The Most Important Artists of 2013 (So Far)

2013 has brought with it a number of exhibitions, art fairs, and art pieces that have challenged everything that came before them. Just yesterday, Jay-Z did a performance art piece at Pace Gallery in New York, where he performed the song "Picasso Baby" off of his new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, for six hours. At one point, Marina Abramovic joined him to create an unmatched moment of synergy between the mediums of hip-hop and performance art. In short, no art moment in 2013 has been like the next, and many of the shows that have happened so far have set precedents for future ways of showing work (like Donald Judd's 101 Spring Street art-house) or are starting conversations for exhibitions to come (like Jeff Koons' exhibitions at David Zwirner and Gagosian, in preparation for his 2014 retrospective at the Whitney).

Despite our inclusion of many of "the greats" this time around, there are many artists who are just heating up and could feasibly own the rest of 2013. Ryder Ripps completed an impressive "Hypercurrentliving" project with Red Bull (where he drank Red Bull at their headquarters and came up with groundbreaking ideas on Twitter for a few weeks), Os Gemeos announced their collaboration with Hennessy, Shepard Fairey expressed solidarity with the protests in Turkey through a portrait of Ataturk (that he released for free online), and Florentijn Hofman made headlines with his giant inflatable duck sculpture (that subsequently deflated, of course) in Hong Kong.

Throughout the list, there are artists who not only pushed the limits of art but also seemingly pushed their own limits. Enjoy The Most Important Artists of 2013 (So Far).

RELATED: The Design Evolution of Kanye West's Album Artwork
RELATED: The Best Art Exhibitions of 2013 (So Far)

Exhibition: "Rap Quotes" installation in Brooklyn (March 25, 2013 - ongoing project)

Jay Shells' "Rap Quotes" literally dropped lyrics all over New York and Brooklyn. For the illegal site-specific installation, the young New York City artist created legitimate-looking street signs with rap lyrics from Mos Def, Jay-Z, Big Daddy Kane, and others that shout out specific spots in Brooklyn. He then posted the signs in the corresponding locations named in the lyrics. The project localized the music, materializing that which we usually only hear, and brought rappers literally back to the hoods they were discussing in their songs.

Shells is no stranger to illegal installations or false sinage. In 2011, he created "Subway Etiquette" posters, which are humorous printed pieces that tell people how to behave while riding the train. Shells posted the signs all over the New York metro system.

As "Rap Quotes" continues, we can only imagine that Jay Shells will become more and more familiar of a name in and out of the art world. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: "Kapoor in Berlin" at Martin-Gropius-Bau (May 18 - November 24, 2013)

When Anish Kapoor's show opened in Berlin, the British-based artist critiqued Germany's support for the arts in contrast with his home country's ruthless cuts to arts programs. "In short, Britian is fucked," he pronounced to the Guardian's Kate Connolly in May.

His show in Berlin stunned audiences with impressive sculptural works. In one, chunky red wax spewed from a cannon, dressing the gallery wall in a bloody substance. In another, a painted "blood mirror" followed the show's violent theme. Kapoor is known for his creation of the red (which, if you haven't figured out by now, is his favorite color) Orbit Tower at the 2012 London Olympic stadium. He also made headlines with his parody of "Gangnam Style" last November, a video that featured other art world members in support of Ai Weiwei (whose "Gangnam Style" parody was banned in China). -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Video collaboration with the Red Bull Music Academy (May 30, 2013), 77 Million Paintings for Montefiore and Quiet Room for Montefiore at Montefiore Hospital in England (installed April 18, 2013)

Eno is know for his musical innovations, pushing the boundaries of sound as a medium. For his installations in a British hospital, he approached the work with a holistic view towards health, attempting to create a multi-dimensional "serene atmosphere" for healing.

His video project for the Red Bull Music Academy is "a generative work-making itself as you watch it—which explores a vast set of permutations of visual and sonic elements made by Eno." The short film displayed a kaleidoscope of randomly-generated images, an immersive multimedia experience that spanned music, visual art, and digitial art. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: "Kolors" at Paul Kasmin Gallery (April 4 - May 4, 2013), Amerikulture with Tseng Kwong Chi at Eric Firestone Gallery in collaboration with Paul Kasmin Gallery (July 26 - August 11, 2013)

Street artist Kenny Scharf broke headlines this year when he spent 20 hours in two New York City jails after being arrested for spray-painting a wall in Brooklyn. The best part of the story, however, was that the cops were big fans of his work and chatted with Scharf about his art during the arrest.

