New York Art Guide - July

I.
Exhibition: Condo, New York
Venue: Galleries across the city
Dates: Until 28 July, 2017
 
Initially started in London, Condo is now having their second edition in new York city.
For the month of July, 16 art galleries at the Lower East-Side and Chelsea will be hosting galleries from the U.S and around the world in their spaces. 
Summer tends to be a sleepy time in the New York art world, galleries use to come up with light group shows and go on long summer breaks before reopening in September.  
Condo is probably the most refreshing innovative project that is happening these days in the city.
Some of Condo’s highlights include Labor gallery from Mexico City hosted in Gavin Brown Enterprise and Project Native Informant from London at Bridget Donahue gallery. 
Check out their website for the complete list of exhibitors.

II.
Exhibition: Guggenheim Collection: Brancusi
Venue: Guggenheim Museum 
Dates: Until 3 January, 2018


This beautiful show is dedicated to the Guggenheim's permanent collection of Constantin Brancusi's works. 
Brancusi was an integral part of the modernist movement among Marcel Duchamp, Fernand Léger, Amedeo Modigliani, and Henri Rousseau and more. Brancusi's works altered the trajectory of modern sculpture in the early decades of the twentieth century. 

III.
Exhibition: UncleBrother
Dates: Until September 4, 2017

If you feel like escaping the city, here’s a place where you can catch an interesting show, eat well and enjoy the countryside peacefulness.
UncleBrother is a pop-up gallery and restaurant by Gavin Brown enterprise and artist Rikrit Trivanija.  
In 1992, Rirkrit Tiravanija created an exhibition entitled "Untitled (Free)" at 303 Gallery in New York. In this work, Trivanija converted the gallery into a kitchen where he served rice and Thai curry for free. This landmark piece marked the first step of his practice till this day- feeding people, inviting them to interact and by that bringing art closer to life.
UncleBrother will be open every weekend for brunch and dinner, a large group show will be on display, featuring works by SARAH SZE, OLAF BREUNING, TRISHA BAGA and more.
Hancock NY is about 2 hours drive from the city.
Take a look at their website for more details.
Friday-Sunday
250 E FRONT STREET, HANCOCK, NY 13783

Barcelona Art Guide - July

The top Gallery and Museum shows that you don't want to miss during the month of July if you are visiting Barcelona. 

I.
Exhibition title: Dream or reality. The world of Giorgio de Chirico
Artist: Giorgio de Chirico
Venue: Caixa Forum
Dates: 19 July - 22 October, 2017


This exhibition, organized with the collaboration of Fondazione Giorgio and Isa de Chirico, reveals the creative phases of Giorgio de Chirico with the evolution of its manifestations, from the personal transformation of classical art into its piazzas, the mythological world or the figure of the Gladiator in the recitation of death, to portraits and interior landscapes, along with the role of nature.

II.
Exhibition title: Björk-Digital
Artist: Björk
Venue: CCCB
Dates: Until 24 September, 2017


Björk-Digital is an immersive virtual reality exhibition featuring digital and video works from the collaboration of this iconic Icelandic artist and some of the best visual programmers and artists in the world. The exhibition, which reaches the CCCB after its passage through Tokyo, Sydney, Montreal, Reykjavik, London and Los Angeles is a unique opportunity to visit the exhibition in our country. 

III.
Exhibition title: Weegee by Weegee
Artist: Weegee
Venue: Fundació Foto Colectania
Dates: Until 5 November, 2017

The exhibition brings together over one hundred vintage photographs from one of the best photographic collections in the world, M. + M. Auer of Switzerland, in a carefully vertebrated selection from the books of Weegee and other publications in the press. 

Zurich Art Guide - July

- by Diana Poole

The shows selected this month, from sculpture to performance and photographic works, all feature a sense of play, wit and disguise. 

