ArtReview April and May 2026

In the April & May issue, ArtReview takes a look at boundaries and limitations in the context of the Venice Biennale, opening in May amid multiple international conflicts, and asks, what, really, one can expect from such high-profile exhibitions. Japanese-American performance artist Ei Arakawa-Nash, representing Japan, puts babies front and centre. Tuguldur Yondonjamts, one of four artists representing Mongolia, incorporates the viewpoints of snakes, mosquitoes, crocodiles and falcons into performances and drawings. Amanda Heng, for Singapore, brings quieter works that engage with the position of women in society. Also in Venice, filmmaker Amar Kanwar speaks with ArtReview about his two installations on shown at Palazzo Grassi. Plus features on Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince, whose work is on view at Fondazione Prada, and Beverly Buchanan, an artist receiving attention in Biennale curator Koyo Kouoh’s posthumously presented In Minor Keys. Meanwhile, artist and war correspondent Zehra Doğan writes from Rojava about how artists are responding to and surviving in a war zone. And critics from around the world review the latest exhibitions and books. Art Observed The Interview Amar Kanwar by David Terrien Elvis, the Beatles and Me by Sam Jacob Nancy Holt’s Tunnel Vision by Jenny Wu Lionel Wendt’s Political Bodies by Qingyuan Deng American Inquisition by Zoé Samudzi New Typologies by Adeline Chia Art Featured Ei Arakawa-Nash by Taro Nettleton and Noriko Yamakoshi State of the Nations: the Politics of the Venice Biennale by Oliver Basciano Tuguldur Yondonjamts by Max Crosbie-Jones Beverly Buchanan by Chris Fite-Wassilak Amanda Heng by Adeline Chia Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince by Jenny Wu Kurdish Artists on the Front Lines by Zehra Dogan Art Reviewed Exhibitions Ralph Lemon, by Marcus Civin Amelia Barratt, by Tom Morton Aileen Murphy, by Ramona Heinlein Basel Abbas & Ruanne AbouRahme, by Jenny Wu Whitney Biennial, by Jenny Wu Tarek Atoui, by Declan Long Marianna Simnett, by John Christopher Vaughan Rafał Zajko, by Sonja Teszler Yu Ji, by Qingyuan Deng La Alegría de Vivir, by Gaby Cepeda Paper Gardens: Art, Botany, and Empire, by Deepa Bhasthi Shanghai Biennale, by Mark Rappolt Biennale of Sydney, by Naomi Riddle CFGNY by Nicole Kaack Sue Webster, by Stephanie Gavan Franco Vaccari, by Martin Herbert Books Love Magic Power Danger Bliss: Yoko Ono and the Avant-Garde Diaspora, by Paul Morley, reviewed by Chris Fite Wassilak Snow, by Sohrab Hura, reviewed by Fi Churchman Transcription, by Ben Lerner, reviewed by Julieta Caldas The Bed Trick: Sex and Deception on Trial, by Izabella Scott, reviewed by Oliver Basciano Correctomundo, by Bruce Hainley, reviewed by Martin Herbert My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein, by Deborah Levy, reviewed by Mia Stern Backpage COMIC BY JONNY GLOVER