The Biggest Art Shows and Exhibitions You Can’t Miss in 2026

Twenty-twenty-six is shaping up to be a big year for those who like their art with a side of pop culture. Many of the world’s major museums and galleries are banking on big names for their first shows. Take David Zwirner New York, which invites you to drive away the winter blues with the help of Dan Flavin’s fluorescent grid sculptures lighting up the gallery for the first few weeks of 2026. In London, Tate Modern showcases stunning Tracey Emin work that And Just Like That… fans might recognize, while the V&A is going all in on Schiaparelli. Finally, the National Gallery of Iceland is celebrating Björk’s upcoming album with a three-work installation from the artist (plus an accompanying show from her frequent collaborator). Whether you’re fashion, music, or TV-minded, there’s something for you this winter—but that’s just the beginning of the ever-growing art calendar. More will come both in the U.S. and abroad, so if you’re planning some cultural stops for your next trip or just looking to see what’s on view in your neighborhood, consider this your all-encompassing guide to the can’t-miss art shows of the year.

The public will experience a different side of the perennial musical enigma Björk when she returns to her native Iceland to stage a new art exhibition at the country’s National Gallery. Echolalia, as the show is called, is comprised of three immersive installations, the first of which will provide the public with a peek into the artist’s upcoming album. The two other works, Ancestress and Sorrowful Soil, both honor Björk’s mother, environmental activist Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, who passed away in 2018. While these pieces were originally released with Björk’s 2022 album, Fossora, their presentation at the museum will allow for a more theatrical experience. Ancestress, specifically, features a film set in a remote valley in Iceland where a ritualistic procession is taking place. Björk and her son, Sindri Eldon, star—with contributions from filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang and James Merry, Björk’s co-creative director and the designer of the masks and ritual objects worn in the video.

Those especially interested in Merry’s work will have the opportunity to stop by his show, Metamorphlings, running simultaneously with Echolalia at the National Gallery. The first museum retrospective of Merry’s work, Metamorphlings features 80 pieces offering a look into his artistic output over the last decade. Heavily focused on the mask, the exhibition showcases Merry’s craftsmanship while exploring the piece as a catalyst for performance and transformation. Using embroidery, metalwork, 3-D printing, and jewelry, Merry has created masks for Tilda Swinton and Iris Van Herpen; they will be on display together for the first time.

Echolalia runs from May 30 to September 19, 2026, while Metamorphlings runs from May 30 to October 3, 2026.

The V&A is staging a century-spanning exhibition on Schiaparelli, marking the first time the fashion house will be the sole subject of a museum show in the U.K. Opening March 28, Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art will trace the brand from its birth in the 1920s to the present day, exploring Elsa Schiaparelli, the woman, as well as her role as an innovator and key figure in interwar fashion. The exhibition will follow Schiaparelli around the world, from Paris to New York and London, with a focus on the latter—specifically, Schiaparelli’s British clients and the founder’s relationship with the city.

Over 200 objects will make up the exhibition, including archival garments, accessories, jewelry, paintings, photographs, sculpture, furniture, and perfumes. Some of Schiaparelli’s most unique designs—including the “Tears” dress and the famous upside-down shoe hat—will be on display, placed alongside art by her contemporaries like Pablo Picasso and Man Ray. The V&A worked with Schiaparelli and the fashion house’s current creative director, Daniel Roseberry, whose designs will also be featured.

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art will run through November 8, 2026.

Those who sit in small Venn diagram of And Just Like That… viewers and fine art lovers were likely horrified to see Tracey Emin’s seminal work imitated, and then tossed aside in the Sex and the City reboot’s final season. Luckily, Tate Modern is stepping in to provide Dame Emin with deserved credit, by mounting an expansive exhibition tracing four decades of the artist’s work—showcasing her most influential pieces alongside those that have never been exhibited until now. Through painting, video, textiles, neons, writing, sculpture, and installation, Emin has long challenged society’s view of the female body, as well as the line between public and personal. She did this most notably with her 1998 piece, My Bed, using the conversation that sparked around this controversial piece to further challenge the definition of art at the turn of the 21st century. At Tate Modern, My Bed and more work will be on display in a celebration of Emin’s raw and personal approach to artistic expression.

Tracey Emin runs at Tate Modern from February 27 to August 31, 2026.

Dan Flavin’s grids take center stage for the first time at David Zwirner New York, in a new exhibition that explores the matrix-like vertical artist’s body of work, which first gained prominence in the mid 1970s. Like much of Flavin’s fluorescent lamp-based pieces, the grids simultaneously highlight and redefine every space in which they’re installed. This latest exhibition features Flavin’s first two grids: untitled (for Mary Ann and Hal with fondest regards) 1 and 2. Both created in 1976, they will be installed at Zwirner identically to their debut at the Otis Art Institute Gallery, Los Angeles, where they sat kitty-corner to one another in a single room. Other pieces, including four-foot creations like untitled (for you, Leo, in long respect and affection) 3 and 4, illustrate Flavin’s exploration of scale within the format. They are contrasted by untitled (in honor of Leo at the 30th anniversary of his gallery), which spans 24 feet. Flavin’s dedications within the work provide a second narrative to the exhibition, one that follows the many people who helped support the artist’s career. Former gallery director of the Otis Art Institute Gallery, Hal Glicksman (and his wife Mary Ann), plus his longtime New York dealer Leo Castelli are just some of the figures represented through this set of work.

Dan Flavin’s Grids will run from January 15 to February 21, 2026, at David Zwirner New York.