Brilliant Things To Do in June

Helmut Newton: A Retrospective at Foam Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland: June 16 - September 4
“My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain,” Helmut Newton once quipped, and the seminal image-maker certainly achieves this triumvirate in his spectacular new retrospective. The eponymous exhibition, opening on June 16 at Amsterdam's Foam Gallery, will showcase Newton's striking archetypal monochromatic images of women alongside lesser-known prints, many of which have scarcely been seen outside of his private collection. What's more, in addition to over 200 images, the gallery will be showing screenings of the intimate 1995 film Helmut by June, shot by his wife, actress June Newton. Watch his surrealist inspirations, his bold formal techniques and the landscape-altering social change of the late 20th century come together to create an unforgettable visit.

The new season at Palais de Tokyo, Paris: June 23 - September 9
The Parisian gallery's exciting new season will present the first French solo exhibition for Korea-born Ayoung Kim, who has created an immersive sound installation based on a mythical flood, and that of London-based artist Marguerite Humeau, whose physical and sensory experience has been informed by myths and fantasies. Other featured artists include Mika Rottenberg, presenting a series of video installations riffing on the female body, and multi-disciplinary duo David Ryan and Jerome Joy whose show Nothing at All, Idiorhythmic Modes of Coexistence continues their sensory exploration of coexistence.

The Best of Food and Drink
If you find yourself in British seaside town Margate this June, you might want to pop by Xiringuito, a new moveable restaurant and the first independent venture by duo Conor Sheehan and chef Jackson Berg, who previously worked together at Bistrothèque. Inspired by the seasonal bars which open on Catalan beaches in the summer months (hence the Catalan name), and serving up a menu of internationally influenced British dishes, the eatery promises a joyous and refined experience comprising a concise wine list, quality cocktails and a super special ice-cream menu.

Back in the capital, much loved Curtain Road smokehouse ROK is opening its second outpost on Islington’s Upper Street this month. ROK, which is Swedish for smoke, has been serving fresh British produce with Northern European-inspired cooking, pickling and – of course – smoking, alongside a fresh cocktail and beer menu, which is sure to go down a treat with the N1 crowd.

Meanwhile, Tombo, Poké and Matcha Bar might have hit upon two new food crazes in one fell swoop. Poké, a kind of marinated raw fish native to Hawaiian cuisine (it’s described as somewhere between ceviche and sashimi, inspired as it is by Korean and Japanese influences on the island) will be on the menu in all its iterations, alongside all things matcha – from latters and brownies to cakes and sundaes. Watch out for the soft launch on June 6.

Judy Blame: Never Again & Artistic Differences at the ICA, London: June 29 - September 4
Stylist and designer Judy Blame is truly one of a kind, so his highly anticipated first solo exhibition is long overdue. Never Again will take place at the ICA, tracing Blame's work over the last few decades, from experimental DIY zines through to his iconic contribution to magazines including The Face. It's set to be a nostalgic trip through the trailblazer's punk years, for those who lived through the Blitz Kids era and an untapped treasure trove of talent, unbridled creativity and explosive energy for those who didn't. Additionally, a group exhibition by those who have been directly linked to the iconic stylist will take over the second floor of the gallery, featuring artists such as Linder Sterling, Juergen Teller and the Chapman brothers, and exploring Blame’s work in a wider cultural context.

The Best of Film
When rain strikes, June’s myriad cinematic offerings are the perfect reason to hole up indoors. For comic, and very stylish, relief there’s The Nice Guys, starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, as a private detective and hired enforcer (ie. someone who beats people up for money) who find themselves unlikely partners in crime busting following the disappearance of a young woman. Then there’s poetic Colombian drama Embrace Of The Serpent, set in 1900, which sees a young Amazonian shaman embark on a mission to help a sick German explorer find a rare plant to heal him. Hailed as a feminist western, The Keeping Room tells the tale of two Southern sisters as they struggle to defend themselves and their home in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Meanwhile for a modern tale of girlhood, The Violators – the debut feature from writer/director Helen Walsh – documents the encounter of two troubled teens from radically different backgrounds in what is a potent meditation on the concept of home and the nuances of sexual awakening.

Documentary fans have plenty of reasons to rejoice this month. There’s Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach, which takes a look at the celebrated British director’s remarkable oeuvre and unique approach to his medium. While in the beautifully observed Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea), Italian director Gianfranco Rosi turns his lens to the island of Lampedusa, dubbed “the frontline of the migrant crisis”, in a film that makes a truly lasting impact. Last but not least, there’s No Home Movie, late filmmaker Chantal Akerman’s final work, which paints a deeply moving portrait of her mother, an Auschwitz survivor, in the lead up to her death.

