Art holidays

On the agenda: two gallery owners and their tips on this summer’s must-see exhibitions

From Athens to Venice, from London to New York and on to Berlin. The events not to be missed, according to Andreas Melas and Brad Brubaker.

by the Editorial Team

6 August 2026

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Al Musée Maillol di Parigi Gianni Versace Retrospective. (©Paula Caballero)

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Athens is enjoying a lively summer season with exhibitions taking place all over the city. At the Melas Martinos gallery, which opened last year in a nineteenth-century building at the foot of the Acropolis, the exhibition David Weiss, Neocolors is currently on display, featuring drawings by the Swiss artist, created using Caran d’Ache Neocolor wax crayons, between 1977 and 1979, before his collaboration with Peter Fischli gave rise to the artistic duo Fischli and Weiss (until 12 September, melasmartinos.com). Andreas Melas, founder of the gallery, has selected four exhibitions for HTSI that are not to be missed this summer.

Untitled, 1978, fino al 12/9, melasmartinos.com.

‘In Athens, I would first of all recommend Post-Everything Deluge by Radio Athènes, a sophisticated exhibition bringing together artists linked, in various ways, to the world of fashion (aaathens.art). Also worth noting is Celebration? Realife Revisited. 1972–2000 at Arch Athens, dedicated to the seminal work of Marc Camille Chaimowicz, a key figure in a decisive shift in art during the early 1970s: the transition from the art object as an end in itself to the creation of immersive environments, designed to be experienced» (until 12 September, archathens.org).

‘Following its success at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the major retrospective dedicated to Constantin Brâncuși is now on display at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Mies van der Rohe’s architectural masterpiece. For those who missed the Paris exhibition, this is an opportunity to visit one of the most comprehensive and in-depth surveys ever dedicated to one of the greatest sculptors of the twentieth century. Part of the exhibition will then continue its journey to MoMA in New York in October 2026’ (pictured, The Kiss, c. 1940; until 9 August, smb.museum).

“Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince at the Fondazione Prada in Venice, curated by Nancy Spector, offers a restless and unsettling portrait of contemporary America through the eyes of two of the most influential artists on the US art scene. Born a decade apart, Jafa and Prince draw on American popular culture by appropriating and manipulating images taken from films, pulp novels, comics, videos, record covers and news reports. Not to be missed: SloPEX (2022), by Arthur Jafa: ‘a film of extraordinary visual and emotional power’ (pictured: Big Wheel II, 2018, by Arthur Jafa; until 23 November, fondazioneprada.org).

Big Wheel II, 2018, di Arthur Jafa; fino al 23/11, fondazioneprada.org. (© Arthur Jafa)

Brad Brubaker, owner of the l’Accesso gallery in Pietrasanta, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in Italia, has selected four more unmissable exhibitions for HTSI.

‘I saw it at the National Portrait Gallery in London, but it’s now at one of my favourite museums, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, near Copenhagen: it’s the exhibition Lucian Freud, one of a kind, featuring his most intimate portraits, mainly on paper. The works convey a greater sense of immediacy than Freud’s usual works, which tend to be heavier, with layers of paint. An exception to this trend is his controversial but fantastic oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth II’ (until 27 September, louisiana.dk).

“Not to be missed at the Musée Maillol in Paris ‘Gianni Versace Retrospective’ , featuring 450 pieces, including legendary looks worn on the catwalk by a select few supermodels and collectable items (pictured: editorial photographs). For me, the designer embodies the very essence of that excess so typical of 1990s fashion, adored by icons such as Madonna and Diana, who were so different from one another. It is more than just an exhibition; it is an encounter with a creative genius, a visionary whose legacy continues to shape fashion. The Maillol, moreover, is a private museum in the 7th arrondissement, housed in a splendid 18th-century mansion’ (until 6 September, museemaillol.com).

‘One exhibition space I’d like to visit soon is the Catskill Art Space in New York. This summer, it will be hosting the exhibition Eyes, Skies and Pools, featuring the works of Dike Blair, an extraordinary talent who creates both photorealistic paintings and sculptural installations. His works fascinate me because, despite using two such different forms of expression, the artist manages to create a sense of intimacy. You feel the urge to get closer to understand them fully. ‘They are visually very different, but the feeling is the same’ (until 29 August, catskillartspace.org).

‘The Courtauld Gallery in London has just opened an exhibition dedicated to the works of Barbara Hepworth. The exhibition, which features drawings and sculptures, focuses on her use of colour. The title: Hepworth in Colour. I have always admired her creation of abstract organic forms, inspired by the Cornish coast, where she lived (pictured, Sculpture with Colour, Oval Form, Pale Blue and Red, 1943). I believe one of her strengths was her ability to use different materials successfully: bronze, marble and stone’ (until 6 September, courtauld.ac.uk).

Sculpture with Colour, Oval Form, Pale Blue and Red, 1943, fino al 6/9, courtauld.ac.uk. (© Bowness, Image © The Hepworth Wakefield. Photo: Mark Heathcote)

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On the agenda: two gallery owners and their tips on this summer’s must-see exhibitions

From Athens to Venice, from London to New York and on to Berlin. The events not to be missed, according to Andreas Melas and Brad Brubaker.

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