{"id":220345,"date":"2026-01-06T22:20:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/220345\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T22:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:20:14","slug":"11-must-see-museum-exhibitions-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/220345\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Must-See Museum Exhibitions in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Tracey Emin, My Bed 1998 \u00a9 Tracey Emin. Photo by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy The Saatchi Gallery, London.<\/p>\n

Derrick Adams, Figure in the Urban Landscape 17, 2018. Courtesy Marquez Family Collection, Miami.<\/p>\n

At the start of 2025, Artsy predicted<\/a> a year that would \u201cgive marginalized voices their flowers.\u201d And so it did. There was, for example, \u201cParis Noir\u201d at the Centre Pompidou<\/a>\u2014which celebrated Black artists working in the French capital whose work had never before been shown in the country. And across the U.K. and the U.S., several exhibitions spotlighting Indigenous Australian artists brought new, and deserved, recognition. The year culminated with British artist Nnena Kalu<\/a>\u2019s historic Turner Prize win, as she became the first neurodivergent artist to receive the award<\/a>. In short, across the year, the contemporary art world showed its growing embrace of diverse voices.<\/p>\n

As we move into 2026, ongoing political and economic turbulence worldwide may prompt museums to adopt a more cautious approach to programming: The year already appears to be dominated by large-scale retrospectives of established, well-known figures. Yet, it is worth noting that many of these celebrated artists were once radicals in their own right, and their spirit of experimentation amid challenging times can offer inspiration to a new generation of artists as they navigate their own. 2026 is also a major biennial year. Events such as the 61st Venice Biennale<\/a>, the 18th Lyon Biennale, and the 16th Gwangju Biennale<\/a> will offer a chance to take the pulse of the contemporary art world, explore current trends, and glimpse where it might be headed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Second Life\u201dTate Modern, LondonFeb. 27\u2013Aug. 31\"\"<\/p>\n

Tracey Emin, The End of Love, 2024 \u00a9 Tracey Emin. Courtesy Tate.<\/p>\n

British artist Tracey Emin<\/a>\u2019s work is deeply personal. Ever since rising to prominence as a key member of the \u201cYoung British Artists<\/a>\u201d (YBAs) in the 1990s, she\u2019s produced conceptual, confessional, and often provocative pieces that quite literally air her dirty laundry in public. My Bed<\/a> (1998), for example, was a recreation of the sleeping arrangement she inhabited during a four-day, breakup-induced bender. Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963\u20131995 (1995), a small tent appliqu\u00e9d with the names of all Emin\u2019s sexual partners, similarly demonstrated the artist\u2019s intentional erasure of the line between public and private.<\/p>\n

In February, London\u2019s Tate Modern will open the largest ever survey of Emin\u2019s work<\/a> to date, featuring over 90 works encompassing painting, video, textile<\/a>, neon<\/a>, sculpture, and installation. Ranging from well-known to newly created, these pieces are evidence of Emin\u2019s career-long commitment to sharing experiences of love, trauma, and personal growth through a wide variety of mediums. <\/p>\n

Conceived in close collaboration with the artist herself, the show will also trace the life events that have informed Emin\u2019s work, from her deep connection with her hometown of Margate, England\u2014where she has now set up her own residency program\u2014to her experiences with sexual assault, abortion, and, in more recent years<\/a>, cancer, surgery, and disability. Titled \u201cA Second Life,\u201d the exhibition is a watershed moment for Emin, as she described it in a press statement: \u201ca moment in my life where I look back and go forward. A true celebration of living.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRaphael: Sublime Poetry\u201dThe Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a>, New YorkMar. 29\u2013June 28\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Raphael, Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn 1505-6 \u00a9 Galleria Borghese. Photo by Mauro Coen. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/p>\n

Raphael, Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione 1514\u20131516 \u00a9 RMN-Grand Palais \/ Art Resource, NY. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaphael<\/a>: Sublime Poetry\u201d will be the first ever comprehensive, international loan exhibition in the U.S. of works by the Italian master. Now considered one of the best artists of all time, Raphael, who lived during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, is celebrated for his unparalleled ability to convey stories, intellectual ideas, and emotion on canvas. <\/p>\n