The New Tate Modern Opening Weekend, Tate Modern, London: June 17 - 19
It's here! London's Tate Modern extension has been a long time coming (six years, in fact), but it finally opens to the public this month, with a whole weekend of festivities to celebrate. Acclaimed architects Herzog and de Meuron are behind both the iconic towering buildings, housed in redundant oil tanks, and the new development – comprising ten whole floors' worth of gallery space, along with a connecting bridge linking it to the Turbine Hall, restaurants and a public roof terrace with impressive views of the city’s skyline. Not only will the weekend of the 17th mark the public's first opportunity to see the space, but it will also present a series of ten-minute talks hosted by art experts, workshops, installations, specially commissioned exhibitions and a five hundred strong choral performance. Just a taster, we're certain, of what's to come.

Wolfgang Tillmans: The State We're In, Maureen Paley Gallery, London: June 9 - July 31
This June presents a pivotal political moment for the United Kingdom, as the leave and remain campaigns battle over potential voters in the run-up to the EU referendum on June 23, and while some grey areas continue to plague talk shows and debates there's no questioning which side photographer Wolfgang Tillmans is on. The artist's recent work comprises a series of serene yet serious posters designed to remind voters of the many reasons why staying in the EU might be preferable, juxtaposing pastel-hued images of the British Isles' coastline with slogans such as “what is lost is lost forever”. Ahead of Tillmans' Tate Modern show next year, Bethnal Green's Maureen Paley gallery hosts an exhibition of this important work including several series exploring the themes of borders, and inspired in part by a secret student workshop the photographer completed in Iran.

The Festival Edit
Festival season is well and truly upon us this month – from Primavera Sound from June 1-5 in Barcelona, marking out an annual pilgrimage for festival-goers and beach-lovers alike, to Somerset's iconic Glastonbury Festival, taking place from June 22-26 (wellies at the ready) – June sees it develop into a truly global affair. Off the beaten track, but no less spectacular for it, We Love Green takes to the picturesque forests of Paris' beautiful Bois de Vincennes on June 4 and 5. It's only a few years old, but with a line-up that includes LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Kelela and Savages, alongside a programme of thought-provoking and engaging talks and workshops in its dedicated Thinktank, it's sure to ricochet to the top of wishlists in no time at all. Harvey will also headline at this year's Field Day (June 11-12), alongside Air, Beach House, Coves, Empress Of and many more in what promises to be one of the London festival's best years yet. Finally, for the nature-inclined, the brand new Wealden Literary Festival (June 18-19) celebrates all things outdoors with talks from some of Britain's best-loved nature and travel writers, as well as site-specific art installations in the breathtaking Kent countryside.

Cindy Sherman: Imitation of Life at the Broad: June 11 - October 2
Cindy Sherman’s new show Imitation of Life, at the recently opened downtown Los Angeles contemporary art museum The Broad, will see the photographer's cinematic, film-like stills exhibited as part of an exploration of identity. From her early experimental work to collaborations with designers including Comme des Garçons, Sherman’s photography presents an experimental and expressive representation of the self. The artist admits that she is “trying to make other people recognise something of themselves”, through her exploration of stereotypes about what it means to be a woman.

Yayoi Kusama: In Infinity at Moderna Museet, Stockholm: June 11 – September 11
We will never tire of Yayoi Kusama's powerful oeuvre, and this month, as the artist nears her 90th birthday, the touring exhibition of her work arrives at Stockholm's Moderna Museet, by way of Copenhagen's Louisiana Museum and Oslo's Kunstsenter, before moving on to Helsinki Art Museum later on in the summer. The spellbinding installation piece In Infinity will reside for three months at the impressive yet minimal drill hall building in the Swedish capital, on the small island of Skeppsholmen, while the artist's unmistakable and intricate patterns sweep canvases in the gallery space. 

Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency at Teiji Furuhashi, Lovers, at MoMA, New York: June 11 - February 17
New York’s MoMA plays host to the iconic documentarian Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency this month, which sees the Washington-born photographer present almost 700 images as a film to an expressive soundtrack. Performances will be staged throughout the duration of the exhibition, which explores images from Goldin’s archive taken from the 1970s to the 1990s, and from Boston to Berlin. The image-maker has compared the work to a "diary that I let people read", and her raw, honest images are shown in their striking original 35mm format – an irresistible insight for any fans of her era-defining oeuvre. 

