Summer 2016: our guide to seaside exhibitions

What better season than summer to spend time wandering around in an exhibition ? To our greatest pleasure, many museums, foundations and galleries throw great exhibitions during the summertime. Why not indulge ? To do so, here is a selection of exhibits that are happening this summer in destinations vacationers love to escape to…

{Bordeaux : « Graffiti Art, tableaux de légende 1970-1990″ at the Bernard Magrez Institute}

Up to the end of September, the Bernard Magrez Institute will be exhibiting the Gallizia Collection, which essentially includes artworks of the “Love” and “Vintage” collection, from the funds of the same name. The “Vintage” collection will make you travel back in time to discover the very beginnings of graffiti art in the 70s, with never seen before paintings of masters of the genre such as Blade and JonOne. Contrary to what most people think, graffiti was born in workshops long before street art even saw the light of day… Here is a beautiful retrospective that testifies this forgotten history !

{Nice : Ernest Pignon-Ernest at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMAC)}

A pioneer of urban art in France, Ernest Pignon-Ernest transformed streets with his life-sized characters all the way to South Africa. In this retrospective he designed himself, you will have the chance to discover his sketches and preparatory works  – Pignon-Ernest creates all his artwork with charcoal to then make copies by serigraphy. Discover the creative process of the artist behind the little “Rimbaud” !

{Barcelona : « PUNK. Its trace in Contemporary Art » at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA)}

The punk movement was an anti-establishment cultural movement born in Great Britain in 1975. More provocative than their predecessors the hippies, the followers of this counter-culture and their beliefs inspired many artists. For this exhibition in which an array of mediums meet, the MACBA brought together the works of not less than 60 artists. More than enough to convince of the punk movement’s heritage in contemporary art…

{Lisbonne : José Escada Retrospective at the Gulbenkian Foundation}

The Modern Collection of the Foundation presents the first retrospective of José Escada, a modern Portuguese artist whose lifetime work is as prolific as varied. Neither abstract nor figurative, most of his pieces fall right at the limit between these 2 movement of modern art, which results in a rather unique set of artworks.

{Athènes : Ai Weiwei at the Cycladic}

It is the first time that Ai Weiwei exhibits in Greece, and furthermore in an archeological museum. He chose to present his artworks amongst the museum’s antique collections in order to allow a dialogue between the ancient artefacts and his contemporary pieces. Since 2015, Ai Weiwei has a studio in Lesbos where he produces works that shed light on the current refugee crisis. A meaningful way to give a fresh breath of life to works of the past and question the present at the same time…

{Marseille : “Street Art Show” at Galerie Saint-Laurent}

For the this third edition of the “Marseille Street Art Show”, 10 French urban artists fill 700 m2 of space with workshop pieces on mediums of all sort. Every year, 2 guest artists whose styles or processes associate them to street art are also invited to take part in the show. Street art means walls… This event will also showcase a big mural (150 m by 6 m) created by all of the present artists.