Betty Parsons: An Expanded World

Veronica Ryan: Multiple Conversations

WHITECHAPEL GALLERY, LONDON: UNTIL 14 JUNE

Donald Locke: Resistant Forms

CAMDEN ART CENTRE, LONDON: UNTIL 30 AUGUST

Hannah Wilke

in ‘Ecstasy’, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart

Takuro Kuwata

Trading Museum COMME des GARÇONS, Tokyo

Maria Bartuszová

in ‘The Promises of the Past’, Centre Pompidou, Paris

Betty Parsons, *Caribbean Dance*, 1981, © The Betty Parsons and William P. Rayner Foundation

In June 2026, the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard)’s Hessel Museum of Art will present Betty Parsons: An Expanded World, the first major retrospective to examine the intertwined legacies of Betty Parsons (1900-1982) as both pioneering abstract artist and trailblazing gallerist who shaped the trajectory of 20th century American art. On view from 27 June until October 18, 2026, the exhibition will be the artist’s largest and most comprehensive survey to date.

Betty Parsons: An Expanded World embodies the rigorous curatorial approach CCS Bard fosters through both its graduate programme and Hessel Museum of Art exhibitions; said Tom Eccles, Executive Director of the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. ‘While the Abstract Expressionist artists Parsons championed have been well documented and celebrated, this exhibition offers an overdue exploration of her game-changing vision—and of Parsons as a formidable artist in her own right—presented together with solo exhibitions by innovators of our own time.’

Best known for ushering in the American avant-garde by establishing the careers of Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock, among others, Parsons also maintained a dedicated artistic practice throughout her life. This exhibition centres her output as a painter and sculptor, while exploring the radical history of the Betty Parsons Gallery and its support of underrecognised, experimental artists. The presentation will be complemented by concurrent surveys of painter Uman and Navajo textile artist Marilou Schultz, whose practices resonate with Parsons’ commitment to expanding the possibilities of abstraction and colour.

Organised by Kelly Taxter with artist Amy Sillman, An Expanded World features approximately 100 works spanning painting, sculpture, and works on paper, tracing Parsons’ voluminous output as she evolved from a young academic painter to a mature abstractionist over a six-decade career. A newly commissioned, multi-channel film will bring to life the largely unknown history of the Betty Parsons Gallery.