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    in Exhibitions

    The U.K.’s Asian-Focused Esea Contemporary Museum Reopens With a More Diversified Staff and Program—But Skepticism Lingers

    The light was back on and jovial chatter was heard again at the corner of Thomas Street in the U.K.’s Manchester this month. After a long hiatus, one of the most prominent centers dedicated to Chinese contemporary art in the west has reopened its doors with a new identity that embraces much wider East and Southeast Asian roots.
    Esea Contemporary opened with a group exhibition called “Practise Till We Meet,” which was a demonstration of the center’s determination to start all over again. Featuring an ensemble of ethnically East and Southeast Asian artists presenting bodies of work that explore the diasporic experience, as well as trauma, this modest exhibition is a deliberate move to bid farewell to its past life as the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art.
    The venue went through a major overhaul following the art community’s allegations of institutional racism (the center’s former management team and its board of trustees was dominated by white names) that nearly got the non-profit defunded. But some are not sure the institution has gone far enough.
    “Practise Till We Meet” (2023) installation view, at Esea Contemporary. Photo courtesy Jules Lister.
    The launch event also coincidentally coincided with the re-opening of the Manchester Museum after a £15 million ($18 million) facelift, which now includes the U.K.’s first permanent gallery dedicated to South Asian art. Although London remains the largest home to Asians, according to a 2021 census, the region that encompasses Manchester also has one of the highest presence of Asian populations in the U.K. Asians, including Chinese and other Asian ethnicities, are among the second biggest ethnic groups in Manchester.
    The selection of works and artists in Esea’s debut show “Practise Till We Meet,” curated by the Guangzhou-based independent curator Hanlu Zhang, can be interpreted as a statement for the center’s direction. Although most of the works on show are not new, they address current, unresolved issues facing many in the Asian diaspora.
    Koki Tanaka, Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie) (2018), commissioned by Migros Museum of Contemporary Art. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Jules Lister.
    Memorable works include Koki Tanaka’s Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie) (2018), a multi-channel video installation that charts the discrimination, violence, and trauma experienced by the Korean diaspora in Japan, descendants of Korean migrants who came to the country during various wars. The honest discussion about their psychological struggle with their hybrid identities is particularly moving.
    A colorful series of photos—Matter Out of Place (2017-2018), Souvenir (2018), Unhide Diego Garcia (2018)—by the Manchester-based Audrey Albert, a native of the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, who has Chagossian origins. With these poignant works, she introduces the audience to the lesser known history about her displaced roots.
    Isaac Chong Wai, Two-Legged Stool (2023), commissioned by Esea Contemporary. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Jules Lister.
    Liu Weiwei’s mixed media project Australia (2017) tells the story about the artist’s younger brother Liu Chao, who is adamant about emigrating to Australia. Although the project was created nearly six years ago, Liu Chao’s determination to leave his native China echoes today amid the recent “run movement” in the country, which is seeing Chinese people fleeing their home country.
    Berlin-based Hong Kong artist Isaac Chong Wai presents Two-Legged Stool (2023), the only new work commissioned by Arts Council-backed Esea Contemporary. The work, which creates an optical illusion of a stool that appears to be two-legged from one angle, and three-legged from another, references the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s 1980s remarks about the complicated relationship between China, the U.K., and Hong Kong. “There have been talks of the so-called three-legged stool. [There are] not three legs, only two legs,” he had noted. The work is shown alongside Chong’s acclaimed video series Rehearsal of the Futures: Is the World Your Friend? (2018), which depicts the slow body movements seen in protests and the police’s tackle of demonstrators.
    While the show attempts to serve as a platform for diverse narratives, and while efforts have been made to be inclusive (the curator’s statement in Chinese is printed in traditional Chinese characters, which are used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, rather than simplified characters adopted in mainland China), some members of the East and Southeast Asian communities in the U.K. that Artnet News spoke with remain skeptical about the center’s re-launch.
    A viewer admiring Audrey Albert’s work Matter Out of Place on show at exhibition “Practise Till We Meet” at Esea Contemporary. Photo: Jules Lister.
    The new Asian presence in the institution’s leadership appears to include members who are predominantly of Chinese heritage. “What about the representation of other cultures from East and Southeast Asia on the management level? I would prefer to wait and see what they are going to do next,” said one Manchester-based East Asian culture practitioner who declined to be named.
    In response to such concerns, an Esea Contemporary spokesperson said they “welcome the community’s engagement and reflection to help us achieve what we are setting out to construct: a platform for the ESEA art community at large.”
    “We plan to work with a diverse range of guest curators across future projects, as well as continuing efforts to grow our board of trustees, staff team and artistic advisory panel,” the Esea spokesperson told Artnet News.
    There is reason for optimsim; the center’s director Xiaowen Zhu is busy cooking up big plans for the coming year. Two more shows have been planned, and she is looking into diversifying the center’s programming to include more live, in-person events.
    “No terminology is perfect in terms of representation. We hope we are doing the right thing. We are also figuring things out along the way,” said Zhu. “People’s excitement and curiosity are definitely very encouraging for us.”
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    in Exhibitions