His short stint in lock-up came right after the opening of his show in Chelsea, an event that included real doughnuts inspired by his works. This year, he also installed a kooky sculpture, Squirtz, at The Standard Hotel in New York and, further from home, painted a decommissioned plane for The Boneyard Project in Arizona, where artists were called upon to transform old jets into works of art. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Planet sculpture installed in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay (installed January 18, 2013), The Way of All Flesh and Alison Lapper Pregnant unveiled at the Venice Biennale (June 1 - November 24, 2013)

In January, Marc Quinn installed a giant sculpture of a baby in Singapore called Planet. The sculpture, made of heavy metal, appeared to be floating. Planet was only eclipsed by Quinn's monumental work at the Venice Biennale, an inflatable version of his controversial 2005 sculpture of disabled woman Alison Lapper during her pregnancy. The original work was formed from carved marble and sat in London's Trafalgar Square.

In Venice, Alison Lapper appeared as a giant balloon. An apparent fan of pregnant women (and models-Quinn's gold sculpture of Kate Moss contorted in a yoga pose sold for $900,000 in 2011), the artist exhibited a giant portrait of model Lara Stone very nude and very pregnant posing against a striking background of raw meat. In June, Quinn also collaborated with Bamford Watch Department, creating watch faces that looked like giant eyes superimposed on maps of the world. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Film Takashi Murakami: Jellyfish Eyes screened at Blum and Poe (April 8), "Arhat" at Blum and Poe (April 13 - May 25, 2013), Takashi Murakami at Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong (May 21 - July 6, 2013)

This past April, Murakami exhibited "Arhat"—a word that means "a being who has achieved a state of enlightenment" in Sanscrit. As could be inferred from the name, the show mixed Murakami's manga madness with loftier themes from ancient Eastern traditions. Along with gold sculptures, cartoonish drawings, and candy-colored canvases, Murakami screened his debut film, Jellyfish Eyes, at LACMA. The movie includes monsters, spirits, remote-controlled friends, and a little boy's dream to feed string cheese to jellyfish. Besides his show in LA, the artist is also exhibiting works in Hong Kong this summer featuring anime-style self-portaits. We are on the long list of people who want Jellyfish Eyes to travel beyond Los Angeles. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Marina Abramovic announced her plan to make a movie about Franco's life (February 25, 2013), "Psycho Nacirema" at Pace Gallery in London (June 6 - July 27, 2013), co-curated "Cinematic Visions: Painting at the Edge of Reality" at Victoria Miro Gallery (June 3 - August 3, 2013)

It seems that the art world has accepted James Franco as a serious creative, probably because the actor/artist/writer/curator/student refuses to be pigeon-holed into one discipline or genre. This year, Franco solidified his place in the art world among today's top artists. Performance art goddess Marina Abramovic announced her plan to make a movie about Franco in February. Two month later, Franco popped up at MoMA PS1 as the moderator of Bird Shit, a performance piece inspired by Chekov's The Seagull that combined theater, dance, and live music.

For his show "Psycho Nacirema," Franco took a page from Hitchcock. In photographs inspired by Psycho, Franco appears in drag as Marion Crane in a work that's both voyeuristic and humorous, according to The Independent. "Cinematic Visions," which Franco co-curated in a London gallery, was a visual feast on the interaction between film and painting. Most recently, Franco bared it all for McCarthy's Rebble Dabble Babble, a sometimes revolting installation involving violent and pornographic videos featuring Franco and McCarthy. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Installation TSIATSIA-searching for a connection at the Royal Academy of Art (May 22 - August 18, 2013), "Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui" at the Brooklyn Museum (February 8 - August 4, 2013), Broken Bridge II on the New York's High Line (Summer, 2013)

El Anatsui's glittering tapestries put anyone else who has tried to turn trash into treasure to shame. His enormous, colorful work TSIATSIA-searching for a connection was made up of woven pieces of garbage, including everything from discarded birth announcements to liquor labels, which transformed into a monumental shimmering drapery.