Seven years in the making, the show will feature over 200 of the artist\u2019s most important drawings, paintings, tapestries, and decorative arts from private and public collections from across the globe, many of which have never been seen together. A highlight will be The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist in a Landscape (The Alba Madonna) (ca. 1510) from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., <\/a>being reunited with its preparatory drawings from the Museum of Fine Arts in Lille, France. The Louvre<\/a>\u2019s Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (ca. 1514\u201315), widely regarded as one of the greatest portraits of the High Renaissance<\/a>, will also be on display. <\/p>\n

While arranged largely chronologically, tracing periods of Raphael\u2019s career from his early years in Florence to his last days at the Papal Court in Rome, the exhibition will also feature thematic sections exploring Raphael\u2019s ideas and imagery, as well as the scientific developments that ran parallel to his years of creation.<\/p>\n

Museum of Modern Art<\/a>, New York (also traveling to Philadelphia Art Museum<\/a>, Philadelphia; Grand Palais<\/a>, Paris)Apr. 12\u2013Aug. 22\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1950 (replica of 1917 original). Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Philadelphia Museum of Art .<\/p>\n

Marcel Duchamp, LHOOQ, 1919. Courtesy of Museum of Modern Art, New York. <\/p>\n

Best known for his \u201cReadymades<\/a>\u201d\u2014everyday objects presented as sculptures in galleries\u2014Marcel Duchamp<\/a> has perhaps done more than any other to challenge conventional notions of what constitutes art. As such, this presentation at the Museum of Modern Art<\/a> is a major moment for the French American artist, and will be the first North American retrospective of his work in over 50 years. <\/p>\n

Organized chronologically, the exhibition will feature painting, sculpture, film, drawing, and printed matter from across six decades of Duchamp\u2019s career. Standout works include Duchamp\u2019s Cubist masterpiece Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) (1912) and monumental glass painting The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass) (1915\u201323). There will be a section exploring Duchamp\u2019s engagement with the 1920s New York Dada<\/a> movement\u2014featuring L.H.O.O.Q.<\/a> (1919), a postcard of the Mona Lisa<\/a> defaced by the artist with beard and mustache doodles. There will also be an entire gallery dedicated to Box in a Valise (1935\u201341), for which Duchamp reproduced his entire oeuvre in miniature. <\/p>\n

Many of Duchamp\u2019s \u201cReadymades\u201d have been lost since their creation, including the scandalous Fountain<\/a> (1917)\u2014a porcelain urinal that shocked attendees of the inaugural exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists. Nevertheless, this exhibition will gather those still in existence. They will be presented alongside a range of replicas, echoing Duchamp\u2019s enduring fascination with blurring the line between originals and copies.<\/p>\n

\u201cView Master\u201dThe Institute of Contemporary Art, BostonApr. 16\u2013Sep. 7\"\"<\/p>\n

Derrick Adams, Fabrication Station 4, 2016. Courtesy the artist and Gagosian.<\/p>\n

Working across painting, collage, sculpture, performance, drawing, and video, New York\u2013based multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams<\/a> celebrates the richness and complexity of Black American life. Through vibrant colors, references to pop culture, and Black art traditions, he depicts his Black subjects in scenes of rest, recreation, play, and self-care. Many of the stories and scenarios he creates are humorous, others make political statements, and some do both at once. His 2023 interactive sculpture Cool Down Bench, for example, evokes childhood memories of neighborhood ice-cream trucks through a large-scale sculpture modeled after an ice pop. Rendered in red, black, and green, the colors of the Pan-African flag, it is a symbol of Black liberation.<\/p>\n

This April, Boston\u2019s Institute of Contemporary Art will open \u201cView Master\u201d, the first ever survey of Adams\u2019s work, following the publication of his first monograph by Phaidon last year. Titled after the famous toy that Black inventor Charles Harrison redesigned in 1958, the exhibition will bring together over 100 existing works produced during Adams\u2019s 20-year career, as well as new creations. There\u2019ll be a large 6-by-8-foot painting with the same name as the show, as well as wallpapers designed by the artist himself to transform the gallery spaces into an immersive world. <\/p>\n

