The last 7 highlights of December have arrived to say goodbye to 2021. A year to be reborn, to fight hard for better years, and art has been very present every day. Uniting for a passion, making us express and reflect on everything we live.
The street artist Banksy returns to our recommendations, as he appeared at the MoCo Museum. This time with an exhibition exclusive to him, with his protests for social equality. The Christmas season is already upon us, and we can enjoy the classic activities. And the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew and the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site have already lit up their souls through the lights. On the other hand, the Art Basel Fair returns to Miami Beach, and the Artist Experience Fairoffers closeness between art lovers and the artists themselves. How technologies could have a life of their own at Tate Modern, and the French art of the 18th century influenced the ideas of Walt Disney, the worlds and princesses he brought to life. Let’s dive into the 7 highlights of December to say goodbye to 2021, and welcome a new year.
Technology with a life of its own
The Tate Modern has hosted the new installation by artist Anicka Yi, In love with the world, the Korean artist’s most ambitious and largest project. Transforming the Turbine Hall, at the heart of the museum, the artist wanted to represent a new vision of the ecosystem in which we live. Her work is based on experimentation and exploration by merging technology and biology. Focusing his idea on breaking the distinctions we have between plants, animals and new technological tools. In this way, he wants to bring a reflection on how the elimination of these distinctions affects our understanding as humans.
The installation of In love with the world at Tate Modern
For this new work, Yi wondered what a natural history of machines might look and feel like, how to imagine that in a future robots might evolve by having life. Thus, moving through the air, his floating machines, called aerobios, invite visitors to think about it. Its two concepts are the xenojellies and the planulae, the former, in the shape of a jellyfish, with a semitransparent body and tentacles. The second, covered with short yellowish hair. Both are filled with helium and powered by batteries. Their shapes refer both to the life found in the ocean and to fungi. Reflecting the different roles and complexities that exist in ecosystems;
Anicka Yi, author of her most ambitious project to date. With concerns and questions about the technological future that awaits us.
This proposal and creation allows the artist herself to imagine the many possibilities that artificial intelligence offers, and how good its good use would be for our future. In addition to the installation, Anicka Yi is very conscious of good air policies, trying to maintain it for the good of the planet. In this way, she approaches scent as a means to subtly change visitors’ perceptions. Since Tate Modern, the artist has created unique olfactory landscapes, evoking scents linked to specific moments.
Hanging from the ceiling, the two created robotic species move around the space while visitors observe and get to know the artist’s idea.
For example, marine scents related to the Precambrian period, before humans arrived, or the smell of coal and ozone in the machine age of the 20th century. As the smells change, the behaviors and interactions of aerobes respond differently. These kinds of projects are very curious, and in them we can see how artists’ minds are capable of going much further than we think.
When?:October 12 to January 16, 2022
Where: Tate Modern, Bankside, London
Orning hours: Monday to Sunday from 10.00h to 18.00h
Tickets: You can purchase the tickets here
The vindicative art of Banksy
The groundbreaking art of Banksy returns to us, this time at the Disseny Hub Barcelona. The exhibition Banksy. Art of Protest brings us uniquely close to the universe created by this mysterious artist who represents many people. The chosen themes make the art a protest for this unequal world, and it is able to connect with a wide audience. Within it we can enjoy more than 70 works, from various international private collections, exhibiting many works that had not been presented in the city, and many others that see the light for the first time. All of them, created with different artistic techniques: oil, spray on canvas and wood, limited edition serigraphs, sculptures, videos, photographs, etc.
A multimedia installation is the one that provides visitors with a fully immersive visit, which facilitates its exhibition. Representing the most illustrious works of Banksy, and his journey in the art world. A trajectory that has received since its inception praise and controversy, as the English artist represents in his paintings everything that surrounds us and makes us want to reflect.
The globalization, political power, inequalities or wars. Everything that we human beings create, and that are killing us by selfish acts. Alexander Nachkebiya, curator of Banksy. Art of Protest considers that the artist is brilliant at this time because his work is a great challenge:
We want every visitor to this exhibition to be able to work out for themselves who Banksy really is: a genius or a hooligan, an artist or an entrepreneur, a provocateur or a rebel? This new exhibition aims to show the depth of Banksy’s talent, its multiple layers and dimensions. His work, always current and very complete, delves into the soul of each of us.
From left to right: Pissing Guard and Out of Bed Rat, on display at the entrance of the exhibition.
On the occasion of this contemporary art exhibition, Pissing Guard and Out of Bed Rat, two large-scale original pieces that were located in London and Los Angeles, are exhibited in the lobby. In addition, to complement the visit, the exhibition has an audio guide, available in Catalan, Spanish and English, providing information about each work and information about the artist.