The impressive installation was followed by an overwhelmingly popular exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, which showcased more of the Nigerian artist's recycled works. The bottoms of cans were strung together and snaked along the floor while linked bottle caps hovered over the museum like lace.

El Anatsui also received prime real estate on the High Line for a work made up of corroded metal and cracked mirrors. The New York Times critic Holland Cotter wrote of the installation, "An immense, pieced-together mural made partly of mirrorlike material, it gives a narcissistic city and art world capital a fractured, yet sky-flooded view of itself." While El Anatsui may not have been a household name until this year, this certainly won't be the last time that the international art world finds themselves getting familiar with, and needing to get re-familiar with him and his work. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: I Promise to Love You in Times Square (February, 2013), "I Followed You To The Sun" at both of Lehmann Maupin's galleries (May 23 - June 22, 2013), "Tracey Emin: Angel Without You" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (December 4, 2013 - March 9, 2014)

Just in time for Valentine's Day, British artist Tracey Emin lit up Times Square for the Times Square Arts Commission with her iconic neon scribbles that had the words "I Promise To Love You," "Love Is What You Want," and "You Touch My Soul" flashing across the city's nexus. In a dual exhibition, Lehmann Maupin exhibited more of Emin's neon works in their Chelsea and downtown galleries along with evocative sketches of nude women.

Tracey Emin also released a book this year called My Photo Album, which compiled pictures of the artist from her middle school bus pass to her college glamour shots. The edition reads more like a personal scrapbook than a coffee table book, continuing Emin's openness and emotional vulnerability in her work. At the end of this year, she has an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, perfectly timed for Art Basel Miami Beach. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Untitled (Pizza) and Circle Dance at Frieze New York (May 10 - 13, 2013), "A New View: Contemporary Art" at Saint Louis Art Museum (June 29, 2013)

American conceptual sculptor Tom Friedman is known for making art pieces that elevate everyday objects like toothpicks and cereal boxes. For Frieze New York this year, he hoisted a giant replica of a pizza on a wall in the Luhring Augustine booth (you probably saw it on EVERYONE's Instagram). He also exhibited a life-sized scupture of stainless steel dancers in a circle called "Circle Dance," which is inspired by Matisse's painting La Danse, and was dwarfed by McCarthy's giant inflatable dog in Frieze's Sculpture Park. This month, as a part of a show on Post-War art, "A New View: Contemporary Art," Friedman is exhibiting new works along with other bigshot contemporary artists at the Saint Louis Art Museum. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Created the sets for the L.A Dance Project (May 23 - 25, 2013)

Barbara Kruger had memorable pieces at Frieze New York and Art Basel with L&M Gallery, but she hasn't had a formal exhibition this year. It didn't stop her from remaining influential or outspoken, though, and 2013 marked her first comment on Supreme (and other brands') use of her style in their logos and imaging.

Upon Supreme's lawsuit of Married to the Mob, Barbara Kruger responded via email to Complex, calling the situation what it truly is, "a ridiculous clusterf**k of totally uncool jokers." She added, "I make my work about this kind of sadly foolish farce. I'm waiting for all of them to sue me for copyright infringement." Kruger making this comment was a huge moment, since she had not gone on the record about her work being imitated by others in such depth beforehand. In a world where borrowing images and ideas has become the norm, Kruger's sentiment needed to be heard. And yeah, it was the ultimate ether to a company that's prided itself on being unique and original, which in many ways, they are not, at least when you look at how they've been clearly using Kruger's style for years.

On a more positive note, Kruger's stage design for Benjamin Millepied's "L.A. Dance Project" was finally revealed, and it has the text, "Stay/Think of Me/Thinking of You." While it's only being performed in Amsterdam right now, we're hoping it travels for the rest of us to see it. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: Collaboration with the New York City Ballet for Les Ballets de FAILE (February 1 and May 29, 2013), Cash, Cans, and Candy street art festival in Vienna (June 1 - September 14, 2013)

In an effort to revitalize ballet, a field that is unfortunately experiencing the "graying of the arts," the New York City Ballet decided to reach out to a younger generation. Calling on Brooklyn-based artist duo FAILE to design a painted tower in the middle of Lincoln Center, the NYC Ballet put on a very successful show. Attendees walked away with unique blocks of wood painted by FAILE.

