Curated diary – Sean Scully


Dublin-born contemporary artist Sean Scully picks his top art and design events for the coming months


Blueprint

1. Velázquez
Grand Palais, Paris
Until 13 July

Diego Velázquez is one of the most important figures in the history of art, and his work has influenced artists and styles through the ages. Manet called him the 'Painter of painters'. The rarity of his paintings, scarcely more than 100, makes it difficult to pull together a full retrospective, and makes this show an important occasion.

Velázquez
Photo Credit: The national gallery

I have made homages to his work, such as Magdalena, and the strange conceptual formality of his work, in tandem with its emotion, carries with it a contemporary sensibility. http://www.grandpalais.fr/

2. Sleepless - The Bed in History and Contemporary Art
21er Haus, Belvedere, Austria
Until 7 June

This exhibition looks at the historical as well as iconographic significance of the depiction of the bed. it is perfectly located in the city of Sigmund Freud, who specialised in dreams.

Sleepless – The Bed in History and Contemporary Art
Photo Credit: Robert Polidori

It brings together paintings, sculptures, drawings, photos and video works spanning from Old Masters to present-day artists. a dark fluffy Baselitz, Tracy Emin's 'other' bed, and the moody realism of Liliane Tomasko's bed painting, make this exhibition shine. http://www.21erhaus.at/de

3. Anton Corbijn: Hollands Deep
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
Until 21 June

This major retrospective shows Anton Corbijn's evolution as a self-taught photographer and reveals the vast range of his subjects and techniques. It starts with his grainy photos of musicians in the seventies and eighties and shows how he experimented with techniques and materials in later series.


Anton Corbijn: Hollands Deep
Photo Credit: Anton Corbijn

In the 2001-2002 series a.somebody, Corbijn creates pictures of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Sid Vicious against the background of his own birthplace Strijen, where they'd never been - the pictures are all of Corbijn, as his dead heroes. http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/

4. Mapping Memories
House of Egorn, Berlin
Until 6 June

Mapping Memories is the inaugural show at House of Egorn. The space is a new project by shanghai-born Londoner Sharon Zhu, and is located just opposite the Neue National galerie. The artist roster has a strong focus on Latin America and Asia, and many of them work at the crossroads between painting, installation, music and performance.

Mapping Memories
Photo Credit: House of Egorn Berlin

Opening just before this year's Berlin gallery weekend in May, the first exhibition features young artists Vivien Zhang (China), Yi Dai (China) and Hyojun Hyun (Korea), all of whom studied in the UK. http://www.houseofegorn.com/

5. Follow the heart
Cafa, Beijing, then Lanzhou and Jakarta
Open April onwards

Follow the Heart is my first retrospective and is on tour in China. The exhibition brings together works from five decades and includes night and Day, my Wall of light paintings, as well as early sketches and photography.

Follow the heart
Photo Credit: Courtesy Timothy Taylor Gallery

The biggest piece is a new 20m sculpture, China Piled up, made from Corten steel. It has the feel of Chinese calligraphy, transformed into empty boxes. This is essentially a show of painting, and since shanghai and Beijing are models for 22ndcentury possibilities, it implies that painting will travel into the future unfettered. http://museum.cafa.com.cn/en

6. Marlene Dumas: The image as burden
Tate Modern, London
Until 10 May

'Secondhand images', Marlene Dumas once said, 'can generate first-hand emotions.' she is one of the most prominent painters working today. Her intense, psychologically charged works explore sexuality, love, death and shame, and she often links up popular culture, art history and current affairs.

Marlene Dumas: The image as burden
Photo Credit: Marlene Dumas

I saw her work 15 years ago in Barcelona, and then I thought that she and Luc Tuymans had invented a new species of 'weakened' or 'pathetic' portraiture, that would open an expressive window for figurative painting. http://www.tate.org.uk/








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