What's on at Europe's Museums
July 7, 2003
Sensual and evocative
Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Paris-born sculptor Louise Bourgeois is internationally acclaimed for her strikingly sensual and allusive sculptures in which the human figure is melded with architecture or dissolved entirely into geometric forms and abstractions. Bourgeois, who moved to New York in 1938, first began her creative career as a painter but then increasingly turned her attention to sculpture deeply influenced by Surrealist ideas of the 1930s. Bourgeois frequently uses glass, wood, steel, marble and latex in her work -- sometimes together in one piece. For the first time Berlin’s Academy of Arts is showing a comprehensive exhibition of the 91-year-old sculptor’s work titled "Louise Bourgeois -- Intimate Abstractions." Twenty-two sculptures and over 90 works on paper from 1943 to 2002 form the core of the show.
Through July 27, 2003, Tuesday to Sunday 11a.m. to 8 p.m.
Blending the old with the new
Design Museum, London
Celebrated Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, who works on the cutting edge of design, craft and technology, juxtaposes the old with the new and antique objects with advanced industrial materials. Regarded as one of the most innovative forces in contemporary design, the 40-year-old is famous for her trademark cleanly-cut cutlery, furniture, ceramics, textiles and utensils. Many of her early designs, fusing traditional and contemporary influences, were manufactured by Droog, the influential Dutch design collective. London’s Design Museum is now showing Jongerius’ multifarious works including the "Silk Menagerie," an installation inspired by a visit to the Hermes’ Silk Archive in Paris.
From July 4 to October 27, 2003; daily from 10 a.m. to 5.45 p.m., and Fridays till 9 p.m.
Galloping art
Museo Archeologico Regionale, Aosta, Italy
Italian sculptor, painter and printmaker Marino Marini (1901-1980) is regarded as one of the forerunners of contemporary Italian art. He studied at the Florence Academy and after 1930 made frequent visits to Paris, where he met other great masters Picasso, Maillol, Braque and de Chirico. After 1948 Marini devoted himself almost entirely to painting and produced several colorful and abstract paintings and prints in which the theme of horse and rider figured prominently. His "Mounted Cavalryman (Guardian of the Town)" is one of his best-known wooden sculptures and reflects the hope and reconstruction of his devastated homeland Italy during the war. The Museo Archeologico Regionale in the northern Italian town of Aosta now pays tribute to Marini’s genius with a large exhibition consisting of about 100 works of art by the Italian artist. Many of the exhibits are drawn from collections in Hamburg, Zurich and Florenz.
Until October 26, 2003; daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
On the country mosque trail
Deutsches Architektur Museum, Frankfurt
Young Ghent-based Belgian photographer Sebastian Schutyser spent more than a year in the late 1990s crisscrossing the Niger river delta district by bicycle and boat, making his way deep into the heartlands of Mali in west Africa armed with his camera. In search of village mosques -- the focal points of the rural communities-- Schutyser steered away from the beaten path and trained his lens on countless lesser-known country mosques. The result is a spectacular black-and-white collection of photographs revealing a surprising diversity of mud edifices that speak of strong architectural creativity. The buildings don’t belong to a bygone era, instead many of the mosques were built or renovated in the 20th century by local craftsmen. The collection is now on show at the Deutsches Architektur Museum in Frankfurt after running successfully in Paris last year.
Until August 3, 2003, Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.