NYU’s Grey Art Museum Brings Landmark Aboriginal Art Survey to New York
NYU’s Grey Art Museum is opening the first U.S. survey of Australia’s most iconic Aboriginal art movement, bringing more than 80 artists and about 120 works to Manhattan through April 11, 2026. The exhibition, Irriṯitja Kuwarri Tjungu: Contemporary Aboriginal Painting from the Australian Desert, traces 50 years of Papunya Tula Artists, Australia’s oldest Aboriginal-owned arts organization.
cm). Courtesy the Parker Foundation © Estate of the artist. Licensed by Aboriginal Artists
Agency Ltd. Photo: Tom Cogill
What’s on view
The show features paintings made between 1971 and 2021, including works by major artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, Makinti Napanangka, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Yukultji Napangati, and Mantua Nangala. The exhibition is organized around geographic and social ties rather than by date, highlighting how styles and motifs evolved across generations.
Why it matters
Curators say the exhibition shows how Papunya Tula Artists helped shape contemporary Aboriginal art while asserting deep connections to Country, ancestral stories, and community self-determination. The project also builds on Grey Art Museum’s earlier presentation of Icons of the Desert in 2009.
Key works
Among the highlights are The Papunya Tula Fiftieth Anniversary Suite, a commission of 50 works by 50 contemporary artists, along with two notable paintings shown exclusively at Grey: Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula’s Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa (1972) and Michael Jagamara Nelson’s Five Stories (1984).
The exhibition opened January 22, 2026, at 18 Cooper Square and runs through April 11, 2026. It previously appeared at Brigham Young University Museum of Art and will later travel to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma.
General Information:
Grey Art Museum, New York University
18 Cooper Square, New York, NY 10003
Hours
Tuesday: 11 am–6 pm
Wednesday: 11 am–8 pm
Thursday: 11 am–6 pm
Friday: 11 am–6 pm
Saturday: 11 am–5 pm
Closed Sunday, Monday, and major holidays
Admission
Suggested donation: $5; free of charge to NYU students, faculty, and staff. Click here for more information.
Milwaukee Art Museum to Debut Widline Cadet’s First U.S. Solo Museum Show
The Milwaukee Art Museum will present the first U.S. museum solo exhibition by Haitian-born artist Widline Cadet this spring, spotlighting a haunting new body of work about migration, memory, and Black diasporic life. Currents 40: Widline Cadet opens May 8 and runs through August 9, 2026, at the museum’s Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts.
Exhibition focus
The show is the first full presentation of Cadet’s nearly decade-long project Seremoni Disparisyon (Ritual [Dis]Appearance), which uses photography, video, installation, and found imagery to explore absence, belonging, and family history. Cadet developed the work by photographing relatives and then turning the camera toward herself and others as access to family abroad became more limited.
Why it matters
Museum leaders say the exhibition builds on Milwaukee’s strong Haitian art collection while extending its commitment to contemporary artists shaping how diasporic histories are understood today. Curator Kristen Gaylord described Cadet’s work as deeply personal while also speaking to broader themes of community, distance, and loss.
What visitors will see
The installation places photographs alongside video and sculptural elements in unusual arrangements designed to break away from traditional gallery viewing. The museum says the effect is immersive, treating each image as part of a “living archive” rather than a static document.
Visiting details
The exhibition is included with museum admission, with Thursday nights pay-what-you-wish from 4 to 8 p.m. The museum also has scheduled talks and member events throughout the run of the show. Click here for more information.
The Met Unveils 2026 Gala Theme and New Costume Art Exhibition
The Met is set to open a major new fashion exhibition and host its 2026 Met Gala on May 4, spotlighting fashion as art with a dress code of “Fashion is Art.” The spring show, Costume Art, opens May 10 and runs through January 10, 2027, in the museum’s new Condé M. Nast Galleries.
New exhibition
The exhibition will bring together nearly 400 objects from The Met’s collection, pairing garments with artworks to explore the body, clothing, and fashion’s place in art history. Curators say the show will look at body types ranging from the “Naked Body” and “Classical Body” to the “Pregnant Body,” “Aging Body,” “Anatomical Body,” and “Mortal Body.”
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour will co-chair the Met Gala, with Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz serving as gala co-chairs. The host committee includes a long list of celebrities, artists, and fashion figures, while Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos will serve as honorary chairs as lead sponsors.
What to expect
The Met says the new nearly 12,000-square-foot galleries will debut the museum’s expanded space for Costume Institute exhibitions and related fashion-art programming. Highlights include pairings such as a Glenn Martens suit with an ancient marble statue, a 19th-century walking dress with a Seurat study, and a Dilara Findikoglu dress alongside an 1868 Tiffany & Co. mourning brooch.
The annual Met Gala remains the Costume Institute’s biggest fundraiser, helping support exhibitions, acquisitions, publications, and operations. Museum leaders say the new galleries and exhibition reflect a broader push to present fashion as a serious artistic medium.
NMWA Spotlights Trailblazing Painter Shirley Gorelick in Spring Exhibition
The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., is spotlighting the work of Shirley Gorelick this spring with Shirley Gorelick: Figuring It Out, on view March 27 through June 28, 2026. The exhibition brings together large-scale portraits and related works that highlight Gorelick’s bold realist style and her place in the feminist art movement.
What to see
The show centers on three major paintings from the museum’s collection, shown together for the first time. They include the first work in Gorelick’s “Three Graces” series, a triple portrait of activist Libby Ourlicht, and a portrait of longtime family friends Gunny and Lee Benson. More than 30 additional paintings, drawings, and prints help trace her career and the people she portrayed.
Why it matters
Gorelick built her reputation in the 1960s and 1970s with psychologically charged portraits that stood apart from the era’s dominant Pop, Minimalist, and Conceptual art movements. She also helped found women-run artist spaces in New York, including Central Hall Artists Gallery and SOHO20 Gallery, making her an important figure in feminist art history.
Delaware Art Museum Unveils ‘Living Indigenous’ Exhibition
The Delaware Art Museum is highlighting Indigenous voices this year with Living Indigenous, a landmark exhibition created in partnership with the Nanticoke Indian Museum. On view through August 23, 2026, the show brings together contemporary and historical works to explore identity, memory, and cultural continuity across Delaware and beyond.
The exhibition spans multiple galleries and includes artwork, ephemera, and objects that place Indigenous artists at the center of the story. DelArt says the presentation is designed to deepen understanding of Indigenous perspectives while also examining how Native subjects have been represented in American art.
Why it stands out
A major theme is intergenerational storytelling, with works by artists such as Leonard Allen Harmon and Leonard D. Harmon appearing alongside pieces by Will Wilson, André L. Wright Jr., and Angel De Cora. The museum says the exhibition creates dialogue between past and present while honoring the resilience and creativity of Indigenous communities.
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