Some people select travel destinations based on the food; others choose based on the nature; still others, the art. Here at CULTURED, we say, why choose just one? Some of the world’s most coveted travel destinations—from the hills of Tokyo to a medieval village outside Rome—are home to must-see art exhibitions over the next few months. Whether your ticket is round-trip or one-way, here are ten shows for every kind of traveler on the move this summer season.
For the Luxury-Loving Swimmer
Nicolas Party’s Swimming Pool at Le Sirenuse
Positano, Italy
Now open
Dive headfirst into Nicolas Party's graphic work at this family-run luxury hotel in Positano. Tasked with remaking the hotel’s pool, the Swiss artist opted to translate his visual language of biomorphic shapes and pastel colors into an undulating, wave-like design rendered in Bisazza glass tiles. (The commission, the latest contemporary artwork created especially for the site, marks Party’s first time working in mosaic.) The artist took inspiration from not only the water but also the clouds: “When you jump into the pool,” he says, “you’re jumping into the sky.”
For the Photography Junkie
“Catherine Opie: Genre / Gender / Portraiture” at Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
São Paulo, Brazil
July 5 - October 27
Acclaimed American photographer Catherine Opie’s first show in Brazil arrives in São Paulo with an examination of the performance of gender through portraiture. With about 60 works on display—spanning more than four decades of Opie’s career—the image-maker plays on the double meaning of “gender” in Portuguese with the show's title, which roughly translates to “the portrait genre” in English. In the snapshots on view, she takes on the gender binary while also highlighting the various ways it can be dismantled.
For the Art History Nerd
“Rita Ackermann: Manna Rain” at Fondazione Iris
Bassano in Teverina, Italy
June 10 - July 31
While living la dolce vita, go medieval and head to Hungarian artist Rita Ackermann’s latest show in Bassano, a small village just north of Rome, organized by Amanita. Ackermann is only the second-ever artist in residence at the former home and studio of Cy Twombly, and places her practice in conversation with the late American painter. With new pieces spanning her interdisciplinary practice, the artist presents works on paper as well as film, and even created a site-specific mural to sweeten the pit stop.
For the Party Animal
Contemporary Art Now
Ibiza, Spain
June 26 - June 30
Now in its third year, Contemporary Art Now brings work by more than 30 galleries to the idyllic and fun-filled Spanish island. Established exhibitors, including Galleria Continua, The Hole, and Gathering (a London gallery that launched an Ibiza outpost in May), join galleries with a presence in the Balearic islands such as L21, Lundgren, and La Bibi. What better way to take a break from the sun and sand than to do some art shopping?
For the Art and Nature Lover
“Joel Mesler: Me, You and the Sunset” at Château La Coste
Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France
July 7 - September 8
Last year, Joel Mesler got an invitation most artists could only dream of: to come to the sculpture park and organic winery Château La Coste, soak in the inspiration of Provence, and create new work. The fruits of his labor are on view at a solo exhibition this summer developed with support from CULTURED’s European editor, Georgina Cohen, and featuring 12 new paintings and sculptures. If you want to catch Mesler stateside, the artist will take over The Rink at Rockefeller Center with an immersive “Pool Party” installation from July 2 through July 22.
For the Meditator
“Roni Horn” at Hauser & Wirth, Menorca
Menorca, Spain
May 11 - October 27
What more fitting location could there be for Roni Horn's famed cast glass sculptures than an island? The centerpiece of this wide-ranging exhibition at Hauser & Wirth’s Menorca location is Untitled (“A witch is more lovely than thought in the mountain rain.”), which consists of nine round sculptures whose sides appear to be frosted glass while the tops resemble pooling water. This mutable materiality captures one of the American artist's central aims: “What fascinates me has a lot to do with the essence of something that has one appearance but is really something completely different,” she has said.
For the Fan of Overlooked Masters
“Continuum” by JB Blunk at Fondation d’entreprise Martell
Cognac, France
June 8 - December 29
The Fondation d’entreprise Martell, a Cognac bottling plant turned art venue, is turning southwestern France into a haven for the work of the late American artist JB Blunk. Pulling much of the work from the eponymous Blunk House in Inverness, California, this career survey brings together more than 100 examples across his many mediums, from ceramics to furniture to jewelry. Blunk remains a cult figure even in the US, where his fans reportedly include Mark Grotjahn and Charles Ray. The artist’s daughter Mariah Nielson and Martell Foundation Director Anne-Claire Duprat collaborated on the project with the goal of introducing Blunk to European audiences.
For the Impressionism Fan With an Open Mind
“Living Landscapes” by DRIFT at Luma Arles
Arles, France
June 1 - September 29
DRIFT—a studio founded by Dutch artists Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn in 2007—applies its signature reification of nature to the work of Vincent van Gogh. With his famed painting, Starry Night, returning to Arles for the first time in over a century at Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, “Living Landscapes” serves as a companion exhibition. Through immersive installations and a drone performance over Luma Arles’s Frank Gehry-designed tower, the collective explores the many ways the Dutch post-impressionist continues to influence artists and their engagement with nature today.
For the Bucket-List Traveler
Pace Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
May 30 - September 6
The mega-gallery is soft launching its latest outpost this summer in Tokyo, a city that Tripadvisor has named the top trending destination for 2024, ahead of an official opening this fall. The three-floor, 5,500 square-foot space in Azabudai Hills occupies a Thomas Heatherwick-designed building and includes specially outfitted sites for outdoor sculpture as well as a top floor landscaped to resemble rolling hills. The gallery’s new Japanese location arrives as the country’s art world is heating up, with the second edition of the fair Tokyo Gendai scheduled for early July.
For Those Comfortable With a Little Mystery
“Arthur Jafa” at Champ Lacombe
Biarritz, France
July 20 - September 5
Little is known about Arthur Jafa's latest exhibition, though, if his past projects are any indication, it will no doubt make for a riveting stop in Biarritz. Featuring LOML, 2022—a filmic ode to the artist's late friend, the cultural critic Greg Tate—the show is sure to highlight Jafa’s “obsession with witnessing through images,” as Tate once put it during a talk at the Hammer Museum.