I. 
Exhibition title: Reisen
Artist: Roman Signer
Galerie: Häusler Contemporary
Dates: Until 28 July 2017

Roman Signer (b. 1938, Switzerland) is renowned for his “Actions” and “Time-sculptures”, which comprise objects, engineered collisions and experiments with explosives. He has been making these innovative, unexpected and aesthetically compelling works in the idyllic setting of Appenzell in Switzerland since the 1970s. Here’s a link to one of Signer’s most beloved Actions – “Kayak” (2010), where he sits in a blue kayak, towed behind a tractor down a Swiss country road as the bottom of the kayak is slowly scraped away. There is a poetic moment when a herd of cows gallop alongside him as if captivated by the surreal scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f2VUNUbDkk

The exhibition at Häusler Contemporary focuses on his lesser-known Reisefotos (Travel Photographs), which like “Actions”, he’s been making since the late 1970s. Stepping into the beautiful gallery space (designed by James Turrell in 2007), I was immediately struck by the number of works presented (over 60 prints). Although slightly oppressive, the close hang reflects the notion of this work as a visual diary, traces of ideas that have informed sculptures, and surprising references and dialogues between images. At a glance, I perceived impressions of everyday scenes in different countries – Poland, Switzerland, Japan - but after closer inspection, realised his eye for obscure details, witty juxtapositions and unusual happenings - certainly not your typical kind of travel photography! 

One of my favourites, “Schweiz” 1995 (image below) captures a bicycle leaning against a wall with two circular manhole covers on the ground close to the wheels, which appear like shadows. Here I really felt his ability to find poetry and humour in the banal through the simplest of means. In another, “Polen” 1995 (image below), a golden Labrador stands nonchalantly in front of a white polar bear (or a well disguised person dressed as a polar bear!) in the snow, so absurd yet there’s something brilliantly constructed and sculptural in this unlikely pairing. There’s an authenticity to his spontaneous, snapshot style. Nothing here is staged – it’s gritty and real. The exhibition reveals Signer to be an attentive observer of his environment and his presentation of everyday objects as potential ephemeral sculptures suggests clear parallels to his “Actions”. 

Roman Signer, Schweiz (Reisefotos), 1995
© Roman Signer, Courtesy of Häusler Contemporary München / Zürich

Roman Signer, Polen (Reisefotos), 1995
© Roman Signer, Courtesy of Häusler Contemporary München / Zürich

II. 
Exhibition title: No title
Artists: Hans-Peter Feldmann / Elad Lassry
Galerie: Francesca Pia
Dates: Until 19 August 2017

The exhibition presents two celebrated conceptual artists, Hans-Peter Feldmann (b. 1941, Germany) and Elad Lassry (b. 1977, Israel). Feldmann’s long career, since the 1960s, has focused on ideas of the collection, the archive and the circulation of imagery; similarly, Lassry explores questions of representation and image-making, particularly in his photographic objects. Both artists, although generations apart, explore the physical nature of images and their enduring materiality through distribution (and analogue methods). Lassry’s continuous merging of photography and sculpture questions our understanding of the image, while Feldmann reminds us that images are perpetually made, found and borrowed. Ultimately, they play on the notion that in today’s image-saturated world, the journey of an image, its manipulation and context cannot be controlled.

Entering the first large gallery space, I discovered Elad Lassry’s sculptures and photographic works. As I walked around, I felt intrigued and slightly uncomfortable. The objects and images were at once recognisable but also out of reach - sculptures made of walnut appeared like baskets but were solid forms with flat surfaces and engraved fruits and laminated images decorating them. I couldn’t quite place them. A number of images of women’s hands with long painted nails encased in leopard skin carpet brought to mind kitsch advertising campaigns, but the considered compositions and unusual cropping suggested something more poignant (image below). I found myself peering into the photographic works; the material elements drew me close – a perceptible slowing down and moment of pause in the accelerated circulation of images. 

