
London will host "Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition" from May 18 to September 6 at 1 America Square, near Tower Bridge. The show recreates all 34 ceiling frescoes on massive, highly detailed canvases rather than using projections. Tickets are priced at £19.50...
Dr. Anthony Trecek-King on Music, Emotion, and AI in Artistic Creation
Dr. Anthony Trecek‑King, a conductor and interdisciplinary artist, explains how musicians move from analyzing a score’s technical structure to internalizing its emotional core. He argues that audiences attend performances for human connection, not flawless execution, and that over‑practice can stifle...
The Most Loved Photo Stories of April 2026
April’s most‑loved photo stories, curated by Dazed Digital, span from a Finnish suburb to Tokyo’s love hotels and Barcelona’s rave scene. The roundup highlights the Middle East Archive’s new book on women across the region, Abdulhamid Kircher’s compassionate portrait of...
Museum Announces Return of Artefacts to Botswana
Brighton & Hove Museums announced it will return 45 cultural artefacts to Botswana, the first substantial repatriation from a UK museum of this scale. The objects, collected by Rev. William Charles Willoughby in the 1890s, include clothing, hunting implements and...
Jermay Michael Gabriel to Debut “Waves of Ash” At 2026 Venice Biennale
Jermay Michael Gabriel, the Italian‑Eritrean artist, will present his performance‑installation “Waves of Ash” at the 2026 Venice Biennale’s preview week (May 5‑9) in the Giardini della Marinaressa, part of the “1922 Revisited” program organized by the Third Space Art Foundation and...
Amanda Carneiro and Raphael Fonseca to Curate 2027 Bienal De São Paulo
Brazilian curators Amanda Carneiro and Raphael Fonseca have been appointed to lead the 2027 Bienal de São Paulo. Carneiro, a MASP curator since 2018, brings a track record of championing under‑represented Brazilian artists. Fonseca, a visual arts programmer at Culturgest and curator‑at‑large at...
2nd MOTIFX - Embracing the Beauty of Chinese Culture A Surreal Garden of Botanical Patterns Blooms at Home InStyle &...
The 2nd MOTIFX exhibition runs 27‑30 April 2026 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of Home InStyle & Fashion InStyle 2026. Organized by the Hong Kong Design Institute and the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency,...
Defending Democracy: France Deploys Justice and Interior Ministries to Protect Artistic Freedom
France announced an unprecedented joint operation that brings the Justice and Interior ministries together with the Culture ministry to protect artistic freedom, framing attacks on creators as a matter of state security. The plan allocates roughly €30 million (about $32 million) for...
Transgression Is Freedom in the Artistry of Dorian Wood
Los Angeles‑born multidisciplinary artist Dorian Wood, now based in Boston, is channeling her anti‑disciplinary practice into a new album, *Canto de Todes*, released May 1 by New Amsterdam Records. The record translates a 12‑hour immersive installation premiered at REDCAT into a 70‑minute...
![Thailand Biennale Phuket The Island Talks Back Eternal [Kalpa]- Virginie Puertolas-Syn](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://artlyst.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/thailand-biennale.jpeg)
Thailand Biennale Phuket The Island Talks Back Eternal [Kalpa]- Virginie Puertolas-Syn
The Thailand Biennale’s "Eternal Kalpa" edition returns to Phuket, featuring 65 artists from 25 countries across 19 repurposed venues such as a decommissioned power station, an old liquor distillery, and the former Pearl Theatre. Curated by Arin Rungjang, David Teh,...
Arts at CERN and Nobel Prize Museum Announce the Collide Stockholm International Residency Award Recipient and Two Honorary Mentions
Arts at CERN and the Nobel Prize Museum have selected Lithuanian artist Emilija Škarnulytė as the Collide Stockholm residency award winner, with Morehshin Allahyari and Wendi Yan receiving honorary mentions. The open call attracted 908 applications from 89 countries. Škarnulytė...
Tate Britain Will Exhibit ‘90s Art and Fashion, and Other News.
Tate Britain will launch “The 90s: Art and Fashion” in autumn 2026, a guest‑curated show by Edward Enninful that assembles around 70 creators from Steve McQueen to Vivienne Westwood. Gagosian has opened a 2,275‑sq‑ft ground‑floor flagship on Madison Avenue, debuting works by Marcel Duchamp and...
Weight, Memory, and Care Inform Sheida Soleimani’s “Forest of Stars” At Yancey Richardson
Sheida Soleimani’s "Forest of Stars" opens at Yancey Richardson through May 23, merging her Ghostwriter series—photographic tableaux rooted in her parents’ exile after the 1979 Iranian Revolution—with newly added migratory birds from her wildlife‑rehabilitation work. The exhibition foregrounds care as a...
Minnie Pwerle, Emily Pwerle, Molly Pwerle, Galya Pwerle at Château Shatto
The Château Shatto gallery in Los Angeles presented a solo exhibition of 13 acrylic canvases by the Pwerle sisters—Minnie, Emily, Molly and Galya—each titled *Awelye Atnwengerrp*. Created between 2000 and 2008 on a black ground, the works translate the sisters'...
