We are back again with seven artistic and cultural proposals to enjoy during the month of September. Among them we find virtual reality experiences, the legacy of a great couturier or the contemporary art of the moment.
We begin the 7 art highlights for September with Barcelona and how it brings the city of Pompeii to life through the immersive experience Pompeii and the last gladiator, while in Ibiza, the artist Jonny Niesche exhibits his work _ness at Fundación La Nave Salinas. Sculptor Ron Mueck arrives at Fondation Cartier with a giant installation, offering to reflect on ourselves. On the other hand, photographer David Lachapelle exhibits his representation of the Last Supper. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death, the Museé Goya Castres compares his likeness to Goya. Meanwhile, a piece of Coco Chanel’ s great legacy is on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
A mirror between Goya and Picasso
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the Malaga painter Pablo Picasso, and hundreds of institutions around the world are presenting exhibitions and events in his memory. The Goya Museum in Castres is exhibiting Goya in the Gaze of Picasso, a journey that explores the influence that Goya may have had on Picasso. The exhibition includes 35 works and is divided into three sections: Corrida de Pasión: suertes y arena, Monsters and Death.
The artist from Malaga was impressed by Goya’s paintings when he was very young, and in fact, his French friends nicknamed him Little Goya.
At the beginning of the tour, bullfighting is presented as a common element between the two artists. The struggle between man and bull, representing the anguish between life and death. And from the figure of the wild animal comes the mythological Minotaur, and Picasso’s use of it, a beast that expresses fear, just like Goya’s disturbing symbols in works such as Les Disparates. The final section brings together Goya’s Still Life with Lamb’s Ribs, Loin and Head, and Picasso’s Still Life with Ram’s Head. The two are placed side by side to compare the representation of death.
When? From 30 June to 1 October 2023.
Where: 1 Rue de l’Hotel de ville, Castres, France
Opening hours: From 10.00h to 19.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Pompeii revives in Barcelona through virtual reality
In 79 AD the fury of Mount Vesuvius buried the city of Pompeii under metres of ash and stone, but this year, the Museu Marítim de Barcelona has brought the immersive experience Pompeii and the last gladiator back to life. Masked with virtual reality goggles, you travel back in time following in the footsteps of the gladiators of the time. Through the 360-degree experience, you can see the fighters’ cells, the free time, the theatre and the baths. Living in first person the daily life of the inhabitants of Pompeii.
The experience is divided into different rooms: Gladiators and their combats, The world of the gladiators, The baths and The games. It also has 150 original pieces from the Archaeological Museum of Naples, objects such as daggers and swords of the gladiators, as well as the clothes they wore. At the end of the journey you arrive at the Arena to battle against a giant elephant, and you end in the same way that the city was silenced, with the eruption of Vesuvius, experiencing it in a very realistic way. As if the ashes were really going to bury you.
When does it take place? From 1 June to 15 October 2023.
Where? Av. de les Drassanes s/n, Barcelona
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 10.00h to 20.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
David LaChapelle and his art of uniting history and street culture
The American photographer David LaChapelle is exhibiting five of his works at the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum, of which Jesus is my homeboy (2003) is the central one. Jesus, the son of God, is portrayed in The Last Supper, but in a totally different setting from the one depicted in the Bible. LaChapelle depicts his version in a totally urban setting, with rappers as the disciples who worship him. Within the series, the works project moments of Jesus in an ironic and extravagant manner.
From left to right: Lactress Uma Thurman, and one of the works from the Awakened collection.
Images from Nature’s Naked Loveliness and Awakened series complete the exhibition, and in the second collection, the representation of faith is once again present. On this occasion, inspired by the universal flood, with people submerged under water who find enlightenment. In addition to the portrait of the actress Uma Thurman, who starred in the film Kill Bill, directed by Quentin Tarantino. LaChapelle has become a photographic artist who exhibits in major museums and galleries, as well as a great creator bringing together history and street culture.
When will it take place? From 23 June to 19 October 2023.
Where will it take place? Universitätsstraße 2, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 09.00h to 17.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Jonny Niesche’s small universe of art in Ibiza
This summer the Fundación La Nave Salinas has chosen the Australian artist Jonny Niesche as the protagonist of its annual exhibition. In the same way that Eva Beresin or Rafa Macarrón had the opportunity to show their works in Ibiza, Niesche presents _ness, two vertical paintings 10 metres high and a horizontal one 20 metres long. The space is designed to create a small universe away from the outside noise. In addition, a characteristic element of the exhibition is that the room is accompanied by the sound of a black hole in the Perseus galaxy, captured by NASA and edited especially for the exhibition.
