05.07.2012 / Arts & Culture
A summer of art
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
On the occasion of the upcoming Olympic Games, the British Museum celebrates this major event with an exhibition devoted to Victory and the Olympics world, featuring ancient Greek and Roman statues – including the Auriga di Mozia (fifth century b.C.), exceptionally borrowed from Sicily. For the first time, the Museum exhibits a work which does not belong to its own collection. Later on, the medals from this year’s edition of the Olympics will be on display as well.
Winning the Ancient Game, London – The British Museum, until September 9
ART OR BAD TASTE?
Kitsch; the world of bad taste is the title of a famous 1968 book by Italian art critic Gillo Dorfles. This exhibition revolves around the kitsch world by hosting artists who somehow quoted kitsch style in their works or deliberately created kitsch works, including Luigi Ontani. One of the rooms is entirely devoted to Rudy Van der Velde, born Dutch and now a naturalized Italian citizen, whose works assemble everyday objects with playful irony. The exhibition concludes with the works of unknown artist who put themselves to the test with kitsch.
Gillo Dorfles, Kitsch, Triennale, Milan, until August 26
ARABIA IN JAPAN
In order to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Kingdom of Bahrain, for the very first time in its history Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting an exhibition devoted to the Arabic art, which has become pretty popular worldwide in the latest years. The exhibition features the works of some 34 artists.
Arab Express – The Latest Art from the Arab World, Tokyo, Mori Art Museum, until October 28
SILENT AMERICA
In collaboration with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux de France, Madrid’s Museo Thyssen – which owns the largest collection of works by Edward Hopper outside the United States – celebrates the complex and fascinating work of this artist. The exhibition is split into two of sections, the first featuring drawing, sketches and prints from Hopper’s early career, and the second exhibiting his proper works from 1925 to the most successful years, when Hopper’s art became more and more realistic depicting isolated and gloomy characters.
Hopper, Madrid, Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, until September 16
FROM SKETCHES TO WORKS
During the last 20 years, the MET has acquired a nice collection of drawings by Central-European artists, most of which come from the Robert Lehman Collection. At the heart of the collection are Albrecht Dürer and his contempoararies, as well as artists from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This exhibition puts them on display with the aim of showing the creative process behind every work of art, a process which starts precisely from a sketch or a drawing. A very unusual and interesting point of view indeed.
Dürer and Beyond, New York, Metropolitan Museum, until September 3
[Gloria Lucchese]
Picture: Felipe Cardeña, Betty la nera, 2010, detail.
Links
http://www.mori.art.museum/english/contents/arab_express/about/index.html
http://www.triennale.it/it/mostre/future/1118-gillo-dorfles-kitsch-oggi-il-kitsch
http://www.museothyssen.org/en/thyssen/exposiciones_actuales/88
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/list/ings2012/durer-and-beyond
