Sydney, New York, London: we’ve got you covered on what’s happening on the art scene
Whether it’s time you’re trying to kill, or that little ball of guilt that formed after you spent last weekend being a waster, there’s heaps of art on walls to fill culture voids and excite your eyeballs with this weekend. It’s true, it’s the type of activity that we all tell ourselves we’ll do when we get the Facebook invitation on a Wednesday. Paired with a morning ride to the farmers’ markets where we’ll buy our groceries for the week (and call them produce), and a dedication to a DIY face mask that promises invisible pores and total clarity. A plan that only exists on Instagram, which is usually sacrificed for a bag of Doritos and a six-hour Netflix session.
But hey, visiting a gallery is easy on the wallet, requires little social interaction, and will make you feel like a real life adult. So go on, pick up a price list and fantasy shop for your apartment that is definitely not a five-person share house. You'll find that trying to decide the intentions behind a brush stroke will make you forget all about whatever's bugging you, without zapping your braincells. Convinced? Here's what’s worth rolling out of bed for:
BRONX CALLING: THE THIRD AIM BIENNIAL AT BRONX MUSEUM, NEW YORK CITY
Bronx-based artists Hatuey Ramos-Fermin and Laura Napier have curated works from 72 artists from Artist in the Marketplace, a program offered to emerging artists who live in the New York but weren’t necessarily raised there, providing professional development opportunities. It’s a huge instal that deals with a spectrum of themes and mediums spanning sculpture, photography, performance, printmaking, video, animation and more. If you’re looking for the next Basquiat, this is where you’ll find him (or her).
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY, I GUESS AT SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS, LOS ANGELES
With a title pulled from the lyrics of “The Recipe” by Kendrick Lamar and Dr Dre, the general theme here is obvious. It's a group show featuring works from Gregory Bojorquez, Tim Diet, Mark Drew, Michelle Guintu, Jeramee Haynie, Patrick Martinez, and Kevin Woodruff. Each artist presents work that has come from a lifetime obsession with music, hip hop and rap in particular. There’s a golden Southern California tint over each piece, and some excellent pop culture crossovers from Tim Diet and Mark Drew (who can count Snoop Dogg and Wu Tang as fans). These, and the ceramic baked goods by Patrick Martinez, are notable, and pull the show out of predictability.
LANDSCAPE AS A BRAIN AT CURRO Y PONCHO, ZAPOPAN
We featured Curro y Poncho as one of Mexico’s best contemporary art hotspots. Known for innovative and obscure shows, right now they’re housing a retrospective of Andrea Galvani’s work. You’ll see a reconstruction of the military area, illegally prohibited, where he once lived, which is central to the “violent physical phenomena” that the work documents. It’s textural, and eery.
PROJECT SPACE FESTIVAL AT MULTIPLE PARTICIPATING GALLERIES, BERLIN
This is endurance art, with one-off events programmed for each day of August. A look at the city's independent scene through a consideration of the term ‘project space’ “Not a white cube, not institutional, usually not commercial,” and the experimentation that happens inside. Saturday's key event is ‘“Hors doeuvres” The Secondary Concern #2’ where artists will literally create hors d'oeuvres and accompanying videos that focus on social and political issues surrounding food. Sunday sees scenarios of transit, smuggling and migration from Greece, Turkey and Germany in a small shadow theatre for ‘Shadows Cast People (Grenzfhrservice II)’.
The majority of Paris residents have left the city for holidays. If you’re here, you’re possibly the only one left. Take a miniature vacation to Versailles, gain true perspective and feel tiny next to Anish Kapoor’s proportion-shifting sculptures. The gardens feel spectacular again beneath his Sky Mirror and next to his Descension whirlpool/sinkhole. And see for yourself the rusty funnel sculpture that has been weirdly dubbed “the queen’s vagina”.
YOHJI YAMAMOTO: SHOWSPACE AT LIVE ARCHIVES, LONDON
A celebration and retrospective of Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, with over 60 pieces on display, via live models, and some available for purchase. A deep look at the important work of the designer, with some pieces dating back to the 80s including his iconic SS83 collection. If you really can’t leave the house, a live stream has been promised.
AN OLD PAINTING IN SPIRIT AT KUNTSTALLE, ZURICH
Albert Oehlen gives his second solo exhibition, nearly 30 years after his first in 1987. The Kunsthalle are calling him a pioneer, saying that he is challenging the notions of “painting, beauty, seeing and thinking.” If his track record is anything to go by, it is definitely possible that he won’t exhibit in this capacity again. The installation, and skill, are monstrous.
BINARY AT CHINA HEIGHTS, SYDNEY
A focus on logos, typography and Fibonacci sequence patterns, with deep roots in Massimo Vignelli’s philosophy of design by subtraction. The work is by design duo Mira Yuna, who're commissioned for window installations by all of the right stores in Sydney. For this exhibition, cropped letters and numbers are hand painted on 3D boxes in a way that true proportion isn't immediately obvious.
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AT SELECTED CINEMAS, MELBOURNE
Okay, not technically an exhibition but still very much art-focused. This weekend's program includes films like Iris, a documentary on the one Iris Apfel “who we have been madly celebrating lately/always; there's a bender of a journey through they eyes of Alejandro Jodorowsky in The Holy Mountain; Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents, you know, the “performance art lunatics” The Residents, who wore tuxedos and eyeball heads; and Peggy Guggenheim - Art Addict, a documentary following the incredible life of the super wealthy modern art lover/collector from Lisa Immordina Vreeland (who also did the Diana Vreeland documentary).