FAILE is known for their use of wheatpasting and stencils in street art, as well as their reappropriation of cultural icons in sometimes subversive ways. This summer, FAILE is exhibiting work in Cash, Cans, and Candy, a street art festival in Vienna curated by Katrin-Sophie Dworczak, and they have hinted at other big murals in New York and beyond. -Leigh Silver

images via

Exhibitions: Announced that she will create a movie about James Franco's life (February 25), impromptu appearence in Jay-Z's performance art piece at Pace Gallery (July 10)

In early March, Marina Abramovic was honored at Mana Contemporary's first annual Collector's Dinner for her contributions to performance art and visual culture. At the dinner, she discussed the progress her Marina Abramovic Institute in Hudson, NY has made, and how it will truly act as a space to explore and participate in performance unlike ever before. She also announced real plans to make a movie about James Franco's life, which she apparently has full creative control over.

The art world has been hanging on to her every word, despite the fact that she's had no exhibitions this year (not counting her standout pieces with Sean Kelly Gallery at Frieze New York and Art Basel), and just yesterday, she surprised literally EVERYONE with an appearance at Jay-Z's performance art taping at Pace Gallery. The two rotated around one another on a platform, making history as rap and performance art met fully, perhaps for the first time in such an institutional setting. For someone as established and seemingly transcendent as Marina Abramovic, a performance with Jay-Z isn't exactly unexpected, but it was more momentous than anyone could have imagined. She continues to remain important, in and out of the art world, and Robert Wilson's theatrical piece about the artist, "The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic" at the Park Avenue Armory (December 12-21), couldn't come soon enough. -Cedar Pasori

Exhibitions: "Roof Garden Installation by Imran Qureshi" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (May 14 - November 3, 2013), "Imran Qureshi: Artist of the Year 2013" at KunstHalle (April 18 - August 4, 2013, "The Encyclopedic Palace" at the Venice Biennale 2013 (The Italian Pavilion)

Imran Qureshi began 2013 with an award from the Deutsche Bank for Artist of the Year, giving him the opportunity to fill the gallery space of their main Berlin location with whatever he chose. He created custom pieces in the space for the exhibition, including a separate, dark walkthrough space with various staircases leading to his trademark small paintings under minimal light. One room in particular has a mound of crumpled, "blood"-splattered tissue paper, providing the uncomfortable feeling that many of Qureshi's bloody works tend to.

He created a similar installation for the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, but the real showstopper is his piece on the Met's rooftop for the summer, where one can really experience the flowery, blood-covered floor, and by simply attending, voluntarily interact with it. Qureshi's commentary on humanity's history of violence, done on both the scale of his miniature paintings and his large, rounder works and installations, remains relevant and has spoken volumes in 2013. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: The Enclave at the Venice Biennale 2013 (The Irish Pavilion)

Richard Mosse has been documenting the Congo in his captivating infrared style for a long time, but the premiere of The Enclave film at the Venice Biennale's Irish Pavilion, using a discontinued Kodak infrared film called Aerochrome (originally used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War), struck people in a way that's brought much-needed attention to these pieces.

He continues to show the war-torn region in a way that exposes "the impossible image," in addition to what we overlook in our surroundings. Yes, Rick Ross was smart to invest in a Mosse photograph at last year's Art Basel Miami Beach, and thankfully the arrival of The Enclave reminded everyone why Mosse's work deserves to be admired and analyzed. -Cedar Pasori

Exhibitions: COMPANION (PASSING THROUGH) at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station (Sep 9, 2012 - Mar 31, 2013), "Ohhh..." at Kaikai Kiki Gallery (May 2 - May 29, 2013), "Giswill" at More Gallery (June 9 - August 26, 2013)

Just when you thought KAWS might ease up, especially on the heels of the announcement that his clothing line, OriginalFake, would be discontinued, he came back with two awesome exhibitions, a sculpture at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station and news that he's redesigned the MTV VMA Moonman for this year's awards in Brooklyn. His "Giswill" exhibition at More Gallery in Giswil, Switzerland was on view during Art Basel, giving visitors to the fair a retreat from booths into the world of his larger-than-life wooden sculptures. "Ohhh..." at Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki Gallery had new sculptural and painting variations of familiar KAWS imagery in many sizes, and it showed a lot of measured expansion in his work.