The Whitworth, Manchester, EnglandApr. 17\u2013Oct. 18\"\"<\/p>\n

Michaela Yearwood-Dan, In these bodies we live, 2025. \u00a9 Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Photo by Deniz Guzel. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Marianne Boesky Gallery. <\/p>\n

British artist and former Artsy Vanguard 2022<\/a> alum Michaela Yearwood-Dan<\/a> is a rising star<\/a> in contemporary painting. Bursting with botanical imagery created from turquoise, pink, and sunny gold hues, her canvases evoke joyful Caribbean carnival culture and reference her West Indian heritage. Largely abstract, Yearwood-Dan\u2019s works explore a wide range of topics from femininity and queerness to Blackness and healing rituals. Often, they feature gold leaf, beading, and ceramic petals, and they\u2019re sometimes inscribed with text drawing on dancehall lyrics, poetry, and the artist\u2019s own diaristic writings. <\/p>\n

2025 was a big year<\/a> for Yearwood-Dan: She staged her debut show with Hauser and Wirth<\/a>, which announced it would represent her<\/a> in 2024. Now, The Whitworth in Manchester will host her first institutional solo exhibition. Running from April to October of this year, the show will be centered around a major new commission incorporating elements of painting, drawing, ceramics, furniture, and sound. Not only will it demonstrate the breadth of her practice, but also transform the gallery into a contemplative, multi-sensory environment. <\/p>\n

\u201cManosphere: Masculinity Now\u201dStedelijk Museum<\/a>, AmsterdamApr. 18\u2013Aug. 2\"\"<\/p>\n

Lucy McKenzie, lf It Moves Kiss It, 2002. Photo by Gert Jan van Rooij. Courtesy of Stedelijk Museum<\/p>\n

The crisis in masculinity has become a widely discussed issue in recent years, with reports of rising male suicide rates and the growing influence of controversial, misogynistic figures like Andrew Tate becoming commonplace on our newsfeeds. Now, this concerning, and, to some, threatening topic is entering the art world with the major group exhibition \u201cManosphere: Masculinity Now,\u201d which is set to open at Amsterdam\u2019s Stedelijk Museum<\/a> this spring. <\/p>\n

The exhibition will bring together works from the Stedelijk\u2019s collection alongside loans and new commissions by artists ranging from contemporary figures such as British-born, Brussels-based painter Lucy McKenzie<\/a> to well-known historical names like the Scottish sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi<\/a>. Reflecting the Stedelijk\u2019s base in the Dutch capital, many of the participating artists have strong ties to the Netherlands, including Amsterdam-based painter and body artist Sands Murray-Wassink<\/a>. Also included are works by Bruno Zhu<\/a>, who works between Portugal and the Netherlands, and the Dutch postwar painter Melle. Others have been invited from farther afield, such as American Pakistani figurative painter Salman Toor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to curators, the show will pose questions like, \u201cwhat does it mean to be a man today?\u201d and \u201cif we were to imagine masculinity itself as a \u2018sphere,\u2019 what would be inside it?\u201d While we\u2019ll have to wait until April for full answers, the exhibition promises to expose masculinity as both a performance of power, and a lived reality that can be conflicting, banal, and tender.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransforming Energy\u201dGallerie dell\u2019Accademia, Venice May 6\u2013Oct. 19\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cMarina Abramovi\u0107: Transforming Energy.\u201d \u00a9Yu Jieyu. Courtesy of Gallerie della Venezia.<\/p>\n

Marina Abramovi\u0107<\/a> has spent more than four decades pushing the limits of her body and mind, establishing herself as one of the foremost pioneers of contemporary performance art in the process. Her boundary-pushing performances have seen her jab knives rhythmically in between her splayed fingers and invite audiences to use 72 objects on her naked body however they choose. <\/p>\n

