With a new year ahead
of us, it is time once again to start thinking about all the great
opportunities to plan and research potential trips, or even just great fantasy
visits, to a whole new crop of exciting art exhibitions around the world. As with the list I compiled in 2011, my picks usually
revolve around visits to great art cities or to places I have already put on my
conference and/or research itinerary. This year I am most excited about the
planned Field School to Paris that I blogged about here that will include an
optional trip to Documenta 13 in Kassel,
Germany—arguably the premier art exhibition event of this year. I hope my list
inspires some of you to push your travel plans in new directions. It was especially
wonderful hearing back from those of you who actually got to the shows on my
2011 list (I was most jealous of those who got to see the Richter show at the
Tate—I missed it by a few weeks when I was in the UK last fall!). But even for
those of us sticking closer to home, there are always great shows taking place
in local galleries.
5. Tate Modern,
London: A Bigger Splash- Painting After Performance Art (November 7- April 1,2013): I spend a great deal of time talking about the crisis around painting
after the late 1960’s with my students, and so I was most intrigued with this
show exploring the juxtaposition of action and abstract painting with performance
based art practices. So far, the description from the Tate is pretty brief, but
it promises to deliver what looks like one of the most dynamic conversations
around painting this year.
2. Museum of Modern
Art, New York: Cindy Sherman (February 26-June 11): Along with Documenta, this
is the show I long to see the most. For all of the hype around Sherman and the
recent criticisms she has received from the art world surrounding her commercial
ventures (with cosmetics company MAC as just one example), her body of work
stand as among the most important and influential of any living artist today. I
blogged about Sherman’s record-breaking photograph here last year, and think
this retrospective will garner the same kind of excitement and interest as
Abramovic in 2010.
Once again, the list reflects the information made
available on gallery websites for upcoming exhibitions and is purely based on
my own interests. See it as a wish list. Happy New Year!
10. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver: Beat
Nation (February 25-June 3): As with last year, I am starting close to home
with an intriguing show that examines the new cultures of hybridity that fuse
forms of popular youth, music, and hip hop culture and the language of
aboriginal storytelling and visual arts. For those of you familiar with the
work of Brian Jungen, this exhibition promises to be a dynamic and innovative
one.
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| Andy Warhol, A Boy for Meg (1962). source: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. |
9. National Gallery of
Art, Washington D.C.: Warhol Headlines (traveling through Europe 2012): This
past winter I had a chance to see this fascinating and very eye-opening exhibition in Washington D.C. exploring Andy Warhol’s lifelong obsession with the news media and tabloid headlines.
The National Gallery of Art assembled 80 Warhol works of various media to examine this
theme, and I was happy to see that the show will be traveling through Europe
this summer, landing first in Frankfurt at the Museum of Modern Art from
February 11-May 13th and then off to Rome at the National Gallery of
Art from June 11-September 9th. It will then make a reappearance in
the US from October 14- January 16, 2013 in Pittsburgh at the Andy Warhol
Museum.
8. San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco: Francesca Woodman (November 5-February 20):
Francesca Woodman was part of an important and somewhat controversial film that I previewed as part of the 2010 Vancouver International Film Festival. Her life story and
unique photographic practice are often difficult to disentangle, but this
retrospective of Woodman’s work (the
first in twenty years) introduces her vision and approach to a new generation
of artists dealing with the ambiguities and difficulties of subjecthood and
self-portraiture.
7. Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles: Ends of the Earth (April 8-July 30): This
exhibition caught my attention for its unique and ambitious scope, aiming to
trace the development and history of Land Art, an art form and media practice that
deliberately attempts to escape the art institution all together. Over eighty
artists from around the world will be represented in what looks to be a one of
a kind show, not unlike the recent exhibition MOCA did dealing with Street Art.
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| Francesca Woodman, Untitled (1979-80). source: ARTINFO |
6. New Museum, New
York: The Ungovernables (February 15-April 22): The New Museum is a unique
institution dedicated to showcasing under-recognized contemporary artists from
around the world. Since its founding in the 1970’s, the
New York based museum has launched the careers and/or brought to worldwide attention many of
the artists studied in contemporary art history classes today such as Ana
Mendieta, Andrea Zittel, and William Kentridge. This show is part of the museum’s
second triennial and will, as stated on its website, feature thirty-four
artists, artist groups, and temporary collectives—totaling over fifty
participants—born between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s, many of whom have never
before exhibited in the US. I especially love the title of the exhibition and
the themes involving civil disobedience and questions of central power that
will shape the discussion around this show.
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| Niki de Saint Phalle, Shooting Picture (1971) source: Tate Modern |
4. Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York: The Steins Collect (February 28-June 3): For any of you who
caught Woody Allen’s 2011 film Midnight in Paris this year, you will recall all of
the great sequences that captured the world of Gertude Stein, Pablo Picasso,
Salvador Dali, and other luminaries of the Paris Avant-Garde. This exhibition
pays homage to the patronage of the Steins and their close relationships and
influence on an art community that could not have existed or come to public
acclaim without their support.
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| Edgar Degas, The Milliners (1882) source: Artfixx |
3. Musee D’Orsay,
Paris: Degas and the Nude (March 13-July 1); Impressionism and Fashion (Sept25-end of year): One of my favourite points in any late nineteenth century art
history class that I teach is the moment where I get to “de-code” the Degas
nude and ballerina for an unknowing audience. I won’t spoil the surprise for
those yet to catch up on their Impressionist art history, but I am very excited
that the Orsay will tackle this subject, along with the permutations of
Impressionism and its link to fashion in these two very important exhibitions.
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| Cindy Sherman, Untitled #466 (2008) source: MoMA |
1. Kassel, Germany: Documenta13 (June 9-September 16): Simply put, a once every five year event that is a
must-see for anyone interested in the present state of contemporary art. I have blogged extensively about the event already and look forward to experiencing it
with a great group of students in the summer! Let me know if you get to any of these exhibitions as the year goes on. Happy travels!