This weekend's art openings run
from the absolutely classic, with masterpieces by Caravaggio in
Milan, to the very contemporary, with a video installation by
Marina Abramovic in Alba. In Rome, an exhibition by young South
African artist Kemang Wa Lehulere shows his interpretation of
his native country.
MILAN - One of the most highly anticipated shows of the year,
which has already registered more than 60,000 reservations,
opens on September 29 at Milan's Palazzo Reale: 'Inside
Caravaggio'. Running through January 28, the exhibition puts 20
masterpieces from Italian and foreign collections on display
alongside new, essential research regarding the Baroque painter
and his methods. Diagnostic evaluations establish, contrary to
prior belief, that there were preparatory drawings under the
paintings as well as visible remakes evidenced by hidden
figures. Among the works on display from foreign museums are
"Holy Family with St. John" on loan from New York's Met Museum
and "Salome with the Head of John the Baptist", on loan from
London's National Gallery.
ROME - The first ever show in Italy by South African artist
Kemang Wa Lehulere, "Bird Song", opened September 27 at Rome's
MAXXI and runs through November 26, with installations, videos,
paintings, drawings, and music. The exhibition is a sort of
personal composition, made up of the many diverse voices from
the artist's homeland. Kemang shows the society under apartheid,
which he lived through as a young man with his family. The show
is centred on a dialogue between the artist's work and that of
the self-taught artist Gladys Mgudlandlu (1917-1979), among the
first black women in South Africa to show her work in galleries
there in the 1960s. Mgudlandlu mostly painted landscapes and
birds, earning her the moniker "Bird Lady".
ALBA - The church of San Domenico in Alba is hosting the
video-installation "Holding the Milk", part of the 2009 artistic
project by Marina Abramovic titled "The Kitchen, Homage to Saint
Therese". It opens September 28 and remains on display through
November 12. The artistic project is made up of nine
self-portraits and three videos, all which were shot in the
kitchen of the former convent La Laboral in Gijon, a Carthusian
monastery long since abandoned, where nuns used to take in
orphaned children. The work features the life of the mystic St.
Theresa of Avila, blending it with memories from the artist's
childhood.
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