Entering the second room, I immediately felt the impact of Hans-Peter Feldmann’s collection of 150 matted stamps propped on a shelf running all the way around the space (they fit perfectly!). Their sheer number creates a rhythm to their fluctuating format and multiple colours. Looking closer, I noticed that every stamp depicts a nude painting - all the great masterpieces from Botticelli to Gauguin are here. Many have circular ink markings with the date revealing a trace of their individual journeys. As with the repetition in Lassry’s work, there is great humour in their seriality and a certain irreverence for artistic traditions. 

Both artists works are perplexing, even at times irritating in their endless riddles and lack of clarity, but they stayed with me long after seeing the show – I’m eager to go back and unearth more!  

Untitled (nails 2), 2017
@ Elad Lassry, Courtesy of Galerie Francesca Pia
Photo: Annik Wetter  

Exhibition views, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Briefmarken mit Gemälden von Akten, 150 stamps, matted, Galerie Francesca Pia, Zürich, 2017
© Hans-Peter Feldmann, Courtesy of Galerie Francesca Pia
Photo: Annik Wetter  

3. 
Exhibition title:  Alexander Calder / David Smith
Artists: Alexander Calder / David Smith
Galerie: Hauser & Wirth
Dates: Until 16 September 2017

Although outside my usual photography leanings, I felt compelled to include this exhibition in the selection, presenting two great figures of 20th Century sculpture – Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976, USA) and David Smith (1906 – 1965, USA), it feels more akin to a museum exhibition. It marks the first time these two artists are placed in direct dialogue. One of the few times they were shown together during their lifetimes was at the 1962 Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, where Smith remarkably created twenty-seven works in thirty days, and Calder contributed the 58-foot-tall stabile Teodelapio, which still stands in the Italian city. 

Presented in Hauser & Wirth’s smaller space on the 3rd floor of the Löwenbrau building, it is an immersive experience with sculptures at every trajectory – from intimate to large-scale, some static, others with gentle movement at different elevations, several set on varying size plinths and Calder’s hanging mobiles suspended from the ceiling. It felt like being led through a jungle of biomorphic forms, with a new delight at every turn. 

You really appreciate how the artists sought for sculpture to be a performative medium that could be physically experienced – as you move around the pieces they continually shift, each new angle framing a new view. For example, Calder’s “Red Flowers” (1954), a hanging mobile in which the artist’s archetypal abstract elements, some perforated, coalesce into an organic, moving composition. At the time, both sculptors’ work was considered radical and dynamic - their configurations seemed to verge on the impossible. Over 50 years later, these works still feel energetic and stir an incredible sense of awe. 

Exhibition view, Alexander Calder / David Smith, Hauser & Wirth, Zürich, 2017
© Calder Foundation, New York / 2017, ProLitteris, Zurich & The Estate of David Smith, Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Genevieve Hanson

Vienna Art Guide - July

- by Itai Margula

MAK and more, Albertina, 21er Haus: Vienna's Biennale 2017 explores our society together with the presence of robots. Maria Lassnig's drawings focusing on the human body and Erwin Wurm's sculptures are the leftovers of a performative act.


I.
Exhibition title: Vienna Biennale 2017 – Hello, Robot.
Artists: various artists
Venue: MAK
Dates: Until 1 October, 2017


The Vienna Biennale 2017 - Robots. Work. Our Future - combines art, design and architecture. In various museums and institutions (MAK Vienna, Kunsthalle Wien,  AzW and AIL) you will find till October exhibitions, installations and talks.
"Hello, Robot." is an exhibition of the MAK, the Vitra Design Museum, and the Design Museum Gent.

Foto: Stephan Bogner, Phillipp Schmitt, Jonas Voigt, Raising Robotic Natives, 2016  © Jonas Voigt

II.
Exhibition title: Maria Lassnig - Dialogues
Artist: Maria Lassnig
Venue: Albertina
Dates: Until August 17, 2017


Maria Lassnig is one of the most important women artists oft he 20th century. Her own body became the central focus of her art. The current show in the Albertina brings together 80 of the artist more beautiful hand drawings. An exhibition of the Albertina in cooperation with Kunstmuseum Basel. 

