Image via Complex Original
2012 was a year of excellent art from all over the world. Whether in the form of painting, sculpture, street art, performance art, or otherwise, we saw a range of innovation and stories being told. Many artists embraced interactivity and futuristic technologies to communicate messages of the contemporary moment, while others reverted to objects and ideas of the past to show how far we've come. In all cases, we're proud of the output and look forward to a year of more groundbreaking art and design.
The 25 Best Art Exhibits of 2012
RELATED: Green Label - 10 Art Exhibits You Should See in June
24. In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States
24. In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States
Location: LACMA
Dates: January 29 - May 6, 2012
In Wonderland brought so many of our favorite women artists' work to one place: the work of Louise Bourgeois, Frida Kahlo, Dorothea Tanning, Kay Sage, and more. The show reflected upon the underlying influences of surrealism in the feminist movement.
23. Circa 1986
23. Circa 1986
Location: HVCCA
Dates: September 18, 2011 - July 22, 2012
Celebrating the art of the decade that fell between 1981 and 1991, Circa 1986 displayed artworks by international artists who emerged in that period. The exhibit was reflective of a collection of key pieces from key collectors in New York's art world.
22. Zoe Strauss: Ten Years
22. Zoe Strauss: Ten Years
Location: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Dates: January 14 - April 22, 2012
Zoe Strauss supports bringing art to nontraditional venues, and this motivated her annual exhibition staged under I-95 in South Philadelphia. Zoe Strauss: Ten Years, shown at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, brings the artist's work of ten years together to a traditional place of art, as the first critical examination of her project.
21. TDM5: grafica italiana
21. TDM5: grafica italiana
Location: Triennale Design Museum
Dates: April 14, 2012 - February 24, 2013
The Triennale Design Museum introduces graphic art as the core of Italian design and visual culture. TDM5 was the fifth exhibition of a series of shows aimed to further propagate Italian creativity.
20. Weirded Out
20. Weirded Out
Location: SFMOMA
Dates: March 31 - July 29, 2012
We were excited to hear of Parra doing a museum show, and he impressed us with a mural piece. The Weirded Out mural was displayed in SFMOMA's second floor landing.
19. Animals and Grids
19. Animals and Grids
Location: Team Gallery
Dates: May 2 - June 3, 2012
Ryan McGinley opened two shows simultaneously at both Team Gallery locations, and both were huge successes. Animals continued the photographer's study of the body, while Grids displayed tiled photos with natural, unedited lighting from concerts.
18. The Modern Eye
18. The Modern Eye
Location: Tate Modern
Dates: June 28 - October 14, 2012
The Modern Eye explored Edvard Munch's work from the 20th century, including 60 paintings and a rare exhibition of his film and photography work. Though the artist is known as a 19th century Symbolist painter, the show revealed his incorporation of modern and everyday influences.
17. Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design
17. Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design
Location: Museum of Art and Design
Dates: February 7 - August 12, 2012
Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design was an impressive feat of creating art with dust and ashes. Artists including Zhang Huan, James Croak, and Kim Abeles contributed incredible works.
16. Down Time
16. Down Time
Location: High Museum of Art Atlanta
Dates: February 18 - July 29, 2012
The show explored the work of Brian Donnelly, better known as KAWS, including displays showing the process of creating one of his pieces. This made room for an extensive display of KAWS' paintings, pre-designs, inspirations, and final products.
15. Cloud City
15. Cloud City
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dates: May 15 - November 4, 2012
Displayed on the roof of the Met, Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno's Cloud City was a nonlinear composition of transparent and reflective materials that created complex geometrical spaces. Although the installation could only cater to 15 people at a time, visitors could walk through the spaces and seek inspiration for new ways of inhabiting their surrounding environments.
14. Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde
14. Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde
Location: MoMA
Dates: November 18, 2012 - February 25, 2013
As Tokyo went from being a war-torn nation to an international center for arts, culture, and commerce, the nation established a concentrated network of creative individuals and activities. Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde shows works of painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design, and video that explore the avant-garde that arose from collaborations and occasional conflicts among artists and their growing city.
13. Meta-Monumental Garage Sale
13. Meta-Monumental Garage Sale
Location: MoMA
Dates: November 17 - November 30, 2012
New York-based artist Martha Rosler brought a garage sale to the MoMA. As her first solo exhibition at the museum, the artist applied the idea of the classic American garage sale to a large-scale installation display that allowed visitors to browse and purchase items donated by the artist, MoMA staff, and the general public—all at negotiable prices.