At 79 years old, Abramovi\u0107 shows no sign of slowing down: In 2023, she became the first woman to receive a major solo exhibition at London\u2019s Royal Academy<\/a>, and in 2025, she premiered \u201cBalkan Erotic Epic<\/a>\u201d at Manchester\u2019s Aviva Studios. That monumental four-hour-long performance, her largest to date, draws on Balkan myth to explore eroticism, spirituality, and ritual. But that\u2019s not the only milestone on Abramovi\u0107\u2019s calendar for 2026: In May, she will become the first living female artist to have a major solo exhibition at the Gallerie dell\u2019Accademia<\/a> in Venice. <\/p>\n

The show will coincide with the 2026 Venice Biennale\u2014where Abramovi\u0107 was also the first woman to win the Golden Lion for Best Artist in 1997\u2014and the artist\u2019s 80th birthday. \u201cTransforming Energy\u201d will place new and old works alongside classic paintings from the museum\u2019s permanent collection. Expect restagings of iconic performances as well as displays of her interactive \u201cTransitory Objects\u201d\u2014stone beds and crystal-embedded structures intended to evoke and transmit energy. A particular highlight will be the opportunity to see Abramovi\u0107\u2019s photographic work inspired by the Christian icon of the Piet\u00e0, Piet\u00e0 (with Ulay) (1983), alongside Titian<\/a>\u2019s Piet\u00e0<\/a> (ca. 1575\u201376). The latter is the final, unfinished painting by the Renaissance painter that celebrates its 450th birthday this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cGuggenheim Pop\u201dGuggenheim<\/a>, New YorkJune 5\u2013Jan. 10, 2027\"Josh\"\"<\/p>\n

Richard Hamilton, The Solomon R. Guggenheim (Spectrum), 1965\u201366. Photo by Ariel Ione Williams, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York. \u00a9 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York \/ DACS, London. Courtesy of the Guggenheim.<\/p>\n

What is the relevance of 20th-century Pop art<\/a> today? That\u2019s the question the Guggenheim Museum<\/a> will attempt to answer with \u201cGuggenheim Pop\u201d, a major survey of works from the movement opening this June. <\/p>\n

American Pop art, a reaction to the consumerism fostered by the U.S.\u2019s post\u2013World War II economy, was made famous by artists such as Andy Warhol<\/a>, Claes Oldenburg<\/a>, and Richard Hamilton<\/a>. These prominent figures elevated everyday objects to the status of art\u2014Warhol famously with his endless canvases of Campbell\u2019s soup cans<\/a> and Oldenburg with monumental public sculptures of everything from lipsticks to clothespins. Their choice of subject matter often displayed an irreverent sense of humor, and they employed new and sometimes controversial methods of production to depict it. Warhol most famously worked with silkscreen printing presses to mechanically reproduce multiple versions of the same image, opening a dialogue about authorship and the relationship between art, artists, and technology. This debate is just as relevant today with the expanding role and capabilities of AI in the art world.<\/p>\n

For this exhibition, historical works by leading pop artists will be shown alongside a selection of recent acquisitions of work by contemporary artists such as Maurizio Cattelan<\/a>, Lucia Hierro<\/a>, and Josh Kline<\/a>, all of whom interrogate the legacy of this once-provocative movement. Another titan of Pop art, Roy Lichtenstein<\/a>, will also enjoy a major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art<\/a> towards the end of the year, marking a major moment for this style in New York.<\/p>\n

Hayward Gallery<\/a>, LondonJune 16\u2013Oct. 18\"\"<\/p>\n

Anish Kapoor, Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto 2022. Photo by Attilio Maranzano \u00a9Anish Kapoor. All rights reserved, DACS, 2025.<\/p>\n

Since representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1990 and winning the Turner Prize back in 1991, Anish Kapoor<\/a> has become one of the most recognizable names in contemporary sculpture. Fabricated through impressive feats of engineering, his monumental works create striking optical illusions and generate a sense of mystery and disorientation. He\u2019s arguably best known for his \u201cvoid\u201d works, seemingly depthless sculptures that use materials such as steel, mirror, and Vantablack<\/a>\u2014a light-absorbing coating\u2014to evoke boundless black holes and play with viewers\u2019 senses of perception.<\/p>\n

