Summer is here, the sun is shining and we’re busy planning ways to enjoy our weekends by diving into some culture. From the thought provoking ‘Our Broken Plant’ to the joyous event that is ‘Summer at the Royal Academy’, there is something for everyone in our hand picked Top 5 summer exhibitions. Which ones are in your diary?
Venice Biennale
Venice, 23 April-27 November
If you are looking for an all immersive creative experience after the global pandemic, then the Venice Biennale could be the perfect remedy. This year’s theme is set to challenge, provoke and inspire with artists looking at the catastrophic effects of climate change, and developments in artificial intelligence threatening the future of humanity at this year’s main exhibition at the 59th Venice Biennale.
Find out more here.
Our Broken Planet
Natural History Museum Until 29 August 2022
The eye-opening free exhibition, ‘Our Broken Planet’ at The Natural History Museum explores how humans have transformed the natural world for the worse. Instead of an artist’s view, this exhibition invited museum scientists to select 40 objects that best reveal the consequences of our actions and explore the solutions that might be able to help fix the damage. Highlights include a deep dive into how centuries of farming have transformed the earth’s landscape, the real price of sugar and what a joyous time it is to be a jellyfish. The exhibition is hosted in the Jerwood Gallery, which has held some of the museum’s most exciting and ambitious temporary exhibitions over the past three decades.
Find out more here.
Donatello: the Renaissance
Palazzo Strozzi and Museo del Bargello, Florence, 19 March-31 July; Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, 2 September-8 January 2023
Open now in his hometown of Florence, over 150 works from “the master of masters” is finally being showcased in a once in a lifetime major exhibition for the first time in nearly 40years. Opening in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi and at the nearby Museo Nazionale del Bargello, which houses the most important collection of works by the sculptor, including David (around 1440). Donatello’s work Smaller incarnations of the show will be seen at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin in September and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London next year.
Find out more here.
Summer at the Royal Academy
21 June - 21 August 2022
After two years in hibernation, Summer at the RA is back, bringing a joyful art experience for everyone to enjoy. Showcasing art in all forms, from painting and sculpture to photography and installation, all works this year are guided by the theme ‘Climate’. Chosen by the exhibition’s coordinator, Alison Wilding RA, we are looking forward to seeing different interpretations; whether as a crisis or opportunity, or simply our everyday experience, it is an all-embracing subject.
Most of the works are available to buy, and proceeds from the Summer Exhibition directly support the exhibiting artists and the RA’s charitable work, including training the next generation of artists in the Royal Academy Schools.
Find out more here.
“Cézanne” at the Art Institute of Chicago
May 15, 2022–September 5, 2022
This groundbreaking, full-scale retrospective of the ‘artist’s artist’ sheds new light not only on how this pivotal artist created his works, but also why his art remains so vital today.
This exhibition is the first major retrospective of the artist’s work in the United States in more than 25 years and the first exhibition on Cezanne organized by the Art Institute of Chicago in more than 70 years. Planned in coordination with Tate Modern, the ambitious project explores Cezanne’s work across media and genres with 80 oil paintings, 40 watercolors and drawings, and two complete sketchbooks.
Find out more and book here.