    ‘Affecting’ or ‘Passionless’? Critics Are Divided on David Hockney’s Newly Opened Immersive Light Show

    If ever there were an artist seemingly made for the animated projected art craze popularized by Immersive Van Gogh, it would seemingly be David Hockney. The octogenarian British artist has engaged with technology for decades, and was an early adopter of the iPad, which he’s used to make a large portion of his work since its release in 2010.
    But the fact that Hockney creates digital art himself—and was personally involved in the production—hasn’t necessarily translated to an effective digital art show, according to early reviews of “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away),” his new exhibition at Lightroom at London’s King’s Cross.
    The show is the brainchild of 59 Productions, a British design company for theater and opera that reached out to Hockney about the idea back in 2019. As the idea came together, Nicholas Hytner, former artistic director of London’s National Theatre, was brought on as executive producer.
    The 50-minute light show is meant to span Hockney’s six-decade career, replete with a bombastic soundtrack by the American composer Nico Muhly and narration by the 85-year-old.
    David Hockey at Lightroom. Photo by Justin Sutcliffe.
    Designed to feel like a cinematic experience, the exhibition is a departure from similar vehicles capitalizing on the work of Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Frida Kahlo, Gustav Klimt and other giants of art history, according to Hockney.
    “They’re dead,” the artist told the New York Times. “I’m a living artist, so I’ve come in and actually done things.”
    Whatever Hockney’s done, however, it might not be enough to get reluctant art critics on board the immersive art train.
    “David Hockney Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” at Lightroom, London. Photo by Justin Sutcliffe, courtesy of Lightroom.
    “There’s too much that disappoints and irritates. You don’t really get a feel for much of the best of his work,” Ben Luke wrote in the Evening Standard. “Neither do you get a feel for the materiality of the media he extols; somehow the luscious beauty of paint, its very stuffness, gets entirely lost when blown up this big.”
    “There is not a single real work by [Hockney] here to catch your memory and hold on to your soul,” Jonathan Jones—a critic always ready with a hot take—wrote in the Guardian. “Without real art, this entertainment goes the same way as all the other immersive exhibitions of art icons: into the weightless, passionless dustbin of forgetting.”
    Even some of the positive reviews have been conditional. The Telegraph’s Alastair Sooke dubbed it “a coup of entertainment: accessible, affecting, and, technically, executed with panache,” but admitted the somewhat “vainglorious” project “isn’t a work of art—or, rather, it’s as much one as, say, a deluxe coffee-table book or high-end documentary exploring Hockney’s oeuvre.”
    David Hockney viewing a scale model for “Bigger & Closer” created by 59 Productions. Seen on the walls are a projection of August 2021, Landscape with Shadows. Photo courtesy of Mark Grimmer.
    But whatever the critics may think, it may be time for them to get used to seeing artworks projected at a monumental scale, turning paint and canvas into an immersive, ever-shifting display.
    “Hockney has always embraced new technologies and been quick to explore their potential in his art, from the unforgettable Polaroid works (possibly the best ever use of that form) to experiments with perspective through cameras, pieces created with film, video, iPad, Instagram and more,” Jan Dalley wrote in the Financial Times. “This is the latest iteration, and even at a distance we can sense the artist having fun with it. Perhaps even old-schoolers like me will be won over.”
    See more photos from the exhibition below.
    “David Hockney Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” at Lightroom, London. Photo by Justin Sutcliffe, courtesy of Lightroom.
    “David Hockney Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” at Lightroom, London. Photo by Justin Sutcliffe, courtesy of Lightroom.
    “David Hockney Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” at Lightroom, London, featuring A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998). ©David Hockney.Collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
    “David Hockney Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” at Lightroom, London, featuring The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven). ©David Hockney. Collection of the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle.
    “David Hockney Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” at Lightroom, London, featuring Gregory Swimming Los Angeles March 31st 1982. ©David Hockney.
    “David Hockney Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” at Lightroom, London. Photo by Justin Sutcliffe, courtesy of Lightroom.
    “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)” is on view at Lightroom, 12 Lewis Cubitt Square, London, February 22–June 4, 2023.
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    in Exhibitions