When?:From November 12
Where: Disseny Hub Barcelona, Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes 37-38, Barcelona
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00h to 20.00h. Monday closed
Tickets: You can purchase tickets here
Millions of lights illuminate Kew Garden
For the ninth consecutive year, the magnificent Christmas lights return to London at Kew Garden. December, despite being the last month of the year, and with cold temperatures, we always keep it in mind with luminous colors and familiar warmth. This 2021 the Botanic Garden has new installations and shows, which illuminate the Temperate and Palm House at Kew. As well as featuring for the first time a collaboration with video design studio Novak. The latter, offers a combination of video design, projection mapping and light to bring botanical illustrations from Kew’s archive to life.
Visitors can pass under the lights that beautifully illuminate the area’s walkways.
Creative house Mandylights has also created a new installation exclusively for Christmas; Spheric, a fifteen-meter-wide dome of light covered by more than 2,000 pixels of LED lights. This experience promises to be a beautiful space, as it is located in a reflecting pool, and allows visitors to immerse themselves among the lights reflected in the water. In addition to having Aurora, a 200-meter-high installation that recreates the beautiful aurora borealis.
Heritage tree, Jeff Eden. Many are the lights that illuminate, without damaging, the nature surrounding the garden.
The garden invites citizens to tour the colorful botanical world, the neon trees, the star-lit spreading branches or the festive projections celebrating this beautiful season. Up the path of the long walkway, and as a last stop, the Palm House welcomes visitors with stunning projections reflected in the greenhouse. The show is accompanied by classical Christmas music that creates so much nostalgia.
When?:November 17 through January 9, 2022.
Where: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Kew, Richmond, London
Orning hours: Monday to Sunday 16.00h to 10.00h
Tickets: You can purchase tickets here
New Christmas show in the emblematic Sant Pau
The Christmas season is slowly approaching, and with it, the magnificent lights, colors and decorations. And for this December we will be able to enjoy for the first time Els Llums de Sant Pau, a 1.5 km route in the Sant Pau Modernist Site in Barcelona. The architectural work, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, has hosted a decoration that illuminates the nights of the gardens of the former hospital. A fairytale landscape, where Christmas lights are played with, perched among nature and creating incredible luminous figures that delight visitors.
The great facade of the Art Nouveau Site has always been illuminated during Christmas, but this year they wanted to offer visitors a new experience, taking much more advantage of the extensive gardens. In this way, they want to take visitors along the wide path, enjoying every innovative detail they have decided to place. For example, the garden of lasers, a walk of enchantment with music composed exclusively for the occasion. In this way, you just have to let yourself be carried away by the magic of the night in the middle of the city;
The Precinct features light experiences that envelop visitors in a different reality. Michael Clemens
Small lights meticulously decorate the entire room, creating a calm and cozy atmosphere.
These Christmas decorations were started in England in 2014, two years later they were taken to Germany, and it has been so successful that they have been gradually expanding to different cities and countries. And this year, Barcelona has been able to bring it. This 2021 has been a new beginning for everyone, and ending it together with all those we love is important. We do not need much more, a beautiful place to stroll quietly with friends or family. In addition to being able to enjoy thousands of points of light that illuminate the night.
When: November 22 to January 9, 2022
Where: Recinte Modernista Sant Pau, Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona
Schedule: Monday to Sunday from 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm
Tickets: You can purchase tickets here
Strengthening ties between artists and art lovers
The Carlos Amberes Foundation in Madrid is hosting the fourth edition of the International Contemporary Art Fair, Artist Experience, at the beginning of December. This edition is presented with more than 70 national and international artists, and the proximity of the visitors with the artists continues to be the main element. From the fair they are very aware that intermediaries are not necessary, that the one-on-one with the artist himself transmits much more purity and you can better connect with the idea and inspiration.
Interior of the different sections where the artists are posed.
The artists and galleries sell their creations directly to the public, creating a loyalty, approaching those who still do not know you but want to know. The exhibitions are presential, distributed by each room that is inside the enclosure. As well as at digital level we also find Artist Digital Fair, due to the continuous technological innovations and new platforms that are being used. Counting on various digital tools such as virtual exhibitions, dissemination in social networks or specialized marketing both in the promotion of artists and the proximity of visitors;
Alain Cugnenc’s work, where the artist reflects the use of the human anatomy as another instrument. The hands, which for the artist represent an important means of communication
This essence that they want to transmit from Artist is very basic, but in many occasions it is not offered. Connecting the figure of the artist with the visitor, not only aimed at those collectors but also for those curious who want to know for the first time a little more about art. In this new edition, the public can also enjoy the Rubens painting, owned by the Carlos de Amberes Foundation. In addition, the fair offers a new experience, Fusion Art, a mix of pure art accompanied by live music, and Gourmet experience, where the culinary delights will not leave anyone indifferent.
When?:December 1 to December 5.
