Uncover the artistic treasures awaiting you this winter! From the surreal to the contemporary, these eight exhibitions promise to captivate and inspire. Prepare to embark on a journey through time and space, where each brushstroke, sculpture, and photograph tells a story. But here's where it gets controversial... Are you ready to dive into the depths of creativity and challenge your perceptions? Let's explore the highlights of the season, one by one.
Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100
Step into a world of dreams and discover the enduring impact of the Surrealists. This exhibition, featuring works by Joan Miró, Leonora Carrington, and Roberto Matta, is a testament to the movement's revolutionary spirit. With a focus on artists who fled Nazism in Europe and found refuge in North America, it offers a unique perspective on the Surrealists' legacy. As the world navigates another turbulent era, Surrealism's radical imagination provides a timely escape.
Gerhard Richter: A Retrospective
Considered the greatest living painter, Gerhard Richter, is the subject of a sweeping retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Spanning six decades, the exhibition showcases Richter's unending experimentation, from his iconic squeegee paintings to deconstructed Renaissance masterpieces. The chronological presentation ensures there's something for every art enthusiast.
Original Order: The Art and Archives of Bettina
Uncover the hidden treasures of avant-garde artist Bettina Grossman, whose vast archive of photographs, sculptures, film, and paintings is only now coming to light. Living in the Chelsea Hotel for decades, Bettina's estate, stewarded by artist Yto Barrada, deserves a wider audience. This exhibition, the largest presentation of her work to date, is both a celebration and an ongoing excavation, revealing captivating art and untold stories.
Jacqueline Humphries: Abstract Expressionism Reimagined
Abstract artist Jacqueline Humphries takes over two floors of the Aspen Art Museum, offering a 21st-century take on Abstract Expressionism. Blending traditional painting techniques with modern signifiers, Humphries' nine-foot-tall canvases feature images reminiscent of captcha tests. For this exhibition, she returns to fluorescent paints, revealing hidden forms under black light. Humphries' inventive and ambitious work is not to be missed.
Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination
Explore the revolutionary energy and Pan-African solidarity captured in the mid-20th-century photographs of Seydou Keïta, Sanlé Sory, and Malick Sidibé. This exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York showcases how the spirit of decolonization has ricocheted across geographies and generations. The photographs leap off the walls, powerful, stylish, and very much alive.
Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting
At the National Portrait Gallery in London, discover the intimate and spare drawings of the esteemed late artist Lucian Freud. Freud's psychologically intense paintings are known for their texture, but his drawings are stripped of flourish, revealing deeper truths. Tender renderings of his subjects, including his daughter Bella Freud and his second wife, Caroline Blackwood, offer a glimpse into the artist's inner world.
Tracey Emin: A Second Life
In another London exhibition, the grande dame of confessional artwork, Tracey Emin, receives her largest solo show yet at Tate Modern. Spanning 40 years, the exhibition includes painting, sculpture, installation, video, and neon. Both new work made since her cancer diagnosis and famed pieces like My Bed will be on display, showcasing Emin's enduring impact with her blunt emotion and raw provocation.
Obama Presidential Center: Art Commissions
As the Obama Presidential Center opens in Chicago, a slew of exciting art commissions come to life. A 70-foot-long mural by Aliza Nisenbaum, incorporating writers like Walt Whitman and Toni Morrison, will anchor the library's reading room. Nisenbaum's commission is a celebration of the natural and literary worlds, enriching the learning environment with its vivid imagery.
