March Art Guide - Jerusalem

Visiting Jerusalem in March? You will find no lack of thought-provoking and diverse exhibitions to choose from among the local galleries and museums as we get ready for Spring in the holy city. Continue reading to discover three shows not be missed in Jerusalem and click here to learn more about our experiences in the Jerusalem art scene!

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Exhibition: Manifesto

Artist: Julian Rosefelt

Venue:The Israel Museum, Ruppin Blvd.13.

Dates: Until November 2nd, 2019

About the exhibition: What is a Manifesto? It can defined as a declaration of a belief, usually combined with a call for action. In Julian Rosenfeld’s multi-screen installation, the artist revisits some of the most important artistic manifestos of the 20th century using a contemporary lense and a superstar performer, Cate Blanchett. Blanchett recites monologues which are based on the foundational texts of various art movements like Dada, Surrealism, etc., embodying different characters in a diversity of settings.

Manifesto Israel Museum
Image by Elie Posner

Exhibition: B-Side A Heroine

Artist: Various, curated by Cornelia Renz.

Venue: New Gallery Teddy Stadium, Gate 22

Dates: Until March 18

The charged group exhibition B-Side A Heroine features the works of twelve Israeli and German female artists who reshape the feminist narrative in their art works. The female figures depicted in these works are powerful, complex and aggressive women, embodying the ‘B-Side’ to the idealistic heroine that we are used to seeing in our ideas of the ‘real women’. Spanning video, performance, painting and site-specific installations,the exhibition offers a moving alternative point of view.

Bside A Heroine, Nezaket Ekici, “Short But Painful”, video performance 2017-2018.
Image by Shai Halevi

Exhibition: Legitimacy of Landscape

Artist: Yaakov Israel

Venue: Museum for Islamic Art, HaPalmach St. 2

Dates: Until April 27

Culminating 16 years of the artist’s work, Yaakov Israel presents The Legitimacy of Landscape, a photography exhibition that presents socio-political landscapes of Israel and its territories. Yaakov Israel’s large scale photographs are striking, focused and hyper-realistic, opening windows towards a view that is often forgotten in Israel and providing visitors with an experience that can be likened to standing in the place of the photographer himself. Israel used a technique similar to that used by landscape photography in the 19th century, simultaneously paying homage to the history of photography. Not only politically important, The Legitimacy of Landscape is breathtaking and literally opens one eyes to new points of view and the vitality of the camera.

Learn more about Oh So Arty in Jerusalem here or book a tour here!

Zurich Art Guide - October

The exhibitions selected this month are diverse – from Contemporary documentary photography and Conceptual art to 1960s street photography. All inspired in me a strong emotional response – a reminder of art’s ability to jolt us out of our everyday lives (and reflect on the human condition)!

I. 

Exhibition:  Prix Pictet: Space
Artists: Mandy Barker , Saskia Groneberg, Beate Gütschow, Rinko Kawauchi, Benny Lam, Richard Mosse, Sohei Nishino, Sergey Ponomarev, Thomas Ruff, Munem Wasif, Pavel Wolberg and Michael Wolf
Venue: LUMA Westbau
Dates: September 22nd to October 29th, 2017

The annual Prix Pictet photography award usually leans towards big name artists with a smattering of newcomers, and this year is no different. Touring different locations around the globe, it is always a behemoth event in the photography calendar! The theme this year (always relating to sustainability) is Space, presenting 12 shortlisted artists.

I struggled with the theme Space. The artworks take you in such different directions, from pollution to migration, overpopulation, even outer space with Thomas Ruff’s ma.r.s landscapes, that it lacked to me a wholeness or flow. I was initially perplexed by how Space even relates to sustainability and to each individual artist’s practice, but I started to discover connections the longer I spent with the works. 

This year’s winner is Irish photographer Richard Mosse, for his series “Heat Maps”. Made using a military camera that detects body heat from a distance of over 30 km, Mosse tracked the journeys of refugees from the Middle East and north Africa. In his panoramic photograph “Idomeni”, 2016 (header image), a refugee camp in Greece, the atmosphere is haunting; people appear ghost-like as inverted silhouettes due to the camera only picking up contours of heat rather than light and shadow. Unlike the endless press images of the refugee crisis, which we seem increasingly numb to, I became completely lost in this work, taken in by the huge expanse of the scene and wondering about these individuals’ plight - where will their journey end, how can we find space for them?

