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 contemporary art of the moment.
We kick off the 7 art highlights for September with Barcelona and how it brings the city of Pompeii back to life through the immersive experience Pompeii and the Last Gladiator, while in Ibiza, 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 depiction of the Last Supper. With the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death, at Museé Goya Castres they compare his likeness to Goya. Meanwhile, a piece of the great legacy of Coco Chanel is on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
A mirror between Goya and Picasso
This 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the Malaga painter, Pablo Picasso, and hundreds of institutions, worldwide, present exhibitions and events in his memory. The Goya Museum in Castres exposes Goya in the eyes of Picasso, a tour where the influence that Goya may have had on Picasso is explored. The exhibition has 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 the tauromaquiais presented as a common element between the two artists. The struggle between man and bull, and representing that anguish between life and death. And from the figure of the fierce animal comes the mythological Minotaur, and Picasso’s use of a beast expressing fear, as well as Goya’s haunting symbols in works such as Les Disparates. In the last section, the works Bodegón con costillas, lomo y cabeza de cordero, by Goya, and Rams’ Head Still Life, by Picasso. The two are joined side by sideto compare the depiction of death. .
When? 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 under meters of ash and stone the city of Pompeii, but this year, the Museu Marítim de Barcelona has brought the immersive experience Pompeii and the Last Gladiator to relive it again. Masked with virtual reality glasses you travel back in time following in the footsteps of the gladiators of the time. Through the 360-degree experience, you witness the cells of the wrestlers, the free time, the theater or the termas. Living in first person the daily life of the inhabitants of Pompeii..
The experience is divided into different rooms: Gladiators and their fights, The world of the gladiators, The baths and The games. It also features 150 original pieces from the Naples Archaeological Museum, objects such as daggers or swords of the gladiators, as well as the costumes they wore. At the end of the journey you arrive at the Arena to battle against a giant elephant, and you end the same way the city was silenced, with the eruption of Vesuvius, living it in a very realistic way. As if the ashes were going to really bury you.
When? 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.
American photographer David LaChapelleexhibits at Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum five of his works, with Jesus is my homeboy (2003), the central one. Jesus, the son of God, is portrayed in The Last Supper, but with a totally different setting than the one marked in the Bible. LaChapelle represents his version in a totally urban setting, alongside rappers as disciples who worship him. Within the series, the works project moments of Jesus in anironic and outrageous manner.
From left to right: Lactress Uma Thurman, and one of the works from the Awakened collection.
The images in the Nature’s Naked Loveliness and Awakened complete the exhibition, and in the second collection, the representation of faith is once again present. On this occasion inspired in the universal flood, with people submerged under waterthat find enlightenment. In addition to the portrait of actress Uma Thurman, who starred in the film Kill Bill, directed by Quentin Tarantino. LaChapelle has succeeded in being an artist of photography who exhibits in major museums and galleries, as well as a great creator bringing history together with street culture.
When? 23 June to 19 October 2023
Where? 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 little art universe in Ibiza
This summer the Fundación La Nave Salinas has chosen the Australian artist, Jonny Niesche, as the protagonist for the annual show. 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 meters high and a horizontal one 20 meters long. The space is designed to create a small universe away from 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 was attracted to play with colors and space, hypnotizing visitors through reflections and reflective surfaces. Some time ago he left aside the canvas and oil painting, betting for a more abstract style of painting, having influences such as Mark Rothko or John McCracken. As did artists such as David Bowie, who stood out from the normative with different makeup combinations. The artist creates his works for visitors to be part of them, to look through them, and ultimately see themselves reflected in it.
When? 15 July to 27 October 2023
Where? Carrer Sa Canal, 2, Ibiza, Balearic Islands
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 12.00h to 20.00h
The hyperrealism of Ron Mueck
Australian artist, Ron Mueck has arrived at Fondation Cartier with his monumental installation Mass (2017), a set of sculptures presented for the first time outside Australia. In addition, alongside the pieces, new work created especially for the occasion is also on display. The Mass exhibition is composed of hundred giant human skulls, and prompts reflection on human existence itself. For the sculptor, the figure of the human head is immediately recognizable, just as it attracts as well as repels. In addition, 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 you can see one of the most recent works, Untitled (Three Dogs), three giant dogs that start to fight and awaken fears, despite being totally petrified. The sculptor is able to transmit sensations with small details that provide realism. As 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 features and daily life of human beings, but that in the day to day perhaps we do not stop to think about them. This is how Ron Mueck arrives, offering the possibility to stop and reflect.
When? 8 June to 5 November 2023
Where: 261, Bd Raspall, Paris, France
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 11.00am to 10.00pm
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
The legacy of Coco Chanel comes to the Victoria & amp; Albert Museum
For 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 jewelry, to retrace Chanel’s artistic career. From 1910, when he opened his first hat boutique in Paris, to 1971 with the exhibition of his last collection. In addition, you will be able to enjoy exclusive garments, 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, which explore the couturier’s unique vision when 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 the garments the modern woman who was arriving; combining comfort and elegance. A legacy and timeless style that never goes out of style, and is still enjoyed, for example, in recently released films such as Barbie. The actress, Margot Robbie, who gave life to the classic doll, wore five looks from the house of Chanel during the shoot.
When? 16 September 2023 – 25 February 2024
Where? Cromwell Rd, London, UK
Opening times: Saturday to Thursday 10.00am 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 Corps à Corps exhibition, offering a reflection on the human figure in the twentieth and nineteenth 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 explained 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, invisibilizing gestures or glances, making those who observe the images imagine without certainty.
When? 6 September to 25 March 2024
Where? Place Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France
Opening hours: Friday to Wednesday from 11.00h to 21.00h. Thursday from 11.00h to 23.00h. Closed on Tuesdays
Tickets: You can buy your ticket here
Images courtesy of the brands mentioned
