We start the month of February with various new developments in the art world, from immersive exhibitions recalling great local artists to wine and film fairs.
During this month, the Catalan capital hosts the new immersive exhibition of Sorolla, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao welcomes Pop Art. Meanwhile, Madrid remembers the 100th anniversary of the birth of Antoni Tàpies at the Reina Sofía Museum, and Chagall at the Mapfre Foundation. On an international level, the Barberini Museum exhibits a show on the artist Edvard Munch, and the Musée des arts décoratifs exhibits the fashion world of the Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen. In addition, the 74th edition of Berlinare gets underway completing the 7 art highlights for February.
Sorolla comes to life in the Centre d’Art Amatller
After enjoying the exhibition Sorolla. Hunting Impressions at the Palau Martorell, the Valencian artist’s art is brought to life at the Centre d’Art Amatller through an immersive experience. In the same way that 20th century Barcelona, and the figure of the dragon was represented for the inauguration of the new digital space, now the thousand square metres pay homage to the painter. The exhibition narrates the life and works of Sorolla through 360 projections, virtual reality, digital interactions, etc.
Visitors are a key part of the experience, being able to play with the images through digital scans.
The paintings will come to life thanks to the giant screens, and the sea of Valencia will be an essential element in them. The artist portrayed the simplicity of the everyday; children playing in the sand on the beach or women strolling. The exhibition, which was a great success in Valencia, takes visitors on a journey from the beach, where Sorolla usually worked and painted, to the Hispanic Society of America salon. In addition, six digital artists have done their bit to reinterpret Sorolla’ s works, because great art does not die in oblivion.
When will the exhibition be open? From 9 February 2024
Where will it take place? Passeig de Gràcia, 41, Barcelona
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 10.00h to 22.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Berlinale turns on the lights of the world of cinema for another year
This year, Berlin celebrates the 74th Berlinale, kicking off the opening with the film Small Things Like These. The film’s actor Oppenheimer plays a devout father who discovers horrific realities of nursing homes run by Roman Catholic institutions. The competition features notable films such as Alonso Ruizpalacios’ La Cocina, Another End, the musical comedy Gloria and The Empire. Actress Kristen Stewart returns for another year with Love Lies Bleeding, a thriller directed by Rose Glass, and faces such as Adam Sandler’ s Spaceman, Carey Mulligan and Paul Dano are also expected to appear on opening day.
The award winners who collected their bears in the previous edition. Photo: Sandra Weller.
Among the Spanish productions, films such as Alle die Du bist and Memorias de un cuerpo que arde (Memories of a Burning Body ) stand out in the Paronama section. In the Forum category, Anna Cornudella presents her debut feature The Human Hibernation, and Spanish short films and co-productions will make their debut in Generation 14plus and Kplus, consolidating the Spanish presence at the prestigious festival. In addition, eleven Spanish professionals or those living here are taking part in Berlinale Talents 2024, and a unique tribute will be paid with the premiere of a restored version of the film Deprisa, Deprisa, después de la muerte de Carlos Saura.
When will it take place? From 15 to 25 February 2024
Where: Berlin, Germany
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
The reflection between nature and humans by Edvard Munch
For the first time, Edvard Munch ‘s art will be explored for the first time in a less explored facet of his work, his fascination with nature, at Museum Barberini. The exhibition Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth examines the role nature played in his works, and how he was able to connect human existence through it. With more than 110 international loans, the exhibition offers a journey through Munch’s artistic evolution, in which natural catastrophes also play a leading role. From snowy landscapes to storms or quiet summer nights on the beach, the exhibition offers a journey through Munch’s artistic evolution.
At the time when Munch was creating his art, science was making great strides, forging the ideas of the evolution of species or the slow but important changes in the planet. Thus, the artist played with human emotions that change over time, as does nature itself, which is in constant motion. Human figures joined the earth itself, and Munch recreated women and men floating like planets in the infinite universe. On the natural stage, we humans evolve, grow and disappear in a similar way to everything around us. A reflection of who we are, and Edvard Munch captured it perfectly.
When will it take place? 18 November 2023 to 1 April 2024.
Where? Humboldtstraße 5-6, Potsdam, Germany
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 09.00h to 19.00h. Monday from 10.00h to 19.00h. Tuesday closed
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Exploring the fashion world of Iris Van Herpen
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs presents the exhibition Iris van Herpen. Sculpting the Senses, which challenges the classical conception of the body and the relationship with fashion in an ever-changing world. The exhibition features more than 100 pieces by the Dutch designer, all of which are divided into nine different themes. It also highlights her commitment and interest in using more ecological manufacturing methods to care for the environment, for example, by making use of recycled plastic.
