The Best Art Exhibitions of 2013 (So Far)

This spring's art exhibitions are (so far) blowing our minds. Gagosian Gallery staged two blockbuster shows with the beloved Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the art world's least favorite superstar Jeff Koons (he's not a businessman, he's a BUSINESS, man!). Heavy emphasis is on the weird and wonderful, with shows that focus on David Bowie and Matthew Barney. Our favorite fantasy exhibit might be Paul McCarthy's WS at the Park Avenue Armory, where the artist imagines a fairytale gone deliciously wrong. From Japanese Pop art to photos of small-town Pennsylvania, here's our list of the best art shows this year.

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The Best Art Exhibitions Of 2013 (So Far)

Location: Skirball

Dates: April 25 - August 18

You would expect nothing less but playful creations from the man behind the Cranium box, and Baseman's illustrations don't disappoint. This LA show includes memorabilia from Baseman's family life in Fairfax, LA, a topic he often draws upon for inspiration. For a recent work about his father, a Holocaust survivor, Baseman collaborated with South African rap duo Die Antwoord.

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Above: The Explosion of Dream Reality, Gary Baseman, 2009 (Courtesy Skirball)

Location: The Morgan Library and Museum

Dates: May 10 - September 2

In Matthew Barney's avant-garde film cycle CREAMASTER, the artist dresses up as a creepy mythical creature and squirms around on the floor chasing his own tail. This exhibit at the Morgan Library collects Barney's works on paper, featuring hundreds of drawings and sketches that take us behind the creation of his strange fantastical projects.

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Above: Drawing by Matthew Barney

Location: Paul Kasmin Gallery

Dates: April 4 - May 4

We might've gone to the Kenny Scharf opening just for the doughnuts, but there's something equally delicious about his colorful squiggles and loopy sculptures. At Paul Kasmin, Scharf exhibited 10 new paintings and three sculptures. His wacky works could be bacteria under a microscope, or a trippy version of Sesame Street characters. You decide.

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Above: Red, Kenny Scharf, 2012 (Courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery)

Location: MoMA

Dates: June 15 - September 23

The father of Modernism, Le Courbusier is one of the most influential architects in history. His designs were based on exact proportions and essential structures. MoMA's extensive exhibit takes us on a global tour of the architect's works from his watercolors in the Mediterranean to his cities constructed in India.

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Above: Villa Savoye, Le Courbusier, 1929-31 (Courtesy MoMA)

Location: La Biennale di Venezia

Dates: June 1 - November 24

Each summer, artists all over the world descend on Venice for what may be the best art show of the year. This year's highlights include a blow-up version of Marc Quinn's Alison Lapper Pregnant, 886 stacked stools from Ai Wei Wei who was forbidden to attend by the Chinese government, and bandannas reading "Biennalist" from the Dutch artist Thierry Geoffroy.

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Above: Alison Lapper Pregnant, Marc Quinn, 2013

Location: Pace Gallery

Dates: May 10 - June 29

Are Yoshitomo's portraits of kids adorable or terrifying? With large puppy-dog eyes, they might be cute, but most of them look pretty pissed off. Working in the Pop Japanese tradition "Kulture of Kute," Nara exhibits sculptures and drawings at Pace Gallery that fuse cartoon images and modernist themes

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Above: Let's Move On!, Yoshitomo Nara, 2013

Location: Lehmann Maupin

Dates: May 2 - June 22

We can never get enough of Tracey Emin's neon scrawl. The title of her show "I Followed You To The Sun" glows in yellow on a wall in this Lehmann Maupin exhibition. The two-part show, which appears in Lehmann Maupin's Chelsea and Lower East Side galleries, includes over 100 Emin works. Along with florescent signage, you can see Emin's sketches. Her drawings of female nudes sit aggressively with legs spread apart or appear crying in desperation. Can't get enough of Emin? In December, the Muesum of Contemporary Art, North Miami will hold her first solo show in an American museum.

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Above: Lonely Chair Drawing V, Tracey Emin, 2012 (Courtesy Lehmann Maupin)

Location: Blum & Poe

Dates: May 3 - June 14

Murakami mixes time and location at Blum & Poe. His exhibit includes large-scale paintings that play on contemporary Japanese Pop and also traditional woodblock prints. Bringing Asian motifs into an LA gallery, Murakami enters a dialogue between East and West.

