It’s not just the Venice Biennale: 15 exhibitions to see in may in Italy and around the world

Galleria 10 Corso Como pays tribute to the master of Arte Povera, Jannis Kounellis, with a special project organized in collaboration with Galleria Fumagalli, “Jannis Kounellis. Untitled", on view from May 13 to June 16. Curated by Alessio de' Navasques, the exhibition features a single large-scale installation from 2009 composed of seventy black coats. The work occupies the gallery’s distinctly industrial spaces, using the garments as traces of lived lives and symbols of collective memory. Through this sequence of coats – garments laden with meaning and cultural references – Kounellis addresses themes such as the human condition in transit, migration, and the constant search for meaning in every person’s life. An opportunity to rediscover the power of a language that achieves a monumental solemnity capable of questioning the pressing issues of our time.

From May 1 to August 2, 2026, Parma will host Brian Eno’s visual and auditory universe with the exhibition project SEED and My Light Years. Curated in collaboration with the City of Parma, the exhibition unfolds as a widespread itinerary that reopens historic city spaces to the public, transforming them through generative art and light. The project is divided into two main venues: the Ospedale Vecchio, where the monumental Crociera hosts audiovisual installations and new light boxes, and the Giardini di San Paolo, which host the site-specific audio installation SEED. In these spaces, Eno explores the boundary between sound and image, creating constantly evolving multimedia ecosystems. The work serves as a reflection on the human condition and on artistic practice as a social tool, inviting the public to an immersive experience within the urban landscape.

Desire, beauty, and queer identity converge in a visual narrative that challenges traditional aesthetic norms. The Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin presents the first extensive Italian retrospective dedicated to Walter Pfeiffer, curated by Simon Castets and Nicola Trezzi, which traces the Swiss artist’s career spanning over fifty years. The exhibition highlights the evolution of a visual language capable of revolutionizing fashion photography and contemporary portraiture. From his early hyperrealist works of the 1970s to his famous color images and most recent videos, the exhibition showcases a vast body of work characterized by an immediate and seemingly spontaneous aesthetic. Pfeiffer explores the body and its representation with a unique blend of irony and lightness, celebrating freedom of expression.

The Gagosian Gallery in Rome dedicates the exhibition “Lately I Find a Sliver of Mirror Is Simply to Slice an Eyelid” to Francesca Woodman, a profound exploration of the connection between the American photographer and Surrealism. Through approximately fifty prints, many of which have never been seen before, the exhibition traces the poetics of an artist who made the self-portrait the cornerstone of a dramaturgy of the self. The images, created in natural settings and shabby interiors, feature naked or veiled bodies interacting with everyday objects laden with symbolic meaning: gloves, shells, and masks become tools of a narrative suspended between reality and dream. Woodman, who lived in Rome in the late 1970s and frequented the avant-garde art scene, uses mise-en-scène to explore the themes of identity and metamorphosis.

While the US Pavilion at this year’s Biennale garnered attention almost exclusively for the meager number of visitors who passed through during its pre-opening days, the Prada Foundation’s Venice location takes up the thread of the discourse on the American iconography, navigating popular myths and social tensions, reinterpreted through a dialogue between two key figures in contemporary art: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince. The exhibition “Helter Skelter” explores the complexities of U.S. visual culture, using image sampling and the reappropriation of icons to analyze themes such as identity, power, and the representation of the Black body and the American heartland. Jafa and Prince, while starting from different premises, share a critical approach to media and history, deconstructing the symbols of the American dream to reveal its dark corners.

The Museum der Moderne Salzburg is hosting the exhibition “Charlotte Perriand: Living Modernism”, the first major retrospective in Austria dedicated to the French designer. The exhibition celebrates a figure who left her mark on 20th-century design, capable of combining technical rigor and a sensitivity to nature in a holistic vision of everyday life. Through collaboration with the Charlotte Perriand Archive and support from Cassina, the exhibition features historical reconstructions – such as the famous 1929 Salon d’Automne – alongside iconic furniture and lesser-known projects. Photography, for example, emerges as a fundamental tool in Perriand’s research, a source of inspiration for volumes and materials. Open from May 1 to September 13, 2026, at the Mönchsberg venue, the exhibition brings to life the relevance of a vision that transformed the domestic environment into a “machine for living” on a human scale.

Over 140 works trace the career of an artist who transformed the symbols of everyday life into universal icons. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is hosting “Jasper Johns: Night Driver,” a comprehensive retrospective that examines the evolution of a visual language capable of transcending Abstract Expressionism to anticipate the themes of Pop Art. Curated by Enrique Juncosa, the exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, and drawings that document the obsessive repetition of subjects such as flags, targets, and numbers, elevated to objects of inquiry. The exhibition also includes his historic collaborations with Samuel Beckett and Merce Cunningham, extending to more recent series such as “Catenary.” In particular, the exhibition explores the creative phase of the 1990s and 2000s, characterized by a more introspective and autobiographical approach compared to the irony of his early work.

