Summers are for vacationing on beaches and winters are for visiting museums. It’s a lifestyle motto I live by and as should you. There’s just simply no better activity one could do during dark and snowy days than look at something aesthetically pleasing or emotionally provocative. Because of this, I’ve gathered a list of exhibitions I’m super excited to visit this season!
Whether you’re keen to go and enjoy art alone, on a date, or with a group of friends; or whether you’re in the mood for installations, photography or paintings – you’ll hopefully be able to find something to your liking below!
Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst with his sculpture, Capricorn, 1947 © John Kasnetsis
Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde review
Barbican Art Gallery, UK
10 October 2018 – 27 January 2019
More information here.
“Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde showcases the creative output of over 40 artist couples active in the first half of the 20th century. […] This major interdisciplinary show features the work of painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, designers, writers, musicians and performers, shown alongside personal photographs, love letters, gifts and rare archival material.”
Among the highlights are legendary duos such as: Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp; Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin; Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera; Dora Maar and Pablo Picasso; Lee Miller and Man Ray; Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West; Emilie Flöge and Gustav Klimt.
Courtesy of Royal Academy of Arts
Klimt / Schiele
Royal Academy of Arts
4 November 2018 — 3 February 2019
More information here.
“See rare and fragile drawings by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, offering intimate insights into their artistic relationship and differing creative processes. This extraordinary collaboration with the Albertina Museum in Vienna marks the centenary of both artists’ deaths.”
Photo by Simon Frederick via National Portrait Gallery
Black is the New Black – Portraits by Simon Frederick
National Portrait Gallery
29 September 2018 – 27 January 2019
More information here.
“Black is the New Black brings together exceptional figures from the world of politics, business, culture, religion and science to celebrate black British achievement today. Artist and director Simon Frederick photographed sitters ranging from Naomi Campbell, Sir Trevor McDonald and Thandie Newton to musician Jazzie B of Soul II Soul and footballer Les Ferdinand, to recognise the profound impact of black individuals on British culture. The portraits were made as part of Frederick’s acclaimed BBC Two documentary series of 2016 on black culture in modern Britain. This display celebrates their acquisition as the largest group of portraits of Afro-Caribbean sitters into the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection.”
Courtesy of Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby: “The Beautyful Ones”
National Portrait Gallery
17 November 2018 – 3 February 2019
More information here.
“This display brings together new and existing works from Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s ongoing series, ‘The Beautyful Ones’, which is comprised of portraits of Nigerian youth including some members of the artist’s family. Akunyili Crosby was born in Nigeria in 1983 and moved to the United States at the age of sixteen, where she has lived and worked ever since. Drawing on artistic, historical, political and personal references, Akunyili Crosby creates densely layered figurative compositions that conjure the complexity of contemporary experience.”
Luke Willis Thompson via Tate
Tate Britain: Turner Prize 2018
Tate Britain
26 September 2018 – 6 January 2019
More information here.
“The Turner Prize returns to Tate Britain for its 34th edition. The prize is awarded to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the preceding year as determined by a jury.”
Tackling pressing issues in society today, the four shortlisted artists for this year are Naeem Mohaiemen, Charlotte Prodger and Luke Willis Thompson.
by Michelle Hallstrom
cover photo: Frida Kahlo with Olmec figurine, 1939. Photograph Nickolas Muray. © Nickolas Muray Photo
