1 The Line
East London
Open since May
Now it’s summer I grow more desperate to spend time in London’s lungs: the parks and waterways that make living in the city worth all the trials and troubles. There are a few projects that might further enhance being in the city, one being the Line, a world-class sculpture walk along east London’s waterways. It features an expanding number of works by established and up-and-coming artists, the first batch includes Damien Hirst, Gary Hume and Thomas J Price. It’s activated by events and new commissions and certainly worth a stroll one weekend. Image: Consolidator #654321 by Sterling Ruby, courtesy The Line
2 The 56th International Art Biennale
Venice
Until 22 November
Sarah Lucas is representing Britain at this year’s Venice Biennale. she has filled the classical pavilion with casts of friends’ lower halves sitting astride toilets, tables, stools and desks, each one with its own little surprise. Her offering for this biennale makes a rewarding respite from the aggressively installed and curated exhibition all the World’s Futures, by Okwui Enwezor, the biennale’s creative director. His show features tonnes of artists we should all know about, from Kutlug ataman to Mika Rottenberg: it’s a killer show. Image: Cristiano Corte, courtesy British Council
3 Haroon Mirza / HRM199 Ltd.
Museum Tinguely, Basel
Until 6 September
Shaped by an ethos of collaboration and crosspollination, Haroon Mirza’s exhibition takes over this unique artist’s museum in Basel and questions the authorship of what the museum proposes is a solo show but Mizra asserts is a group project. Creative practice is always one of influence and process with contributions possible from many fields, and this exhibition acknowledges and extends Mirza’s interest in differing forms of influence, utilisation and forms of collaboration. Image: David Bebber
4 KulttuurISauna
Helsinki
Open Wednesdays to Sundays
While the Kulttuurisauna is not a new venture I am finally planning my visit this summer. It was launched in 2013 and designed and entirely built by a team of volunteers with Helsinki-based architecture studio noW. The first public sauna built for decades in Helsinki is on an industrial area previously rarely used and visited. It has a stunning view of the city, and the adjacent buildings contain Now’s studio and education space, which embody its ethos of working to make the world a more interesting and enjoyable place to live. Image: Michele Marchetti, courtesy of San Rocco magazine
5 Groundwork
New Art Centre, Salisbury
1 August – 27 September
Holly Willats, the founder, curator and editor of art licks, a brilliant art magazine and art festival in London, and an independent curator, and alma Zevi are to curate a show of five emerging UK-based artists whose work responds to land art. Zevi was part of the 2013 Gerson Zevi land art road trip, taking a road trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Forth Worth in Texas. Roche court in Wiltshire is one of the UK’s most interesting commercial ‘spaces’, commissioning and installing predominantly outdoor sculptures on private land in public view. Image: David Murphy, Stopper, 2015, courtesy the artist
6 MIF15
Various locations, Manchester
2 – 19 July
This biennial festival of new performance work has become an international event, touring its projects around the world — but they are all premiered in Manchester and attended by a healthily sized local audience. Ed Atkins is unveiling a new work which itself reveals the processes of digital-art making in the 21st century. This new installation Performance capture (Manchester art Gallery, 4-19 July) will feature an avatar protagonist that is an amalgamation of performers from across the MiF15 programme, including Bjork. Image: Inez and Vinoodh
