Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, a New Sort of Street Artist, Rises From Art History’s Margins
Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikatani, a Japanese‑American collagist who spent decades on the margins of art history, is now the focus of a solo exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art in Kansas City through June. Curators Maki Kaneko and Kris Imants Ercums organized the show thematically, echoing Mirikatani’s collage‑like life that spans the Hiroshima bombing, Tule Lake incarceration, and his street‑art years in New York. The exhibition marks one of the first serious institutional examinations of his work, which blends political photography, diary entries, and Buddhist imagery. It also challenges the “outsider art” label that has long confined his legacy.
Jan Staller Photographs the Nuts and Bolts of Manhattan's Urban Symphony
Veteran photographer Jan Staller releases *Manhattan Project*, a new monograph that isolates construction components—pipes, rebar, cranes—against stark white skies. The book marks a technical pivot from his signature night‑time, color‑saturated cityscapes to high‑contrast, single‑object studies. Accompanied by a foreword from...
Long-Hidden Keith Haring Artworks Come to Auction
Sotheby’s is showcasing a private trove of Keith Haring works gifted to longtime friend Kermit Oswald, including wood carvings, a painted crib, a dresser and a rare self‑portrait. The centerpiece, a 1985 self‑portrait on canvas, is expected to fetch $3 million‑$5 million,...
$450 Million Worth of Newhouse Trophies Come to Christie’s
Christie’s will host an evening auction on May 18 featuring 16 works from the late S.I. Newhouse Jr.’s museum‑quality collection, including a Jackson Pollock drip painting and a Constantin Brâncuși bronze head. The sale is projected to generate more than $450 million in...
YouTube Theater Celebrates Fifth Anniversary With Mural Titled ‘From Hollywood Park, With Love’
YouTube Theater marked its fifth anniversary by unveiling the mural “From Hollywood Park, With Love,” painted by husband‑and‑wife duo Carlo and Ethel Zafranco alongside mentees from their Astral Project nonprofit. The artwork, commissioned with Ticketmaster, celebrates Inglewood’s cultural heritage and...
Language as Demolition Tool: Selma Selman’s Letters to Omer
On April 15, Selma Selman performed *Letters to Omer* at Brooklyn’s Amant, using spoken‑word to turn language into a demolition tool. The piece featured over forty letters addressed to a silent, affluent figure named Omer, oscillating between intimate confession and...
Venice Biennale’s Prize Ban on Israel and Russia Falls Short for Critics
The international jury of the 61st Venice Biennale announced that Israel and Russia are ineligible for the Golden and Silver Lion awards, citing their leaders’ International Criminal Court war‑crimes charges. The European Union responded by withdrawing €2 million ($2.3 million) of funding,...
Rita Keegan’s Time, Place, Memory (2021)
Rita Keegan’s 2021 installation *Time, Place, Memory* blends collage, textiles, and digital media to foreground the artist’s hand as a site of authorship. Drawing on her family archive and migration experience, the work treats memory as an active, labor‑intensive process...
Dries Van Noten’s Fondazione in Venice Opens with a Show on Craftsmanship
Belgian designer Dries Van Noten inaugurated the Fondazione Dries Van Noten in Venice’s 15th‑century Palazzo Pisani Moretta, transforming the former warehouse into a cultural hub. The opening featured a runway show that foregrounded handcrafted garments, underscoring a shift from traditional craft to a dialogue...
Puig-Backed Joan Miró Show Moves to Washington’s Phillips Collection
Spanish luxury group Puig is sponsoring the U.S. leg of the "Miró and the United States" exhibition, now on view at Washington’s Phillips Collection through July 5, 2026. The show, curated by the Fundació Joan Miró and Phillips staff, assembles roughly 75 paintings,...
The Tabloids Are Fouling Mayor Mamdani Over His Knicks Art. Here’s the Story
Mayor Zohran Mamdani invited artist Tom Sanford to display his hand‑painted Knicks Cutout paintings at New York City Hall, celebrating the Knicks' playoff run and local culture. Sanford, a gallery‑showing painter, created the wooden cutouts originally for a Brooklyn Bowl...
