Sustainability,
emotion & AI
In January, these salient three words were forecasted to define the art market of 2024. So far, galleries have risen to the occasion, with the ICA offering Aria Dean’s meditations on death, the Serpentine presenting Refik Anadol's take on AI and the ecosystem, while the Tate Modern brought us Yoko Ono's bricolage of politics, performance and photography. This month promises to keep on giving, and we've scoured the globe to bring you the highlights.
Expressionists
Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue Rider
25 April - 20 October. Tate Modern, London
Tiger by Franz Marc, 1912. Tate Modern
The major Tate Modern retrospective will tell the story of a syndicate of international friends who pioneered the modern art movement in the early 20th century. The show includes celebrated artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, Franz Marc and Paul Klee, along with a diverse network of artists called The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter), who were connected by a desire to express personal experiences and spiritual ideas. It will celebrate their radical experimentation with form, colour, sound and performance; shedding a light on previously overlooked figures like Wladimir Burliuk and Maria Franck-Marc.
Roni Horn
4 April - 28 June. Hauser & Wirth, New York
Pisslar by Roni Horn, 2023. Hauser & Wirth
Exploring themes of identity, meaning and perception, Roni Horn is widely acclaimed for her engagement in humanity’s relationship to the natural world. The artist will debut her latest series of works on paper and never before exhibited cast-glass sculptures at Hauser & Wirth on April 4th. Drawing for nearly 40 years, Horn’s oeuvre includes stark mark-making, sculpture, watercolours and deconstructing and reconstructing images and texts. Her multimedia collages are textural works that compels the mind into a state of corporeal contemplation.
Guy Ferrer
Assemblages
5 April - 1 May. Everard Read, London
Extase by Guy Ferrer. Everard Read
Curious about life and the search for beauty, multimedia artist Guy Ferrer will mark his fourth solo presentation at London's Everard Read with an intimate collection of paintings and sculptures. Enriched with his signature symbolism, the show will expose the spirituality of the every day. Ferrer's small-scale works incorporate found objects imbued with a sacred ethos, from holy iconography to the application of precious materials. ”Gold, sacred and mythical, is more and more present in my work”, says Ferrer. “For me, gold evokes the Orient and eternity.” With a career spanning some 35 years, the artist's work is a glorious celebration of life and its enigmas.
Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo
(with Takashi Murakami)
5 April - 4 August. Brooklyn Museum, New York
Plum Estate, Kameido (Kameido Umeyashiki), no. 30 from 100 Famous Views of Edo by Utagawa Hiroshige. Brooklyn Museum
The seminal Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) is considered to be the last great master of the ukiyo-e tradition. For the first time in twenty-four years, his 100 Famous Views of Edo—one of the Brooklyn Museum’s greatest treasures—returns to public display. The complete set of these celebrated prints is among the world’s finest. The exhibition concentrates on the series’ urban aspects- which was originally published in 1856–58. Exploring the evolving socioeconomic and environmental landscape of the city that would become Tokyo, it features all four seasons with scenes of picnics beneath cherry blossoms, summer rainstorms, falling maple leaves, and wintry dusks. Visitors will be able to visualise the industrial evolution of 19th century Tokyo by comparing Hiroshige's stunning landscapes with modern photographs of the city.
Takesada Matsutani
6 April - 19 May. Hauser & Wirth, Paris
On A Slope by Takesada Matsutani, 2021. Hauser & Wirth
For over five decades, Ōsaka-born artist Takesada Matsutani, has developed a unique visual language spanning from sculpture and printmaking to painting and installation. From the early 1960s until the 1970s, Matsutani was a key member of the influential post-war Japanese art collective the Gutai Art Association. As part of the Gutai group, Matsutani experimented with vinyl glue using fans and his own breath to manipulate the substance. His bulbous and sensuous forms are reminiscent of human curves and features. Matsutani has lived and worked in Paris for the past 60 years, and this exciting exhibition will feature a selection of new and historic works by the artist; showcasing the breadth of his career and development of his practice.
Ed Ruscha
Now Then
7 April - 6 October. LACMA, Los Angeles
Standard Station by Ed Ruscha, 1966 © Museum Associates/LACMA
For those who missed last year's Ed Ruscha Now Then exhibition at MoMA, will have the opportunity to catch it again on April 7th. A first comprehensive, cross-media retrospective in over 20 years, the acclaimed presentation has moved to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Ruscha's work holds a microscope to American society by making the country's urban landscape, consumer culture and popular entertainment his subjects. Since 1956 (when he left Oklahoma City to study commercial art in LA), the artist has honed an oeuvre of abstracting architectural landscapes, and colloquial language.