There’s something unique about summer exhibitions. Maybe it’s the way time expands, or how light transforms our perception of space. Perhaps it’s the way time expands, or the way light alters our perception of space. Walking into a museum while the city hums elsewhere—between a coffee and a park bench, a stroll and a metro ride—adds a quiet fragment of beauty to our itinerary. Summer 2025 offers many such chances. Between photography, design, painting, and sound installations, we’ve selected 12 shows worth seeing, from Milan to Kanazawa.
1. Vija Celmins – Fondation Beyeler, Zurigo
Vija Celmins’ work is an exercise in attention and reduction. Waves, starry skies, American deserts: all suspended between hyperrealism and quiet contemplation. Born in Latvia and raised in the US, Celmins built her career on a devotion to matter and to the elusive precision of observation. The exhibition presents paintings and drawings that turn repetition into a visual mantra. A patient, existential aesthetic. Until September 21, 2025.
2. Barbara Kruger: Another day. Another night – Guggenheim Bilbao
Barbara Kruger returns with a powerful, immersive show that redefines art as a space for confrontation. Her iconic slogans («Your Body is a Battleground», «I Shop Therefore I Am») become sonic installations, videos, and digital environments. The show explores both her past work and her future direction. A dense, urgent present where aesthetics, communication, and ideology are intertwined. Until November 9, 2025.
3. Susan Sontag, Seeing and being seen – Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
The first major retrospective dedicated to Susan Sontag, one of the most influential thinkers and critics of the 20th century. The show explores her vision through photographs, manuscripts, videos, and artworks that inspired her. From On Photography to Regarding the Pain of Others, Sontag changed how we perceive images and culture. A journey that requires time and attention. Until September 28, 2025.
4. The Shakers: A World in the Making – Vitra Design Museum, Svizzera
Few objects, all essential. This exhibition on Shaker design at the Vitra Design Museum is a lesson in simplicity and rigor. Unadorned furniture, cabinets, and benches—each speaks of a culture that turned ethics into aesthetics. It also offers a new lens through which to view contemporary minimalism, tracing it back to its spiritual origins. Until September 28, 2025.
5. Miriam Cahn – What looks at us, MAAT, Lisbona
Broken bodies, ambiguous faces, haunting presences. Miriam Cahn’s work—expressive, political, visceral—takes on an unsettling rhythm in Lisbon. The title What Looks at Us reverses the gaze: we become the ones under observation. Cahn’s painting addresses gender, war, sexuality, and trauma. An urgent, emotionally charged exhibition. Until October 27, 2025.
6. Rick Owens, Temple of Love – Palais Galliera, Parigi
Rick Owens is not just a designer—he’s a builder of mythologies. Temple of Love at Palais Galliera is his first major solo exhibition in Paris. Clothes as armor, sculptural materials, performative installations. The show is mystical, dark, and seductive. Owens rethinks the body as a shape in constant metamorphosis, between mythology, discipline, and desire. A contemporary liturgy. Until January 4, 2026.
7. Aperto 19: Keita Morimoto, what has escaped us – 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Born in 1990, raised in Canada, now based in Tokyo—Keita Morimoto paints cities that don’t exist, yet feel familiar. In his works, light—whether from street lamps, vending machines, or neon signs—becomes a lyrical, dramatic element. Urban landscapes evolve into photographic collages, then meticulously painted in oil on canvas. The result is distant and anonymous, but effective. Until October 5, 2025.
8. Collezione di design italiano – Triennale Milano
The Triennale reopens its permanent collections with a new installation centered on Marco Zanuso and Italian design. Chairs, radios, kitchens—each object is a story. The setup feels like a narrative, where design is about form, but also history. A path through everyday beauty, for designers, enthusiasts, and nostalgics alike. Until November 9, 2025.
9. Valerio Berruti. More than kids – Palazzo Reale, Milano
A show conceived for young audiences, yet grounded in curatorial rigor. More than Kids looks at the world through a child’s eyes, using installations, workshops, and immersive spaces. Design becomes a language of play, a learning method: with international contributors and site-specific works, it’s a small manifesto on the future of education. Until November 2, 2025.
10. Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction – MoMA, New York
A textile exploration that dismantles the boundaries between art and craft. Woven Histories features over 150 pieces—fabrics, baskets, garments—interwoven with modern abstraction. From early 20th-century figures like Sonia Delaunay, Hannah Höch, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, to Anni Albers and Ed Rossbach, all the way to Rosemarie Trockel and Igshaan Adams. The exhibition tells a story of identity, work, and memory through materials and textures. Until September 13, 2025.
11. Interior Motives – Hauser & Wirth, London
In London, Interior Motives frames the domestic space as a mirror of the contemporary psyche. Koak, Ding Shilun, and Cece Philips revisit interiors—windows, furniture, familiar objects—and turn them into dreamlike canvases through memory, identity, and social roles. A free, reflective exhibition that amplifies emerging voices. From August 22 to September 20, 2025.
12. Chen Ke – UCCA Beijing
Chen Ke is one of the most emotional voices in contemporary Chinese art. Her works, suspended between painting and illustration, tell personal stories that are made universal. Cursive Soul at UCCA Beijing is an exploration of femininity, childhood, and the concept of time.
Delicate yet powerful, her art whispers—but lingers. Until September 7, 2025.