    The Big-Budget Sharjah Biennial Tackles Postcolonial Fallout With Beauty, Sentimentality, and a Sense of Triumph

    In Billy Sings Amazing Grace (2013), Theaster Gates, renowned archivist and lesser-known vocalist, wails and croons in a darkened auditorium alongside the white-haired and stoic soul singer Billy Forston. In its profound sonic resonance, their video performance of improvisational gospel is one of many highlights in “Thinking Historically in the Present,” the recently opened 15th edition of the Sharjah Biennial.
    Like the show as a whole, the piece is a work of intimate, visceral storytelling, in both mournful and celebratory turns. Featuring about 300 works from more than 150 artists and collectives, including 70 new commissions, the excellent “Thinking Historically” is biennial director Hoor Al Qasimi’s homage to the late and well-loved Okwui Enwezor, who was originally appointed curator before his passing in 2019.
    In her catalog essay, Al Qasimi reflects on Enwezor’s groundbreaking decolonial legacy, citing his 2002 approach to Documenta 11 as “a lodestar in my curatorial consciousness.” Validating artists outside the canon’s narrow purview, his work had offered her a glimpse into a wider world of possibilities, unhindered by “the social myopia” of Eurocentrism.
    Theaster Gates’s Billy Sings Amazing Grace (2013). Photo: Janelle Zara
    Nodding to Enwezor’s decentralization of Documenta 11 across five cities, the Sharjah Biennial spans five towns across the emirate, in venues that include the polished galleries of the capital city, and the peeling classrooms of a disused kindergarten along the coast.
    A full generation since Enwezor’s groundbreaking exhibition in Germany, the participating biennial artists contend with what are now-familiar themes: the aftermath of empire, foreign extraction, and slavery among others. 
    “Thinking Historically” is a welcome antidote to the academic tropes of recent biennials, some of which, like the Berlin and Istanbul Biennials in 2022, were filled with research-based projects with few formal merits. In the rich textures of works like Ibrahim Mahama’s monumental tapestry, A Tale of Time/Purple Republic (2023), or the gnarled, blackened branches of Doris Salcedo’s Uprooted (2020-2022), form is the defining feature, not an afterthought in service to a predetermined message. (Their scale, which is grand, also indicates just how well-funded this biennial is.) 
    Ibrahim Mahama’s A Tale of Time/ Purple Republic (2023) Installation view: Sharjah Biennial 15, Kalba Ice Factory (2023). Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation. Photo: Motaz Mawid
    Like many biennials, Sharjah’s exhibition is video-heavy, ranging from the heart-wrenching simplicity of Erkan Özgen’s Wonderland (2016), a searing account of the Syrian Civil War, to the sumptuousness of Isaac Julien’s immersive black-and-white cinematic installation, Once Again… (Statues Never Die) (2022). The show’s weaknesses lie in concept-forward paintings that suffer from a lackluster handling of paint, or photographs of state-inflicted strife that rest too comfortably in a photojournalistic lane. There is notably little, if any work that directly addresses Emirati exploitation of migrant labor.
    Yinka Shonibare’s Decolonised Structures (2022), a series of British imperial statues cloaked in the Dutch wax patterns of West African fabrics, succinctly captures the limits of a now-rote approach to dismantling the West. While its cosmetic intervention sits on the surface, the colonial legacy remains underneath, whole and untouched. 
    Other artists have moved beyond centering the colonizer, aspiring to deeper points of introspection. In Nosferasta (2022), a comically absurd and brilliantly acted 32-minute feature, artists Adam Khalil, Bayley Sweitzer, and the Rastafarian musician Oba frame colonization as a profoundly internalized malady, frequently perpetuated by the colonized themselves. For their Rastafarian protagonist, colonization is akin to vampirism, and Christopher Columbus is a literal vampire. The true villain of this story, however, is the fraught pursuit of assimilation.
