Museums on Delay, Biennales Draw New Lines

Refik Anadol’s Dataland museum now has an opening date: June 20, after more than two-and-a-half years of planning and construction. Founded by Anadol alongside his partner Efsun Erkiliç, the Los Angeles institution is described as the world’s first A.I. art museum and will live inside the Grand L.A., the Frank Gehry–designed complex downtown. The debut show is “Machine Dreams: Rainforest,” spread across five galleries and built from vast ecological data—birdsongs, plant life, weather—processed into what Anadol calls “digital sculptures.” The building is designed by Gensler, spans thirty five thousand square feet, and dedicates under a third of that to the hardware running it all.

Staying in Los Angeles, a Big Review gives four stars to Lacma’s new David Geffen Galleries, the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s seven hundred twenty four dollarsm building that’s been debated for nearly two decades. The critic says Zumthor understands something essential about L.A.: its natural light and horizontal landscape. The concrete-and-glass structure sits on seven legs—“pavilions”—with restaurants, a shop, a bar, and an education center planned below. Floor-to-ceiling windows keep views of the La Brea Tar Pits and Wilshire Boulevard close, even deep inside, with gauzy metallic curtains by Japanese designer Reiko Sudō modulating the light. The building shines with sculpture and decorative objects, though oil paintings can struggle against the tinted, streaky walls.

Down in Miami, Harmony Korine’s first-ever U.S. retrospective has opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, under the title “Perfect Nonsense,” running through October 4. The show brings together more than 50 pieces, from Korine’s adolescent writings, zines, and collages from the ’90s to figurative paintings and recent work using game engines. Korine, now 53, connects his shifting mediums to a single impulse—trying whatever form feels most interesting, even if the form doesn’t quite exist yet. The exhibition includes his “Fazors” series from 2016, hypnotic paintings meant to be “sensory or energy-based.” He frames it all as one vision across different mediums—“really one whole work.”

Across the Atlantic, Tate has announced the Turner Prize 2026 shortlist: Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku. Their work will be shown at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Mima) starting 26 September, and the winner will be announced there on 10 December. The prize is £twenty five thousand for the winner, with £ten thousand each for the other three artists. Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson, chairing the jury, says the selection spans installation and performance with a strong emphasis on sculptural practice. Barclay is nominated for his spoken word and music performance The Ruin; Freije for Unspeak the Chorus; Humeau for Torches; and Sasraku for Morale Patch, exploring oil’s social and political history.

Alma Allen is speaking about the backlash around representing the U.S. at the Venice Biennale in 2026, in a rare interview on the podcast Time Sensitive. The Utah-born sculptor said he didn’t hesitate when curator Jeffrey Uslip invited him last fall, and he called the response to his decision “a little stressful,” but worth it. His exhibition, titled “Call Me the Breeze,” will fill the U.S. pavilion and courtyard with old and new work, and he hinted audiences will see pieces touching on conflict and even surveillance. Allen also discussed fallout reported elsewhere: the Financial Times noted that photographer William Eggleston and sculptor Barbara Chase-Riboud refused the role, and Allen said his galleries Mendes Wood and Olney Gleason asked him not to accept and dropped him when he did.

Now to art media business. A comment piece looks at Artnet and Artsy, officially merged last week after Artnet was taken private. Both companies now belong to Beowolff Capital, founded by Andrew Wolff, and Artsy’s chief executive Jeffrey Yin will lead the combined operation. The article says layoffs have hit both companies, including at least seven staff members of Artnet News, and Artnet’s Berlin office has been closed. Wolff told Monopol he intends to “maintain our status as a leading voice in art market reporting,” while also talking about developing additional data and information services and even “financial services to the art market”—a kind of Bloomberg for the arts. The piece notes Artnet’s 18m auction results and Artsy’s gallery network as complementary strengths, with open questions about monetization.

In Taiwan, the National Culture and Arts Foundation has revoked the National Award for Arts given to Sakuliu Pavavaljung in 2018 and instructed him to return the NTD 1 million (thirty two thousand dollars) prize, following his conviction on sexual assault charges. The award, established in 1997 and administered by the Taiwanese government, is among the nation’s most prestigious honors. Sakuliu was one of seven artists recognized in the award’s 20th edition, announced in 2017, in the visual arts category, and the foundation had praised his multidisciplinary practice drawing on Indigenous Paiwan culture. Controversy intensified in 2022 around his selection for the Taiwan Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale, after accusations surfaced via #MeToo posts by former female students. The Supreme Court upheld his 4.5-year sentence on April 1, and his name has been removed from the foundation’s website.

In Berlin, another delay for Berlin Modern: moisture damage in the building’s shell and microbial contamination elsewhere have pushed the opening to 2030. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation announced the delay earlier this week, after the Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting Corporation reported the issues. The setback adds roughly eight months to the construction timeline for the Herzog & de Meuron–designed building, which was originally scheduled to open this year as the Museum of the 20th Century. An SPK spokesperson said construction didn’t have to be halted and that “all available measures were taken” to repair the damage quickly. The project has faced repeated timeline shifts since groundbreaking in December 2019, and costs have risen from an original €200 million projection to €507 million, according to recent estimates.

In Manchester, Ai Weiwei will reenact his own detention in a 24-hour performance called Sewing a Button, part of his site-specific exhibition “Button Up!” at Factory International’s Aviva Studios. “Button Up!” opens July 2, and the performance runs from 5 p.m. on July 3 until July 4, activating a re-creation of Ai’s cell measuring 7.2 meters by 3.6 meters. Visitors can book two-hour slots, or a full 24-hour ticket, and some footage will be broadcast online. The performance will show Ai “sleep, eat, exercise, write, wash and be interrogated,” and audiences can also observe via footage from three CCTV cameras. Factory International also commissioned Eight-Nation Alliance Flags and a new version of History of Bombs, alongside other large-scale works.

Finally, in Venice Biennale politics, the international awards jury for the 61st Venice Biennale issued a statement saying it will omit “countries whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC)” from awards consideration. The declaration was published on e-flux on April 23. Chaired by Solange Farkas, the all-women jury includes Elvira Dyangani Ose, Zoe Butt, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, and it will award two Golden Lions: best national pavilion and best artist in the central exhibition, In Minor Keys, curated by the Biennale’s late Artistic Director Koyo Kouoh. While the statement doesn’t name countries, Russia and Israel are highlighted in reporting due to ICC arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

That’s today’s Daily Art Download—links to every story are in the show notes. Come back tomorrow for more signals, scandals, and exhibitions worth your time.

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