As the memories of our favorite exhibitions from 2013 wane, 2014 promises a slew of exciting museum shows opening around the world. This year marks an important one for New York, with the Whitney Biennial's final edition in the iconic Breuer building, in addition to big shows at MoMA and PS1. The large scale architectural work of Elmgreen & Dragset is celebrated in Oslo, and New York's Tauba Auerbach is given her first solo museum show in the UK. Paris welcomes a historic show of seminal 'decisive moment' photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, while Los Angeles examines Expressionism in France and Germany before the influence of World War I. These and other shows in our round up promise an exciting year for art viewing audiences across the globe.
2014 Whitney Biennial
March 7- May 25, 2014
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, USA
Curators Anthony Elms, Stuart Comer and Michelle Grabner. Photograph by Filip Wolak. Courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The 2014 Whitney Biennial will present three separate floors curated by three different leading curators including: Stuart Comer, Chief Curator of Media and Performance Art at MoMA; Anthony Elms, Associate Curator at ICA Philadelphia; and Michelle Grabner, a Professor in the Painting and Drawing Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Many of the artists chosen this year are also writers, such as David Foster Wallace, Alex Jovanovich, Pedro Velez, David Robbins and Gary Indiana. The exhibition will bring 103 American artists together, and will be the last to take place in the 945 Madison building before the museum moves to the Meatpacking District.
Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963- 2010
April 19 – August 3, 2014
Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA
Sigmar Polke, Watchtower (Hochsitz), 1984. Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The first stop for the retrospective of the late German artist will kick off at MoMA, before traveling to London’s Tate Modern and Museum Ludwig in Cologne. The exhibition celebrates the comprehensive body of work of one of the most influential post war artists, including painting, photography, film, drawing, prints and sculpture.
Maria Lassnig
Opens March 9, 2014
MoMA PS1, New York City, USA
Maria Lassnig, Sciencia, 1998. Courtesy of MoMA PS1.
This vigorous exhibition at PS1 focuses on Lassnig’s body of self-portraiture, which spans her 70+ year art career. Lassnig’s work examines her self-named “body awareness,” where she explores the perception of herself through others. The deeply personal images represent her internal world.
Multiple Occupancy: Eleanor Antin’s “Selves”
March 19 – July 6, 2014
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, USA
Eleanor Antin, The Two Eleanors, 1973. Courtesy of The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston.
Conceptual artist Eleanor Antin focused much of her lengthy career exploring varying selves, concerning gender, race, profession, history and geography. An obvious influence to Cindy Sherman, Antin’s “Selves” portray multiple personae and alter egos. From an African-American ballerina at the Ballets Russes to Crimean War nurses, Antin embodies these different characters to tackle the perceptions created by visual representation.
Cruzamentos: Contemporary Art in Brazil
February 1 – April 20, 2014
Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Laura Belém, Venice of Brazil, 2007. Courtesy of Wexner Center for the Arts.
This immersive exhibition takes over the museum, celebrating art from Brazil in each of the Wexner’s galleries. Cruzamentos introduces 40 Brazilian artists from different backgrounds, races and social standings, which will help define the varied peoples and influences of Brazil, including exciting new and site specific works.
Expressionism in Germany and France: From Van Gogh to Kandinsky
June 8 – September 14, 2014
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Vincent van Gogh, Pollard Willows at Sunset, 1888. Courtesy of Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
This thorough exhibition touches on the exchange of Expressionist art from German and French artists ten years before World War I. Work from modern masters include Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Wassily Kandinsky. The exhibition also features pieces that were inspirational to the Expressionists from Fauvist, Post-Impressionist and Cubist traditions.
Glasgow International Festival 2014
April 4 – 21, 2014
Various locations, Glasgow, Scotland
Bedwyr Williams, The Starry Messenger (video still), 2013. Courtesy of the Glasgow International Festival.
Now in its sixth edition and under the new directorship of Sarah McCrory, the Glasgow International brings together innovative and cutting edge artists and designers from around the world with a special section called “Open Glascow” which focuses on those who are based in the Glasgow region. The festival explores the depths of art, from sculpture to large scale installation, performances, lectures, music, painting and video in venues all around the city.
Richard Hamilton
February 13 – May 26, 2014
Tate Modern, London, UK
Richard Hamilton, Just what was it that made yesterday’s homes so different, so appealing? (upgrade), 2004. Courtesy of Tate Modern London.
Regarded as one of the most influential British artists in the 20th Century, and the father of Pop art, this retrospective is the first to encompass all 60 years of the late artist’s work. The exhibition includes early works from the 1950s up to Hamilton’s final paintings before he passed in 2011.
Tauba Auerbach: The New Ambidextrous Universe
April 16 – June 15, 2014
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK
Tauba Auerbach, The New Ambidextrous Universe I, 2013. Photograph by Vegard Kleven. Courtesy of Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
For the first solo-exhibition in the UK by New York based artist, Auerbach has created a new series of sculptures and photographs inspired by symmetry and reflection as a means to create an alternate universe.
Art & Language Uncompleted – The Collection of Philippe Méaille
September 19, 2014 – April 12, 2015
Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain
Art & Language, 77 Sentences, 1974. Courtesy of Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona.
Amassed over more than 40 years, the collection of Philippe Méaille takes an extensive look at the Art & Language collective, which was founded in 1967 by conceptual British artists Terry Atkinson, David Bainbridge, Michael Baldwin and Harold Hurrell. Comprised of intentionally anonymous works, the collection examines the beginning of conceptual art with this group of artists that abandoned the traditional practices of drawing and painting for a theoretically based practice.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
February 12 – June 9, 2014
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1935. Courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The first retrospective in Europe of Cartier-Bresson since his death ten years ago, this exhibition will follow over seventy years of work with a collection of 500 photographs, drawings, paintings, films and documents. Both iconic and lesser known images illustrate the photographer’s expertise as capturing the “decisive moment.”
Elmgreen & Dragset – Biography
March 21 – August 17, 2014
Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway
Elmgreen & Dragset, He, 2012. Courtesy of Astrup Fearnley Museet.
Collaborators Michael Elmgreen of Denmark and Ignar Dragset of Norway are known for their large-scale architectural and sculptural installations, notably the building-sized Prada Marfa sculpture in the Texan desert. This exhibition will highlight the pair’s oeuvre of work that pushes the boundary between an art object and performative context, which often touch on themes of Minimalism and homosexuality.
Subodh Gupta – Everything is Inside
January 17 – March 16, 2014
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India
Subodh Gupta, Bihari, 1999. Courtesy of National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Curated by Germano Celant, Everything is Inside spans two buildings at the museum – the historic Jaipur House and the museum’s modern extension. The dual locations reflect the contrast of Gupta’s work, which honors the historic traditions of India by transforming elements of daily life into sculptural works. Gupta’s painting and small scale sculptures will be shown in the Jaipur House, while large scale installations, as well as a site-specific installation, will enliven the modern extension.
Art Post-Internet
March 3 – May 11, 2014
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Harm ven den Dorpel, Assemblage, 2013. Courtesy of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art.
Art Post-Internet presents work by artists who create work with the keen awareness of an internet state of mind, addressing issues of internet policy, surveillance, data mining, the concept of the network and the mass distribution of information. Curated by Karen Archey and Robin Peckham, the innovative exhibition includes work by Cory Archangel, Harm van den Dorpel, Bunny Rogers, Ben Schumacker, Timur Si-Win, Artie Vierkant, amongst others.