Traveling to art

The best addresses for this year's art summer!

Summer at last, finally long days and balmy evenings that are best spent outdoors - our art columnist Jörg Bertram agrees, revealing some of his favorite open-air addresses and the highlights of this year's art summer in this issue of his art column.

summer.frische.kunst in Bad Gastein

From the "Monaco of the Alps" to the "Mecca of Art"? Bad Gastein is not quite there yet. What is certain, however, is that the festival sommer.frische.kunst has been attracting an ever-growing audience to the Salzburg Belle Époque town for 15 years now. I am looking forward to the anniversary exhibition at the Kraftwerk am Wasserfall with exhibits by Jorinde Voigt, Gerwald Rockenschraub, Clemens Wolf and many others. No less worth seeing: the exhibition project "Gastein74 about Garstenauer", which is spread across several locations and deals with the brutalist buildings of the architect Gerhard Garstenauer, who shaped the townscape.

www.artbadgastein.com

"Can you still?" at Herrenchiemsee Castle

Even art is sometimes ripe for the island - especially when it's such a magnificent island as the Bavarian Herrenchiemsee! Actually known for its castle, which was built by fairytale king Ludwig II in the style of Versailles, this summer the island is also home to a very worthwhile special exhibition by the Munich "Sammlung Moderne Kunst in der Pinakothek der Moderne". On display are around 50 works by artists such as A. R. Penck, Joseph Beuys, Francis Bacon, Inge Mahn and Maria Lassnig, all of whom deal with fundamental democratic values such as freedom, self-determination and human dignity. The exhibition "Can you still? Art & Democracy", which can be seen until October 12, also refers to the constitutional convention that took place on Herrenchiemsee in 1948. Tip: In midsummer, be sure to book the "Complete Island Ticket" with a guided tour of the castle in advance and also plan time for the impressive park!

www.herrenchiemsee.de

William Kentridge in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Not only "very British, indeed", but also full of art: The approximately 200-hectare Yorkshire Sculpture Park is located on the Bretton Hall Estate in West Yorkshire and is considered the largest open-air sculpture park in Europe. Perfect for a picnic surrounded by works by Henry Moore, Damien Hirst, Erwin Wurm and many other contemporary artists. This year's solo exhibition is dedicated to the South African William Kentridge, born in 1955, who is known above all for his multimedia approach. You can therefore look forward to colorful works behind dark green yew hedges as well as huge bronze works that correspond with the expansive Yorkshire landscape or films that are shown on 20 m long screens. William Kentridge: The Pull of Gravity can be seen until April 26, 2026.

www.ysp.org.uk

Helsinki Biennale

Fancy a summery and artistic trip to the far north? Then the Helsinki Biennale, which runs until September 21, is just the thing for you! The works of around 35 local and international artists will be on display. The special thing about it: the exhibition locations are not only spread across the archipelago of the Finnish capital and in some cases only accessible by ferry boat, but half of the exhibits have even been specially commissioned for their respective locations. For example, Olafur Eliasson has designed an installation for the island of Vallisaari that can be moved back and forth by viewers so that it constantly reveals new views of the surrounding landscape. Poetic and evocative at the same time: video installations by Sami artist Jenni Laiti and photographer Carl-Johan Utsi, which can be seen at the HAM Helsinki Art Museum.

www.helsinkibienaali.fi

Robert Longo at the Louisiana Museum Copenhagen

My favorite "summer museum"? Clearly, the Louisiana, located outside Copenhagen on the "Danish Riviera"! The location alone is incredible - right on the Öresund and surrounded by a sculpture garden, which is wonderful to stroll through while the Baltic Sea breeze blows around your nose. Then there is the art, which is spread across various buildings and comprises more than 3,000 works. What I'm particularly looking forward to this summer is the major Robert Longo retrospective, which can be seen until August 31. It is the first major presentation of the New York-based artist in
Scandinavia. It includes the studies for his famous "Freud Cycle", which is based on photographs of Sigmund Freud's office and apartment in Vienna. Also on display is one of Longo's latest paintings, which is based on a photograph of bullet holes after the terrorist attack on Krudttønden in Copenhagen in 2015.

www.louisiana.dk

Also worth seeing

VIENNA

Photo Arsenal

New opening
www.fotoarsenal
vienna.at

Vienna's museum scene has been enriched by another museum since April: the FOTO ARSENAL WIEN on the site of the same name near the main railway station is the new center for lens-based media and presents contemporary photography in all its forms and uses. Go there and see for yourself!

BIOT

Musée National Fernand Léger

Léger, a painter of color (until 30.11.)
www.musees-nationaux-alpesmaritimes.fr

Are you drawn to the Côte d'Azur or Provence this summer? Then be sure to visit the picture-book village of Biot! The local museum is showing an impressive exhibition of works by Fernand Léger, an artist who is far too unknown in German-speaking countries and whose paintings even influenced Pop Art.

BASEL

Kunstmuseum Basel

Medaro Rosso - The Invention of Modern Sculpture (until 10.08.)
www.kunstmuseum
basel.ch

Sculptor, photographer, competitor of Auguste Rodin and role model for numerous artists: Medardo Rosso revolutionized sculpture around 1900. Despite his great influence at the time, the Italian-French artist is hardly known today. The exhibition in Basel aims to (deservedly) change this.

HAMBURG

Bucerius Kunst Forum

Sean Scully - Stories (until 02.11.)
www.buceriuskunst
forum.de

Happy birthday, Sean Scully! On the occasion of his 80th birthday, the Bucerius Kunst Forum is dedicating an exciting retrospective to the master of American abstraction, who today commutes between Bavaria, Berlin, Barcelona and Brooklyn.

WARSCHAU

Warsaw Gallery Weekend (19. to 21.09.)

www.warsawgalleryweekend.pl

Warsaw has quietly developed into the most important art center in Eastern Europe since the political change in 2023. If you want to see for yourself, the 15th Warsaw Gallery Weekend will give you a good overview of the country's fascinating scene.
of the country.

VIENNA

Albertina Modern

Remix - From Gerhard Richter to Katharina Grosse (until 07.09.)
www.albertina.at

From the Rhine to the Danube: The Viehof Collection is one of the most important private collections in Germany, with a focus on artists who shaped the Rhineland and its metropolitan cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf as a nucleus of the avant-garde. 24 works from the collection are now on display in Austria for the first time.