CULTURAL BULLETIN | HAPPENINGS | CABANA MAGAZINE

A monthly guide to the events and exhibitions on Cabana's Radar: a global cultural bulletin and a must-read for anyone looking to keep their finger on the pulse of art and design.

BY MILA WOLPERT | HAPPENINGS | 1 AUGUST 2024

[Cut-paper abstraction], Francis Bruguière, photographer, American, about 1927, Gelatin silver print, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Our August Cultural Bulletin has much to offer, even as the art world slows down for the end of summer: a deeply personal David Hockney exhibition opens at London's National Gallery; the Biennale hosts the 81st Venice International Film Festival; The Met presents over 160 rare and precious works from Japan; and a new exhibition in Zurich examines the changing role of museums in the 21st century.

EXHIBITIONS

LONDON, ENGLAND

Hockney and Piero: A Longer Look at The National Gallery

Bern Schwartz / David Hockney, 5 July 1977 / dye transfer print / NPG P1183 / © National Portrait Gallery, London.

As part of the National Gallery’s bicentennial celebration, the museum invites viewers to enjoy this very personal show. Two works by David Hockney will be on display, one depicting his mother and father, and the other depicting his friend, curator Henry Geldzahler. ‘My Parents’ and ‘Looking at Pictures on a Screen’ share a common thread - they both depict Piero della Francesca’s 15th-century painting, ‘The Baptism of Christ’. This show celebrates how David Hockney found inspiration for his artworks by looking at paintings from the National Gallery's collection.

August 8 - October 27, 2024, The National Gallery, LONDON, ENGLAND

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA

Robert Bechtle: Prints and Drawings at the de Young Museum

De Young Museum © Gary Sexton; Courtesy the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

The de Young Museum of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco presents a selection of prints and drawings by Robert Bechtle, American artist and lifelong resident of California’s Bay Area. One of the earliest Photorealists, Bechtle captured local life in extraordinary detail. He worked from personal photographs to document his friends, family, nearby streets, cityscapes, and most notably, automobiles. The works on view, drawn from the Museum’s collection, share a nostalgic quality that contributes to Bechtle’s distinctive style and legacy.

August 10, 2024 - January 5, 2025, de Young Museum, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA

NEW YORK, USA

The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection

The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, 2020; Courtesy The Met.

In East Asian cultures, the arts of poetry, calligraphy, and painting are traditionally known as the “Three Perfections.” The Met presents over 160 rare and precious works from Japan that span nearly a millennium, showcasing the importance and complexity of these three art forms. Highlights from the exhibition include folding screens with poems illustrated on decorated papers, ceramics used for tea gatherings, and striking calligraphy by Zen monks of medieval Kyoto.

August 10 2024 - August 3 2025, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NEW YORK, USA

ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND

WALID RAAD, Cotton Under My Feet: The Zurich Chapter

Walid Raad, Epilogue IX: The Gremlins, 2021; Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg © Walid Raad.

In this exhibition, Kunsthaus Zürich questions the role of museums in the 21st century. Internationally recognized artist Walid Raad approaches questions on storytelling, private versus public collections, and the untold stories and silences of exhibited objects. The exhibition reflects on current shifts in societal values and major challenges facing cultural institutions today.

August 16 - November 3, 2024, Kunsthaus Zürich, ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA

Abstracted Light: Experimental Photography at the Getty Center 

[Cut-paper abstraction], Francis Bruguière, photographer, American, about 1927, Gelatin silver print, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

This exhibition looks at the work of avant-garde photographers from the 1920s to the ‘50s. Artists from this time, like Man Ray, Asahachi Kono, and László Moholy-Nagy, were interested in abstract imagery made with experimental lighting effects. The selection of works on view at the Getty Center demonstrate the artistic interactions among still photography, experimental film, and the mesmerizing time-based artworks by Thomas Wilfred called “Lumia instruments.”

AUGUST 20 - NOVEMBER 24, 2024, Getty Center, LOS ANGELES, CA, USA

SÃO PAOLO, BRAZIL

Fernando Marques Penteado: ARDOR E IRA

Fernando Marques Penteado, Salsa 01, 2017, jeans, hand embroidered dyed curtain, wool, jeans; courtesy the artist and Mendes Wood DM © Kristien Daem.

Internationally acclaimed gallery, Mendes Wood DM, showcases their newest exhibition on Fernando Marques Penteado. The Brussels-based Brazilian artist is known for his work with embroidery, which brings together clothing, accessories, books, and found objects. His sewn works confront human relations and historical matters, permeated with themes like sexuality, homoeroticism, gender, and violence.

August 24 - November 9, 2024, Mendes Wood DM, SÃO PAOLO, BRAZIL

HONG KONG

Lee Mingwei: Sonic Blossom at M+

Lee Mingwei: Sonic Blossom, 2013/2019. Performance view at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Photo: Saul Steed. Courtesy of Art Gallery of South Australia.

Lee Mingwei’s celebrated performative installation comes to Hong Kong’s M+ Museum, filling the galleries with live performances by trained opera singers. Previously held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015, Mingwei’s interactive art presentation is inspired by the artist’s experience of looking after his mother during her recovery from surgery, when they both took comfort in listening to Franz Schubert’s Lieder. A group of Hong Kong-based classical singers will approach M+ visitors and sing from a selection of five chosen Lieder during the Taiwan-based artist’s exhibition, whose practice explores experience and artistic participation.

August 27 - 29 September, 2024, M+, HONG KONG

EVENTS

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA

Conversation at Francis Gallery with Poet Aram Saroyan and Writer Michael Ned Holte 

Photo by Rich Stapleton, Courtesy of Francis Gallery.

Francis Gallery, California, is currently showing an exhibition on Aram Saroyan, the multifaceted artist best known for his minimal poems that sometimes begin and end with a single word. As part of the exhibition, Aram Saroyan: Writing with Colors – which displays six decades of Saroyan’s work, including early sketches and recent paintings and drawings – Francis Gallery will host a conversation between Saroyan and writer and curator, Michael Ned Holte.

August 24, 2024, Francis Gallery, LOS ANGELES, CA, USA

VENICE, ITALY

Venice International Film Festival by La Biennale di Venezia 

Palazzo del Cinema, La Biennale di Venezia, Foto ASAC, Photo by Jacopo Salvi.

Always a highly anticipated event, the Venice International Film Festival, organized by La Biennale di Venezia, will celebrate its 81st edition this month. Held on the Lido di Venezia, the Festival aims to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms - as art, entertainment, and as an industry - while uplifting values of freedom and dialogue.

August 28 - September 7, 2024, Venice International Film Festival, VENICE, ITALY

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

CHART Art Fair 

Exterior View of Charlottenborg Courtyards. Photo by Joakim Züger.

The leading Nordic art fair, CHART, will take over the heart of Copenhagen in Charlottenborg this month for its 12th edition. CHART brings together an art fair, representing leading galleries from the region, with an art book and print fair, an off-site sculptural exhibition at Tivoli Gardens, and a broad public program of talks, performances, and architectural projects.

August 29 - September 1, 2024, CHART, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

PARIS, FRANCE

Jazz à la Villette 

Kenny Garrett © Hollis-King.

The 23rd edition of Jazz à la Villette will host a variety of concerts across several venues in Paris, including events at the Paris Philharmonic. For ten days, the Villette will transform itself into an epicenter of jazz, offering different styles and generations of artists. This year’s roster includes legendary musicians, like Kenny Garrett and Brad Mehldau, as well as new sensations, like R&B singer Mahalia.

August 29 - September 8, 2024, La Villette & More Venues, PARIS, FRANCE