This week’s top shows and events investigate what it means to live in a globalised landscape. Providing new perspectives on the everyday, they offer audiences the opportunity to reconsider the world’s increasingly diversified built, commercial and conceptual environments.
Biennale Architettura 2018, Venice
Entitled FREESPACE, this year’s edition embodies a sense of humanity, highlighting the importance of liberty and free expression to the field of architecture. Bringing together examples of work – built or unbuilt – from around the world, the presentation foregrounds the essential elements of construction; from the materiality of surface to the orchestration of movement.
From 26 May. Find out more here.
Giuseppe Penone: A Tree in the Wood, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
“The tree is a spectacular creation because each part of the tree is necessary to its life. It is the perfect sculpture.” Using this visual motif to investigate humanity’s relationship with the environment, Penone’s (b. 1947) sculptures – created from a range of materials including stone, acacia thorns and graphite – offer poetic reflections on notions of the body, nature, time and memory.
From 26 May. Find out more here.
STAGING: Solo #2, The Store X, London
Investigating the relationship between space and the body, Maria Hassabi’s live installation involves a collaboration between music, performance and set design. The piece comprises a vivid expanse of pink material, an ambient soundscape and a two hour sequence of movements. As the shape of the dancer changes at a slow, often imperceptible, pace, the work invites viewers to reconsider ideas about the human form.
26-27 May. Find out more here.
William Eggleston: Los Alamos, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Recognised as a pioneer of colour photography from the mid-1960s onwards, Eggleston’s (b. 1939) practice transformed everyday America into a photogenic subject. Showcasing iconic images, Los Alamos invites audiences to venture into a vibrant world of the seemingly trivial: scenes of traffic signs, run-down buildings and diner interiors exemplify Eggleston’s democratic lens.
Until 28 May. Find out more here.
Martin Parr: Souvenir – A Photographic Journey, Stadthaus Ulm
Documentary photographer Martin Parr (b. 1952) captures heavily saturated images that observe the idiosyncrasies of the everyday. Offering a retrospective look at the artist’s extensive oeuvre, Souvenir – A Photographic Journey investigates mass tourism and consumer culture with an unflinching eye. Playful, critical and often humorous, Parr’s anthropological approach offers an intimate look at England’s social classes.
Until 27 May. Find out more here.
Credits:
1. Gallaratese Housing, Milan (1974) by Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi. Photography: Shelley McNamara.
2. Giuseppe Penone, Abete, 2013.
3. Solo #2 by Maria Hassabi; photo Thomas Poravas.
4. WILLIAM EGGLESTON, Untitled, 1970/2012. Courtesy Gagosian and Eggleston Artistic Trust.
5. Gourock Lido, Refrewdshire, Scotland, 2004. © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos.
