From blockbuster biennales to captivating retrospectives and celebrations of famed creatives, we take a look at the art exhibitions and events that deserve a spot on your bucket list this year.
[Image: Installation view, Jenny Holzer: Light Line, May 17–September 29, 2024, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. © 2024 Jenny Holzer, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Ariel Ione Williams and David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York]
The Shore/a place I’d like to be, Ghent – French-Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui has transformed the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent into a conceptual sonic landscape. As one of the leading sound artists of our time, expect a remarkable sensory experience, encompassing new installations showcased together with a number of his renowned ongoing projects. Until 25 Aug 2024
[Image: Photo by Dirk Pauwels. Courtesy of S.M.A.K.]
Jenny Holzer: Light Line, New York City – The scrolling words of what Holzer has named “truism” spiral up the iconic Frank Loyd Wright-designed rotunda at the New York Guggenheim, resurrecting the American artist’s legendary exhibition from 1989 – held in this very place. Her text-based works once again signify the importance of the public domain, with myriad other pieces spanning the artist’s half-century career featuring alongside them. Until 29 Sep 2024
[Image: Installation view, Jenny Holzer: Light Line, May 17–September 29, 2024, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. © 2024 Jenny Holzer, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Filip Wolak]
Arles 2024 – Dedicated to the realm of photography for half a century, Arles has now become synonymous with a celebration of lens-based media. The art capital of Provence will host more than 40 exhibitions in the summer months of 2024, exploring the zeitgeist of our turbulent world through the eyes of esteemed and emerging photographic artists; key names include Mary Ellen Mark, Sophie Calle, Rinko Kawauchi and many more. 1 July – 29 Sep 2024
[Image: Cristina De Middel. An Obstacle in the Way [Una Piedra en el Camino], Journey to the center series, 2021. Courtesy of the artist/Magnum Photos]
Rebecca Horn, Munich – What you see at first glance is never what you get in the work of German artist Rebecca Horn. Challenging our understanding of materials, genres and perspectives, Horn’s retrospective at Haus der Kunst questions the existing assumptions we have learnt to accept. This engaging show is characteristic of her work, filled with choreographic visual approaches and thought-provoking kinetic surprises. Until 13 Oct 2024
[Image: Turm der Namenlosen, 1994. Installation view. Haus der Kunst München, 2024. Collection Rebecca Horn. Photo: Markus Tretter © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024]
Seekers, Seers, Soothsayers, Cape Town – Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, the Heatherwick-designed landmark of the Mother City, is known for exhibiting works by new generations of African artists, many of whom focus on reexamining the continent’s complex historical narratives. This exhibition, organised by the museum’s curators Beata America and Tandazani Dhlakama, offers a distinct perspective: visual exchanges between seven African artists on the spiritual and supernatural world. Until 13 Oct 2024
[Image: Nyancho NwaNri, Here, 2021]
Yayoi Kusama, London – Highly recognisable for her vibrant, rhythmic polka dot art, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s new body of signatory paintings will be revealed at the beautiful Victoria Miro Gallery on trendy Old Street. This solo exhibition includes a new version of her celebrated Infinity Mirror Room, an immersive blockbuster installation previously exhibited at the Tate and the Broad. Entrance is free, but booking is essential. If it’s a fine day and you’re up for a stroll, head to Kensington Gardens, where Kusama’s iconic Pumpkin sculpture is also on view. 25 Sep – 2 Nov 2024
[Image: Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Yusuke Miyazaki. Victoria Miro. Yayoi Kusama Portrait Caption 29th May 2024 © YAYOI KUSAMA. Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner]
Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane – Spreading across two riverside locations, the 11th edition of the Asia Pacific Triennial will showcase works by over 200 artists as they explore regionality and diasporas through various mediums and cultural subtexts. Rich collateral events, from workshops to specially commissioned projects, are also planned for the occasion. 30 Nov 2024 – 27 Apr 2025
[Image: Courtesy of The artist and Sullivan and Strumpf, © Dawn Ng]
The World As It Goes, Paris – Inspired by Voltaire’s story The World as It Goes, in which humanity ultimately replaces the gods, the Jean-Marie Gallais-curated exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris includes works by key names from the 1980s to the present: Cindy Sherman, Luc Tuymans, Damien Hirst and Fischli & Weiss, to name a few. 20 March – 2 Sept
[Image: Peter Doig, Pelican (Stag), 2003-2004; 278,4 × 202,7 × 5,6 cm (avec cadre), Pinault Collection. © Peter Doig / ADAGP, Paris, 2023; Photo: Mark Woods.]
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind, London – Yoko Ono might be known for many things, but her contribution to conceptual art can never be ignored. This long overdue, comprehensive retrospective at Tate Modern will showcase her foremost works created across her seven-decade-long practice in a myriad of media, together with archives of her peace campaigns as an activist. 15 Feb – 1 Sept
[Image: Yoko Ono with Half-A-Room 1967 from HALF-A-WIND SHOW, Lisson Gallery, London, 1967. Photo © Clay Perry]
Nan Goldin, Berlin – The work of Nan Goldin explores intimacy and pain, and her photographic storytelling remains a touchstone for multiple generations of artists and filmmakers, as this show proves. Already shown in Stockholm and Amsterdam, it travels to Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie and then to Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, and the Grand Palais, Paris in the following years. 23 Nov – 23 Feb 2025
[Image: Nan Goldin. This Will Not End Well, 23. November 2024 – 16. February 2025, Neue Nationalgalerie: Nan Goldin, Picnic on the Esplanade, Boston, 1973, courtesy the artist]
Louise Bourgeois, Tokyo – The Mori Art Museum has been home to one of Louise Bourgeois’ “spider” pieces, Maman, for years, so it is fitting that this retrospective traces the French artist’s illustrious career, revolving around the notions of memory, maternal love and pain, with some of her paintings as yet unshown in East Asia. 25 Sept – 19 Jan 2025
[Image: Louise Bourgeois Maman 1999/2002 Bronze, stainless steel, marble 9.27 x 8.91 x 10.23 m Collection: Mori Building Co., Ltd, Tokyo]
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