Now, Kapoor will receive a landmark retrospective at the Hayward Gallery<\/a> in London\u2014the first U.K. public gallery to host a major survey of his work back in 1998. A centerpiece of the program celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Southbank Centre (which houses the Hayward Gallery), the show will populate both the gallery and its terraces with a diverse selection of the artist\u2019s major works. <\/p>\n

Highlights will include Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto (2022), a gravity-defying sculpture resembling volcanic lava stopped in its tracks as it descends from the ceiling. Other highlights include Kapoor\u2019s works on canvas using silicone, resin, and pigment to depict splayed-open bodies and internal organs. There will also be new creations, such as an inflated PVC membrane filling the entirety of a 6-meter-high gallery space. <\/p>\n

Mori Art Museum<\/a>, TokyoOct. 31\u2013Mar. 28, 2027\"\"<\/p>\n

Mariko Mori, Esoteric Cosmos: Pure Land 1996-1998. Courtesy of Mori Museum. <\/p>\n

Japanese artist Mariko Mori<\/a> collaborates with leading scientists and engineers to develop large-scale installation, sculpture, video, photography, drawing, and performance. She draws not only on ideas from quantum field theory, astrophysics, and neuroscience to inform her work, but also Japanese anime aesthetics, Buddhism, and prehistoric J\u014dmon and Celtic cultures. As a result, her creations are a melting pot of influences, sitting at the intersection between art and science, antiquity and modernity, and East and West.<\/p>\n

This fall, the Mori Art Museum<\/a> in Roppongi, Tokyo, will open Mori\u2019s first exhibition in her home country since 2002. A major survey of her artistic oeuvre, the show will feature iconic works on loan from international museums and collections, as well as drawings and archival materials, some of which will be on display for the first time. While everything will be arranged in chronological order, the exhibition promises to be much more than just a linear retrospective. Rather, it\u2019s described by the museum as an immersive journey engaging with urgent issues such as humanity and environmental conservation.<\/p>\n

Hamburger Bahnhof<\/a>, BerlinNov. 13\u2013May 2, 2027\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Sophie Calle, Portrait de Dora Maar, 2022 \u00a9 Sophie Calle, Perrotin, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2025 Photo by Claire Dorn. Courtesy of Hamburger Bahnhof.<\/p>\n

Portrait of Sophie Calle. \u00a9 Claire Dorn Courtesy of Hamburger Bahnhof.<\/p>\n

Berlin\u2019s Hamburger Bahnhof<\/a> museum for contemporary art is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026. To mark the occasion, there\u2019ll be a diverse program running throughout the year, including a group show featuring artists such as Tacita Dean<\/a> and Olafur Eliasson,<\/a> who all had studios in the museum\u2019s Rieckhallen for many years. Yet a highlight promises to be French artist Sophie Calle<\/a>\u2019s solo show, which opens on the institution\u2019s anniversary weekend in November.<\/p>\n

Working with writing, photography, film, and installation, Calle is regarded as one of the greatest conceptual artists working today. Her projects range from asking 100 women to respond to a breakup letter from her ex, to following someone from Paris to Venice, to inviting strangers into her bed in order to document the encounter. For her show in Berlin, Calle will create works that play with the history of the building, referencing its former life as a train station, while also presenting works she has created in the German capital. She will also produce new pieces that will enter the museum\u2019s collection\u2014a fitting birthday gift for the institution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art Tracey Emin, My Bed 1998 \u00a9 Tracey Emin. Photo by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy The Saatchi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[13273,442,498,499,500,132595,501,156,86563,25377,132598,104768,132596,111,139,69,40491,132597,14518],"class_list":{"0":"post-220345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-anish-kapoor","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-derrick-adams","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-exhibition-roundups","17":"tag-marcel-duchamp","18":"tag-mariko-mori","19":"tag-marina-abramovic","20":"tag-michaela-yearwood-dan","21":"tag-new-zealand","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-nz","24":"tag-raphael","25":"tag-sophie-calle","26":"tag-tracey-emin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}