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Above: Red Demon and Blue Demon with 48 Arhats, Takashi Murakami, 2013

Location: Brooklyn Museum

Dates: March 22 - August 2

LaToya Ruby Frazier's stark pictures of her hometown Braddock, PA show the struggles of a crumbling industrial town. Her black and white images capture illness and poverty, with her family members as the subjects. Filling one room in the Brooklyn Museum, the best images are a series of portraits with descriptions by the artist that give us an intimate window into her life.

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Above: Shadow, LaToya Ruby Frazier, 2008 (Courtesy Brooklyn Museum)

Location: Victoria and Albert Museum

Dates: March 23 - August 11

Tilda Swinton hadn't slept in a glass box at MoMA yet when she gave a speech for the opening of the David Bowie exhibit in London. She began, "All the nicest possible freaks are here." Those attacted to the rockstar's weird and wonderful world showed up for what could've been Bowie's scrapbook. Filled with 300 items, including hand-written lyrics, photos and set-designs, this exhibit is enough to put any super-fan into a coma.

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Above: Striped bodysuit for Aladdin Sane tour, Kansai Yamamoto, 1973 (Courtesy V&A Museum)

Location: New Museum

Dates: February 13 - May 26

For this nostalgia trip, the New Museum took us back 20 years to New York City in 1993. This grunge era was fraught with debates over race, gender, and gay rights, all erupting under the dark background of the AIDS crisis. The New Museum shows how artists responded to this turbulent year, with works from the 90s Downtown artists like Nan Goldin, Lorna Simpson, and John Currin.

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Above: NYC 1993 Exhibition View (Courtesy New Museum)

Location: Brooklyn Museum

Dates: Feb 8 - Aug 4

Even if you know absolutely nothing about art, it's impossible not to love the El Anatsui exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. El Anatsui transforms trash into treasure in the best way we've ever seen. Using discarded bottle caps and tin cans, the artist weaves these pieces of junk into shimmering tapestries that are both beautiful and overpowering. You can also catch El Anatsui's work on the High Line all summer.

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Above: Gravity and Grace, El Anatsui, 2010 (Courtesy Brooklyn Museum)

Location: Gagosian Gallery

555 West 24th Street, New York, NYC, 10011

Dates: May 9 - July 3

It was inevitable that Jeff Koons' first NYC Gagosian exhibit would stir up the art world. NY Magazine recently named Koons the most successful artist since Andy Warhol, a praise that's only ushered in continued criticism. In New York, Koons fills Gagosian Gallery with images of Classical nudes, bronze sculptures, and blow-up toys. The blockbuster show includes the artist's recent works, divided into three series: Antiquity, Hulk Elvis, and Celebration. Expect a super-sized toy gorilla and three shiny new balloon-animal sculptures but none of Koons' signature Gazing Balls. The metallic orbs are on display over at David Zwirner Gallery until June 29th.

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Above: Antiquity, Jeff Koons, 2009-11 (Courtesy Gagosian Gallery)

Location: Park Avenue Armory

Dates: June 19 - August 4

2013 is Paul McCarthy's year. He's not new to the art world by any means, but this year he's blowing up. McCarthy's giant inflatable dog presided over the Frieze Art Fair, and now he's created a fairy tale gone wrong at the Park Avenue Armory. Transforming the space into a magical forest, McCarthy takes on the Snow White story. In the video segment of the show, two Snow Whites and pant-less dwarfs have terrible table manners. As they create a huge mess over a disgusting feast, we are both revolted and drawn into the video. In the end, we can't decide if we want to escape into McCarthy's magical forest or run away in the opposite direction.

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Above: WS, Paul McCarthy, 2013

Location: Guggenheim

Dates: June 21 - September 25

Light artist James Turell returns to the Guggenheim to cast Frank Lloyd Wright's museum in glowing colors. Instead of winding up the Guggenheim's ramp to view paintings, Turell takes on the space as a whole, making the museum the art object. This is the artist's first exhibit in NYC since 1980.

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Above: Rendering for Aten Reign, James Turell, 2013 (Courtesy Guggenheim Museum)

Location: Gagosian Gallery

555 West 24th Street, New York, NY, 10011

Dates: February 7 - April 6

If you were able to see this coveted exhibit New York, you're lucky. When Gagosian Gallery opened it's doors for the Basquiat show, there were lines around the block. In the 1980s, NYC graffiti artist Basquiat turned from the street to the canvas, creating explosive works up until his premature death at age 27. After the Gagosian show, Basquiat hype continued to increase with a record-breaking sale of his painting "Dustheads" at Christie's in May.

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Above: In Italian, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1983 (Courtesy Gagosian Gallery)