LONDON: Summer is just around the corner and it is the perfect time for city travelling. Currently, there are some great exhibitions you shouldn’t miss. It will be a summer of fashion, art and beauty – enjoy it!
The Haus der Kunst in Munich presents till the beginning of August the ‘Grande Dame’ of art: Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). The exhibition is entitled Structures of Existence: The Cells. Louise Bourgeois was a most outstanding artist whose body of work defies any categorization. She loosely studied art in Paris in the 1930s and moved to New York in 1938. She came to fame very late: The first retrospective exhibition was held there in 1982. After this show she was a well sought-after artist. When the Tate Modern opened in the year 2000, Bourgeois’ huge spiders were chosen to inaugurate the great Turbine Hall.
The Munich show is the first ever to lay focus on her Cells, which she began in the 1980s. They are a mix of architectural spaces and theatrical stages which deal with memories, feelings, fears, sexual drama, despair, but also tenderness and humour. It is a highly charged and very powerful show.
Louise Bourgeois – Structures of Existence: The Cells / Haus der Kunst, Munich
Through 02 August 2015
www.hausderkunst.de
When you are in Munich, have a look at the Keith Haring exhibition at the Hypo-Kunsthalle.
Keith Haring was a young man who had set out to conquer the world. He was not given much time – only 10 years: In 1980 he finished art school and in 1990 he died of AIDS. But in this time span (and beyond) he mesmerized audiences all the way from America to Japan. People loved his simple, easy-going style. However, if you think Keith Haring’s work are funny stick figures then you are mistaken. His work is pervaded by political and socially critical comments. In his work he was fighting discrimination, racism, the excesses of capitalization, the advance of the mass-media and finally AIDS.
The exhibition is most revealing and sheds a different light on Keith Haring.
Keith Haring: The Political Line / Hypo-Kunsthalle, Munich
Through 30 August 2015
www.kunsthalle-muc.de
From Munich it is only a short hop to beautiful Paris, the centre of fashion. The formidable Grand Palais currently stages a wonderful show: Jean-Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.
It is conceived as a retrospective which spans more than 30 years of Gaultier’s creative thinking. Gaultier himself said that he feels far too young with his 61 years to be honoured with such a large retrospective show. Anyway, you as a visitor will love it: 175 creations are on display – provocative, fantastic, humorous and always a bit different. No wonder that Gaultier has been considered a bird of paradise among the fashion designers of the international haute couture. He has been known by challenging fixed ideas such as the role of gender by inventing e.g. the skirt for men. Or do you remember Madonna’s notorious corsage, which she wore at a 1990 concert? I bet, you do. Even the rebellious pop culture-scene was amazed!
Jean-Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk / Grand Palais, Paris
Through 03 August 2015
www.grandpalais.fr
And then… you cannot go without the show Alexander McQueen – Savage Beauty. The V&A in London pays tribute to probably the most imaginative British fashion designer. The exhibition design is thrilling and a perfect foil for McQueen’s creations. The show features pieces from his 1992 MA graduate collection to his unfinished Autumn/Winter 2010 collection.
Meandering through the gallery spaces is like strolling through another world. McQueen war a real visionary, who pushed the boundaries. At the same time he was a romantic who believed in harmony with nature and the sublime beauty of the circle of life. For one show he embroidered one dress with hundreds of silk and fresh flowers which fell to the floor as the model walked. It was McQueen elegy to the inherent beauty of the transient nature of natural life. His creations are profound, visually magnificent and endlessly poetic. Savage Beauty is a fantastic show!
Alexander McQueen – Savage Beauty / V&A, London
Through 02 August 2015
www.vam.ca.uk
Starting in June, the exhibition New for Now at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam also focuses on the theme fashion. The museum boasts a large collection of costume and fashion prints. From 12 June 2015 the museum presents this vast collection to the public for the first time.
Over 300 prints by stars such as Paul Poiret illustrate the changes in women’s and men’s fashion from the beginning of the 17th century up to the 1960s. The exhibition also looks at the origin and development of the fashion magazine.
New for Now / Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
12 June through 27 September 2015
www.rijsmuseum.nl
Last but not least we would like to draw you attention to the forthcoming Albert Oehlen exhibition in New York. The German artist came to prominence in Germany in the early 1980s. His work has oscillated between figuration and abstraction, using a staggering range of imagery and techniques. Albert Oehlen: Home and Garden will show works from his 30-year career, including early self-portraits, computer paintings and switch paintings from the 1990s, and more recent works fusing appropriated advertising signage and aggressive brushstrokes, exploring the contrasts between interior and exterior, nature and culture, and irony and sincerity.
Albert Oehlen: Home and Garden / New Museum, New York
10 June through 13 September 2015
www.newmuseum.org