    Doris Salcedo’s Uprooted (2020-2022). Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Juan Castro Photoholic
    The assimilation theme recurs in various acts of self-erasure, including the portrait series Léthé (2021), in which photographer Mama-Diarra Niang beguilingly dissolves her subjects’ distinguishing features into a smooth, faintly recognizable haze.
    In the video As British as a Watermelon (2019), Zimbabwean-born, British-based artist mandla rae shares shamed confessions, including the origins of scars both physical and mental, and the self-erasure of mispronouncing one’s name for European ears. “How colonized do you have to be to look at an African baby and call it Bridget?” they ask, handling the titular fruit with alternating tenderness and disquieting brutality. 
    Echoing Al Qasimi’s commemorative sentiments, homages to beloved predecessors abound, in monuments and imaginary museums, or Isaac Julien’s protagonist, captivatingly written as a composite of philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke and literary heroes Langston Hughes, Aimé Césaire, and James Baldwin. Throughout, the refusal of erasure amounts to asserting one’s place in history; it is honoring lineage, especially the legacies that the official record elides.
    Isaac Julien’s Once Again… (Statues Never Die) (2022). Photo: Janelle Zara
    Gabriela Golder’s surprisingly charming Conversation Piece (2012) is ostensibly a tribute to the artist’s mother, veiled in the cool irony of two 10-year-olds reading The Communist Manifesto. “What does the bourgeoisie have to do with the discovery of America?” they ask their grandmother, Golder’s mother and former militant of the Argentine Communist Party. Her response exudes a commanding wisdom as she gently and convincingly dismantles the myth of discovery. 
    These works stop just short of excessive sentimentality, arguably the Sharjah Biennial’s most compelling feature. Sentimentality eschews drier forms of institutional critique, which lately feel expressly designed as punitive history lessons for white audiences. Rather than attempt to solve the ills wrought by centuries of empire, artists here lean into art-making as a restorative, generative process, one more adept at asking questions than answering them. 
    My personal favorite works tap into spiritual traditions, as in Gates’ wailing hymnal, or Carrie Mae Weems’ The In Between (2022-2023), a shrine that features a small library of Enwezor’s books and a vessel that appears to sail into the afterlife. Michael Rakowitz’s Borrowed Landscape (30.3193 ° N, 48.2543 ° E) (2023) was ostensibly a large-scale, loose reinterpretation of the Passover Seder, performed in a dust-blown field of decapitated palms in the desert town of Al Dhaid.
    Michael Rakowitz’s Borrowed Landscape (30.3193 ° N, 48.2543 ° E) (2023). Photo: Janelle Zara
    As Rakowitz read from an iPad to a crowd of several hundred people, he passed around objects culled from eBay that recalled the long-lost belongings of his family. Its simplicity was decidedly polarizing, but the performance struck me as a moving dedication to histories one can no longer access. The title’s coordinates refer to a site in Iraq where his family’s date trees stand similarly mangled as the palms that surrounded us.
    The artist designated this site as “a place to contemplate another,” speaking of the hyphen as metaphor, a suture between disparate points, but also between the “irreconcilable binaries” of his identity as an Iraqi Arab-Jew. He ended the piece with the biblical task of supplying an enormous crowd with roasted fish—masgouf, a national Iraqi dish dating back 3,000 years. When denied the right to return, to speak one’s history aloud and to share it with others is what keeps it alive.
    The Sharjah Biennial is on view until June 11, 2023.
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    in Street Art