The huge room features a glossy black floor that highlights and accompanies the installation. Photo: Peter Mochi
The artist confesses that since he was a child he has been attracted to playing with colours and space, hypnotising visitors through reflections and reflective surfaces. Some time ago he abandoned canvas and oil painting in favour of a more abstract style of painting, with influences such as Mark Rothko and John McCracken. As well as artists such as David Bowie, who stood out from the norm with different combinations of make-up. The artist creates his works so that visitors become part of them, look through them, and ultimately see themselves reflected in them.
When does it run? 15 July to 27 October 2023.
Where? Carrer Sa Canal, 2, Ibiza, Balearic Islands
Hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m.
The hyperrealism of Ron Mueck
Australian artist Ron Mueck has arrived at the Fondation Cartier with his monumental installation Mass (2017), a group of sculptures presented for the first time outside Australia. Alongside the pieces, a new work created especially for the occasion is also on display. The exhibition Mass consists of one hundred giant human skulls, and prompts reflection on human existence itself. For the sculptor, the figure of the human head is immediately recognisable, just as it attracts and repels. Moreover, the figures are composed as a group, and not individually, as Ron Mueck usually designs.
Ron Mueck’s Mass is on display in a fully glazed room.
Throughout the exhibition, one of his most recent works, Untitled (Three Dogs), can be seen, three giant dogs that incite to fight and awaken fears, despite being totally petrified. The sculptor is capable of transmitting sensations with small details that provide realism. The same happens with works such as A Girl ( 2006), a giant baby with traces of blood because it has just come into the world. A hyperrealism that reflects the features and everyday life of human beings, but which in day-to-day life we perhaps don’t stop to think about. This is how Ron Mueck arrives, offering the possibility to stop and reflect.
When will it take place? From 8 June to 5 November 2023.
Where? 261, Bd Raspall, Paris, France
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 11.00h to 22.00h
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Coco Chanel’s legacy comes to the Victoria & Albert Museum
This September, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is showing the exhibition Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, dedicated to the great French couturier and her iconic style. The exhibition features more than 200 looks, as well as perfumes, accessories and jewellery, to trace Chanel’s artistic career. From 1910, when she opened her first hat boutique in Paris, to 1971 with the exhibition of her last collection. Exclusive garments will also be on display, as well as outfits that were created for Hollywood stars such as Lauren Bacall.
From left to right: Dress, 1935, Suit, Fall-Winter 1964, Dress, 1935. Photo: Nicholas Alan Cope
The exhibition is divided into eight sections, exploring the couturier’s unique vision in creating fabrics, designs and silhouettes. In addition, her personality and the impact she made on the fashion world at the beginning of the last century will also be reflected. Coco Chanel was able to capture through garments the modern woman who was arriving; combining comfort and elegance. A timeless legacy and style that never goes out of fashion, and is still enjoyed, for example, in recently released films such as Barbie. Actress Margot Robbie, who brought the classic doll to life, wore five Chanel looks during filming.
When? From 16 September 2023 to 25 February 2024.
Where? Cromwell Rd, London, UK
Opening times: Saturday to Thursday 10am to 5.45pm. Friday 10am – 10pm.
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Revealing stories through the camera lens
The Centre Pompidou brings together two photographic collections for the exhibition Corps à Corps, offering a reflection on the human figure in the 20th and 19th centuries. With more than 500 photographs and documents by 120 renowned contemporary photographers, they aim to convey how photography influences identities, and how the same story can be told from very different perspectives. The collections chosen are the public collection of the Musée National d’art Moderne, and the private collection of the collector Marin Karmitz.
From left to right: Nusch Eluard and Ethel Shariff in Chicago
Throughout the exhibition, seven different rooms are visited, beginning the journey by questioning the identity of those portrayed. Between the photographer and what is captured is the camera, and the result of what is seen can have many endings. The frame in which to frame the story is decided by the photographer, and on many occasions there have been controversies; playing with perspective so that something appears or disappears, making gestures or looks invisible , making those who observe the images imagine without certainty.
When will the exhibition take place? From 6 September to 25 March 2024.
Where? Place Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France
Opening hours: Friday to Wednesday from 11.00 am to 9.00 pm. Thursday from 11.00h to 23.00h. Closed on Tuesdays
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Images courtesy of the brands mentioned
