It has been a little over a year since Banksy’s iconic piece, Love is in the Air was bought at Sotheby’s. Since then, it has toured around major cities in the United States exclusively for our community. Particle Foundation started the LIITA tour in Miami, taking Art Basel by storm at the prestigious Institute of Contemporary Art. Next it toured in a Soho warehouse space in New York City, where our community had the opportunity to channel their inner Banksy and spray paint stencils all over the walls.
This was all before our Particle community even owned their Particles. Finally, after the sell-out of the Particles, the Foundation gave holders the exclusive reign to pick between ten US cities and decide on the next touring city. Particle holders chose Los Angeles as their first chance to see their LIITA work in the flesh. The week-long event started with a group exhibition at the respected Praz-Delavallade gallery in Los Angeles where four acclaimed contemporary artists working today responded to LIITA within the parameters of their practice. The group show proved the importance and timelessness of Banksy’s oeuvre. Other events and perks included an artist talk, gallery tours of the powerhouse Pace gallery as well as the unique opportunity to visualize particles through a tailored AR effect.
Now it’s time for Europe! Below are a selection of cities in and around Europe to choose from. Again, the aim here is to provide you all with options that are not only appealing due to their location but ones where we will be able to host an all encompassing experience that enhances your access to the larger art world. Please share comments and let us know if you have more cities you would like to add to put to vote.
Bristol
Home sweet home. It wouldn’t be right not to include Banksy’s hometown as one of the locations. Submerged by a wave of street art in the 80s, Bristol is still bursting with creativity and most of Banksy’s early works can also be spotted around the city. Filled with art galleries and home to more than 200 graffiti and street artists, visiting the city can be like walking through an outdoor urban gallery. In 2009, the artist celebrated his homecoming by taking over Bristol’s Museum and Art Gallery for his exhibition “ Banksy versus Bristol Museum.” Paying Bristol City Council just £1 to hire the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, his exhibition generated tens of millions of pounds for the local economy. He left behind a memento, the ‘Paint-Pot Angel’ which can be seen inside the Museum today.
London
London is one of the major cities to visit when it comes to the artworld - and anything else really. Boasting with the most prestigious galleries worldwide including Pace, Gagosian, David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth, or more local galleries such as White Cube, Victoria Miro and Sadie Coles, London is a must if you want to soak up the art world at your fingertips! You want to admire the impressive works of Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Van Gogh and Rembrandt? Head to The National Gallery. Want more of a post-war, modern and contemporary feel? The Tate Britain and Tate Modern Museums present the works of artists from different epochs. You’ll see Lynette Yiadom Boyaoke close to Arshile Gorky and Frida Kahlom, as well as Rachel Whiteread, Mark Rothko, Martin Kippenberger and Kandinsky all in the same proximity… Let’s not forget the incredible Courtauld Collection with permanent works by Modigliani, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and the newly commissioned masterpiece by Cecily Brown surrounding the stunning staircase. The Serpentine Galleries, The British Museum, Whitechapel Gallery, Hayward Gallery, The Wallace Collection are all a must… and the list goes on! London’s main art event, Frieze, is coming up in October and of course you all know that NFT London will take place the first week of November!
Berlin
Berlin is home to many artists. Like LA, a lot of artists move there to find larger studio spaces to work from, so studio visits here are limitless. Old Masters, young artists, important works of modern and contemporary art… name it, and you’ll find it in Berlin’s art museums, as all eras of art history are represented. Contemplate the bust of Nefertiti at the Neues Museum and Rembrand’s Man with the Golden Helmet at Gemäldegalerie. In the Old National Gallery, marvel at the masterpieces of Romanticism and Impressionism. Stroll through the magnificent Charlottenburg Palace and admire its marvelous Rococo paintings. The Berggruen Museum displays works of modern art by Picasso, Cézanne and Paul Klee. Berlin-focused, yet international in scope, the Berlin Gallery covers Berlin art from 1870 to the present day. The Scharf-Gerstenberg collection emphasizes fantasy and surreal art. If you prefer Contemporary art, you’ll find it at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, the Kindl Center for Contemporary Art and the Boros Collection/Foundation, which is a converted Bunker.