One day, the ARKEN Museum will be underwater. This vision gave rise to “Come Hell or High Water,” an exhibition by the SUPERFLEX collective that transforms the museum into a sunken ship and an ark for the survival of species. Bathed in blue light and protected by barricades, the spaces house shipping crates that trace over thirty years of a career poised between art and activism. At the heart of the project is “The Ark Factory,” a real factory where visitors witness the creation of an ark destined not to float, but to sink and become an artificial coral reef. An invitation to rethink the coexistence of all living beings, transforming uncertainty into a space for action and imagination for a shared future, beyond our planet’s impending environmental crisis.

Collective memory and the power of popular icons intertwine in a visual exploration of the roots of political and social identity. The Société gallery in Berlin presents “Volveré y seré millones”, a solo exhibition by South American artist Wynnie Mynerva, which explores how images of historical figures and activists are reworked through the language of contemporary art. The title, which echoes the famous words attributed to Eva Perón, introduces an exhibition dedicated to the persistence of myth and its ability to generate new meanings in the present. Through a selection of works ranging from painting to installation, the exhibition analyzes the fine line between celebration and critique, documenting how the face and body become symbols of struggle and belonging. Here, Mynerva deconstructs the aesthetics of propaganda and mass culture to reflect on the fragility of ideologies and the power of individual testimony.

A theatrical stage where music meets ritual and nature in the heart of Reykjavík. The National Gallery of Iceland presents Echolalia, an exhibition by Björk that transforms the entire museum into a space for exploring the boundaries between art and technology. The project features three monumental audiovisual installations, including two elegiac works composed in honor of her mother, accompanied by a previously unreleased track previewing the artist’s upcoming album. The exhibition unfolds through ritual processions set in remote valleys and imposing choral architectures: thirty speakers broadcast the individual voices of the Hamrahlíð choir, allowing the audience to move through the different sound frequencies. The exhibition also includes Metamorphlings, a section dedicated to the famous masks created by James Merry, Björk’s longtime collaborator.

Vivid naturalism and a profound spiritual depth bring the work of one of the great masters of 17th-century Spain to London for the first time in the United Kingdom. The National Gallery is hosting the first major monographic retrospective dedicated to Francisco de Zurbarán, a central figure of Baroque Seville capable of blending Caravaggio’s realism with intense mysticism. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Louvre and the Art Institute of Chicago, brings together masterpieces from around the world: from monumental altarpieces commissioned by religious orders to his famous still lifes. Renowned for his technical mastery in depicting fabrics – from sumptuous silks to austere monastic robes – Zurbarán transforms everyday objects into symbols rich with meaning. The exhibition, on view from May 2 to August 23, 2026, also includes rare works by his son Juan, offering a comprehensive look at a body of work that continues to move viewers with its rigorous simplicity.

The face of an underground, sorrowful New York emerges through the lens of one of the 20th century’s greatest portraitists. The Morgan Library & Museum presents “Peter Hujar: Contact”, an exhibition that explores the American photographer’s creative process through his contact sheets, offering a fresh perspective on his aesthetic exploration. The exhibition documents Peter Hujar’s ability to capture the raw and vulnerable essence of his subjects, from icons of the Downtown art and intellectual scene to glimpses of a city in constant transformation. Through a selection of contact sheets, the exhibition highlights the meticulous technical precision and deep empathy that characterize each of his shots, revealing how the artist constructed the final image starting from a silent dialogue with reality.

Zoomorphic metal icons and sinuous structures that defy gravity bring the legacy of one of the fathers of contemporary architecture to Beverly Hills. The Gagosian Gallery presents an exhibition dedicated to Frank Gehry, the first retrospective organized since his passing in 2025, created in close collaboration with the artist’s family and studio. The exhibition highlights the more sculptural and intimate side of Gehry’s work, revealing how movement and organic forms were the constant driving force behind his artistic vision. The exhibition features famous works such as the monumental stainless steel sculpture “Bear with Us” and the iconic fish- and snake-shaped lamps, created using experimental materials like ColorCore Formica. Alongside the sculptures, a selection of watercolor and ink drawings documents the vital energy of the line that preceded each of his major architectural works, from the Guggenheim in Bilbao to the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

The Singapore Art Museum is hosting a major retrospective dedicated to Hiroshi Sugimoto, one of the most influential figures in contemporary photography. The exhibition traces the Japanese artist’s decades-long exploration, celebrated for his ability to capture the invisible through extremely long exposures and an almost transcendental technical perfection. The exhibition features the most iconic series of his career: from Theaters, where the entire unfolding of a film is condensed into a single frame of white light, to Seascapes, minimalist visions of seas and skies that evoke a sense of primordial eternity. The exhibition also includes works dedicated to mathematical forms and lightning, exploring the profound connection between art, science, and philosophy.

A journey through the languages of contemporary art as seen through the lens of one of the world’s most prestigious institutions. The Power Station of Art in Shanghai presents “A Beautiful Elsewhere,” a major group exhibition celebrating the artistic heritage of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. The exhibition project offers a multidisciplinary narrative where painting, photography, design, and video installations interact to explore the complexity of global society. Through a selection of iconic works from the collection, the exhibition presents visions ranging from anthropological reflection to pure aesthetic exploration, featuring internationally renowned artists. The exhibition unfolds as an atlas of stories and territories “elsewhere,” inviting the public to transcend geographical and cultural boundaries to immerse themselves in a pervasive and multifaceted beauty. Open through July 19, 2026, the exhibition reaffirms the Foundation’s mission to support artistic creation as a tool for understanding the present.