    A New Wall by Sebas Velasco in Sarajevo, Bosnia

    Sebastián Velasco was born in Burgos, Spain in 1988. He got a Masters degree in Painting from the University of the Basque Country in 2016. Velasco started drawing when he was a child but it was only in 2004 that he began to paint in the street. He paints figurative images, mostly using oil, acrylic, spray paint and pencils.  His photographic, expressive brush stroke style reveals a precise academic technique that contrasts sharply with the rawness of the street content in his works.  In that sense, many of his canvases act as a window for us into everyday moments where strangers are caught in the act with their writer friends.  During these moments, darkness has become increasingly more important.A new wall was recently made during Velasco’s last trip to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.Take a look at more images below and check back with us soon for more updates. More

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    in Exhibitions

    In Pictures: See Every Single Artwork in the Rijksmuseum’s Vermeer Show, a Once-in-a-Lifetime Exhibition That Is Already Sold Out

    The hotly anticipated blockbuster of Johannes Vermeer, which reunites 28 out of 37 known paintings by the mysterious 17th-century Dutch master, has finally opened.
    But despite the Rijksmuseum’s to ensure that this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition can accommodate as many visitors as possible, many art lovers have been left disappointed. Within a matter of days after the opening, all available tickets were sold out. Before “Vermeer” opened to the public on February 10, the museum already sold more than 200,000 tickets and had extended its opening hours to 10 p.m. on Thursdays to Saturdays and also extended the running time of the show.
    Some Vermeer enthusiasts vented their frustration on social media. The Rijksmuseum reacted to public’s overwhelming response promptly by squeezing out more tickets after the opening “without affecting the experience we wish our visitors to have,” a museum spokesperson told Artnet News. The second round of tickets released is now also sold-out. “[The] Rijksmuseum will continue to monitor our audience pattern carefully—and make necessary adjustments when possible to enable as many visitors to see the exhibition as possible,” the museum spokesperson added.
    Given that chances of getting tickets to the show are slim, we are bringing you a walkthrough of the exhibition, including every single artwork featured.
    Venturing into Town
    Vermeer was born, raised, and died in Delft. Two paintings depicting the scenes of his hometown are featured in this section.
    Johannes Vermeer, View of Delft (1660-61), oil on canvas. Mauritshuis, The Hague.
    Johannes Vermeer, View of Houses in Delft, also known as The Little Street (1658-59) oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Gift of H.W.A. Deterding, London.
    Early Ambitions
    This section features four large paintings that are Vermeer’s earliest known works, executed in the artist’s early 20s. Vermeer was born into the times of religious conflicts. A Reformed Protestant by birth, the artist married Catharina Bolnes, a Catholic. The religious themes play a dominant role in works created during this period. The Procuress (1656), however, marks a turning point of Vermeer’s ambition as a painter, as he later chose to focus on capturing everyday life in his works.
    Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1655. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.
    Diana and her Companions, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1653-1654. Mauritshuis, Den Haag.
    Saint Praxedis, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1655. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.
    The Procuress, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1656. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.
    First Interiors
    The two paintings featured in this section depict what seems to be the mundane, everyday life, but art historians suggest that these two paintings illustrate how Vermeer mastered his skill in portraying a pictorial space on a flat surface, creating depth and composition with a single vanishing point.
    Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, Johannes Vermeer, 1657-58, oil on canvas. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.
    The Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, 1658-59, oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt.
    Gazing Out
    This section identifies three works related to the windows, exploring how the inner world is connected to that of the outside, by either opening the windows or having someone looking out the window.
    Officer and Laughing Girl, Johannes Vermeer, 1657-58, oil on canvas. The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
    Woman with a Lute, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1662-63. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
    Lady Writing with Her Maid, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1670-1671. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.
    Up Close
    Is she looking at you or not? This group of paintings depicts women with mysterious gazes. But not everyone of them is engaging with the viewer. The Lacemaker, for example, keeps her head down on her work, but Vermeer brought the viewer so close to her that we can see the threads in her hands.
    This section also includes the controversial Girl with a Flute, which has caused a debate on whether it was a genuine work of Vermeer.
    Girl with a Flute, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1669-1675. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
    Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1664–67, oil on canvas. Mauritshuis, The Hague. Bequest of Arnoldus Andries des Tombe, The Hague.
    The Lacemaker, Johannes Vermeer, 1666–68, oil on canvas mounted on panel. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
    Girl with a Red Hat, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1665. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. ‘Vermeer’ exhibition. Photo Rijksmuseum/ Henk Wildschut.
    Musical Appeal
    Music has a strong presence in Vermeer’s modest oeuvre, as highlighted in this section. Curiously, the women in both paintings are looking at the viewer, as if their music-making was interrupted.
    Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1670-1672. Leiden Collection, New York.
    A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, Johannes Vermeer, 1670–72, oil on canvas. The National Gallery, London
    Letters From the Outside World
    Widely seen as one of the most intriguing paintings by Vermeer, The Love Letter maintains a distance between the two women and the viewer, who is positioned as if taking a peep from an adjacent room. The women’s subtle yet dramatic facial expressions against the backdrop of the painting of the seascape on the wall, suggest a story behind the letter in the hands of the lady in the yellow robe.
    Besides music, letters like a supporting character in Vermeer’s paintings. Characters are often depicted writing, reading, or receiving letters, suggesting life beyond the painting.
    The Love Letter, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1669 – ca. 1670. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
    Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, Johannes Vermeer, 1662-64, oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest).
    Mistress and Maid, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1665-67, oil on canvas. The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.
    A Lady Writing, Johannes Vermeer, 1664-67, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of Harry Waldron Havemeyer and Horace Havemeyer Jr., in memory of their father, Horace Havemeyer
    Gentlemen Callers
    The gentlemen in Vermeer’s paintings have a curious role to play, as seen in these two paintings below. Still donning a cloak or a cape, these men appear to have just entered the room from the outside, interrupting whatever the women are doing, whether playing the music or taking a sip of wine.
    Girl Interrupted at Her Music, Johannes Vermeer,. 1659–61, oil on canvas. The Frick Collection. New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr
    The Glass of Wine, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1659-61, oil on canvas. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Gemäldegalerie
    View of the World
    Science is a key subject in Vermeer’s paintings, as seen in The Geographer. Another similar one is The Astronomer, which is in the collection of Louvre but not in this show in Amsterdam. Maps frequently recur.
    The Geographer, Johannes Vermeer, 1669, oil on canvas. Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
    Reflecting on Vanity and Faith
    This last section of the exhibition looks into the symbols presented in three particular paintings that may suggest Vermeer’s views of the world he lived in the, and the reflection of his inner struggles in relation to his faith and monetary values.
    Woman with a Pearl Necklace, Johannes Vermeer, (c. 1662-64), oil on canvas. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Gemäldegalerie.
    Woman Holding a Balance, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1662-64, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection
    Allegory of Faith, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1670-1674. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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    in Exhibitions

