The Top Art Exhibitions This Summer

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The Top Art Exhibitions This Summer
Intro
We are teetering on the threshold of what could become the most epic, outgoing, eventful summer in recent memory. The promise of re-opened museums, newly announced exhibitions and long-postponed events has us making plans – but cautiously, lest the unpredictable virus should throw another spanner in the works and keep us grounded for yet another season. New restrictions notwithstanding, we are giddy with anticipation and hope to experience the following real-life art highlights up close and personal. [Displaced, Richard Mosse, Fondazione MAST]

By Fiona Brutscher

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It’s safe to assume that we’re all in the mood for uplifting art that helps us feel connected to other humans. “Alma W. Thomas: Everything Is Beautiful”, organized by the Chrysler Museum of Art in Virginia and The Columbus Museum, Georgia, offers just that. The late African-American artist is mainly known for the colourful paintings she produced late in her career, after retiring as an art teacher aged 69. This exhibition, which will travel across the US until late 2022, looks beyond these paintings to show “how her artistic practices extended to every facet of her life – from community service and teaching to gardening and dress”. [Alma W. Thomas, Untitled, ca. 1968, Steve and Lesley Testan Collection]

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Similarly life-affirming (the hint is in the name) is Olafur Eliasson’s “Life” at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel. After a year of being stuck inside, it embraces openness in a way that is quietly moving and, at the same, time somewhat radical. The museum’s windows have been removed on one side, and the site-specific installation extends the pond that usually sits outside the building into its interior. The exhibition isn’t just spatially open, but also temporally; it can be visited at any time of day or night, 24 hours, until 11 July.

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Depending on where they are in their vaccination journey, some people may still prefer to experience art outdoors. For them, al fresco museums like Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) are the perfect destination. There, an ongoing Damien Hirst exhibition meets the extensive permanent collection, as well as special projects like “The Oak Project Artist Commission”, which will be hosted at YSP in late spring 2021. [Damien Hirst, Charity, 2002-3. © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates]

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The London Design Biennale also offers at least some outdoor elements, first and foremost the striking forest that will fill the courtyard at Somerset House throughout June. The Biennale’s Artistic Director, Es Devlin, decided to ‘build’ “The Global Goals Pavilion: Forest for Change” after being told that trees had been forbidden when the building was originally conceived 250 years ago. Now, this rebellious gesture gives the event a green heart in keeping with its central question: “Can we design a better world?”

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Simultaneously, art lovers who have had quite enough of the great outdoors for now can dive into a heavily produced art show that pulls out all the stops. Van Gogh Alive, an immersive multimedia show that has toured the globe and been shown in 65 cities all over the world, is on view in London and Birmingham this summer. With its mix of digitised art and selfie-friendly design, it’s the perfect experience to wean yourself off a year of interacting with art online only.

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If you’re interested in art, architecture or both, you’ve probably been following the ongoing refurbishment of the Neue Nationalgalerie. The revered Berlin landmark, built in the 1960s by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was renovated by David Chipperfield Architects and has been open for virtual visits since April. In August, it is set to physically receive visitors again with three reopening exhibitions that showcase different aspects of the museum’s mission. “Rosa Barba. In a Perpetual Now”, a survey of the Berlin-based artist, includes a new film and a site-specific installation. “The Art of Society 1900 – 1945: The Collection” presents major works of Classical Modernism from the collection. “Alexander Calder. Minimal / Maximal” builds on the long-standing association of the artist with the building. [„Têtes et Queue“ (1965) Alexander Calder, 1993© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie/Reinhard Friedrich]

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E-WERK Luckenwalde, an art centre located in a former power station outside Berlin, is staging an ambitious production of Sun & Sea on 5 and 6 June. The opera by Lithuanian trio, director Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, writer Vaiva Grainytė and composer/performance artist Lina Lapelyte, was first presented and won a Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Now, the Kickstarter-funded staging takes the environmentally conscious theme of the opera to the next level. In addition to art, the former coal plant that houses the E-WERK art centre now produces green electricity and promises a CO²-neutral production.

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Much was made of the fact that Venice and its citizens breathed a sigh of relief as tourists failed to materialise in the usual hordes due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, the lagoon city will be equally thrilled to once again welcome visitors, even as measures to curb numbers are under discussion. The theme of this year’s Architecture Biennial could contribute to the debate – and hopefully provide solutions. Curator Hashim Sarkis explains the theme, How Will We Live Together?: “We need a new spatial contract. In the context of widening political divides and growing economic inequalities, we call on architects to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together.”

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Fondazione MAST (Manufacture of Art, Experimentation and Technology) is an art foundation in Bologna focused on “art, technology and innovation,” co-founded by a local industrial giant that mainly manufactures automated machinery. The foundation’s latest exhibition taps into its overarching themes, while offering a true feast for the senses and a thematic challenge. “Richard Mosse: Displaced. Migration Conflict Climate Change” is the first retrospective of the Irish artist’s work. Using specialised photographic equipment and military-grade thermal imaging cameras, he creates pictures of conflict from global war zones that oscillate between surreal and hyper-real.

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In Portugal, two giants of the 20^th century art world meet in one exhibition. Alberto Giacometti – Peter Lindbergh. “Seizing The Invisible” at Museu e Igreja da Misericórdia do Porto (MMIPO) juxtaposes the work of the Swiss sculptor and the German photographer. Amongst the more than 110 works are bronze sculptures and drawings by Giacometti, as well as photographs that Peter Lindbergh took of pieces from the Fondation Giacometti collection in Paris two years before his own death, in 2017.

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In post-lockdown Melbourne, an art project that breathed new life into a deserted CBD (central business district) in the midst of the pandemic is set to wind down. Those who can, should seize the final opportunity to visit the West Side Place Artcade, a retail arcade that was taken over by art collective Juddy Roller. The award-winning street art network filled disused shop fronts with works by Australian artists back in November. Now that the city is slowly returning to normal, and the CBD is back to business as usual, the space will once again be occupied by shops, cafés and restaurants from mid-2021. [Rone, Photo: Nicole Reed]

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Like it or not, crypto art is now part of the conversation. Whether it will stay around remains to be seen, but it’s certainly taking up too much space in current discourse to simply be ignored. While widely derided NFTs (non-fungible tokens) continue to make headlines, Guardian Art Center in Beijing is elevating blockchain art to museum level. From 29 May to 13 June, the museum is hosting what is being billed as “the world’s first ever crypto art solo exhibition”. Artist Liu Jiayin, who goes by CryptoZR, was previously part of a group show at UCCA Lab in Beijing. The new exhibition, entitled Cookie Cookie, will consist of oil paintings, sculptures, animation and installation shown offline, complemented by a concurrent online exhibition. [United We Stand/CryptoZR]

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Works by artists on the Sovereign Asian Art Prize shortlist will be shown on two separate occasions in May. The finalists in the running to win Asia’s most prestigious prize for contemporary artists will be presented in Hong Kong from 5-16 May and from 20-23 May. Visitors to both exhibitions can vote on their favourite to win the Public Vote Prize and can bid on shortlisted artworks via an online auction. [Pepper Boat, Shailesh BR]

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Looking for even more art events? Keep track of museum re-openings in Europe as the art world slowly awakens after its long slumber. The Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) has compiled a list of current restrictions and upcoming reopenings by country, as well as an interactive map documenting the current status across Europe.

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The Top Art Exhibitions This Summer

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