In contrast, Michael Wolf’s photographs capture the Tokyo rush hour through close-up portraits of faces pressed against train windows in the morning subway in Shinjuku station. Each passenger seems to be caught in a dream-state. I held my breath, feeling the claustrophobia of this reality for millions of commuters every day. I relaxed a little in front of Rinko Kawauchi’s photograph of the Japanese tradition of yakihata (controlled burning of fields). Her image of a hill divided in two by a wall of flame, one side scorched black, the other untouched is beautifully painterly. The message is meant to be of regeneration, however the blackened hill soon brought to mind global issues of over-farming and deforestation, and only awoke in me a warning. 

We’ve become so desensitized to environmental and humanitarian crisis that there’s certainly a timeliness to this theme. I left affected by unapologetic images of cramped cities, hemmed in commuters, restricted living quarters – perhaps the title should have been more pertinently “Out of Space”!

Michael Wolf, Tokyo Compression 18, 2010, from the series Tokyo Compression, 2008–11

© Michael Wolf, Flowers Gallery, London and Prix Pictet 2017

II.

Exhibition: A Line Between the Morning Sun and the Evening Sun
Artists: Bill Bollinger, Hamish Fulton, Raphael Hefti, Mary Heilmann, Irene Kopelman, Gary Kuehn, Renato Leotta, Haroon Mirza, Roman Signer, James Turrell. 
Venue: Häusler Contemporary
Dates: August 25th to October 28th, 2017

“A Line Between the Morning Sun and the Evening Sun”. What a title! I kept turning it over in my head whilst ruminating over the various works in the show. Later I learnt the curator, Giovanni Carmine (Director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen) took it from Hamish Fulton’s artwork “From Coast to Coast (France)” (1992), featured in the show. Fulton is known as the “walking artist” - his experiences from extended hikes transfer to factual, text based graphic works; this one relates to the daily course of the sun’s orbit. The exhibition celebrates Häusler Contemporary’s 10-year anniversary, and for me the title beautifully encompasses a sense of time passing. Many of the artists place emphasis on process, seeing how far they can push materials (through experiments, extreme temperatures and science). They embrace that tension between control and letting go – a key component to any journey! 

In both the first and second space, Raphael Hefti’s “Various Threaded Poles” (2014), soar up to the ceiling, interrupting the space with shifting bands of colour. A quick glance down revealed Gary Kuehn’s “Melt Piece” (1969), fluid aluminium spilling over a rectangular brick nestled in the corner of the room. A playful surprise! Roman Signer’s “Stuhl und Wind i.O.” (2017) comprises an old vintage ventilator fan, noisily blowing out air, beneath a simple wooden chair. As Signer is famous for his exploding artworks, I wondered if any second the chair would lift-off! 

The idea of a line in the title is wonderfully descriptive. Irene Kopelmann’s “Lianas” (2014), a row of faint, delicate pencil drawings reveal knotted vines that lead us round the first corner into the second space. Then a short pause, followed by a minimal grey, horizontal line. At first, I wondered if this was a part of the gallery wall – it is in fact Bill Bollinger’s “Channel Piece for Corner” (1968), which points to small colour drawings by the artist, roughly sketched. 

I loved the way the exhibition incorporated such diverse works – sculpture, painting, drawing, photography by artists young and old. But amongst this multiplicity, I instantly felt a cohesion and relatedness, like the sense of calm you only feel when watching the sun rise or set! 

Installation view, “A Line Between the Morning Sun and the Evening Sun”, Galerie Häusler Contemporary, Zürich

Photo by Mischa Scherrer, Courtesy Häusler Contemporary München | Zürich

III.

Exhibition: No title
Artist: Jill Freedman
Venue: Fabian & Claude Walter
Dates: September 28th to October 21st, 2017

“The first time I touched a camera, I went right out into the street with it” recalled street photographer Jill Freedman (b. 1939, New York). And that’s exactly what you feel when looking at her black & white photographs - the camera was part of her and she was fervidly drawn to her subjects. The small exhibition in Fabian & Claude Walter’s intimate cabinet space present a selection of vintage prints from the 1960s and early 1970s, with a host of characters – anonymous pedestrians, protestors, the downcast on the streets of New York, circus clowns and artists. 

Freedman’s images are gritty with a prickly edge and biting humour. One photograph, “Untitled, NYC” 1970, captures what appears to be two young people having sex surrounded by a crowd, but only the man’s backside and the woman’s hand and legs are visible - the rest is concealed underneath a large sheet of ripped and crumpled canvas or paper. I wasn't sure if I should be appalled or burst out laughing! She also brilliantly captured momentary juxtapositions in the street - in “Christ Loved Men Only, London”, 1967, a dour group of British ladies, one blowing her nose and another taking an ungainly lick of an ice-cream cone is flanked by the wry graffiti scrawl of “CHRIST LOVED MEN ONLY”. 

