Top 5 Montreal Art Exhibits You Need to Experience This Week (July 23–24, 2026)
Looking for something a little more inspiring than another patio night? Montreal’s art scene is turning up the heat this week with a lineup of incredible vernissages featuring immersive installations, contemporary painting, photography, sculpture, and unforgettable conversations with local and international artists.
Whether you’re an avid collector, an art lover, or simply looking for a unique evening out, these are the exhibitions worth adding to your calendar. Here’s Best Kept MTL’s Top 5 Montreal Art Exhibits you won’t want to miss.
1. Feel the Heat at Entretemps
📅 Thursday, July 23, 2026 | 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Entretemps Gallery – 4307 Sainte-Catherine Street East, Montreal
What happens when a summer heatwave becomes art?
Entretemps brings together 16 talented artists working across painting, photography, sculpture, illustration, and video to explore exactly that. Their works dive into the physical and emotional effects of extreme heat—from heightened sensuality to climate anxiety, creating an exhibition that feels incredibly relevant in today’s world.
Beyond the thought-provoking artworks, it’s also the perfect excuse to discover one of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve’s hidden contemporary galleries while mingling with Montreal’s creative community.
🌡️ Expect powerful conversations… and maybe a little sweating.
2. Celebrate Award-Winning Artist Yen Chao Lin at Circa
📅 Thursday, July 23, 2026 | 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
📍 Location: Circa at the Belgo Building, Montreal
One of Montreal’s most respected contemporary art centres is celebrating this year’s Pauline-Desautels Prize recipient, Yen Chao Lin.
The evening features her monumental installation As Above, So Below, constructed from thousands of copper coins and enamelled steel pieces. The installation questions humanity’s relationship with minerals, extraction, and the environmental cost of progress.
Visitors will also get an exclusive look at new research and artifacts developed during the artist’s residency in London.
If you’re interested in socially engaged contemporary art, this is easily one of the week’s must-see events.
3. Cindy Hill’s Deeply Personal New Exhibition
📅 Thursday, July 23, 2026 | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Carmine’s Room – 7615 Berri Street, Montreal
Some exhibitions tell stories. Others invite you to feel them.
Cindy Hill’s In Twenty-Five Years / She’ll Be Silver is inspired by a childhood house fire that forever changed the meaning of ordinary objects. Through previously unseen works, she reflects on inherited possessions, family memory, emotional legacy, and the objects we carry through our relationships.
The atmosphere promises to be just as welcoming as the artwork itself—with cake, wine, and beer helping spark conversations long after the gallery tour ends.
Because honestly… art always feels better with dessert.
4. Four Women Artists Explore Transformation at Galerie JANO
📅 Thursday, July 23, 2026 | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Galerie JANO – 3819 Wellington Street, Suite 200, Montreal
Verdun’s Galerie JANO invites visitors into a beautifully curated exhibition featuring:
- Isabelle Parson
- Hea R Kim
- Caroline Magis Weinberg
- Vanessa Yanow
Working with photography, ceramics, textiles, found objects, mixed media, and more, these four artists explore transformation, fragility, memory, and moments suspended in time. One of the biggest perks?
You’ll also have access to the artists’ adjacent studios, giving visitors a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into where the creative magic actually happens.
Expect thoughtful conversations, welcoming hosts, and plenty of artistic inspiration.
5. Find Joy in the Everyday with Delia Landers
📅 Friday, July 24, 2026 | 5:00 PM
📍 Location: Galerie Erga – 6394 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Montreal
Sometimes the most extraordinary stories come from ordinary moments. Delia Landers’ new exhibition Loinnir celebrates exactly that.
Inspired by overcoming personal hardships, including grief, mental health challenges, and major life changes the artist transforms everyday scenes into luminous impressionistic oil paintings that encourage us to slow down and appreciate life’s quiet beauty.
“Loinnir” itself represents the search for joy hidden within daily life, a message that feels especially meaningful in today’s fast-moving world.
You’ll likely leave inspired… and maybe looking at your morning coffee a little differently.
Stay Connected with Montreal’s Visual Arts Community
For additional exhibitions, radio programming, and artist interviews, visit:
Since 2010, Magazine In Situ has remained one of Montreal’s only radio programs devoted entirely to visual arts and related disciplines. Broadcasting every Saturday from noon to 1 PM on Radio Centre-Ville, the show continues to cultivate dialogue between artists and the broader public while championing the city’s remarkably diverse cultural landscape.
As always, Montreal proves that some of its most exciting stories are still being told inside independent galleries, artist-run spaces, and community-driven exhibitions.
Art isn’t confined to galleries, discover Montreal’s creative heritage through its iconic neon landmarks in our guide, Montreal Time Travel | Your Road Map to 20 Vintage Signs!