Matt Dillon’s New Paintings Trace a Journey Across West Africa
Actor Matt Dillon is debuting his first solo exhibition, “Porto Novo to Abomey,” at New York’s Journal Gallery from April 24 to May 23. The show features a series of gestural acrylic paintings inspired by his recent trip to Senegal and Benin...
Chernobyl 40 Years on, Paula Rego at Munch in Oslo, Gluck’s Flower Painting—Podcast
The Week in Art podcast spotlights three timely exhibitions. An installation at Nikolaikirche in Potsdam commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, running from 24‑27 April. Oslo’s Munch museum opens "Paula Rego: Dance Among Thorns," exploring the British artist’s fascination with...
The Ignorant Art Historian: An Introduction
Renowned art critic Hal Foster introduces “The Ignorant Art Historian,” a four‑part series that will appear in The Paris Review over the next month. The series stems from a ritual he and a longtime friend perform in museum galleries, focusing...
3 Generations of Kyogen Masters Present 3/11 Tribute Work in Kaohsiung
Three generations of the Nomura family, Japan’s preeminent Kyogen troupe, will perform four shows at Kaohsiung’s National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts. The program, staged by Mansaku‑no‑Kai Kyogen Co., includes 95‑year‑old Living National Treasure Mansaku Nomura, his son Mansai, and...
Jenna Sutela on Representing Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale
Finnish artist Jenna Sutela will represent Finland at the 61st Venice Biennale with her sound‑sculpture installation “Aeolian Suite,” a wind‑driven composition that mixes meteorological data, recorder ensembles and site‑specific elements. The work, staged in Alvar Aalto’s 1956 pavilion in the...
EU Cuts Funding For Venice Biennale Because Of Russia’s Participation
The European Union is withdrawing a €2 million (about $2.3 million) grant from the Venice Biennale after the art festival allowed Russia to reopen its pavilion for the 61st edition. The EU gave the Biennale foundation 30 days to justify the decision, citing...
The Viral Balloon Museum Is Opening in Wynwood Next Month
The Balloon Museum’s “Pop Air” exhibition will open at Mana Wynwood in Miami on May 16, offering an immersive inflatable art experience. The show, which has traveled to Rome, Paris, New York and Los Angeles, features large‑scale installations by artists such as Hyperstudio...
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Creative Thinking: How the Javett Art Centre Is Redefining the Art Classroom
The University of Pretoria’s Javett Art Centre, together with its education faculty, has released the "One and the Many" resource guide, a CAPS‑aligned toolkit that turns the centre’s exhibition into a Living School classroom. Developed over a year by senior...
An All-Female ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ Is Heading to London’s Old Vic – and the Cast Has Just Been Announced
Director Patrick Marber is mounting an all‑female version of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross at London’s Old Vic this summer. The production runs from June 4 to July 18, 2026, and features a star‑studded cast led by Indira Varma as Levene and...
Exhibition Tracing a Century of Surrealism to Open in Taipei Saturday
The Taipei Fine Arts Museum will open “Surrealism: Worlds in Dialogue” on Saturday, marking the third stop of a traveling exhibition that began in Germany in 2024. The show runs through August 30 and features more than 120 works by...
Sonic Investigations Non-Profit to Be Artist-in-Residence at London's Gasworks
Earshot, a non‑profit founded by artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, has secured a three‑year studio bursary at London’s Gasworks, funded by Spanish patron Mercedes Vilardell. The award covers an annual stipend and studio rent, giving the organization a permanent base to conduct sound‑based investigations...
Vietnam Military History Museum Holds Lacquer Painting Exhibition Marking National Milestones
The Vietnam Military History Museum’s "Homeland and the Soldier" exhibition showcases 55 lacquer paintings that span several generations of artists. Running through May, the show commemorates the 51st anniversary of Vietnam’s reunification and the 136th birth anniversary of President Ho...
Art Basel’s ‘Basel Exclusive’ Initiative Asks Galleries to Withhold at Least One Work From PDF Previews, and Other News.
Art Basel is launching the “Basel Exclusive” program for its June 2026 fair, urging roughly 170 of its 232 exhibitors—including Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace and David Zwirner—to withhold at least one high‑profile work from pre‑fair PDF previews to drive in‑person visits. The move...