After-Hours Van Gogh Museum Tour with Friends
Enjoyed an exclusive after hours tour of the Van Gogh Museum with my friends at De L’Europe hotel in Amsterdam. https://t.co/SsoAx4J1HK
Sheep Field Barn / DSDHA
DSDHA has completed a major refurbishment and extension of the Sheep Field Barn at Henry Moore Studios, doubling its size with a timber cart‑shed addition. The redesign incorporates reclaimed Silver Spruce and Douglas Fir, ground‑source heat pumps, solar panels and sheep‑wool...
Catching up with Mickalene Thomas
Artist Mickaelene Thomas reflects on her career after a blockbuster show in London and a major global exhibition, “All About Love,” which frames love as a transformative, radical force. She highlights the impact of her reinterpretation of Manet’s Le Déjeuner...
South Korean Q1 Art Auctions Jump 162% in Value as Sales Polarize Around Ultra‑Expensive Works
South Korea's art auction market posted a 161.7% rise in total hammer price to 68.5 billion won ($52.7 million) in Q1 2026, even as the number of lots fell 17.9%. The surge was driven by a handful of blue‑chip masterpieces, deepening a...
The New York Art Critic Jerry Saltz Recently Unearthed 40,000 Slides: Here’s What the Art World of the 1990s Looked...
New York critic Jerry Saltz has uncovered a trove of 40,000 slides that document the art world of the 1990s. The collection highlights a pivotal 1993 event where Anselm Kiefer staged a funeral pyre of 300 works at Marian Goodman, followed...
This Being Human
The relaunch of the Aga Khan Museum’s podcast "This Being Human" introduces host May Habib, who will explore Muslim art, global cultures, and the universal desire for connection through conversations with artists, writers, designers, and creators from the Muslim world...
Illuminate Adelaide Reveals Its 2026 Program
Illuminate Adelaide has announced its 2026 winter festival lineup, featuring immersive digital experiences such as Moment Factory’s Augmented Games and Miguel Chevalier’s underwater‑themed Digital Abyss. The program also includes the final chapter of the zoo’s night‑time prehistoric showcase, Universal Kingdom: Ice...
When the Algorithm Becomes the Art Critic
An AI model trained to assess paintings valued a random street artist’s work higher than a Picasso, highlighting algorithmic influence on art markets. Meanwhile, the Facebook community “Baddies in AI,” where women use AI to craft or augment social‑media personas,...
MoMA Makes Bid For Virality With Marcel Duchamp Lookalike Contest
The Museum of Modern Art will stage a Marcel Duchamp look‑alike contest on April 30 as part of its Artist Party series, coinciding with the museum’s new Duchamp retrospective. Attendees pay $15 for an evening featuring DJ sets, choreography, and pop‑up...
Artsy and Artnet Merge in $71 M Deal Backed by Beowolff Capital
Artsy and Artnet have merged under the private‑equity firm Beowolff Capital in a €65 million ($71 million) transaction at a 97% premium. CEO Jeffrey Yin will run the combined entity while Beowolff founder Andrew Wolff becomes chairman, prompting questions about market power,...
Sharjah Art Foundation Announces 2027 Biennial Programming
The Sharjah Art Foundation unveiled its 2027 programming for the 17th Sharjah Biennial, titled “What remains, sits restive.” Curated by Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento, the exhibition will feature 109 international artists across two complementary sections. Harutyunyan’s 55‑artist segment interrogates...
Michael Jackson Accessories Hit the Market Amid Biopic Buzz
The new Michael Jackson biopic shattered records, pulling in $97 million in its North American opening, the highest ever for a biographical film. Riding that momentum, GWS Auctions will offer nine pieces of MJ memorabilia on May 2, highlighted by a signed...
Restitution of Nazi-Looted Modigliani Painting Ends 11-Year Court Battle
A New York State Supreme Court judge ordered the restitution of Amedeo Modigliani’s 1918 "Seated Man with a Cane" to the heirs of Oscar Stettiner, ending an 11‑year legal battle and highlighting the reach of the 2025 Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery...
Art Show in London Canceled Over Allegations of Antisemitism From Pro-Israel Group
A London exhibition by Matthew Collings at Delta House Gallery was cancelled after UK Lawyers for Israel flagged the show’s drawings as antisemitic. The controversy stems from a prior Margate iteration titled “Drawings Against Genocide,” which featured graphic depictions of...
War Threatens a Rising Iranian Sculptor’s Breakthrough
Iranian sculptor Aref Montazeri, known for towering mirrored installations that fetch up to $1.5 million, has seen his international breakthrough stalled by the ongoing war in Tehran. The conflict has forced the postponement of exhibitions, limited access to raw materials, and...
So An AI Has Just Declared A Painting By A Street Artist More Valuable Than A Picasso. Questions Abound
A multimodal AI model was trained on millions of artwork images to predict auction prices based solely on visual features. In a striking test, the system assigned a sub‑$1,000 value to a Picasso while estimating a seven‑figure price for an...