Paris
Love is in the air is all about spreading love and what city is better suited than Paris… the city of love, but also the city filled with the world’s most famous masterpieces. From Museums to Foundations via galleries, art centers or exhibition spaces, Paris honors creation in all its forms. Among the masterpieces not to be missed are The three wonders of the Louvre - The Mona Lisa, The Venus de Milo and The Victory of Samothrace - the impressionist paintings of the Orsay, Orangerie or Marmottan Monet museums. You will get to dive into the artistic universe of great masters such as Auguste Rodin, Antoine Bourdelle, Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Moreau, Alberto Giacometti or Pablo Picasso. To revise the “classics”, a visit to the Center Pompidou, which houses the largest collection of modern art in Europe, is a must. The Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris also houses an important collection of pieces from the greatest artistic currents of the last century, but it keeps a close eye on current creation. For the latest trends and contemporary art, there is also the beautiful Louis Vuitton Foundation designed by Frank Gehry and the Palais de Tokyo. Let’s not forget the majestic Grand Palais, near the Champs-Élysées,which hosts major events: Art Paris Art Fair, Paris Photo and Révélations. Speaking of art fairs, the famous FIAC art fair will be taking place as of October 20th, alongside the new edition of Art Basel Paris.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam has it all, but did you expect it to be an art destination? Because it definitely is. The Moco Museum showcases major artists like our beloved Banksy, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Basquiat and Arsham. It is also a major Museum that focuses on NFTs. If you want old school art, The Rijksmuseum is an art and history museum displaying around 8,000 pieces from its one million collection. Here you will find several masterpieces by legendary personalities like Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer. Amsterdam also has the wonderful The Stedelijk contemporary art museum, showcasing 20th and 21st century art. You’ll find an impressive array of artists here, including the legendary Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Henri Matisse and Andy Warhol. The Van Gogh museum, dedicated to the legendary eponymous artist, houses one of the largest collections of his paintings and drawings in the world and the Rembrandt House Museum is also a must… dedicated to this great 17th century painter. Many of his contemporaries are also on display here, offering a broader view of the Dutch Golden Age beyond Rembrandt himself.
Barcelona
If you’re a fan (and who isn’t), The Picasso Museum in Barcelona has over 4,000 works by the master, which are permanently displayed there. Fans of surrealism will be seduced by the Miró Foundation. Hold on tight: more than 14,000 works by the artist are exhibited in this museum (sculptures, paintings, textiles, ceramics, drawings, etc.). You can’t go to Barcelona and not check out the otherworldly buildings of Antoni Gaudi, which are masterpieces in and of themselves! You’ll also find The Moco Museum here as well as the Antoni Tàpies Foundation dedicated to the Catalan painter, who was born in Barcelona in 1923. His work oscillates between primitive, infantile art, surrealism, avant-gardism and Arte Povera (from the Italian “poor art”). The MACBA is a great museum to visit with lots of work from the second half of the 20th century. Next to the MACBA, the Barcelona Center for Contemporary Culture offers you another approach to contemporary art as well as a wide variety of cultural events: debates, festivals and concerts, film programs, courses and conferences.
Milan
Milan is home to some of the most beautiful galleries and museums. For Contemporary art, look no further than The Fondazione Prada, an architectural marvel with striking exhibitions which often give pride of place to the spectacular (Louise Bourgeois, Satoshi Fujiwara, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst to name a few…). If you want to see more modern and post-war masterpieces, the Museo del Novecento boasts a spectacular collection of over 4,000 works of art. Its permanent collection is developed around a chronological journey mixing paintings from the beginning of the century by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Paul Klee, Vasilij Kandinskij or even Amedeo Modigliani, with a large part devoted to the Italian Futurist movement. The Triennale houses the Design Museum, which each year offers visitors a new retrospective on the excellence of Italian design. Along the way, take a walk in the garden of the Palazzo dell’Arte, next to Parco Sempione, for a drink, lunch or brunch. This all in front of the masterful work of Giorgio De Chirico.
Madrid
You own part of the most iconic anti-war image in the world with your Banksy Particle, but Madrid is home to Picasso’s most important anti-war image as well - Picasso’s Guernica at the Reina Sofia. The highlight of this route to the Reina Sofia is that it’s part of the Art Walk (Paseo del Arte), almost a kilometer and a half of green spaces dotted with three of the best art galleries in the world – the Prado National Museum, the Thyssen Museum-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofía Museum in question – which offer a complete artistic journey from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen’s history has been marked by the Vikings, the monarchy and design. If you are passionate about ancient art head to the Thorvaldsen museum. The collection of the Glyptoteket ranges from antiquity to French Impressionists and interesting works in between. Aesthetes will hesitate between this museum and the SMK, the National Museum of Fine Arts with more Danish works and modern art. For contemporary art, head 30 minutes from Copenhagen to the Louisiana Museum. The exhibitions, the architecture and the green setting make it one of the favorite museums of Copenhageners. The former Saint Nikolaj church now houses the Nikolaj Kunsthal contemporary art center for those who prefer to stay in the center.
NEXT STEPS
- Following the discussion on this RFC, the cities will be put up for a vote (including any additional cities requested here).
- The Foundation will use its resources and collaborate with different art institutions, galleries, and independent curators to propose a plan to the community, along with formalized dates.
- The plan will be released in the format of a RFC for discussion, before it is put to fruition.
Please note, as with the USA tour, the Particle Foundation proposes to finance the European exhibit of LIITA out of its treasury.