Get a head start on a big year in art by planning out the global exhibitions, biennials and art fairs that matter.
By Fiona Brutscher
Get high on “Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll“ at an exhibition at the de Young celebrating the Summer of Love in the city where it all began 50 years ago. Conventional wisdom has it that those who remember the sixties didn’t really experience them, so it can serve as a welcome reminder both for those who were around during the flower power era and those who weren’t in San Francisco for those heady times. deyoung.famsf.org
Louisville, Kentucky’s Speed Art Museum tackles the complex subject of the American South. Southern Accent: Seeking the American South in Contemporary Art explores both the real places, as well as the ideas, clichés and concepts associated with the Southern states. speedmuseum.org [Skylar Fein,
Black Flag (For Elizabeth’s)]
Tate Britain clearly isn’t planning to get out of the blockbuster retrospective business any time soon. Its massive David Hockney retrospective is sure to be a crowd pleaser, with the most comprehensive selection of the British artist’s most famous works. tate.org.uk [Photo: David Hockney Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) 1971 Private Collection © David Hockney]
Meanwhile, two concurrent yet seemingly contradictory London exhibitions examine
America After the Fall and The American Dream. The former is focused on American painting in the 1930s (after the depression), the latter on prints, ranging from pop art to the present. royalacademy.org.uk, americandreamexhibition.org [Photo: Edward Hopper, Gas, 1940. © 2016. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence]
To commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising, the 186th Royal Hibernian Academy‘s annual exhibition was held in March, the same time of the year it would have been held 100 years ago. This year, for the 187th edition, the Irish open-submission art show has moved back to the May-August time slot it had occupied in more recent years. rhagallery.ie [Photo: Donal Murphy]
Paris is going all out to mark the centenary of the death of one of its most famous sons. Rodin: The Centennial Exhibition, a collaboration between Musée Rodin and the Grand Palais, presents a survey of over 200 of Auguste Rodin’s works, as well as art inspired by them over the course of the past century. grandpalais.fr [Auguste Rodin, Le Penseur, grand modèle, SNBA 1904, musée Rodin © Musée Rodin, Photo: Christian Baraja)]
A very different type of centenary celebrates the inception of De Stijl journal. Dozens of exhibitions across the Netherlands more or less loosely tied to the theme From Mondriaan to Dutch Design celebrate the art and design movement of the same name. holland.com [Photo: Rietveld chair via Wikimedia Commons]
The eagerly anticipated Documenta 14 takes place in two cities for the first time ever. The traditional Kassel location gets a head start with its April opening, paying homage to the second host city Athens, with an Acropolis built out of (formerly) banned books. documenta14.de [Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran (CAMP), From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf, 2013, India / United Arab Emirates, film still]
Kicking off an almighty year of biennials is the Whitney. That the museum is hosting the contemporary art extravaganza in its new downtown location for the first time ever, and that it has actually been three years since the last edition, will only enhance the buzz surrounding the event. whitney.org [Tuan Andrew Nguyen, production photograph for ultra-high-definition video, 2017 (work in progress). Courtesy the artist]
Right in the middle between Documenta Kassel and Athens, both in time and space, lies the opening of the 57th Venice Biennale. With its optimistic title Viva Arte Viva, it promises to be a celebration of art. labiennale.org [Shaw J., Towards Universal Pattern Recognition, K÷NIG GALERIE]
Three years after her death (and only two years off what would have been her 100th birthday), the German Museum Folkwang is honouring Austrian artist Maria Lassnig with a retrospective. Often referred to as one of the most important female artists of her generation, this exhibition should go some way towards proving she is one of the most important artists, full stop. museum-folkwang.de
The Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art in Brussels opened with the vision of bringing “Culture 2.0” to its audience by “showcasing art that breaks down barriers, offering a mix of cultures.“ After a successful opening, its second show is A Friendly Takeover, featuring the work of street-artist-turned-abstract-sculptor Boris Tellegen. mimamuseum.eu
Another continent, another biennial. Launched by the Sharjah Art Foundation in 1993, this event has become one of the highlights of the Middle Eastern arts calendar. However, it doesn’t restrict itself to one location, instead stretching to events in Beirut, Dakar, Ramallah and Istanbul, as well as an online publishing platform. sharjahart.org [Basim Magdy, No Shooting Stars, 2016. Video still. Courtesy of the artist]
Dubai Art Week will see the inauguration of Concrete, a new venue within the Alserkal Avenue art hub. The opening exhibition, titled Syria: Into the Light, will show modern and contemporary Syrian art. alserkalavenue.ae [Michael Kurcheh, Badawiyeh, Undated. Courtesy of the artist and Atassi Foundation]
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