Elsewhere in the museum, Kyoto-based collective Dumb Type member Teja Furuhashi’s immersive video work Lovers explores Furuhashi's personal relationship to his work; the piece was created in 1994 just a year before he died from AIDS-related illnesses, carving it out as a powerful pairing to Goldin's ballad. The archive footage as shown in the gallery has been painstakingly recreated to the artist's original exhibition intentions. The piece is based on the idea of eternal yet unrequited love; human figures pass through the room, never quite interlocking, instead merely passing each other multiple times, in a poetic yet fleeting installation which highlights the delicate nature of human relationships.

Berlin Biennale of Contemporary Art, Kunst-Werke gallery and multiple locations, Berlin: June 4 - September 18
Berlin is the city to pay a visit to if you're feeling weighed down by the mundane struggles of day-to-day life – and with the 9th edition of the Biennale of Contemporary Art taking place in the city this summer, now is the time to do it. Curated by DIS – a post-internet, New York-based collective – and directed by the Kunst-Werke’s Gabriele Horn, the Biennale handpicks the very best in emerging artists from the city's artistic scene and places them alongside other more established artists. Duo Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch, filmmaker Hito Steryerl, Berlin-born favourite Timur Si-Qin and the TELFAR design collective make up just some of the programme of events. The biennale will be focused around the site of the 1999 opened Kunst-Werke gallery, an old margarine factory in central Mitte, with precisely three and a half floors, and explores ‘paradessence’, a word the curators have coined, combining paradox and essence.

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige: Two Suns in the sunset, at Jeu de Paume, Paris: June 7 – September 25
The poetically named Two Suns in the Sunset, presented by self-taught Lebanese film duo Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige at the Jeu de Paume in Paris' Jardin des Tuileries this summer, features a combination of video installation, fictional documentary and photography. Their work explores the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, physical and imagined borders through multi-media experimentations – making it a strikingly timely and thought-provoking show.

Mark Leckey: This Kolossal Kat, that Massive MOG at The Grundy, Blackpool: Until August 13
Turner prize-winning artist Mark Leckey is possibly best known for his era-defining short about British nightlife, Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, but his current exhibition at Blackpool’s The Grundy, with its focus on the first known broadcasted image, Felix the Cat, takes a brilliantly unexpected new angle. The Grundy’s beautiful light filled rooms have provided a location for art exhibitions for over 100 years in the north-western city, but This Kolossal Kat, that Massive MOG marks the first time that the gallery's rooms have been filled with the artist's giant oversized inflatable cats. Leckey’s experimental immersive approach provides a fresh perspective on the iconic image just as Felix celebrates his 70th birthday.

Great Performances
Don’t miss the chance to enjoy some performance art courtesy of Block Universe, London’s only dedicated festival to the medium, which has returned to the capital for the second year running and takes as its theme The Future Perfect, questioning ‘how we construct the idea of self in a technologically sophisticated society.’ While for theatre-lovers, LIFT Festival is a must, with a number of amazingly diverse performances scheduled to take place in venues across London throughout June and July, from Isabella Huppert in the title role of Phaedra at the Barbican to a haunting circus in Tower Hamlets’ Cemetery Park. For those in search of dance-themed thrills, lauded ballerina Natalia Osipova will grace the Sadler’s Wells stage in a programme of specially commissioned new work. While in a first for the celebrated theatre, No Body, a fully immersive multi-installation experience, you can discover all the ingredients of a great dance performance – lighting, design, sound and projection – with the exception of the physical presence of dancers. Intrigued? We certainly are.

Rauschenberg in China at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing: June 2 - August 21
Artists with either the material or the drive to create a 305 metre-long artwork, described as a "self-contained retrospective", are few and far between, but fortunately Robert Rauschenberg ticks all the boxes: his seminal piece The 1/4 Mile is exhibited for the first time since 2000 at the Ullen Centre of Contemporary Art in Beijing this month. The painting, made up of 191 parts, is constructed from found objects and documentary photographs, and is, in a sense, coming home – the artist's trip to China in the summer of 1982 was his first of many which have informed the exhibition, which also showcases two portfolios of documentary images.

Free Range Graduate Show : The Truman Brewery : June 10 - July 18
June marks the beginning of graduate show season, prompting art and photography aficionados to take to the streets in search of the very best in emerging practitioners, and as it has for the past 16 years, London's Free Range show, taking place at London's Truman Brewery, will present some of the finest of them. The show will run for five weeks, including thousands of creative students' work from 50 universities across the country alongside a programme of talks and events, so don't miss the opportunity to get them while they're hot.