Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince at Fondazione Prada

At the Fondazione Prada in Venice, the exhibition "Helter Skelter" brings together Arthur Jafa (b. 1960) and Richard Prince (b. 1949) in an unexpected dialogue curated by Nancy Spector. Both American artists work with image appropriation, but the show focuses on their decades-long exploration of a decadent and prejudiced America that foreshadowed the Trump era. The title references a British amusement park ride, slang for chaos, a Beatles song from 1968, and Charles Manson's apocalyptic prophecy. Meanwhile, at Palazzo Grassi, a solo show of Kenyan artist Michael Armitage, curated by Jean-Marie Gallais for collector François Pinault, features paintings on lubugo cloth—a traditional bark cloth used as a shroud—addressing themes from gay couples to migrant shipwrecks. Armitage founded the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute in 2020. At Punta della Dogana, the Pinault Collection presents retrospectives of Lorna Simpson and Paulo Nazareth. The Austrian Pavilion sparked social media buzz with Florentina Holzinger's performances involving a woman struck by a bell every hour and a jet-ski in a pool. The Australian Pavilion features Khaled Sabsabi, while Spain's Oriol Vilanova fills walls with postcards in an Atlas Mnemosyne-like installation. Brazil's pavilion, curated by Diane Lima with Adriana Varejão and Rosana Paulino under the title "Comigo ninguém pode," stands out for its exemplary restoration, though Paulino's work is deemed more incisive.