YAYOI KUSAMA HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT AT THE SERRALVES MUSEUM IN PORTO

Porto. A city best known for its “shabby chic” tiled architecture, vertigo-inducing iconic bridges and countless brands of Port wine from the Douro valley is currently also playing host to a fabulous art show by Yayoi Kusama. The local Serralves museum has organized a show called “YAYOI KUSAMA: 1945 TO NOW” that is on display through the end of September.

It was only natural, then, that I took myself and my fortunately very willing friend to see the show during a recent visit to Porto. The start was not for the faint-of-heart. Long lines stretching round the block almost immediately made us question the wisdom of going on a Sunday (especially on a day that was free of charge for local residents), but fortunately, once the museum gates opened, the line moved quickly and within a few minutes we were inside, ready to see Ms. Kusama.

The show, featuring about 160 works, including paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations, covers Kusama’s avant-garde vision from the 1940s through present time, focusing on the different aspects of her interest in interconnection and reflections on natural cycles of regeneration. You will see videos from the artist’s life, her evolving style of painting and her playful installations - from the iconic yellow pumpkins to a profound childlike joy-inducing black and white dotted infinity room (a nice benefit - unlike during the Zwirner show in New York, the wait time here lasts minutes rather than hours! And yes, you will have a lot of fun. We sure did.)

This exhibition is organised by M+, Hong Kong in collaboration with the Serralves Foundation and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, curated by Doryun Chong and Mika Yoshitake, supported by Isabella Tam.

For those who are craving even more contemporary art, Porto offers its Art District centered around the Rue de Miguel Bombarda that is lined with many smaller galleries - from Presenca gallery on one end to the more commercial Tilsitt gallery on the other end. Other great galleries are sprinkled throughout the city, such as the great Nuno Centeno or Lehmann + Silva. Just make sure you time your visit after the summer holiday when many galleries close.

Where to stay? Porto is a very walkable city (well, if you don’t mind the cobble stoned streets and its hilly landscape - this is definitely a sneaker town, leave your heels at home) so pick an accommodation that is centrally located. We stayed at the Pousada do Porto and loved its quiet room right off the major pedestrian zone.

Bem vindo ao Porto!

Expanding the Kusama Experience: Kistefos Museum

If you’re a fan of Kusama’s work, another breathtaking destination to consider is the Kistefos Museum in Norway. Home to the famous Twist building designed by Bjarke Ingels, Kistefos features a vast contemporary art sculpture park where Kusama’s vibrant works are displayed alongside other renowned artists like Anish Kapoor and Olafur Eliasson. Located in the Norwegian woods, Kistefos offers a unique blend of art and nature, creating an experience that's both immersive and tranquil—much like Kusama’s works themselves. For more details on the museum, check out my post on Kistefos Museum here.

FROM LINES TO MATTER, AKA GENTLE GIANTS AT THE KAMPA MUSEUM

Late summers bring me back to Prague and invite exploration of the local cultural offerings. Today, on my stroll through town, I came across a good one: Vojtech Kovarik’s “From Lines to Matter” show at the Kampa museum.

The show, a collection of monumental paintings centers on ancient myths, gods and goddesses that this young artist shows breaking out of their sizable frames and filling the room with their commanding, colorful presence. The ancient myths re-awaken your interest in antique mythology and the artist helps you by providing an ever so brief glimpse of the story you’re seeing on the canvas. The bright, saturated colors pull you in and you find yourself mesmerized, standing in front of these gentle giants enjoying every moment in their company.

The artist studied drawing and painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Ostrava and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw He won the Critics Prize for Young Painters in 2019 and has been exhibiting extensively abroad since then, building a presence in the international arts market.

The show runs at the Museum Kampa through early September, so if you are in Prague and looking for a late-summer cultural interlude, stop by. I truly enjoyed it.

A CONTEMPORARY EXPERIENCE IN VIENNA

One of my joys is discovering the less well known, contemporary side of places that are more famous for their traditional sights - a modern twist, if you will. Naturally, when I went to Vienna, I had to stay true to that idea. So, let’s venture out to experience this city and its art in a thoroughly contemporary way, shall we?

First stop is hiding in the shadow of one of the best known Viennese monuments - St. Stephan’s church. Just a couple blocks away, you will find the Schwarzwaelder gallery. The first, larger, space is tucked into the third floor of an unassuming old residential building but if you persist and find it (I did, with the help of a friendly local police officer), you will be treated to several rooms filled with distinctly contemporary art. Right now, it is the colorful work of Katharina Grosse titled “Unclarify what Belongs”. I enjoyed the contrasting setting and the bright, bold pieces, and I hope you will, too.

But you’re not done with the gallery yet. No, in fact, if you walk just a block or so, you will find another location, this one on the street level. A smaller venue, for sure, but still showing an interesting piece by Konstanze Stoiber. Just imagine, all that contemporary art within five minutes of the bustling historic centre!

