If you love art and you’re planning a visit to New York, there are a number of exhibitions to be seen in the city that should not be missed. As a follow-up to my previous article on exhibitions in Madrid, here is a selection of my recommendations for the ten most interesting exhibitions currently running in New York. And even if you’re not planning a trip in the near future, you can bookmark this page for future reference as I’ll be updating it regularly.
Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963-2010. Until August 3, 2014
The MoMA’s retrospective of Sigmar Polke, one of the 20th century’s most influential German artists and, together with Richter, one of the founders of capitalist realism, is the largest and most comprehensive to date. The exhibition spans 50 years in the artist’s artistic career and includes a wide variety of media, from sculpture, painting, photography, film, performance to stained glass windows. Alibis is already one of this year’s best exhibitions.
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Brooklyn Museum
Ai Weiwei: According to What?
From April 18 to August 10, 2014
This exhibition includes works of photography, sculpture and architecture, through which the artist has explored and studied cultural, historical, political as well as traditional themes for the past twenty years. Ali Weiwei is one of China’s most internationally recognized artists and dissidents, mainly due to his outspoken defense of freedom and human rights and his opposition to China’s abuses of power, a position which led to his imprisonment. The show explores his vision through his artwork.
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Whitney Museum of American Art
American Legends: From Calder to O'Keeffe. Until June 29, 2014
This exhibition at the Whitney Museum contains works from 30 of the most relevant artists who were artistically active during the first half of the 20th century, a period of great conflict and change across the globe. The artists include the likes of Edward Hopper, Jasper Johns, Stuart Davis, Roy Lichtenstein and Calder, the works on display being owned by the museum itself.
The Whitney Museum’s Biennale will also be open to visitors, until May 25, 2014.
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Spring Group Show. George Condo, Albert Oehlen, David Salle, Thomas Schütte and Cindy Sherman. From April 11 to June, 2014
This unique exhibition at New York’s Skarstedt Gallery gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy the works of five important contemporary artists all in one place.
Oscar Murillo. A Mercantile Novel. From April 24 to June 14, 2014
The David Zwirner Gallery is among the most influential art galleries in the world and this curious exhibition, A Mercantile Novel, consists of an installation of a sweet factory originally located in the Colombian artist Oscar Murillo’s hometown of Colombina, the factory being the workplace of various generations of the artist’s family. Murillo has brought the machinery and even the employees of the factory to the gallery and will be distributing the sweets made in the factory to the citizens of New York. His aim is to “start a conversation about commerce and globalization, individual and community relationships, origins and immigration”.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Goya and The Altamira Family. From April 22 to August 3, 2014
This exhibition consists of four portraits of the Altamira family by Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, and a fifth portrait by Agustín Esteve — the first time the five works have been displayed together. With support from the Fundación Plácido Arango.
Jean-Michel Basquiat Drawing. From May 1 to June 13, 2014
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work on paper is essential to the understanding of the artist’s short-lived yet prolific career. 22 of his paper-based works can be seen here, as well as two important paintings lent by the Schorrer family from their own private collection, which began around the start of the artist’s career — fortunately for us, the Schorrers noticed Basquiat’s talent early on and at a time when others did not. A unique and fascinating exhibition.
Frieze Art Fair New York. From May 9 to May 12, 2014
The third edition of the Frieze Art Fair in New York, located in Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan, is designed by architects SO-IL and will contain works from 190 galleries.
Darren Bader, Eduardo Basualdo, Eva Kotátková, Marie Lorenz, Koki Tanaka and Naama Tsabar were the six contemporary artists responsible for creating the fair’s different art spaces. Other activities include talks and presentations with participating artists and sculptors.
Guggenheim Museum
Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe.
From February 21 to September 1, 2014
Futurism is the Italian avant-garde movement born in 1909 with the publication of the Manifeste du Futurisme in Parisian newspaper Le Figaro by Italian intellectual Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The exhibition consists of 360 works in a variety of media: sculpture, painting, furniture, architecture, fashion, design and performance, in what is undoubtedly one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of Italian Futurism held in New York.
http://www.guggenheim.org/futurism
Urs Firsche. From April 3 to May 23, 2014
The work on display here is related to the same artist’s collaborative installation titled “YES”, created together with 1,500 participants and on display at the Geffen Contemporary in 2013, when the artist was presenting his exhibition at the MOCA. In the current exhibition the Swiss artist shows off his spectacular works in clay.
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