Contxt is an applied intelligence lab for art and culture. We research and distill data and discourse across institutions, themes and geographies. We make it legible to machines, and help humans map connections between artworks, artists, movements and ideas.

New York, May 12, 2026 — Contxt launches in New York for the city's busiest exhibition week, bringing its conversational intelligence layer to NYC Art Week 2026. Contxt NYC connects more than 360 exhibitions across 250+ museums, galleries, and project spaces, with 660+ artists in view. Designed as a mobile-first, browser-based experience, Contxt NYC lets visitors ask what's worth seeing, trace an idea across venues, and design a route through the week shaped by their own interests — no downloads required. Alongside open exploration, visitors can start from FITZ & CO's curated selection of exhibitions and themes — an editorial entry point into the week.

Venice, May 1, 2026 — FITZ & CO and Contxt announce the launch of Contxt Venice, a conversational intelligence layer spanning more than 900 artists showing and over 190 exhibitions taking place as part of and alongside the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2026. Designed as a mobile-optimized, browser-based experience, Contxt Venice allows visitors to seamlessly design their own Biennale journey based on themes, ideas, and real-time location, no downloads required. Visitors can also start from FITZ & CO's curated selections of exhibitions and themes, offering an editorial entry point into the Biennale alongside the open exploration.

"People in exhibitions often have questions about what they're seeing but don't have access to curatorial insight or background knowledge in real time," Lukas told Observer. "With Contxt, visitors can ask questions about an artwork and get answers sourced directly from the institution's knowledge base rather than generic internet results."

Today we are launching the Public Research Preview for Contxt in collaboration with bitforms. We are very excited to partner with a gallery that has spent a quarter of a century championing digital art and new media. Together, we are making every exhibition, every artwork, every piece of context that the gallery has built over 25 years accessible through our conversational AI experience.

For those of you in New York, walk into bitforms and snap a picture of one of Maya Man's artworks. Contxt will recognize it and help you dive deep into the back story of the piece, the exhibition and Maya Man's practice. You can ask questions through chat and voice and archive the work that you've discussed in your personal profile, creating a persistent record of the artworks you've interacted with.

For those of you who are not in New York, Contxt offers you an easy way to interact with the exhibition's ideas from wherever you are. The full bitforms archive, all 150+ exhibitions spanning 25 years, is available online. Pick any show, ask about an artist's practice, trace how themes evolved across decades of programming. You can start with StarPower and end up in a conversation about a show from 2003. Every artwork you explore gets saved to your personal profile, so your journey through the archive builds over time.

Art has always needed more context than a wall label can provide. Contxt solves this by introducing a layer of knowledge that is ever present but only visible when you need it.

When Steven Sacks opened bitforms in 2001, the idea of a gallery dedicated entirely to art of the digital age was radical. Twenty-five years later, the archive that decision created is extraordinary. Contxt's first public outing is our way of honoring that work and inviting everyone to deepen the conversation about countless artists, artworks and ideas.

This is a research preview. It's an early, real version of Contxt that we want you to experience for yourself. It's still evolving, and we would love to learn from you how we can make it better. If something surprises, delights, or falls short for you, we want to hear it. Our DMs are open or email us [email protected].