The 61st Venice Biennale opened on 9 May 2026 in Venice, with this year’s edition shaped around In Minor Keys, a curatorial theme conceived by the late Koyo Kouoh. The Biennale once again transforms Venice into a sprawling international exhibition, with more than 80 national pavilions taking over the Giardini, the Arsenale and sites across the city. Sofia, our arts contributor, picks her five standout national pavilions from this year’s edition.
Read MoreThe theme for the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, In Minor Keys, and its artists, were selected by Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh. The final form of the exhibition, however, was realised by a committee following Kouoh’s death in 2025…
Read MoreA major exhibition at the National Gallery in London brings together over 50 works by Spanish Baroque master Francisco de Zurbarán, showcasing his striking range from intimate still lifes to powerful, large-scale altarpieces. Including his iconic Agnus Dei (c. 1635–40)…
Read MoreAlexandra Steinacker-Clark picks her top pavilions to see at the 61st Venice Biennale 2026, from Merike Estna’s Estonian Pavilion to Florentina Holzinger’s widely discussed SEAWORLD VENICE for the Austrian Pavilion…
Read MoreGoliath’s work was originally selected to represent South Africa at the Venice Biennale Arte 2026, before being cancelled by Minister Gayton McKenzie on the grounds that its content was deemed too “divisive”. In this iteration, references to the Israeli war on Palestine and the killing of Palestinian poet Hiba Abunada are made, leading to the censorship of Elegy in the official South African pavilion…
Read MoreThis is probably one of Dulwich Picture Gallery’s best exhibitions in recent years. The partnerships with Estonia’s core repositories of Konrad Mägi’s works have resulted in a retrospective featuring his finest paintings in terms of quality and historical importance…
Read MoreIt’s an ideal exhibition to learn about Michaelina Wautier as a painter, but it is also an exhibition incorporating a multitude of artistic movements and contexts within art history, a woman’s position in art historical discourse, and technical processes like pigment usage and theories of colour….
Read MoreA new retrospective of Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid reveals a radical side to the Scandinavian master, whose impressive body of work and unique style merits wider recognition….
Read MoreCannon Fodder is Branconi’s first solo exhibition in an institutional space. For the show, she created a series of new paintings, including a large installation that visitors can physically walk through...
Read MoreSeurat and the Sea at the Courtauld Gallery is the first exhibition devoted to this category of his work, bringing together 17 canvases, six oil sketches on wood panels, and three preparatory drawings. In doing so, it provides a wider appreciation of his pointillist technique…
Read MoreSouthbank Centre launched the new Indie Night series, dedicated to the championing and celebrating of independent publishers and authors. The series arrives at a significant time as we crave human stories and voices…
Read MoreA review of Rose Wylie: The Picture Comes First at the Royal Academy of Arts, London examines the first solo exhibition by a British female artist in its main galleries, tracing Wylie’s use of memory, wartime imagery and everyday references across large-scale paintings and intimate drawings…
Read MoreIn a digital economy increasingly defined by automation, optimisation, and seamless systems, Xiyan Chen creates worlds that refuse to work alone. Her practice does not ask what technology can do faster or better…
Read MoreKicking off the London art calendar, LAF’s 38th edition at Islington showcased a mix of experimental newcomers and established favourites. Here are ten standout artists from London Art Fair 2026…
Read MoreSeeds of Hate and Hope at the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, is a powerful exhibition examining how violence, ideology and trauma are created, spread and remembered…
Read MoreJoseph Wright was an incredibly unique painter who created powerful, realistic masterpieces with dramatic lighting. The relatively small but extremely rich exhibition at the National Gallery sheds light on…
The Design Museum’s latest exhibition, Blitz: The Club That Shaped the 80s, takes visitors deep into the heart of one of London’s most influential, and short-lived (18 months!) nightclubs, a fleeting but very important cultural moment…
As the crisp autumn air settles over London, the iconic gardens of Berkeley Square are once again hosting one of the most anticipated gatherings in the art and antiques world: the LAPADA Fair 2025, running from 28 October to 2 November…
Read MoreLessons on Revolution, a self-described piece of ‘documentary theatre’, digs into the archives of this period of history and draws parallels with contemporary issues of inequality and injustice – the LGBTQ+ movement, the housing crisis in London, migrant rights, protests against the genocide in Gaza…
Read MoreCaroline Guiela Nguyen’s LACRIMA is a staggeringly ambitious, searing expose of exploitation in the fashion industry and what people are prepared to sacrifice in the pursuit of beauty. At almost three hours in length it is a bold undertaking, but the result is a powerful…
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