Mom, I'm Gonna Be an Artist!

After a dynamic week in the art world marked by protests and acts of resistance from the Venice Biennale to the Met Gala and New York’s American Folk Art Museum, we find ourselves at Saturday. Tomorrow, we honor the mothers in our lives. In celebration, Staff Writer Isa Farfan reached out to 15 artists to share the most valuable advice they received from their moms or maternal influences. Pat Oleszko shared, “My mother wisely told me that I would be appreciated in college, and she was right.” Oleszko, who lost the class vice presidency in high school to what she described as “some dumb pretty chick,” now has her work featured in the Whitney Biennial.

This week, our editor-in-chief Hakim Bishara was on the ground in Venice, providing insights on a lackluster US Pavilion and covering a significant strike for Palestine and workers’ rights. Meanwhile, Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian explored the captivating exhibitions at the Giardini and Arsenale as part of the Biennale’s central exhibition, In Minor Keys. Additionally, the week featured Damien Davis discussing artists and consignment agreements, Matt Stromberg covering the LA Art Book Fair, and our monthly roundup of arts opportunities.

To conclude, I’ll share my mother’s most memorable advice: Get off your phone, take the time to enjoy the flowers, and perhaps even borrow a couple from your neighbor.

—Valentina Di Liscia, senior editor

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.