    Here Are 5 Art Exhibitions to Check Out at World Pride Sydney 2023

    Every two or three years since 2000, cities around the world have vied to play host to a massive celebration of LGBTQ Pride events in an event dubbed WorldPride. Rome, Jerusalem, London, Toronto, Madrid, New York, Copenhagen, and Malmo have all set the stage for the events, which include concerts, exhibitions, marches, and conferences.
    Now, for the first time, WorldPride is taking place in the southern hemisphere in the city of Sydney, Australia, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the first-ever Australian Gay Pride Week and the fifth anniversary of Marriage Equality in Australia.
    Below, we’ve rounded up some of the most exciting exhibitions taking place across the city.

    “Queer Encounters” at the Art Gallery of New South Walesthrough March 5, 2023
    Sione Tuívailala Monū, KAKALA (TRIPTYCH) (2021). Courtesy of the artist.
    The Art Gallery of New South Wales is bringing together the work of artists Dennis Golding, Bhenji Ra, Sione Tuívailala Monū, and Sidney McMahon in an immersive installation that responds to the historic entrance of the museum, creating a “queer threshold.” Through cinematic photography, performance, and video, the artists imagine alternate landscapes through a queer lens.

    “Paul Yore: WORD MADE FLESH” at Carriageworksthrough February 26, 2023
    Installation view, “Paul Yore: WORD MADE FLESH” (2022). Courtesy of Carriageworks. Photo: Zan Wimberley.
    Carriageworks is presenting a maximalist, raucous, and engaging gesamtkunstwerk, encompassing artist Paul Yore’s handmade quilts, banners, sculptural collages, and architectural interventions. “WORD MADE FLESH imagines a queer alternative reality, erected from the wasteland of the Anthropocene, performatively implicating itself into the debased spectacle of hyper-capitalist society.”

    “Karla Dickens: Embracing Shadows” at the Cambelltown Arts Centrethrough March 12, 2023
    Karla Dickens, For Sale (2022) [detail]. Photo: Michelle Eabry.This 30-year career survey of Lismore-based Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens features important bodies of work spanning collage, sculpture, photography, painting, film, and poetry that reflect on a lifetime of generational trauma and learning to accept her identity. Her searing and insightful artworks probe broad political and societal issues like environmental degradation and institutional racism, as well as personal experiences of being a woman.

    “Braving Time: Contemporary Art in Queer Australia“ at NAS Galleriesthrough March 18, 2023
    Amos Gebhardt, Family Portrait (2020). Courtesy of the artist and NAS Galleries.
    This group exhibition curated by Richard Perram highlights the work of 31 artists  who bring unique perspectives toward queerness in Australia today. Representing a large swath of identities, the artists address themes of beauty, ancestry, heritage, self-love, and politics.

    “Absolutely Queer” at Powerhouse Ultimothrough December 2023
    Mardi Gras costumes by Renè Rivas in “Absolutely Queer.” Photo: Zan Wimberley.
    This exhibition is truly a celebration of the queer creative community in Sydney, featuring artists, designers, and performers in an explosion of color, texture, and form. From the inflatable installations by Matthew Aberline and Maurice Goldberg of “The Beautiful and Useful Studio” to the cartoonist and social activist Norrie to the Mardi Gras costume designer Renè Rivas, “Absolutely Queer” is an absolute must-see.

