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.

NOTEWORTHY NORWEGIAN ART MUSEUMS

Tony Cragg at Kistefos

Norway. For most, the word conjures up images of long summer nights and enchanting fjords. Yes, Norway is all of that. And nature lovers should definitely put it on their must-see list. But, perhaps a bit more unexpectedly, this Scandinavian country can offer just as much to art lovers from around the world. Let’s explore, shall we?

OSLO: WHERE CONTEMPORARY ART AND ARCHITECTURE MEET

The Norwegian capital is having a moment. Stroll along its waterfront and you will find a spectacular modern opera building, an oversized Munch museum dedicated to one of the country’s best known artists, and, a few minutes further away, the spectacular new addition to the Nasjonalmuseet and the small but mighty Astrup Fearnley museum. All different. All worth a visit.

Let’s start in the Bjørvika neighborhood. This is the home of the Norwegian Opera. Though technically, this is not an art museum, the architecture lover in me could not peel my eyes off the beautiful building designed by Snøhetta. Part of the city’s reclamation project, the Opera is built on pylons in the Oslo fjord and extends Oslo's harbor, giving more of the city's waterfront space back to the public. Large windows face the Oslo fjord and allow visitors to peek into studios and interiors. Two sloping ramps on either side invite you to make your way to the building’s roof which is accessible year-round and offers spectacular views. I loved it and I believe you will, too.

Just a few steps away, the new Munch museum towers over the fjord. A truly monumental structure erected to celebrate Norway’s favorite painter, the museum’s thirteen floors leave plenty of room to showcase artifacts from the artist’s own home and walk you through his print making techniques (you can try your hand at it, too). The museum introduces you to Munch’s Norwegian artist contemporaries through the collection of Rolf Stenersen. If you are so inclined, step into the dark moody experiential fusion of music by the black metal band Satyricon and Munch’s art. And then, of course, the main course: Munch’s monumental works and hundreds of his paintings gracing the walls of several floors. Once you see a smaller darker room with heavy guard presence, you know you’ve reached the main attraction: it’s The Scream room. The museum has three, but only one will be on display at any given time. The other two are hiding behind sliding black doors that protect them until it’s their turn to charm visitors. The museum rotates through the paintings on a schedule.

Ready to move to another part of Oslo? Take a quick walk (or hop on one of the trams that are constantly criss-crossing the city center) and get yourself to the Vestbanehallen. This is where you will find the latest addition to Oslo’s rich gallery scene: Nasjonalmuseet for kunst - or the Norwegian Museum for Art and Design. The new building is wonderful in its pulled back, simple design by architect Klaus Schuwerk who worked with Kleihues + Kleihues of Germany and Dyrvik Arkitekter of Norway. Together, they created a spectacular 587,000-square-foot space that is crowned by the temporary exhibition hall with thin translucent marble walls. During the long Norwegian winter nights this Light Hall will glow over the city like a beacon.

As beautiful as the museum is on the outside, it is just as gorgeous on the inside. With more than 500 art objects in over 90 rooms, everyone can find something they love. For me, it was the contemporary design sections (a big surprise, I know!) and the museum’s own Munch collection, including the beautiful painting of his sister and the first copy of The Scream. If you love art and architecture, this is a must for your itinerary.

Still have energy for more? In that case, keep walking along the waterfront to the Astrup Fearnley museum. Tucked away at the end of the Strand promenade, the museum consists of two buildings straddling a small canal. It houses temporary exhibitions as well as the collection of Norwegian businessman and contemporary art collector Hans Rasmus Astrup. The permanent collection is pretty impressive, with works by Matthew Barney, Paul Chan, Trisha Donnelly, Nicole Eisenman, Ida Ekblad, Félix Gonzáles-Torres, Rachel Harrison, Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, Jeff Koons, Glenn Ligon, Bjarne Melgaard, Julie Mehretu, Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman. When we visited, there was also a wonderful show of tapestries by a prominent Norwegian textile artist Synnøve Anker Aurdal. And, if the weather is nice, grab a cold beverage on the museum’s outdoor patio (which also doubles as beach for many Oslo residents!)

KISTEFOS THE AMAZING

The Twist Kistefos

OK. I will admit it. This is the museum that inspired my trip to Norway. I started seeing images of “The Twist” - the intriguing building by Bjarke Ingels’ BIG - in my Instagram feed a few years ago and fell in love with it. And started plotting a visit.

The museum is in Jevnaker, in the woods about an hour away from Oslo. If you time your visit right (we did) , there is a non stop bus that takes you right to the entrance. The bus runs on summer weekends every Thursday through Sunday and it could not be any easier.

The museum is a contemporary art scultpure park. Located at the site of a decommissioned paper pulp mill (complete with a picturesque pond and stream), the park is a veritable “Who’s who” of contemporary art. Walk around and you will find work by Yayoi Kusama, Claes Oldenburg (who sadly left us recently), Olafur Eliasson, Anish Kapoor, Fernando Botero, Carol Bove, Jeppe Hein, Tony Cragg, and others.

The new hero, “The Twist” itself is a sculptural masterpiece. A gallery, a bridge and a sculpture all in one, the building has won several awards for its cutting edge design. The name aptly describes the intriguing architecture of building and inside, you can find outstanding temporary exhibitions (ours was by Paulina Olowska - Her Hauntology), along with many hidden artsy surprises - some of hem even hiding in the bahrooms!

Simply said, I loved everything about Kistefos. The outstanding Oslo museums aside, this was and remains the highlight of my trip. Do not visit Oslo without making a stop here. You will be glad you did.