From left to right: David Uzochukwu, Hydrozoa Dress, Sensory Seas Collection, 2020. Carla van de Puttelaar, Diverses collections, 2020. David Uzochukwu, Robe Sensory Seas et Robe Nautiloid, Sensory Seas Collection, 2020. Private collection of Iris van Herpen.
Throughout the tour, we can enjoy from her iconic dress printed in 3D in 2010, the presence and importance of water and the origins of life, mythology or the cosmos. In the latter, works by the designer are projected in the universe, where the dresses dance in space. To conclude the show, the exhibition invites visitors to discover and explore van Herpen’s atelier, a cabinet of curiosities with accessories and a room that celebrates the body in movement through videos of fashion shows. A journey worth enjoying to discover innovative perspectives on one of the designers of the moment.
When does it run? From 29 November 2023 to 28 April 2024.
Where: 107 Rue de Rivoli, Paris, France
Opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm. Thursdays from 11.00h to 21.00h. Closed on Mondays
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Chagall’s socio-political commitment
Fundación Mapfre has opened its doors to the exhibition Chagall. A cry for freedom, which recounts his artistic and personal career, and offers a more committed vision of society, taking into account the wars that caused him to go into exile. The exhibition includes more than 160 works, including paintings, watercolours and drawings, as well as 90 documents. Ambre Gauthier, one of the curators of the exhibition, explains that Chagall was associated with the image of a colourful dreamer, but his works had a political background when viewed alongside the writings he left behind.
Chagall’s painting The Cattle Dealer, 1922-1923.
The two world wars in the 20th century provoked a continuous exile, from Russia, France and the United States. In this way, the exhibition has the clear objective of expressing a different vision of the artist, showing the suffering and his thought of freedom and world peace above all else. The figure of Chagall can also be discovered in Barcelona, at the Palau Martorell, where the exhibition Chagall. The colour of dreams until 24 March.
When does it run? From 2 February to 5 May 2024.
Where? P.º de Recoletos, 23, Centro, Madrid
Opening hours: Monday from 2pm to 8pm. Tuesday to Saturday from 11.00h to 20.00h. Sunday from 11.00h to 19.00h.
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Celebrating 100 years of Antoni Tàpies at the Museo Reina Sofía
Completing the 7 art highlights for February, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the artist Antoni Tàpies, celebrated on 13 December, the Museo Reina Sofía opens the exhibition Antoni Tàpies. The Practice of Art. The exhibition includes more than 220 works from museums and private collections, both national and international, as well as loans from the artist’s own family. The selection of works by the Catalan artist traces his artistic career from 1943 to 2012, when he died, reflecting the exploration that Tàpies undertook when creating.
Composition, 1947, Oil scratched on canvas. MACBA Collection.
In the second half of the 20th century, Antoni began to reflect and become obsessed with specific elements and themes, and by choosing to materialise painting on an opaque surface he broke with the classical conception. In this way, he united the material, the form and its conception in one, but he knew how to differentiate each element. When democracy returned to the country after the dictatorship, a new cultural reality began, and with it, Tàpies approached varnish. Meanwhile, in his last twenty years, the themes of death and illness gradually took over the artist’s works.
When will the exhibition take place? From 21 February to 24 June 2024.
Where? C. de Sta. Isabel, 52, Centro, Madrid
Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10.00 am to 9.00 pm. Sunday from 10.00h to 21.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
A contemporary look at mass culture
Pop art returns to the stage in the exhibition Signs and Objects: Pop Art in the Guggenheim Collection, featuring 40 works by the most important and representative artists of the movement. Pop art arrived in the United States after World War II, exploiting popular culture. Figures of the time such as Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein and Rosenquist revolutionised the art world, replacing classical art with a totally groundbreaking one. Advertisements, magazines, comics and shop windows became elements of inspiration, and Warhol, for example, began to use silkscreen printing.
Miguel-Ángel Cárdenas El Espinal, Colombia, 1934-Amsterdam, 2015 Pareja verde (Green Couple), 1964 Wood, PVC, plastic and metal
Throughout the exhibition, visitors will be able to enjoy works created on the basis of consumerism and capitalism, referencing commerce. In addition, they also present monumental works, such as Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen‘s Volante suave , one of the 40 large-scale projects they carried out between 1976 and 2009. Today, artists such as José Dávila and Lucía Hierra continue to expand the legacy of pop art, reflecting on how consumerism changes the way we enjoy art.
When? From 16 February to 15 September 2024.
Where? Avenida Abandoibarra, 2, Bilbao
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 10.00h to 19.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Images courtesy of the brands mentioned