Printed Matter’s 50th Anniversary Benefit Dinner Celebrated Artist Ed Ruscha
Printed Matter, the nonprofit champion of artists' books, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a benefit dinner honoring pop‑art pioneer Ed Ruscha. The evening began with cocktails in the High Line Hotel courtyard before moving to a dinner at Vanderbilt University’s Chelsea...
Hannah Wilke and Francesca Woodman: Feminist Powerhouses of the Late 20th Century
The article revisits the groundbreaking feminist photography of Hannah Wilke and Francesca Woodman, highlighting Wilke’s provocative S.O.S. series that employed chewed gum to expose female objectification and her later Intra‑Venus work documenting chemotherapy, while Woodman’s haunting, surreal images are being showcased in...
Muzeu Braga, Portugal’s Newest Art Museum Bridging Art and Critical Thought
Portuguese construction group DST’s CEO José Teixeira has opened Muzeu, a contemporary art museum in Braga’s historic centre, repurposing a former courthouse with an industrial aesthetic. The museum showcases an inaugural exhibition that blends international icons such as Alex Katz...
Maison Territo Showcases Stikki Peaches in New Art and Design Exhibition
Maison Territo in Montreal is launching a new exhibition that showcases the contemporary work of artist Stikki Peaches. The show opens on May 14 with an exclusive RSVP‑only event before opening to the public in the company’s 11,000‑square‑foot Royalmount showroom. By integrating...
Vancouver Biennale Names Senior Curator for 2027-29 Edition
The Vancouver Biennale has appointed internationally‑renowned curator Marcello Dantas as senior curator for its 2027‑29 edition. Dantas brings a portfolio that includes co‑curating Desert X AlUla 2024, directing the Pelé Station exhibition during the 2006 World Cup, and leading an...
Re-Air: The Young Painter Curators Are Rushing to Work With
Taina H. Cruz, a 1998‑born Yale MFA graduate, is gaining high‑profile museum exposure after her work was featured in the Whitney Biennial and MoMA PS1’s Greater New York show. The artist’s paintings fuse Black female figures with folklore, horror, and pop‑culture references,...
What Is the Venice Biennale? Everything You Need to Know
The 61st Venice Biennale opens May 9 and runs through November 22, 2026, drawing an anticipated 800,000 visitors. The edition features 100 participating nations—a 16% increase over 2024—and 111 artists in the central exhibition. Curator Koyo Kouoh, who died in May 2025, left the “In...
Required Reading
The Hyperallergic "Required Reading" roundup weaves together a diverse set of cultural and policy stories. Elena Megalos offers a poetic essay on motherhood and cosmic scale at the American Museum of Natural History, while fire lookout Philip Connors reveals how...
Thiago De Paula Souza Appointed Curator of Eighth Athens Biennale
The Athens Biennale, founded in 2005, has appointed Brazilian‑born curator Thiago de Paula Souza to lead its eighth edition slated for next spring. Souza, known for exploring eroticism, gender nonconformity and intimacy, brings experience from co‑curating the 2025 São Paulo Bienal...
Dartmouth Students Turn to Moldy Beef Jerky Installation in Renewed Bid to Remove Leon Black’s Name From Arts Center
Dartmouth art students removed a provocative installation called *Something Rotten*—20 moldy beef jerky sticks forming a smiley face—from the Black Family Visual Arts Center’s dedication wall after a week on display. The piece, created by Erik Siegel, Roan Wade and...
Matthew Hansel’s Hidden Demons
Matthew Hansel’s "Morbid Delectatio" project fuses Northern Renaissance technique with Norman Rockwell‑style realism to explore the hidden, contradictory parts of human nature. He populates his canvases with grotesque creatures, cheese crowns, fruit, and 1960s nudist‑colony advertisements, turning repulsion into visual delight....
Squall: Sigrid Sandström at Perrotin, London
Swedish painter Sigrid Sandström opens "Squall" at Perrotin London, a show that translates sudden weather shifts into fluid, abstract canvases. She applies diluted acrylics on flat cotton, allowing pigment to bleed, pool and dry slowly, creating misty, double‑sided surfaces. The...
The Turner Prize Has Revealed Its 2026 Nominees—And Already Courted Controversy
The Turner Prize has announced its 2026 shortlist—Simon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau and Tanoa Sasraku—along with a £25,000 (~$33,800) cash award for the winner. For the first time, the exhibition will be staged at Teeside University’s Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, moving...