Sure, the overall message is bleak but amongst all the toughness, I felt her tenderness and wicked humour too. The exhibition offers more questions than answers, as you ponder, you’ll find it hard to look away. Freedman’s images carry both poetry and punch – she’s one girlboss I’d like to meet!

Jill Freedman, Christ Loved Men Only, 1969

© Jill Freedman, Courtesy of Fabian & Claude Walter Galerie, Zürich

Banner image: 

Richard Mosse, Idomeni, 2016, from the series Heat Maps, 2016-17 

© Richard Mosse, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and Prix Pictet 2017

Take a tour with Diana in Zurich to discover more!
 

London Art Guide - October

It's that time of year again! To get over the September nostalgia, Frieze week is here to dazzle you with the best art in the world. 

I.

Sex Work at Frieze London 

This section pays homage to nine radical feminist artists making work during the 1970s and 80s. Be ready to encounter some pretty intense bodily depictions and explicit sexual imagery. Leave your prejudice and prudishness at home. 

CREDIT:Marilyn Minter, Rivulet, 2017. Dye Sublimation print.

II.

Kallos Gallery London at Frieze Masters

The reason I adore Frieze is mainly for the Frieze Masters as it gives a general, grounded context to my favourite contemporary artworks. One of the most dramatic antiquities stands this year is that of Kallos Gallery with its constructed arched colonnade and intimate niches. 

CREDIT: Gallery. Kallos Gallery. A Roman marble theatre mask acroterion, 3rd century AD

III.

UNFOLD

After the Frieze Week, enjoy a new engaging way to look at art with the festival UNFOLD. Church Street in Central London is transformed into an immersive experience celebrating emerging artists. Go on a journey through a working artist's studio and two innovative exhibition spaces with talks and workshops. 

CREDIT: Artist Adelaide Damoah - UNFOLD Opening night 

Take a tour with Marine in London to discover more!

Vienna Art Guide - October

I.

Exhibition: Traces of Time
Artists: Mladen Bizumic, Cäcilia Brown, Andreas Fogarasi, Sofie Thorsen, Kay Walkowiak, Anita Witek
Venue: Leopold Museum
Date: October 20th, 2017 to February 20th, 2018

This exhibition focuses on contemporary artistic strategies dedicated to exploring and questioning visual culture. Their emphasis is on the construction of visual aspects in art, photography and architecture, as well as in everyday objects. The featured works show that rather than merely establishing facts, documentation is now characterized by an open-mindedness that focuses on the construction of perception and culture.

Image © Anita Witek with kind support of http://letrangere.net/artist/anita-witek

II.

Exhibition: BC21 Art Award 2017
Artists: Judith Fegerl, Anja Ronacher, Toni Schmale, Anne Speier
Venue: 21er Haus
Dates: September 20 to Novemer 19

For the sixth time, the Boston consulting Group (BCG) and the Belvedere are granting the BC21 Art Award. The works by the four artists nominated for the grant are on view at 21er Haus.  There artists are Judith Fegerl (born 1977), Anja Ronacher (born 1979), Toni Schmale (born 1980), and Anne Speier (born 1977), who all live and work in Vienna. The laureate will be chosen at the beginning of October 2017. This exhibition is curated by Luisa Ziaja.

Image: Toni Schmale © Belvedere, Vienna

III.

Exhibition: The Power of Transformation
Artists: Peter Paul Rubens
Venue: Kunst Historisches Museum Wien
Dates: October 17 to January 21

This exhibition shows 70 loans from the world´s foremost collections such as the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Prado in Madrid and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.. Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a star during his lifetime, and he remains a star today. His name is synonymous with an entire period in art history – the Baroque. Masterpieces are shown here in the context of Rubens' preparatory drawings, oil sketches, panel paintings and canvases.

Image: Peter Paul Rubens

Take a tour with Itai in Vienna to discover more!

Madrid Art Guide - September

Exhibition: Stains in the Silence
Artists: Cristina Lucas
Venue: Sala Alcalá 31
Dates: Until November 5th

This exhibition is a reflection whose general axes are history, time and memory, materialized through installations and video projections that delve into concepts such as the use of art as a means of historical research, conceptual poetry or the fascination with time.

The exhibition, curated by Gerardo Mosquera, includes large-format works and is articulated around the video-investigation-installation Ray that does not cease, a work in process of creation that builds a historical account of some air attacks that have caused civilian victims, from 1912 to the present. The piece is being built from the research, a process in which participants participated in the workshop of Madrid 45 (Visual Arts Program of the Community of Madrid) that Cristina Lucas gave last April, as well as a group of students from the Faculty of Geography and History of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. 

Take a tour with Maria in Madrid to discover more!