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    WikiLeaks Is Showing Classified Government Cables in an Art Exhibition Raising Awareness About Threats to Free Speech

    Visitors could be prosecuted for viewing some of the materials included in an art exhibition being staged by Wikileaks in London. The show will address tactics of government oppression and the state of freedom of speech in contemporary societies, and includes hard copies of the classified government cables leaked by Julian Assange in 2010.
    Ai Weiwei, Dread Scott, Santiago Sierra, Andrei Molodkin, and the late Vivienne Westwood are among the artists ensemble also featured in the upcoming exhibition. Titled “States of Violence,” the show that will run from March 24 to April 8 is a first-time collaboration between the international nonprofit, the London-based art organization a/political, and the Wau Holland Foundation, named for the German activist cofounder of the Chaos Computer Club. The exhibition coincides with the fourth anniversary of the detention of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the U.K. capital. Assange remains in the high security Belmarsh Prison while the U.S. attempts to extradite him under the Espionage Act, which could lead to 175 years of imprisonment.
    The show will also feature Secret+Noforn (2022) by the Institute for Dissent & Datalove. The body of work is said to be the largest physical publication of classified U.S. diplomatic cables from the 2010 WikiLeaks Cablegate—the publication of which led to Assange’s prosecution. Consisting of 66 books, the presentation will be the first time the top secret government cables have been shown in hard copy in the U.K.
    Dread Scott, Obliterated Power Pentagon. Courtesy of the artist.
    Although the cables have been widely available online for over a decade, possession and access of the materials may still come with legal consequences as the American Espionage Act enacted in 1917 is still valid today. This means that visitors at the exhibition opening one of the 66 books are advised that they risk being prosecuted for the same crime for which Assange is facing extradition.
    The goal of the exhibition, explained WikiLeaks Ambassador Joseph Farrell, is not just about campaigning for Assange, but raising awareness about wider threats to freedom of speech. “If they are successful in getting an Australian out of Europe, the precedent will be set for a British journalist that writes something that the Chinese government doesn’t like—there’s nothing to stop the Chinese government from requesting the extradition and putting them in prison. It is a much greater issue,” Farrell told Artnet News.
    The organizers hope the artworks on show demonstrate various forms of violence and institutional oppression that have been employed by the states to target dissidents.
    Andrei Molodkin, Wikileaks Blood Logo. Courtesy of the artist.
    The curatorial team is still finalizing the exhibition plan and declined to say exactly how many works and how many artists will be featured in a/political’s Kennington venue. “We hope that culture is the last free space to be speaking about this. But even culture, even artists are struggling for their freedom of speech. A number of artists we work with have been imprisoned or on the wrong side of the law or their work being censored,” said a spokesperson of a/political.
    Among the works on show will be Ai Weiwei’s photography series Study of Perspective, which sees the Chinese artist-activist raising his middle finger to pieces of architecture representing the institutional authority. One of the works the series, Tiananmen, which has been censored in Hong Kong, will also be on display. Works by the legendary designer Westwood, supported by the Vivienne Foundation, will “have a strong presence” at show, according to a/political, as well as a public program hosted by hip-hop artist and activist Lowkey. A closing music event will be held in collaboration with Shangri-La Glastonbury on April 8.
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    Saudi Arabia’s First-Ever Andy Warhol Exhibition Enjoys a Sparkling Debut—Despite Criticism That It Sidelines the Artist’s Personal Life