He also released a limited-edition custom Bern Watts bicycle helmet, the "DOWN TIME" catalog from his 2012 exhibition at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, a COMPANION (PASSING THROUGH) figure, and an OriginalFake Boba Fett Companion. With the news of KAWS' redesign of the MTV VMA moonman, it's impossible to imagine him letting up (or being left off of this list). KAWS will always be an important, influential artist (no matter what this questionable Banksy interview says), but 2013 is already becoming a very memorable year for him. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: Ann Lee at Frieze New York 2013 (originally from 2011), L'opera alla Biennale di Venezia 2013 at the Venice Biennale 2013

Sehgal blew up the Internet when he won the Venice Biennale Golden Lion this year, and it wasn't because he had just received a prestigious award. When he posed for a photograph with the Golden Lion trophy, he made an unfogettable face that became a viral meme. Sehgal was awarded the Lion for his performance art piece representing Germany, where people hummed and beatboxed while sitting on the floor.

Sehgal is largely famous for his "constructed situations," where people follow directions given by the artist. Besides his success in Venice, Sehgal was also short-listed for the Turner Prize this year, which will be announced in October. -Leigh Silver

Exhibitions: The opening of his art-house museum, 101 Spring Street

The late minimalist pioneer Donald Judd has been memorialized in a new way this year with the May opening of 101 Spring Street, his former home, as an art-house museum. After seven years of a $23 million restoration (spearheaded by Judd's children and the Judd Foundation), the space opened to to the public by appointment, revealing pieces from Judd's collection by Carl Andre, John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, and Frank Stella. There are 16 permanent installations in the space total, showing visitors Judd's impact as an artist and a member of the art community in his lifetime. Additionally, 101 Spring Street is only the second art-house in New York, setting a new precedent for how to present work institutionally to remember iconic artists.

images via

Exhibitions: "Gazing Ball" at David Zwirner Gallery (May 8 - June 29, 2013), "Jeff Koons: New Paintings and Sculpture" at Gagosian Gallery (May 9 - July 3, 2013)

When New York Magazine called Jeff Koons "the most successful artist since Andy Warhol" in May, it was hard to deny them. His work is often so kitsch that it hurts, but he maintains relevant and possesses an understated awareness of the direction his work should move next. His concurrent exhibitions at David Zwirner and Gagosian in New York were both nods to art history and his own personal history, featuring renditions of Classical sculptures paired with "the mirrored spherical ornaments frequently found on lawns, gardens, and patios around Koons' childhood home in Pennsylvania." Anyone who saw these works in person would say the same thing-their scale was undeniably impressive. Jeff Koons has set a high bar for his upcoming retrospective at the Whitney Museum in 2014 with these two exhibitions, and whether you love him or hate him, he has already reached a fairly Warholian level of success, except certainly beyond any "15 minutes" of fame or recognition. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: "Keith Haring: The Political Line" at Musée D'Art Moderne (April 19 - August 18, 2013), "Keith Haring >" at Central Plaza in Hong Kong during Art Basel Hong Kong (May 23, 2013)

Keith Haring may no longer be alive, but his presence has been felt in a very big way this year with a massive retrospective at MAM in Paris and an equally impressive exhibition titled "Keith Haring >" at Art Basel's first Hong Kong installment. Reebok even hosted an exhibition of his work alongside their Haring-inspired shoe collection last April. The appeal of Keith Haring to a new generation is vast-he stood up for gay rights, he was vocally against racism, and he openly promoted AIDS research once he learned he was diagnosed with it, at a time when it was much less popular to do so than now.