Our next stop is a more recent addition to Vienna’s art scene - the younger sister to the Albertina juggernaut: Albertina Modern. Follow the “ring” from the Opera and within a few minutes and one block detour you will find yourselves at the entrance to the building that houses two venues. Albertina Modern and Kuenstlerhaus. The Albertina ticket will get you access to two shows - the combined graphics and sculpture show of Bruno Gironcoli and Toni Schmale which I thoroughly enjoyed as it makes you appreciate the artists’ imagination and redesign of everyday life. The second show, “The Beauty of Diversity” is more reflective of today’s time and discussions. It’s packed with lots of interesting art, including the works of Cindy Sherman, Amoako Boafo and Sungi Mlengeya whose striking black and white portraits were among my favorites. In short, Albertina Modern is a worthy additional stop on the Viennese art scene.

Another gallery that you may want to add to your list is Galerie Krinzinger that is currently showing the works of Brigitte Kovanz.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the big one - Albertina itself. Luckily for you, the gallery has a spectacular retrospective of the pop art master Roy Lichtenstein on the anniversary of his 100th birthday. You can see more than 90 pieces of Lichtenstein’s work. If you like pop art, you should make the trip. You will not regret it. I enjoyed them all - from the iconic faces to shapes, interiors or even the lesser known black and white works.

So, who’s to say Vienna can only offer traditional art and sights?

BACK TO THE BIENNALE. BECAUSE...VENICE

After years of pandemic-induced shutdown, travel is back in 2022. And so are music festivals, gatherings and yes, the major art shows. The Venice Biennale, naturally, is among them. And let’s be honest. If you are going to dip your toe back in the art show pool, is there a better city than Venice? I think not!

THE RED AND BLACK WORLD OF ANISH KAPOOR

Going to Venice, especially when one has limited amount of time, requires making choices. Do you brave the crowds at the Arsenale and Giardini and see lots of art but little Venice proper? Or, do you explore the many installations that are sprinkled throughout the city and play tourist in-between? I chose the latter.

First stop: Anish Kapoor. His work is shown at two Venetian venues: The Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia in Dorsoduro and at the historic Palazzo Manfrin in Cannaregio. An in-built sight-seeing! Starting in the Dorsoduro gallery courtyard, you’re greeted by a familiar sight, one of Kapoor’s large scale mirrors. Yes, you have come to the right place. Enter the building, however, and a darker Kapoor emerges. It’s here where you encounter the never-before seen Vantablack sculptures. Vantablack is a ground-breaking nano-technology material that absorbs more than 99.8% of visible light, allowing Kapoor to create forms that both appear and disappear before your eyes. According to the gallery, Kapoor’s work probes the idea of darkness as a physical and psychic reality. In life outside the gallery walls, the use of Vantablack also poses some ethical questions about whether a single artist should be the only one with access to this new material. Many disagree.

In addition to the black forms, there are other earlier pigment works, many relying on blood red, rather evocative presentation. Walking through, I definitely felt uneasy. Definitely not art for the squeamish.

From Dorsoduro, weave your way through the winding canals of Venice (if you are lucky, you might pass a little Banksy on the way) to the charmingly delapidated Palazzo Manfrin. This venue impresses right at the entrance. Walk in and you are met with the monumental new work “Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto” protruding from the ceiling. From there, move on to other rooms to explore a triptych of seething silicone paintings, “Internal Objects in Three Parts”, as well as other influential works from Kapoor’s career.

Move through the rooms to find more iconic mirror works that flip and distort the viewer’s expectations of what is before us, ponder the artist’s geometrical works carved from natural alabaster and admire the blue pigment of Kapoor’s early void hemispheres that bring to mind another artist - Yves Klein and his own blue.

In the palazzo’s courtyard, stop by Kapoor’s mechanized work. The spinning red waters of “Turning Water Into Mirror, Blood Into Sky” have a distinctly mesmerizing quality.

BRUCE NAUMAN AT PUNTA DELLA DOGANA AND MARLENE DUMAS AT PALAZZO GRASSI

OK. I will let you in on my secret. This show made it on the shortlist first and foremost because I hadn’t seen Tadao Ando’s renovated Punta Della Dogana gallery during my last visit and I wasn’t going to miss it this time. I am glad I saw it. I love the simple gallery design that creates spaces that breathe and door and window treatments that let in intriguing glimpses of the city and the passersby.

The show at Punta della Dogana highlights both older works and some recent ones and focuses on video installations that Nauman has developed over the last years related to a single channel video from 1968, “Walk with Contrapposto”, in which we see the artist walk in a narrow wooden corridor built inside his studio while trying to maintain the contrapposto pose. If I am honest, however, I liked the Marlene Dumas show at Palazzo Grassi a bit better.

Palazzo Grassi is showing a major monographic exhibition dedicated to Marlene Dumas. The artist’s paintings and drawings, some of them quite in-your-face, were created between 1984 and today. They provoke a range of emotions, from fear and suffering to ecstasy. A few will make you uncomfortable, forcing you to question the world and human relationships around us. But overall, you will be glad you saw the show.