    The mirror-clad façade of the Maraya Concert Hall in AlUla, Saudi Arabia’s ancient desert region, glitters just like the disco ball found in New York’s notorious Studio 54 club where the likes of Diana Ross, Truman Capote, Cher, and Jackie Kennedy, spent late nights partying in the 1970s. Fittingly, inside this shiny edifice is now the kingdom’s first ever exhibition of iconic works by another Studio 54 regular—Andy Warhol.
    Titled “FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla,” the exhibition (on view through May 16), is part of the second edition of the AlUla Arts Festival, itself among the region’s ongoing efforts to become a global destination for art and culture.
    Curated by Patrick Moore, director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburg, it is being staged at a time of great change for the kingdom under an ambitious reform agenda dubbed “Vision 2030,” which has been spurred by the country’s crown prince and prime minister, Mohammed Bin Salman. The agenda is rapidly pushing forward a complete transformation of the kingdom’s economy through top-down investment in all sectors with a particular focus on art, culture, and entertainment in order to grow a creative economy and wean the country off a dependence on oil and gas. 
    Andy Warhol, Liz (1964). The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. 1998.1.2374 © 2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London.
    In many ways, the 70 iconic works exhibited at the glistening venue are symbolic of the kingdom’s change. The works chosen for display reflect Warhol’s own fascination with fame, glamor and Hollywood, and include portraits of Dolly Parton, Muhammad Ali, Salvador Dalí, Bob Dylan and Elizabeth Taylor. 
    “Warhol is so omnipresent in the world, but there’s never been really a proper exhibition in the Middle East and certainly not in Saudi Arabia,” Moore told Artnet News, adding that the exhibition was conceived in 2021 after he had been invited to AlUla to experience the region and its burgeoning arts scene for himself. 
    Staged concisely within an erected series of gallery rooms, the works present a clean and playful look into Warhol’s artistic legacy and genius. The first room showcases the artist’s “screen tests,” filmed black and white portraits of visitors to Warhol’s studio, The Factory, created between 1964 and 1966. Think personalities like Lou Reed, a founding member of the influential band The Velvet Underground slowly drinking a glass of coca cola while nonchalantly donning black sunglasses; Paul Johnson and the American actor known as “Paul America” after regularly staying at Hotel America in New York City. In another gallery, more playful, is Silver Clouds (1965), a room filled with floating metallic balloons prompting visitors to stop and play.
    Less lofty and playful, however, were the international political tensions that still hang in the air. Media reports roundly criticized the Warhol Museum’s decision to co-operate on the exhibition prior to the show’s opening, largely written by reporters who had yet to venture to the kingdom. They focused on the fact that Warhol was homosexual and Saudi Arabia criminalizes homosexuality, the maximum sentence for which is the death penalty. While this soured the air for some, Moore, like the Saudis who mounted the show, urged a focus on Warhol as an artist rather than on his personal life. 
    “Andy was a lot of things; he was an artist, he was a businessman, he was an entrepreneur, he was a media mogul, and he was also a gay man, but that’s not all he was,” Moore told Artnet News. “So not every exhibition should or needs to focus on that aspect of Warhol’s life because Warhol was an artist, not a gay artist.”
    There were no homosexual or otherwise controversial themes present in the works displayed. The works on display were carefully selected to focus on the themes of celebrity, status, and fame.
    Installation view, “FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla.” ©Flint Culture / ©2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./ Licensed by DACS, London.
    Amid the crowd of guests attending the opening, including notable members of the Middle Eastern art scene and regional and international press, praise was heard as was disappointment. 
    “The show is more concise, smaller than I had imagined,” quipped one journalist, expecting a grander affair for Warhol’s first Middle Eastern showing. Saudis, on the other hand, could be seen entering the exhibition with interest and excitement while local guides gave in depth tours of artwork in each room.
    Of note was a seeming increase of international and American art journalists covering the event—many journeying to Saudi Arabia for the first time. 
    “Several of my art world friends were apprehensive about my traveling to see the show,” said one American curator who was among the first timers. “But coming here and seeing the work on show and the quality of local Saudi artists has offered an eye-opening experience—it’s important to see the art here firsthand and give the artists a chance.” (Still, the curator only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity).
    AlUla continues to grow its local art scene, investing into local and international exhibitions, education programs, like the Madrasat Addeera, a former girls’ school in AlUla that offers around 70 local Saudi women free training in traditional arts and crafts by the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, and artist residencies, such as the second edition of the AlUla Artist Residency Program that opened this week during the festival showcasing works by local Saudi and international artists within a lush desert oasis.
    Installation view, “FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla.” ©Flint Culture / ©2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./ Licensed by DACS, London.
    Local artistic growth has been done in tandem with large-scale blockbuster exhibitions in AlUla like Desert X, which has staged two editions, and now the Andy Warhol show. There’s also the upcoming Wadi Al Fann, meaning “Valley of the Arts” set to be completed by 2024, and which will exhibit local and international monumental artists by the likes of Ahmed Mater, James Turrell, and Agnes Denes in one of AlUla’s desert valleys. Iwona Blazwick, appointed chair of the Royal Commission for AlUla’s public art expert panel, will oversee Wadi Al Fann. 
    “A lot of the young Saudi artists aren’t known globally, and so by exposing them to artists of the magnitude that we’re bringing in and shows like ‘Fame,’ gives them the opportunity to be exposed to something they may not have ever had the opportunity to experience before as part of our strategy,” Philip Jones, chief tourism officer for the Royal Commission for AlUla told Artnet News. “We want to be known globally as one of the top arts and cultural destinations in the world. There’s tremendous arts and creativity in Saudi Arabia, but very few people around the world know about it.”
    Nora Aldabal, arts and creative planning director at the Royal Commission of AlUla, the government body responsible for staging the exhibition in partnership with the Andy Warhol Museum, also emphasized that the show is also about forging cross cultural dialogue.
    “For thousands of years AlUla was a place where civilization and diverse cultures came together through trade,” Aldabal told Artnet News. “We are continuing this today.”
    “FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla” is on view through May 16.
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