Outdoor art in Dulwich
Dulwich Picture Gallery’s ambitious Open Art project has been years in the making (and fundraising, too). This summer they reached 80 per cent of their £5m target, accompanied by a major breakthrough in the form of site-specific works by Yinka Shonibare and Li Li Ren, joining existing works by Peter Randall-Page and Rob and Nick Carter.
The concept of Shonibare Material (SG) IV is based on its previous Nelson’s ship in a bottle, A work commissioned in 2009 by the Greater London Authority and displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square (it is now in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich), its sails inspired the dynamism of the four-metre sculpture, extravagantly covered in the African (or “Dutch”) wax batik motifs for which the British-Nigerian artist is known. To find the way home is a more interactive work, comprised of five patinated bronze and glass pieces evoking corals and the marine life that thrives among them. Both are part of Open Art’s aim to turn the gallery’s three hectares of outdoor space into one of London’s most dynamic and engaging public sculpture gardens.
Stay: The NoMad is in the heart of Covent Garden, in the former Magistrates’ Court on Bow Street, putting it within walking distance of almost anywhere else you might want to go, from theatres and galleries to shops. The library, where you can grab drinks and snacks, is a cozy spot that’s only open to hotel guests and their visitors. elnomadhotel.comfrom £395
Bourgeois and Doig take Rome
Louise Bourgeois first visited Rome in 1967 and fell head over heels in love with it. Now the city is showing her its love: in its first exhibition dedicated to a contemporary artist, the Galleria Borghese opened last month Unconscious memories, which places 20 of his works in dialogue with its own permanent collection, some of which are more than four centuries old. The curatorship has created surprising, sometimes uneasy, encounters between the colossal surrealist rawness of his work and the brilliant, restrained formality of Canova, Bernini, Nicolas Cordier and much older Roman sculpture.
Unconscious memories at the Borghese Gallery
Date: Until 15 September
Click: galleriaborghese.benícolali.it
Peter Doig in Sant’Andrea de Scaphis
Date: until September 21st
Click: santandreadescaphis.com
Across town, in the Santa Cecilia del Trastevere neighborhood, Gavin Brown’s Sant’Andrea de Scaphis art space, housed in the small 8th-century church of the same name, is currently displaying a single work on canvas by Peter Doig. There is a lot of movement in this solitary painting, which oddly harmonizes perfectly with the pitted walls, dim amber lighting, and general crumbling splendor of the church’s interior. It is much smaller than the Bourgeois show, but the subject matter and effect—old and new, contrasting but coexisting—are the same.
Stay: Hotel De’ Ricci has much to recommend it: a perfect location just off Via Giulia, easily reached on foot from Trastevere; just eight suites, for whose decoration the owners hired Andrea Ferolla and Daria Reina, local creative directors (and owners of the cult concept store, Chez Dede); a chic velvet-lined pocket bar, Charade; and a wine cellar with 10,000 bottles. hoteldericci.comfrom €454
Exploring time, tides and history in Leros, Greece
“All things become islands before my senses” is a well-known phrase from Passion for solitude, by the Italian poet Cesare Pavese. It is also the name of a fascinating collective exhibition that has been installed in six historical places on the island of Leros, in the Dodecanese, this summer for the exhibition Perasma Art collective. The show juxtaposes the tensions and questions of the passage of time with Leros’s occasionally turbulent history – in particular the early 20th-century Italian occupation that partly shaped its built environment, from art deco facades to rationalist architecture and hilltop fortresses. There are new and existing works on show by 17 artists, and among them some very recognisable names, such as William Kentridge and Enzo Cucchi. It’s a great excuse to book a last-minute getaway – alternatively, it’s an easy half-day trip, by ferry, from any of the neighbouring islands (including Patmos, less than 25km away) or Bodrum on the Turkish mainland.
Stay: Lebanese-American owner of Villa Clara, Marie-Hélène Moawad, brought her beautiful guesthouse concept from Beirut to Leros’ Agia Marina harbour in 2018. Her seven rooms are colourful, sweetly simple and oh-so-chic, with high ceilings and tall French doors, and are worth a visit for their charms. villaclara.frfrom €500
Yinka Ilori lights up Chicago
Art on the Mart is Chicago’s pride and joy, one of the largest permanent digital art installations in the world, displaying original works on the five-acre façade of The Mart, the largest privately owned commercial building in the U.S., on the city’s iconic Riverwalk. Summer typically sees a rotating series of special commissions, and 2024 is the British artist and designer’s turn (and 2024 HTSI Guest Editor) Yinka Ilori MBE. Her AotM work is called Omi Okun – “ocean water” in Yoruba, in homage to his Nigerian roots – and recounts, in a dreamlike and colourful light, his own experience of travelling from London to Margate as part of a Pentecostal ritual. It runs nightly from 9 to 9:30 p.m., alternating with another work that is a collaboration between artist Cory Arcangel and experimental musician Hampus Lindwall: a brilliant homage to Earth, Wind & Fire, a band from his hometown of Chicago.
Stay: Yes, Chicago has its own Soho House and yes, it’s a nice hotel to stay at like other cities – the rooms outweigh the price in size, there are great spaces to drink and eat, plus that all-important rooftop bar and pool. It’s just a mile from The Mart. sohohouse.comfrom $300
Italics presents an artistic panorama in Piedmont
Panorama, now in its fourth year, is an annual traveling exhibition of emerging art created by Italicsa consortium of 70 art galleries from Italy. Its mission is to put art in a provocative dialogue with less-visited places in the country; previous editions have occupied historic sites both secular and ecclesiastical in the town of Monopoli in Puglia and on the island of Procida.
This year, its founders have set out to tour four medieval towns in the Piedmontese region of Monferrato – a metaphor, according to curator Carlo Falciani, for the contemporary visitor’s “meditative path”. The narrative route, laid out for visitors to follow, brings together ancient, modern and contemporary art in historic locations; each town (Camagna, Vignale, Montemagno and Castagnole, all within a couple of miles of each other) has its own theme. Falciani and his team have commandeered churches, private palaces and gardens for the five-day event. Artists on display alongside, and in some cases alongside, sculptures from antiquity and works by old masters include Theaster Gates, Alex Katz and Salvatore Scarpitta. There is nothing like this in Italy and it is worth a detour if somewhere in the north of the country is part of your travels towards the end of summer.
Stay: Relais Sant’Uffizio is a former 16th-century monastery 30 minutes’ drive from Casale Monferrato, with frescoed ceilings, a pretty parterre garden and a large wellness centre with sauna, Turkish bath and indoor and outdoor pools. ldhotelsitaly.comfrom 180€