12. Chuck Close
12. Chuck Close
Location: Pace Gallery
Dates: Oct 19, 2012 – Dec 22, 2012
Chuck Close's exhibition at Pace Gallery features portraits of fellow artists Cindy Sherman, Kara Walker, and Philip Glass, alongside self-portraits. The works are grand in scale and contain his signature watered down, mosaic-looking style.
11. The World Stage
11. The World Stage
Location: The Jewish Museum
Dates: March 9 - July 29, 2012
Kehinde Wiley's work is deeply influenced by culture, as shown by a featured video at The World Stage exhibition documenting his creative process and inspirations during a visit to Israel. The artist's portraits, which use bold colors and backdrops inspired by papercuts and textiles, stood out in the gallery setting at the Jewish Museum.
10. Sound & Vision
10. Sound & Vision
Location: StolenSpace Gallery
Dates: October 10 - November 4, 2012
For the first time in five years, Shepard Fairey had a solo show in London. Starting with three murals painted outside the StolenSpace Gallery, he showed over 200 pieces across 2 spaces for the exhibit.
9. Wrinkles of the City
9. Wrinkles of the City
Location: The Havana Biennial
Dates: May 13, 2012
A collaboration between two street artists resulted in a very noteworthy project. Putting together JR's candid shots of locals and Jose Parla's calligraphic abstract paintings, the project at The Havana Biennial resulted in impactful murals to be remembered.
8. La Triennale, Intense Proximity
8. La Triennale, Intense Proximity
Location: Palais de Tokyo
Dates: April 20 - August 26, 2012
The exhibit was the third edition of the contemporary art triennial formerly known as La Force de l'art and questioned the national narrative in a global art world, while including pieces from a wide range of material.
7. Whitney Biennial 2012
7. Whitney Biennial 2012
Location: Whitney Museum of American Art
Dates: March 1 - May 27, 2012
The 2012 Biennial offered a look into the current state of contemporary art in America. Featuring a range of works from various artists in sculpture, painting, photography, dance, music, and film, the show was a great chapter in the ongoing series of Biennials started in 1932, two years after the museum was founded.
6. Keith Haring: 1978-1982
6. Keith Haring: 1978-1982
Location: Brooklyn Museum
Dates: March 16 - July 8, 2012
This exhibition lived up to the hype and presented Haring's work in a way that left something for everyone, fans and newcomers alike, to learn.
5. Space Program: Mars
5. Space Program: Mars
Location: Park Avenue Armory
Dates: May 16 - June 17, 2012
The Park Avenue Armory was turned into a space odyssey of 2012, demonstrating Tom Sach's idea of survival on Mars. It displayed the means of scientific exploration and colonization in an extraterrestrial world, from food distribution to entertainment.
4. Ghosts in the Machine
4. Ghosts in the Machine
Location: The New Museum
Dates: July 18 - September 30, 2012
The New Museum created a show that covered a fifty-year time span featuring works from over 70 well-known and emerging artists and writers, including Jeff Koons, Henrik Olesen, Hans Haacke, and Robert Breer. The exhibition examined the links between humans, machines, and art.
3. Belief+Doubt
3. Belief+Doubt
Location: The Hirshhorn Museum
Dates: August 20, 2012 - Ongoing
Since discovering art in combining photos and text, Barbara Kruger has created works that enhance and redefine visual culture. Belief+Doubt occupies floors, ceilings, walls, and all surrounding surfaces with messages that remind us to question assumed facts about our beliefs, values, and authority.
2. Ai Weiwei: According to What?
2. Ai Weiwei: According to What?
Location: The Hirshhorn Museum
Dates: October 7, 2012 - February 24, 2013
As the first North American survey of Ai Weiwei's work, the exhibition displayed the artist's sculpture, photography, installation, video, and audio work. It was based on a 2009 version at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo but included additional work based on Ai's experiences in the three years in between.
1. Picasso Black and White
1. Picasso Black and White
Location: The Guggenheim Museum
Dates: October 5, 2012 - January 23, 2013
Although Picasso is often remembered for his vibrant use of color, the artist was also a great believer in monochromatic work. Highlighting the formal structure of his work, Picasso Black and White was the first to examine his use of black and white throughout his career.
More Info