THE (DISAPPOINTING) LUCIO FONTANA AND ANTHONY GORMLEY

Don’t get me wrong. I love both artists and their work. And I was truly looking forward to seeing the show. Unfortunately, in this case, the location did not live up to expectations. Tucked away under the archways surrounding Piazza San Marco, the gallery came with the extra excitement produced by a geyser of water streaming out of the store next door as the piazza was partially covered by water, forcing us to abandon plans to raise a glass at the Florian. The inside of the former Olivetti showroom where the show was held was fortunately dry, but the busy (if interesting) interior did not let the art breathe. Great works, from small sketches and sculptures by Gormley to a few iconic Fontana pieces, were lost in the busy space. I still liked the works, but wished that the curators arranged things differently.

THE (CUTE) AND NON-BIENNALE RELATED ART OF BLUB

Those who know me have come to expect seeing some street art in my posts. And, this being Italy, I was delighted to notice a former Florentine discovery in Venice. Blub (or “Art knows how to swim”) has gained notoriety by creating copies of famous paintings (think Mona Lisa) with the characters “submerged” under water and wearing diving goggles. I loved them when I first saw them a few years back and coming across a couple pieces in Venice was no different. In a way, the “swimming” art fits here even better!

We’ve seen several other shows, including Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity at the Peggy Guggenheim museum and the three-artist show: Danh Vo, Isamu Noguchi, and Park Seo-Bo at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, but perhaps I will cover those later. Now, I am curious about what your favorite shows were! Tell me in the comments. I would love to hear from you.

KUTNA HORA KOOL

If you read Czech guidebooks and are now expecting me to expound on the intricacies of the “bone church”, I am about to disappoint you. Yes, there is one. Yes, I have seen it. No, I am not going to write about it. I have a much better destination in mind.

GASK. WEIRD NAME. SUPER COOL ART CURATION

Lately, I have been really lucky, visiting cool museums in Norway, Belfast and Madrid. Galerie Stredoceskeho Kraje (GASK for short) in Kutna Hora deserves to be mentioned among them. I was impressed by the clever, interesting art curation and the entire gallery setting.

Approaching the gallery from afar, you’d never guess you’re headed for a contemporary art museum. The building that houses this modern and contemporary art gem is—an old jesuit college. A large one, too, making GASK one of the largest galleries in all of Bohemia, with over 3,000 square meters of exhibition space. With its location right next to the beautifully restored gothic church of Svata Barbora, the last thing you’d expect is a contemporary art temple.

Soon, however, the gallery starts revealing its true focus. As you enter the sculpture park, you are greeted by the giant “Bird of Paradise” by Lukas Rittstein. Part bird part repurposed old vehicle, the sculpture is both fun and intriguing. John Chamberlain’s work might pop into your head instantly. Walk on past the rust-colored flower (“Lilie”) by Martin Kocourek and the odd amoeba-like red sculpture (“Socha OF-1”) by Jan Kovarik and suddenly it’s crystal-clear. This place is very contemporary after all.

So, when later on, the internet informed me that the conceptual partner of GASK Open Air is the Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen (another favorite museum and a past subject of this blog) I nodded. But of course!

ULTIMA CULPA

Enter through the doors framed by two larger-than-life lenticular photographs and walk straight into the intriguing “Alley of the Saints” hallway. Right off-the-bat, GASK shows off its contemporary art creds with a whimsical collection of contemporary sculptures and an intriguingly named “Ultima Culpa” show by Kamila B. Richter. The Czech multimedia artist’s paintings - her response to the rapid technology boom—are inspired by faulty, pixelated old Sony Ericsson digital snapshots of classic masterpieces and modern life. Richter translates these flawed snaps into meticulously executed psychedelic large scale paintings. It shouldn’t, but somehow it works and it’s fascinating.

From here, head upstairs. The upper floors house a mix of temporary exhibitions, from a delightful 1930s-1950s textile design and print show that is somehow incredibly contemporary, to a mesmerizing set of Svatopluk Klimeš’s “burnt” images, made with ash and fire and questioning the temporary nature and the Phoenix-like rebirth of the civilization.

The rest of the space is reserved for the permanent collection. This is where the curators are at their best. Someone had the brilliant idea to think about human emotions, everything from joy to fear and loneliness, and organize the art by the emotion is represents. Sculptures among paintings, conceptual pieces next to more classic renderings, all connected through simple, modern graphical signage and clever quotes from old philosophers and modern rock musicians. There is a lot to see yet the art never feels cramped and overwhelming. And you’re intrigued, engaged, and delighted throughout. Both my friend and I absolutely loved it.

On your way out, make sure to stop at the cool and artsy cafe on the first floor and the superbly curated museum gift shop on the ground floor. They are both great.

GASK is located in Kutna Hora, about an hour’s drive from Prague. If you’re in the mood for a fun day trip, I highly recommend it.