Must-See Exhibitions of 2013
Wondering how the year ahead looks in visual arts? Wonder no more…
While we’re all huddled around steaming cups of tea, cowering from the inches of snow we’re reliably informed awaits us, it’s worth remembering – and is heartening – that this time of year is one of renewal for the arts, when we can all look forward to the hopefully exciting, challenging new shows that are coming our way.
With this in mind, we’ve cherry-picked a handful of must-see exhibitions across Liverpool and the rest of the UK …
Liverpool
Glam! The Performance of Style @ Tate Liverpool 8 February-12 May
Glam looks set to be one of Tate Liverpool’s major shows of the year. Taking as its starting point the blurring of art, music and fashion, which occurred in the UK’s cultural enlightenment of the 60s, the exhibition is a celebration of culture’s gate-crashing of daily life, and features over 100 pieces by artists as diverse and provocative as Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman and Peter Hujar. But, it’s not the triumph of style over substance that the title may suggest, with the exhibition aiming to engage with, and critically evaluate the period.
The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things @ the Bluecoat 16 February 2013-14 April
Curated by the Turner Prize-winning Mark Leckey, The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things explores “how our relationships with artworks and common objects are being transformed through new technologies”, and includes a mixture of the historical and contemporary. Featuring works by Louise Bourgeois and Richard Hamilton, amongst others, Leckey explains: “The status of objects is changing, and we are once again in thrall to an enchanted world full of transformations and correspondences, a wonderful instability between things animate and inanimate, animal and human, mental and material.”
The Art of Pop Video @ FACT 14 March-26 May
On the 1st of August 1981, MTV launched, defining a generation and changing the complexion of the music video for ever. FACT celebrates the influence and impact of the medium in March with The Art of Pop Video, an exhibition showcasing the music video as an art-form in its own right. With artists ranging from Bjork to Daft Punk, starring in videos directed by the likes of Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham, The Art of Pop Video will be nothing if not arresting.
Misdirect Movies @ The Royal Standard 15 March-26 May
Curated by Andrew Bracey, Misdirect Movies “continues the lineage of collage to cut up, reposition and (re)arrange cinema’s near endless supply of imagery”. The exhibition will employ digital techniques to create a cut and paste approach to filmic imagery, transforming the traditional gallery space of The Royal Standard to provide a “hybridised ‘cinematic’ experience”. Featuring Bracey, Dave Griffiths and others, the prospect of Misdirect Movies is intriguing to say the least.
Look 13 @ various venues across Liverpool 17 May-August
An innovative, creative and unique photography festival for the UK, Look was founded in 2007 as a means of exploring the impact of photography on 21st century global culture. This year’s festival asks the question “what happens when we turn the camera on ourselves and others?”, examining ideas around identity, subjectivity and the self. Utilising both historical archives and contemporary photographers working in Liverpool and beyond, Look 13 points its lens at the state of the art.
Chagall: Modern Master @ Tate Liverpool 7 June-29 September
Marc Chagall, considered one of the best known and best loved artists of the last century, is celebrated in the first major UK exhibition of the Russian painter’s work for 15 years. Ironically, given his standing, Chagall is arguably one of the least understood artists of his generation, something this exhibition will aim to rectify in demonstrating his grasp of Fauve, Cubist, Expressionist and Suprematist styles.
David Hockney @ the Walker Art Gallery 11 October-March 2014
Featuring prints, drawings and paintings from the early period of David Hockney’s career, this exhibition is a must purely on the basis of the Walker having secured for display a pair of key works in Peter getting out of Nick’s pool and We Two Boys Together Clinging. Hockney, a John Moores Painting Prize winner in 1967 should prove an irresistible addition to 2013.
Nationwide
Man Ray Portraits @ The National Portrait Gallery 7 February-27 May
The first major museum retrospective of this innovative and influential artist’s photographic portraits focuses on his career in America and Paris between 1916 and 1968. Highlighting his central position amid the Dada and Surrealist movements, the exhibition demonstrates Man Ray’s use of revolutionary photographic techniques and early experiments with colour, as well as his published work in leading magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair.
Xu Bing: Landscape/Landscript @ the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 28 February-19 May
For the historic museum’s first major exhibition of contemporary art, the Ashmolean’s curators have selected Xu Bing, one of China’s best known and critically acclaimed artists. Working in a range of media including print, sculpture, installation and performance, he garnered popular recognition with Tianshu or Book from the Sky (1987–1991), a four-volume, stitch-bound book, in the style of classical texts.
Lichtenstein: A Retrospective @ Tate Modern 21 February-27 May
The most extensive retrospective of one of the Godfathers of pop-art, this large scale Tate Modern show is an early season blockbuster if ever we saw one. Bringing together 125 works (including paintings and sculpture), Lichtenstein: A Retrospective is a surefire hit, and rightly so, featuring as it does Look Mickey, Whaam! and Drowning Girl.
David Bowie ‘is’ @ the V&A 23 March-28 July
Given unprecedented access to the David Bowie archive, the V&A have curated the first international retrospective of the extraordinary career of the Thin White Duke, making his return recently, at the age of 66 with his first material for a decade. Featuring objects and artefacts ranging from handwritten lyrics, original costumes and fashion, to photography, film, music videos and Bowie’s own instruments, expect David Bowie ‘is’ to be as inspiring as it is timely.
Manchester International Festival 4 July-21 July
Though the full Manchester International Festival isn’t revealed until next month, appetites must surely have been whetted with the news that Kenneth Brannagh returns to the stage in Macbeth (which he also co-directs), while The xx, flush from the success of second album Coexist, are in residence for the whole festival in an intimate 100-capacity venue.
Francis Bacon and Henry Moore @ the Ashmolean Museum 12 September-5 January 2014
Two giants of 20th century British art, Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, are juxtaposed here in this landmark exhibition. Including 20 sculptures and 20 paintings produced by the pair, the show looks at the differences, similarities and connections between Bacon and Moore, providing insight and drawing comparison along the way.
