5 exhibitions that should not be missed in January
Every month we review the artistic events of our beautiful country France to bring you the cream of the fairs. The obsessions of artist Sam Szafra, the abstract works of pioneer Marcel Kahn, the horrors of Füssli, the “punk” artist Oskar Kokoschka and an incredible contemporary art exhibition: here are five exhibitions not to be missed.
It is said about Oskar Kokoschka that he scandalized as much as he revolutionized art. Poet, writer and playwright, this artist lived through the 20th century, the intellectual Vienna of Egon Schiele, love breaks (like a painful one with the composer Alma Mahler), wars and exiles. His flat areas of bright colors and intense brushwork reflect the psychology of the subjects he represents, without harming his models. Kokoshka, who was against fascism and engaged in the army, was considered an artist “degeneration” Exiled by the Nazis and in London.
See also at Konbini
It was the Museum of Modern Art in Paris that decided to honor his punk and rebellious spirit and at the same time opened the first Paris retrospective. The Beast of Vienna Oskar Kokoschka presents 150 works, including paintings, lithographs, posters, documents, rare photographs and 75 emblematic paintings, spanning his seven-decade career and his expressionism.
Until February 12, 2023. If you don’t have time to visit the Paris exhibition, know that it will be presented at the Guggenheim Bilbao from March 17 to September 3, 2023.
The Jacquemart-André Museum celebrates the dreams, fantasy and horror of Johann Heinrich Füssli. “Through nearly sixty works from public and private collections.” A former pastor, the Swiss artist you probably know best for him nightmare More than Shakespeare’s scenes, he also explored mythological and biblical literature.
The last Paris retrospective in Füssli, dating back to 1975, is a wonderful update to discover more fully the work of this artist who swore exclusively to Michelangelo. Of course, he draws back his theatrical, religious, mythological, dreamy themes, but also the female figures emerging from his black romantic creations.
Until January 23, 2023.
Here you have the right to touch the works. With its modern art fair, CENTQUATRE-PARIS becomes a huge amusement park where every work of art made to measure can be practically realized. Ghost train, palace of mirrors, darts or arm wrestling, rifle shooting…
The classics of a self-respecting fair are reworked by a host of international artists such as ORLAN, Julio Le Parc, Lilian Bourgeat, Yoann Bourgeois, Leandro Erlich or even Berlinde De Bruyckere. An amazing experience that allows you to approach art in a new way, something that will please the sleeping children in us (still).
Until January 29, 2023.
Saint-Étienne’s MAMC+ exhibition sheds light on the work and life of one of the pioneers of abstract art, Marcel Kahn. “More than 400 works, paintings, graphics, sculptures, photographs and collages.” The exhibition takes a look at his first weapons and loves, i.e. nudes and still lifes, as well as the aesthetic evolutions his work has undergone over the centuries: from Purism to Expressionism, then Cubism to all kinds of abstraction, poetry and poetry. collages.
Reticent for a long time, but constantly in search of new experiences and artistic revivals, the main specialty of this Strasbourg artist was relief paintings and spatial paintings. This exhibition gives him high praise.
The figurative and poetic Sam Szafran is honored at the Musée de l’Orangerie three years after his death. Traumatized by World War II, this Jewish-Polish artist spent his entire life retreating to his studio and developing his art far from society. According to the museum, it holds “A very unique place in the history of art in the second half of the 20th century.”
Solitude and silence allowed him to think about his existence, to dive into his inner turmoil to find inspiration. The exhibition features pastel and watercolor works that depict his closed spaces, cramped workshops, broken staircases and a softness that defies all perspectives.
Until January 16, 2023.
