From inspiring exhibitions by Catherine Opie, Penny Slinger and Lonnie Holley, to tantalising new restaurant openings, here’s what we’re looking forward to this month.
Jimmy DeSana & Paul P: Ruins of Rooms at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin: July 6 – October 20, 2024
Ruins of Rooms, opening at Berlin’s KW Institute later this week, will bring into dialogue the work of Jimmy DeSana and Paul P – two queer North American artists from different generations. A key figure in the New York punk and no-wave scene and the city’s queer fetish subculture, DeSana was best known for his inventive nude portraits of his friends and peers in “mundane settings”. While contemporary Canadian artist Paul P is most readily associated with his melancholy drawings and paintings of young men, which reference imagery from vintage gay erotic magazines. By presenting works by both artists in conversation with one another, the show promises to function “like a matryoshka doll … [serving to expand] our understanding of portraiture”.