His retrospective at MAM is a detailed, multimedia look at how Haring has remained influential, beyond the abundance of post-mortem brand collaborations done with the permission of his estate. Haring, like his late colleague, Jean-Michel Basquiat, remains extremely powerful as a symbol of refreshing, outspoken art and unbounding charisma. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: "Sculptures" at Hauser & Wirth New York, 18th Street (May 10 - June 1, 2013), "Sisters" at Hauser & Wirth (May 10 - June 1, 2013), Hudson River Pier, West Chelsea, "Life Cast" at Hauser & Wirth New York, 69th Street (May 10 - July 26, 2013), "Paul McCarthy and Damon McCarthy: Rebel Dabble Babble" at Hauser & Wirth New York, 18th Street (June 20 – July 26, 2013), "Paul McCarthy: WS" at the Park Avenue Armory (June 19 - August 4)

The past few months have been huge for Paul McCarthy, to the point where many assume he's a new artist having his first big moment. The fact is, McCarthy has been around for a while, but it seems that his work is hitting a new nerve. He has had multiple recent (and current) exhibitions at Hauser & Wirth, where he's shown fake bodies that appear real ("life casts"), a house built to resemble his childhood home, and pornographic videos and photographs (some featuring James Franco), which are all a part of his commentary on humiliation, emotional dependency, the film industry, and memory.

His version of Jeff Koons' balloon dog at Frieze New York was a hit on Instagram, and his latest project, "Paul McCarthy: WS" at the Park Avenue Armory is the venue's second-most attended show of all time. In short, McCarthy is having a long overdue moment, but at the same time, his work seems more relevant now than ever. If you have ever felt disgusted with humanity, or your own humanity, then discovering McCarthy's work is important. For the rest of us, it's a reminder that art without boundaries, even the kind that makes us nauseous, remains powerful, and that shows involving food orgies can be popular (read: the second-most attended exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory, to date), too. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: Venice Biennale 2013, Released heavy metal album

Most know that Ai Weiwei is not allowed to leave China still, so it's impressive that after a huge year of accomplishments in 2012, he's still able to be prolific and have his impact felt on such a global level. Part of this is due to the fact that he's kept an active presence online, even despite the Chinese government shutting down his blog in 2009 and Weibo account.

Most recently, Ai Weiwei shook up the art world with the release of a heavy metal album titled Divine Comedy, which he says was inspired by his time in prison. He says, "When I was arrested, they (his guards) would often ask me to sing songs, but because I wasn't familiar with music, I was embarrassed...After that I thought: when I'm out, I'd like to do something related to music."

Besides the album, he shared his Stacked installation of 760 bicycles at Galleria Continua, had a play about his life shown in London, he installed the controversial Baby Formula 2013at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre in Hong Kong, he illustrated TIME magazine's China-themed issue, and he's shaking up the Venice Biennale with his S.A.C.R.E.D. installation (that famously brought his mother to tears) simulating his time in prison. The Venice Biennale is also where he's showing a 150-ton installation called Straight, dedicated to the 5,000+ children who died in the Sichuan earthquake.

Of course, Ai Weiwei also had videos go viral of him giving someone a haircut, and one he took of a couple fighting outside a restaurant. Coupled with his new album and general musical endeavors, which really came out of nowhere (although he did parody "Gangnam Style" last October), Ai Weiwei has maintained his roots in political work that critiques China (while being relatable to the rest of the world) and gone further to show his ability to take even more risks and progression in his work. Ultimately, all of them have paid off and impressed everyone, especially since he has been trapped in China, setting new precedents for how artists can be prolific despite arrest, censorship, and travel restriction. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: "JR: Can Art Change the World?" at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (February 13 - June 2, 2013), "The Wrinkles of the City, Havana" with José Parlá at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (May 7 - July 12, 2013)

When JR won the TED Prize in 2011, he was asked to make a wish for the world. He used that opportunity to launch the Inside Out Project, which put his work into the hands of his fans around the world. Up until then, JR had photographed and enlarged his black and white images so that he could paste them outdoors, making incredible social and political commentary, but since 2011, his fans have been able to send their photographs to JR's studio, where he prints and mails them for free.

