Venice, May 09 -Nov. 22, 2026
In Minor Keys 
curated by: Koyo Kouoh
https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2026

 

Giardini
Walking through the national pavilions feels like moving across competing cultural narratives, each building staging its own interpretation of the present through architecture, installation, and curatorial voice. What persists across the site is a sense of scale and seriousness.The experience becomes less about individual artworks and more about reading the shifting relationships between countries, artists, and the global art system itself

 

Arsenale
The Arsenale presents the Venice Biennale at its most immersive and physically demanding, unfolding through a sequence of vast, industrial halls where contemporary art is staged at architectural scale. Unlike the more segmented national pavilions of the Giardini, the Arsenale operates as a continuous curatorial narrative, allowing works to bleed into one another across long, atmospheric corridors

Favorite Collateral Exhibits

Koen Vanmechelen – We Thought We Were Alone
Palazzo Rota Ivancich
Koen Vanmechelen – We Thought We Were Alone
Curated by James Putnam
https://www.labiomista.be/en/exhibition/we-thought-we-were-alone

Don’t miss this! Tucked away at Palazzo Rota Ivancich this show is awe inspiring.

“For centuries we thought we were alone. We imagined ourselves at the centre of all things—the measure of progress, the author of peace, the keeper of paradise and the pinnacle of evolution. As the exhibition unfolds, the animals reveal themselves, not as metaphors or relics, but as messengers of a different truth. In their gaze, we confront the price of our domestication—how we tamed the world and, in doing so, lost our own wildness. This is not nostalgia for a lost Eden, but a confrontation with the limits of human exceptionalism. Nature does not need our pity, only our willingness to coexist. The minor key of survival is not conquest, but reciprocity and hybridity.”Koen Vanmechelen, artist

Erwin Wurm – Dreamers
Museo Fortuny
Erwin Wurm – Dreamers
Curated by: Elisabetta Barisoni and Cristina Da Roit
https://fortuny.visitmuve.it/en/

 

This playful exhibition pushes familiar forms into surreal, sometimes uncomfortable territory. Ordinary objects are bent, inflated, or reimagined into humorous but slightly unsettling configurations that blur the line between sculpture and performance.
Lorna Simpson – Third Person
Punta della Dogana
Lorna Simpson – Third Person
Curated by Emma Lavigne
https://www.pinaultcollection.com/palazzograssi/en/lorna-simpson-third-pers…

 

Simpson explores identity, representation, and the construction of meaning in this impressive venue. Moving between painting, collage, photography, and text-based works, the exhibitions goals feel elusive and obscured. Viewers are asked to question how stories about identity are formed and who gets to tell them.
Michael Armitage – The Promise of Change
Palazzo Grassi
Michael Armitage – The Promise of Change
Curated by Jean-Marie Gallais
https://www.pinaultcollection.com/palazzograssi/en/michael-armitage-promise…

 

Working on luco (bark cloth) instead of conventional canvas, Armitage creates richly textured striking paintings. The works move between figurative narrative and symbolic fragmentation, often depicting scenes of unrest, desire, and social tension. His lush, saturated palette contrasts with the often unsettling subject matter. Offering layered reflections on power and  history that linger beyond the surface of the image.

Marina Abramović – Transforming Energy
Accademia
Marina Abramović – Transforming Energy
https://www.gallerieaccademia.it/

 

An immersive exhibition that channels the artist’s long-standing commitment to endurance, presence, and the limits of the human body. Drawing on her performance-based practice, the works emphasize stillness, repetition, and heightened awareness, inviting viewers into a space where time feels slowed and perception becomes almost physical.

Martin Janecký Dreamers
Palazzo Franchetti
https://www.acp-palazzofranchetti.com/

 

The current program at Palazzo Franchetti presents a dense, Biennale-adjacent mix of contemporary installations that move between conceptual critique, historical reflection, and material experimentation.
Still Joy – from Ukraine into the World
Still Joy – from Ukraine into the World
Curators Björn Geldhof, Oleksandra Pogrebnyak
https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2026/collateral-events/still-joy-%E2%80%9…

 

Still Joy – From Ukraine into the World is a quietly powerful exhibition that explores resilience, memory, and cultural identity through contemporary Ukrainian art. Rather than focusing solely on trauma, the show emphasizes persistence and continuity—how joy, humor, and everyday life endure even under conditions of displacement and conflict.

The post Art Treks: Venice Biennale 2026 appeared first on Art Business News.

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