AO ARTIST INTERVIEW: ROSE WYLIE, THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS.
Rose Wylie’s solo exhibition "The Picture Comes First" opened at the Royal Academy of Arts on February 28 and will run through April 19, 2026. The show assembles more than 90 works, spanning the artist’s five‑decade career and featuring her...
Philadelphia’s New Art Fair Is Betting Big on Community
Philadelphia’s second‑ever contemporary art fair, Elsewhere, launches on June 4 under local gallerist Megan Galardi. Hosted in the Yowie Hotel’s historic rowhouses, the fair invites 26 galleries from Los Angeles to Toronto, offering 400‑sq‑ft booths for about $3,000 that double as overnight...
Art Basel's Solution to PDF Pre-Sales? Ask Galleries to Reserve Works Until Opening Day
Art Basel is launching Basel Exclusive for its June Swiss fair, asking participating galleries to keep marquee works out of online viewing rooms and pre‑fair previews until the First Choice VIP preview on June 16. More than 170 galleries, including...
Joan Eardley: ‘She Would Set up Her Canvas on the Shore and Paint in the Lashing Wind and Rain Like...
The National Galleries Scotland: Modern Two is showcasing "Joan Eardley: The Nature of Painting" until June 28, featuring more than 30 of the post‑war Scottish artist’s works. The show juxtaposes Eardley’s gritty Glasgow street scenes and atmospheric Catterline seascapes with...
Shigeo Toya, Artist Who Looked to Nature with His Wood Sculptures, 1947–2026
Japanese sculptor Shigeo Toya, famed for his chainsaw‑hewn wood installations, died in 2026. He launched the "Woods" series in 1984, arranging tall timber pieces to evoke forest clusters, and later created the "Twenty Eight Deaths" series of paired blocks with...
Seeing by Hand
June Leaf, the late American artist known for her tactile, hand‑driven creations, is the focus of the traveling retrospective "Shooting from the Heart," which presents over 150 works spanning 75 years. The show arranges her paintings, sculptures, drawings, and kinetic...
Manet and Morisot: Game On
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Cleveland Museum of Art have opened “Manet and Morisot,” an exhibition that juxtaposes Édouard Manet’s iconic *Balcony* with Berthe Morisot’s *The Artist’s Sister at a Window*. The show revisits a 1870 episode...
Inflatable Life
Paul Chan’s latest show at Greene Naftali revives his signature “Breathers”—inflatable nylon figures powered by hidden fans. The exhibition, now approaching twenty pieces, includes standout works like the five‑member “Tokener Ecstasis” ring and the surreal “Too Spirituale! (after Leibniz).” Chan’s sculptures blend the eye‑catching...
Drawn to the Void
The National Gallery’s "Drawn to the Void" exhibition, curated by Christine Riding and Lucy Bamford, reunites ten of Joseph Wright of Derby’s late‑1760s canvases, including the striking "Two Boys Fighting Over a Bladder." The show highlights Wright’s pioneering use of...
Visions of Depravity
Ceija Stojka, a Romani survivor of Auschwitz, Ravensbrück and Bergen‑Belsen, is the focus of a new show at New York’s Drawing Center. The exhibition showcases the small, expression‑laden canvases she began creating in her mid‑fifties to record the horrors of...
Art for Our Age of Chaos
The Whitney Biennial 2026 and the New Museum’s “New Humans: Memories of the Future” open in Manhattan, showcasing works by more than 50 and 100 artists respectively. Both shows juxtapose room‑filling installations with tiny, whisper‑like pieces, a curatorial tactic meant to...
Venice Golden Lion Jury Won’t Consider Russian and Israeli Pavilions
The Venice Biennale’s 61st International Art Exhibition will not consider any national pavilion whose leader faces International Criminal Court charges for crimes against humanity. The jury, led by Solange Oliveira Farkas and featuring curators from Yale, Abu Dhabi, Brazil and...
On Being
London‑based electronic composer Max Cooper released his new album "On Being," built on a crowdsourced pool of audience‑submitted "unspoken words" that answered personal prompts. He turned these raw emotions into music, partnering with French musician Félix Gerbelot for the title track...