Summer is here in full force and so is art.
This year is offering a plethora of art exhibitions in the region and around the world that are celebrating various movements, marking anniversaries or exploring the past through the work of pioneering and contemporary artists.
Here are 10 exhibitions not to miss.
Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism, Orsay Museum
It’s the 150th anniversary of the group show that featured the works of Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Cezanne, Degas, Morisot and Sisley which was coined the name of the movement these group of artist started – impressionism.
Paris’s Orsay Museum is marking the occasion with Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism, an exhibition that will bring together 130 artworks from some of these masters to retell the story of the original exhibition and recreate the impact of the works.
In addition to the these works by the impressionists, paintings and sculptures displayed at the official Salon the art exhibition of the esteemed French Academy of Fine Arts during 1874 will be placed to contrast them. This will give context to what art works were considered renowned at the time of the exhibition and offer audiences a chance to contrast and understand why the impressionists were considered so controversial.
Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism is running until July 14 at Orsay Museum in Paris, France
We Are Here, Petit Palais
For the first time, the Paris museum is presenting a comprehensive exhibition of urban artists. Entitled We Are Here, it is a deep exploration of street art.
The exhibition will feature more than 200 works and 13 artists from the street art movement, including Shepard Fairey, Invader, D*Face, Seth, Cleon Peterson, Hush, Swoon, Vhils, Inti, Add Fuel, and Conor Harrington.
We Are Here is running until November 17 at Petit Palais in Paris, France
From Kalila wa Dimna to La Fontaine, Louvre Abu Dhabi
Louvre Abu Dhabi is delving into the genealogy of fables, tracing their parallel emergence in the eastern and western hemispheres and showing how they came together in the 17th century.
The exhibition takes its name from Ibn Al-Muqaffa’s collection of fables, Kalila wa Dimna, which was an Arabic translation and reinterpretation of the ancient Sanskrit work, the Panchatantra. Jean de La Fontaine, meanwhile, was the French poet whose fables drew inspiration from Kalila wa Dimna, as well as from the works of Aesop.
From Kalila wa Dimna to La Fontaine brings together more than 130 artworks, ranging from centuries-old manuscripts to contemporary pieces, showing the impact of fables on culture and society.
From Kalila wa Dimna to La Fontaine is running until July 21 at Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE
Expressionists: Kandinsky, Munter and the Blue Rider, Tate Modern
The Blue Rider group, founded in 1911 by artists Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, was a collective of German expressionists who shared an interest on the spiritual dimension of painting particularly the impact of colour.
The exhibition opened in April and features more than 130 works which examine how the group impacted the art world, acting as pioneers to and laying foundation for abstraction.
Expressionists is running until October 20 at Tate Modern in London, England
When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, Kunstmuseum Basel
This comprehensive show brings together works by 120 artists and their depictions of black figures over the last 100 years.
The title of the exhibition was inspired by the Netflix mini-series When They See Us by Ava DuVernay which focused on how black youth are seen as a potential threat. Replacing “they” with “we” doesn’t only create a shift in perspective but also gives agency back to black artists to tell their own narratives.
The exhibition will showcase more than 150 pieces and focus on how the artists used their lived realities as a subject in their work. The exhibition is categorised into six themes; The Everyday, Joy & Revelry, Repose, Sensuality, Spirituality, and Triumph and Emancipation.
When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting is running until 27 October in Basel, Switzerland
Beyond Fashion, Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery in London is celebrating the style and medium of fashion photography through the works of the some world’s most distinguished artists.
Divided into four sections: Allure, Fantasy, Realism, and Surrealism, the exhibition has photographs by Nick Knight, Peter Lindbergh, Viviane Sassen, Paolo Roversi, Miles Aldridge, and Ellen von Unwerth which demonstrate how fashion photography has evolved.
From the presentation of products as a commercial device to a vehicle which explores and reflects many facets of realty in creative and impactful ways, Beyond Fashion will take viewers through the various styles of fashion photography.
Beyond Fashion is running until September 8 at Saatchi Gallery in London, England
At the Edge of Land, Jameel Arts Centre
At the Edge of Land was first presented in Jeddah’s Hayy Jameel and has now moved to the gallery located in Dubai's Jaddaf Waterfront, with a few additional artworks added.
The exhibition features works by 20 international artists that reveal connections and tensions between landscapes and trade, moving from land to sea. The works touch upon the catastrophic effects of illegal sand mining. It looks at the fate of decommissioned ships and the unexpected ways its materials find new uses.
The works are thoughtfully curated, with pairings that gracefully zoom in and out of these different issues, making for a thought-provoking exhibition.
At the Edge of Land is running until September 29 at Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, UAE
Drawing Time: Duets, Sharjah Art Foundation
The Sharjah Art Foundation is presenting several new and rarely-seen acquisitions in Drawing Time: Duets. The exhibition highlights the significance of drawing as an artistic discipline, ultimately going on to challenge preconceptions held against works on paper.
The exhibition brings together works by 15 Arab and international artists. Through careful pairings, the show explores how drawing as a practice pivots on self-reflection and self-affirmation, in both individual as well as collective contexts.
Drawing Time: Duets is running until August 4 at Al Mureijah Art Spaces in Sharjah, UAE
Floating Homes, Musee Gallo-Romain Villa Loupian
Floating Homes is an exhibition in a Roman-era farm villa in southern France that delves into the process of homemaking in the face of displacement, evoking thought-provoking points surrounding architecture and archaeology in the process.
The exhibition by Syrian architect Sammy Zarka features model homes displayed throughout the ancient villa. The models were built based on interviews Zarka conducted with the Syrian community in Loupian and its surrounding areas. Along with the transcribed interviews printed on the exhibition booklet, detail stories of displacement dating back to the early 20th century.
Floating Homes is running until October 7 at the Musee Gallo-Romain Villa Loupian in France
Golden Spider Silk, Museum of Islamic Art in Doha
Golden Spider Silk is dedicated to the fascinating history and properties of one of the rarest types of silk. The exhibition is presenting four works woven from the silk of golden orb-weaver spiders, which are indigenous to Madagascar and prized for their gold-coloured webs.
Among the works presented is a cape that utilises silk from 1.2 million spiders, taking 6,000 hours of embroidery to complete. The works are on display in the Middle East for the first time. They come as part of a project by Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley, who led a team in Madagascar to harvest the silk.
Golden Spider Silk is running until July 6 at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar
