London Art Guide - August

- by Marine Tanguy

I.
Exhibition: Giacometti 
Artist: Alberto Giacometti  
Venue: Tate Modern
Dates: Until 10 September   


An incredible exhibition highlighting the impact that the World War II had on the artist - from his nightmarish surrealist bronzes to his more human, emotional figures after the war. The war had changed him forever and his works had become more meaningful and powerful. It's a brilliant reflection on existentialism and the human condition. 

II.
Exhibition: MTArt Virtual Gallery 
Artists: Scarlett Bowman - Tristan Pigott - Jennifer Abessira - Alexandra Lethbridge - Leni Dothan - Francesco de Prezzo - Will Thomson - Ignacio Munoz-Vicuna - David Aiu Servan Schreiber - Rob Branigan - Jasmine Pradissitto - Marine Hardeman - Neal Rock - Tim A Shaw 
Dates: Until 2 September, 2017

From the Gold Rush to our social media obsession, I like my curations to be engaging, revealing of our current times and bearing a small irony to most artistic dialogues between the works. 

III.
Exhibition: Soul of a Nation
Artists: Many artists
Venue: Tate Modern
Dates: Until 22 October, 2017


The 150 pieces in 'Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power' were created in America between 1963 and 1983. It's a reminder of a difficult chapter in history and their constant struggle for change still resonates today. To learn from. 

Shanghai Art Guide - July - August

- by Hadas Zucker

It’s too humid to get sentimental and probably too hot to stay out, there is no better time than Shanghai's summer to occupy museums and galleries in the city to get cooled with really powerful AC and refreshing art!

I. 
Exhibition title: Now is the summer of our discontent
Artists: Various Chinese and International artists
Venue: Bank Mabsociet Gallery
Dates: Until 9 August, 2017

Disclaimer: I show my work there, so hell ya!!! come to visit! 



Summertime sees our sentiments dilated and logic subdued by sweltering hot winds, lazy daydreams, and sweet fruit. In this exhibition they intrigued to ponder, to what extent can objects accommodate and express these seasonal sensations. BANK invites 21 artists of different generations and backgrounds to join our summer carnival. Some of these artists are exhibiting in Shanghai for the first time while others are of BANK’s usual stable. Spanning video, photography, installation, and with a focus on painting, the colors of summer come to life.

II.
Exhibition title: All the single ladies
Artists: Guo Cheng and Shen Han
Venue: J Gallery 
Dates: 29 July - 8 September, 2017


The exhibition will showcase works by Guo Cheng and Shen Han, two young Chinese artists that have studied and lived in multicultural backgrounds-  Cheng works are concerned with the impacts and influences of mainstream or new technology on the social, cultural and ethical while Shen does works which are structuring a connection between the material and perception through the act of ‘painting’. The exhibition article, written by the Li Bowen, deals with the metaphor of the pseudo-genealogical that marks the relationship between the two bodies of work.

III.
Exhibition title: Wavelength: Through things
Artists: Group exhibition of contemporary artist and designers
Venue: Times Art Museum, Beijing
Dates: 5 August - 13 August, 2017


New Consumerism is more a socially engaged act bound up in issues of sustainability and authenticity. This fashion x art group exhibition proudly presents the recent work of 18 contemporary artists and designers active in the US, Europe and China. By bringing together conceptual fashion pieces, visual arts, jewelry, sculpture and multimedia installations, the exhibition illustrates a global trend in consumerism and lifestyle - the integration of Art, Fashion and social life.

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