Foto: Bird of Prey, 2000, Albertina, Vienna © 2017 Maria Lassnig Foundation
 

III.
Exhibition title: Erwin Wurm – Performative Sculptures
Artist: Erwin Wurm
Venue: 21er Haus
Dates: Until 10 September, 2017


Erwin Wurm's work are on display alongside Brigitte Kowanz at the Austrian Pavillion of this year´s Art Biennale in Venice. The show at the 21er Haus shows a series of statues and performative sculptures. More then this you can visit Erwin Wurm's Fat House at the Belvedere. Curated by: Severin Dünser and Alfred Weidinger. 

Foto: Erwin Wurm, Boxing Glove, 2016, Courtesy König Galerie,  © Belvedere, Vienna (Photo: Johannes Stoll) / © Bildrecht, Vienna, 2017

Melbourne Art Guide - July

- by Charlotte Cornish


Although it is the depth of winter here in Melbourne there are many exciting exhibitions on view inside warm spaces. The exhibitions cover a wide breadth of spaces in Melbourne from institutions to artist run initiatives. From a large group exhibition including international art projects being presented at Australia’s only Kunsthalle, to an expansive new series of work by an established Australian contemporary artist presented at a commercial space, or an exciting exhibition by an emerging artist at a smaller non-profit gallery, this month there is something for everyone.  

Exhibition: Dale Frank
Artist: Dale Frank
Venue: Neon Parc (Brunswick)
Dates: Until 15 August, 2017

Dale Frank is an established contemporary Australian artist best known for his biomorphic abstract paintings. His practice has included found object-sculptures, performance installations, drawings and most recently paintings with sculptural elements. Dale Frank’s new body of work currently on view at Neon Parc consists predominantly of resin paintings, some with found objects protruding from their surfaces as sculptural elements. The expansive exhibition includes many new pieces that oscillate between extravagant lunacies, such as Guy (pictured) a large canvas with hand painted alien masks, and a more refined elegance, such as the several monochrome pieces with faint distortions embedded within the resin surfaces. 

2. Neon Parc - Dale Frank_Aliens_2017-Image credit Christo Crocker

II.
Exhibition: Stages
Artist: Georgina Cue
Venue: TCB Art Inc.  
Dates: Until 15 July, 2017 

Georgina Cue uses DIY materials such as cardboard and spray paint to create a series of large-scale stages in a suburban garage. These theatrical sets have become the background for the series of photographs presented in Stages, the artist’s new solo exhibition currently on view in the front gallery at artist-run initiative TCB Art Inc. In this new series, Cue continues her exploration of male dominated art-historical movements by referencing formal sensibilities often found in Russian constructivism and German expressionism. The artist subverts the inherent romanticism and female gaze associated with these movements by constructing images in which the artist herself features as film siren and femme fatale.

TCB Art Inc. - Georgina Cue - Stages  (1)

III.
Exhibition: Greater Together
Artists: Goldin + Senneby, Clark Beaumont, Antoinette J. Citizen and Courtney Coombs, C.T. Jasper and Joanna Malinowska, Patrick Staff, 
Venue: Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
Dates: 8 July – 17 September 2017

Greater Together is an exhibition presented at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art exploring artistic collaboration through the practices of eight international artist projects. Annika Kristensen has curated the exhibition with projects by Australian and international artist collectives including Goldin + Senneby, Clark Beaumont, Antoinette J. Citizen and Courtney Coombs, C.T. Jasper and Joanna Malinowska, Patrick Staff, Field Theory and Bik Van der Pol. The assembling together of these eight artist projects attempts to complicate individual notions of authorship in art practice to consider collaborative and cooperative approaches to art making, which perhaps can become deliberate and productive means of agency and solidarity in a complex and changing world.  

4. ACCA - Greater Together - Goldin+Senneby

Banner Header - Neon Parc - Dale Frank install view July 2017, Image credit: Christo Crocker