All two years of this project are a part of the documentary titled Inside Out: The People's Art Project, directed by Alasdair Siddons, which premiered on April 20 at the TriBeCa film festival and was followed by a one-night HBO showing on May 20. Before that, JR also launched his own iPad app and opened an exhibition at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. After the documentary premiered, he launched the Inside Out Project in Times Square with his photo booth truck, where fans and tourists alike came to get their picture taken and pasted on the ground. In JR's words, it was a way for New Yorkers to "take it back," referring to their city, and if you saw the way his portraits lit up TV screens normally plastered with advertisements, you know how effective his mission truly was.

JR is important this year, not only because the spotlight came back to the two-year-old Inside Out project in a big way, but because it also came back to his Wrinkles of the City project with José Parlá in an exhibition at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery. These projects have been so well-defined and have affected so many people that it's hard to imagine him dropping the momentum he's had over the last two years. In fact, he's opening a new exhibition at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center in September 2013, which, in addition to all the traveling work he's been doing in the interim, will create a splash and educate more people about his message of individualism. He's also been hinting at artistic collaborations with Pharrell and Swizz Beatz on Instagram, which will hopefully also come to light this year. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: "Sooner Than Later" at Kayne Griffin Corcoran Gallery (May 25 - July 20), "Roden Crater and Autonomous Structures" at PACE Gallery (March 14 - April 20), Retrospectives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (May 26, 2013 – April 6, 2014), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (June 9 - September 22), and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (June 21 - September 25)

James Turrell has had many huge moments in his career, but he is reaching new heights and seeing the accumulation of his success, in his lifetime. The artist, known for his captivating explorations of light through various site-specific installations in galleries, museums, homes, and in nature, has three simultaneous exhibitions this year at the Guggenheim Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It is a big deal that he's able to show so much work at once, across institutions and galleries, as a true celebration of his career and contributions to art and culture.

Anyone who has visited his piece in the Guggenheim's lobby, Aten Reign, in particular, would agree that there's nothing like the experience of staring upwards for that long, while the colors slowly change, and suddenly feeling as if you can watch yourself watching and think about yourself thinking. Turrell admits that "Light knows when we're looking," and thankfully 2013 is the year we are also remembering to look at Turrell and the history of his important work. -Cedar Pasori

images via

Exhibitions: "Jean-Michel Basquiat" at Gagosian Gallery NYC (February 7 to April 6, 2013), "Jean-Michel Basquiat" at Gagosian Gallery Hong Kong (May 21 to August 10, 2013)

"It's about 80% anger," Jean-Michel Basquiat once said about his work, and this quote prefaced his spring exhibition of 59 paintings at Gagosian Gallery's 555 West 24th Street gallery location. Those who attended the opening were anything but angry, though, unless they were part of the gigantic line that went around the block. Most seemed happy to celebrate the work of an artist who changed art and the culture of New York City forever, and the exhibition was a sort of homecoming and memorial to the great artist.

Basquiat, even after his unfortunate, early death from a heroine overdose in 1988, at the age of 27-years-old, has a legacy that's multiplied, especially in the last five years. He's not just popular among rappers like Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz, who compare themselves to him and invoke his memory lyrically and artistically (earlier this month, Jay-Z bought a painting Swizz Beatz made of Basquiat, and last year, Jeffrey Deitch compared Swizz Beatz to Basquiat, which Swizz seems to agree with), the market shows his continued appeal. While sales numbers from the Gagosian show aren't known, in November 2012, one of his Untitled pieces (made in 1981) sold for $26,402,500 at Christie's, making it the fifth-highest selling piece at the record-breaking contemporary art auction. This past May, his Dustheads piece sold for almost double, $48.8 million, at Christie's.

His exhibition at Gagosian Gallery Hong Kong runs until August, and it is being met with an equal amount of enthusiasm. While putting a late artist on top of a list like this seems absurd, no one in the art world can disagree with the extreme depth of Basquiat's influence in 2013. Maybe it has something to do with Jay-Z rapping "It ain't hard to tell/I'm the new Jean-Michel," or maybe it has something to do with Jay repeating that line for six hours at Pace Gallery in Chelsea to some of the biggest players in the art world. Basquiat remains a timeless reminder of great talent and someone who the market favors immensely. Some of today's most influential cultural figures aspire to be him very badly, and they have reminded us constantly in 2013, so far. -Cedar Pasori

images via