Gallop's picks for Venice galleries, October 30–November 5, 2026: 4 shows worth the trip, plus 3 last chances, each with a note from Gallop's editors.
Around fifty paintings, collages, videos, sculptures, and installations are drawn from private collections, international institutions, and Simpson’s personal archive. Arctic panoramas recreated from expedition archives unfold in nocturnal blues and frosted greys.
Large, multipaneled paintings in dazzling colors depict surreal and magical settings. Working with Magda Stawarska, Himid creates a surreal soundscape while acting as writer and performance director.
Kosuth pairs seminal works from his oeuvre with a newly commissioned neon installation. A Chain of Resemblance wraps around the entrance hall, where seeing and reading unfold Michel Foucault’s appropriated text.
Holzinger’s commission features a permanent live installation and performances, alongside site-specific Études. Conceived as an underwater theme park, sewage treatment plant, and sacred building, the installation is inhabited by performers.
Eleven artists bring video, installations, sculpture, painting, spoken word, textile, and sound works to a group exhibition centered on women artists from Central Asia and wider regions of the East. The Turandot tale appeared in Nezami Ganjavi’s twelfth-century Haft Paykar.
Wong’s approximately thirty-five rarely seen paintings and works on paper depict physical and psychological interiors. According to curator John Cheim, he used dense color and expressive brushwork to turn rooms into vivid, non-naturalistic settings.
Seven artists address changing relations between humans and water cycles through images, sculptures, and installations. Leimer’s glass sculpture refers to Venice’s role as a former leading trading and maritime power.
Everything else on view: every gallery show in Venice.
Gallop's picks for the week of October 30: Lorna Simpson at Punta della Dogana (Institutions); Lubaina Himid at British Pavilion (Giardini); Joseph Kosuth at Casa dei Tre Oci (Institutions); Florentina Holzinger at Austrian Pavilion (Giardini). Each comes with a short note on what's in the show.
Last chance the week of October 30: Turandot: To the Daughters of the East at Palazzo Franchetti, until Saturday Oct 31; Matthew Wong at Palazzo Tiepolo Passi, until Sunday Nov 1; Shifting Waters at Fondazione Eres, until Sunday Nov 1.
Gallop's editors go through every show on view in Venice each week and pick a handful worth the trip, with a note on each. The same picks go out in Gallop's weekly email every Thursday, and every show is on the Gallop map with the gallery's address and hours.
Gallop's picks for Venice, every Thursday.
