Mom, I'm Gonna Be an Artist!
Art and protest at the Venice Biennale, consignment agreements, and artists share their mothers’ best advice.
After a lively art-world week humming with protests and resistance, from the Venice Biennale to the Met Gala to New York's American Folk Art Museum, we've made it to Saturday. Tomorrow, we celebrate the mothers in our lives, and to mark the occasion, Staff Writer Isa Farfan asked 15 artists to share the best advice they got from their moms or maternal figures. “My mother sagely advised that I would be appreciated in college, and she was right,” said Pat Oleszko, who “lost the class vice presidency to some dumb pretty chick” in high school. (Now, Oleszko's work is on view in the Whitney Biennial, so, yeah.)
On the ground from Venice this week, our editor-in-chief Hakim Bishara weighed in on a drab US Pavilion and reported on a historic strike for Palestine and workers' rights, while Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian led us through stirring works on view at the Giardini and Arsenale for In Minor Keys, the Biennale's wondrous central exhibition. Also: Damien Davis on artists and consignment agreements, Matt Stromberg on the LA Art Book Fair, and our monthly roundup of opportunities in the arts.
And with that, I'll leave you with my mami's most memorable guidance: Get off your phone, stop to smell the flowers, and steal one or two from your neighbor while you're at it.
—Valentina Di Liscia, senior editor
15 Artists Share the Best Advice They Got From Their Mother
“She taught me how to play, how to laugh until my face burns, and how to dance in the kitchen to ‘Believe’ by Cher.”
Venice Biennale
Historic Strike Disrupts Biennale as Thousands March in Venice
Dozens of national pavilions were partially or fully shut down in a strike for Palestine and for workers’ rights. | Hakim Bishara
“In Minor Keys” Hits All the Right Notes
The Venice Biennale’s international art exhibition is an unexpected symphony that asks us to ponder what may otherwise be overlooked. | Hrag Vartanian
A Whole Lot of Nothing at the US Pavilion
After the last two Biennales searched the soul and history of this nation, how did we end up with this art from the land of the bland? | Hakim Bishara
Artists Pay Tribute to Koyo Kouoh in Poetry Caravan at Venice Biennale
The late curator’s 1999 voyage with nine African poets inspired a moving procession led by María Magdalena Campos-Pons, writers, and musicians. | Greta Rainbow
Also in Venice
- The art collective Pussy Riot and feminist group FEMEN rallied against the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
- Israeli pavilion artist Belu-Simion Fainaru made legal threats against the Venice Biennale for alleged antisemitism and discrimination before the show's awards jury resigned.
- Hundreds protested Israel's “genocide pavilion” at the Venice Biennale, demanding it be shut down immediately.
- Organizers said Iran would not be participating with a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
News
- A small but rollicking protest against Jeff Bezos, who co-chaired this year’s Met Gala, unfolded blocks from the museum while celebrities filed into the event. On Sunday, a series of projections condemning Amazon lit up the billionaire’s Madison Square Park luxury residence.
- MoMA PS1 will present the first United States survey of Mexican artist Teresa Margolles, bringing together several works at the intersection of grief and violence.
- Workers at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City and local union organizers picketed the museum’s annual gala, demanding higher wages and better benefits.
Reviews
Keith Haring Before the End of the World
The artist’s free-handed style, on view in works at the Brant Foundation, feels prescient in light of the upcoming AI cataclysm. | Arthur Nersesian
Is This What “Made in America” Looks Like?
Christopher Payne’s photographs at Cooper Hewitt sidestep questions of economic uncertainty and geopolitical strife to spotlight the craftsmanship of factory workers. | Julie Schneider
I’ve Got the Post-Duchamp Blues
MoMA’s Marcel Duchamp show made me long for those simpler times when “eliminating the artist’s hand” provided a pathway back to the true self. | Hakim Bishara
The Carnegie International Looks Back at Itself
The 59th iteration captures some of the excitement of earlier exhibitions, providing vital commentary on issues of authoritarianism and militarism. | Ed Simon
Artists Up Close
What Artists Sign Away
Long consignment periods, moral rights waivers, and opaque “standard” contracts serve the institution more than the artist. | Damien Davis
Getting Messy in the Archive at LA’s Art Book Fair
This year’s edition of the annual Printed Matter show unearths and remixes historical media, collapsing time and giving the past new relevance. | Matt Stromberg
At 90, Printmaker Mohammad Omer Khalil Gets His Due
The New York-based Sudanese artist looks back on a lifetime of experimentation in a multi-city retrospective. | Jasmine Weber
Rosy Simas on Creating a Space for Peace in Minneapolis
Hyperallergic sat down with the Minnesota-based Seneca artist to discuss her exhibition at the Walker Art Center. | Sheila Regan
Shoot the Shit With Jack Kerouac
In NYC, an exhibition of cherished letters, photographs, and talismans brings us into the daily life of the reluctant Beat Generation icon. | Greta Rainbow
Guides
10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This May
Remembering Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, Yoko Ono’s first museum show in LA, Richard Mayhew’s “mindscapes,” Gordon Parks’s musical output, and more. | Matt Stromberg
15 Art Shows to See in NYC This May
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye captures quietude, Seydou Keïta documents a revolution, Renée Green compiles an autoethnography, and much more. | Hrag Vartanian, Valentina Di Liscia, Lisa Yin Zhang, John Yau, Jasmine Weber, Isa Farfan
10 Exhibitions to See in Upstate New York This May
Irina Lotarevich’s edgy minimalism, Koyoltzintli’s investigations into a sacred object, Daniele Frazier’s explorations in camera-less photography, and more. | Taliesin Thomas
Community
A View From the Easel
This week, Brenda Zlamany returns to her ancestral village near the Pollino National Park in Italy, where she paints in an old sausage factory and grows her own olives. “Rome has Michelangelo. We have the mountain.”
Required Reading
This week: Mamdani honors garment workers, a fake exchange with Sophie Calle, the first Black American tattoo artist, RIP Spirit Airlines, and more.
Art Movements: New Museum Names Its First Artist Studio Residents
Plus, Forge Project’s 2026 fellows, the Robert Therrien Estate leaves Gagosian for Zwirner, and this year’s Frieze uniform.
Steven Durland, Champion of Performance Art, Dies at 75
A longtime editor of High Performance magazine in Los Angeles, Durland maintained his own practice while advocating for the art form.
Remembering Georg Baselitz, Nicole Hollander, and Doris Fisher
This week, we honor a German Neo-Expressionist, the creator of the “Sylvia” comic strip, and an arts patron behind SFMOMA.
Opportunities This Month
Residencies, fellowships, grants, and open calls from the Bennett Prize, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, and more in our May 2026 list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers.