Where: Fundación Carlos Amberes, Calle de Claudio Coello, 99, Madrid
Schedule: Wednesday to Sunday from 9.00h to 20.00h
Tickets: You can purchase tickets here
America’s largest art fair returns to Miami Beach
Art Basel returns to Miami after a year’s hiatus, and arrives loaded with energy, art and novelties. This new edition brings together 253 international galleries, with works of art of great quality including photographs, digital works and paintings. This fair is the largest in the Americas, and includes a wide diversity of galleries from 36 countries. In this way, they exhibit works of all kinds that transmit their own culture. The exhibition features 43 exhibitors participating for the first time, such as First Floor Gallery Harare, Rele Gallery or Fridman Gallery.
In addition to showing works in the different sectors: Galleries, Positions, Nova, Survey and Edition, 16 large-scale artworks will also be on display in Meridians. On the other hand, visitors will also be able to enjoy 25 curated exhibitions as part of the Kabinett sector, as well as 10 panels in Conversations.
The back of Jacqueline de Jong’s existence, double-sided painting
The Meridians section, after the great success it achieved in 2019, returns for the second time with large-scale projects, offering artists to show their work by pushing the boundaries. They want, in this way, to be introducing novelties, leaving aside the traditional form of exhibition. Including large-scale sculptures and paintings, video projections and live performances. This year will also be curated by Magalí Arriola, director of the Museo Tamayo, who did it last time. Arriola states: .
Many of the works included in Meridians question traditional representations of class, race and power in order to resist social conventions and bridge the physical and cultural boundaries that have emerged in our society in recent times.
We find as highlights within the section the work Sumptuous Memories of Plundering Kings by Todd Gray, presented by David Lewis. 14 parts over 9 meters in length that explores the history and impact of European colonialism, slavery and the African diaspora. Or Moving Up by Yinka Shonibare, an installation presented by James Cohan Gallery that presents the displacement of six million African Americans from rural Southern states to Northern cities, the Midwest between 1916 and 1970.
Moving Up by Yinka Shonibare, reflecting the well-known Great Migration.
Roberts Projects by Ghanaian artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. A series of new paintings that explore the relationships between identity, materiality and race.
Considering the large-scale meeting of physical and digital platforms, this editionwill adopt a hybrid format. As they did in Basel and Hong Kong, they will live stream the exhibition with the online Presentation Rooms program. In this way, everyone will be able to take the tour virtually, listen to live talks without being present and follow the transmissions on social networks.
When?:December 2 to 4
Where?:Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach
Schedule: Thursday and Friday from 11.00h to 19.00h. Saturday from 11.00h to 18.00h
Tickets: You can purchase tickets here
French art of the 18th century inspiring Disney
“If you can dream it, you can make it.” Walt Disney dreamed it and captured it, and almost a century later, his legacy and creativity continues to be present in animations. To end this 2021 surrounded by magic, The Met will exhibit Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts, an exhibition that will analyze how European decorative arts inspired Disney in his works. As main elements, the films: Cinderella, where they included Gothic Revival architecture, Sleeping Beauty, and the medieval influence, and Bella and the Beast, with Rococo inspiration.
During the tour, visitors will enjoy sixty works of 18th-century European decorative arts and design, from tapestries to Boulle clocks to Sèvres porcelain. All of this, presented alongside 150 works of art produced by the Animation Research Library, Walt Disney Archives, Walt Disney Imagineering Collection and The Walt Disney Family. For Max Hollein, French director of Marina Kellen at The Met, great decorative artworks that inspired can be seen in the animated films.
Eighteenth-century artisans and 20th-century animators alike sought to ignite feelings of thrill, awe and wonder in their respective audiences. Through exquisite Disney objects and artifacts, this exhibition will provide an unprecedented look at the impact of French art on Disney Studios productions from the 1930s to nearly the present day.
Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in Disney’s trajectory thematically and chronologically, with the Beauty and the Beast section being the most extensive. Starting the experience with the works Dumb Symphonies and The China Shop, in which porcelain figures are found, connecting those of Meissen and Sèvres during the 18th century. In Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, the Germanic influence, or the Sleeping Beauty with medieval sources.
Sèvres porcelain, very characteristic of the designs that appear in the animations. Reminiscent, above all, of princess castles.
In addition to analyzing the sources that influenced the creation of the animations, at the end of the visit, you will also be able to observe the architecture that they devised in their buildings. The castles are elementary points in the stories, having the French and German style as a reference. Everything perfectly detailed for those who entered that world to feel inside it. Fantasy, magic and dreams, among fairy tale characters.
When?:December 10 through March 6, 2022.
Where?:The Met Fifth Avenue, New York City
Schedule: Sunday to Tuesday and Thursday from 10.00h to 17.00h. Friday and Saturday from 10.00h to 21.00h. Wednesday closed
Tickets: You can purchase tickets here
Images courtesy of Tate Modern, Banksy Exhibition, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Els Llums de Sant Pau, Artist Experience, Art Basel, The Met .
