See below for image credits.
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For the occasion of our fourth annual survey, M-KOS again invited a telling selection of art professionals to share their most Memorable Exhibitions: art works, performance, events and other moments of this past year. Since this fascinating diversity of choices resonated differently with each individual, there are no ‘Best’ rankings on this list, or other particular order. Hopefully some entries will be debatable, so you may join us in debating this year’s listings, refute the listed as forgettable, or suggest any other must see art in the comment section below.
This year’s participants include: Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk (Independent curator/Writer, Rotterdam); Chloe Lum (Artist [Séripop], Montreal); Joseph Henry (Critic, New York); Dominique Fontaine (Independent curator, Montreal); Shinobu Akimoto & Matthew Evans (Co-directors, RFAOH, Montreal/Tokyo); Marie Roux (Independent photographer/Writer, London); Hana Sakuma (Artist/Curator, Kobe, Japan); Jessica Houston (Artist, Montreal/New York); Yuki Miyake (Director, White Conduit Projects & Online Gallery, Open-Draw, London); Cécilia Bracmort (Arts writer, Montreal); Oli Sorenson (Artist/Editor-in-chief M-KOS, Montreal); Miwa Kojima (Managing editor M-KOS, Montreal)
NIEKOLAAS JOHANNES LEKKERKERK (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Curator and writer, The Office for Curating
theofficeforcurating.com
– ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE PAINTING
(Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp, Belgium;
20 Sept – 7 Dec 2014)
– WHERE ARE WE NOW? – THE 5TH MARRAKECH BIENNALE 2014
(Various Venues, Marrakech, Morroco;
26 Feb – 31 Mar 2014)
– ALEXANDRA NAVRATIL: THIS FORMLESS THING
(SMBA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
8 Feb – 30 Mar 2014)
– THE PART IN THE STORY
(Witte De With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 22 May – 17 Aug 2014)
– THE VALUE OF NOTHING
(TENT, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 4 Sep – 16 Nov 2014)
Image: Geert Goiris, Andrea at Zverev, 2014 / ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE PAINTING. Courtesy the artist and Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp
CHLOE LUM (Montréal)
Artist [Seripop]
Seripop.com
– ABRAHAM CRUZVILLEGAS: AUTOCONSTRUCCIÓN
(Museo Jumex, Mexico; 14 Nov 2014 – 5 Feb 2015)
An intimacy with materials and their relation to space create poetry and a bit of mildew.
– GRAEME PATTERSON: SECRET CITADEL
(Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal; 23 Oct – 4 Dec 2014)
Convergence of performance, process, ingenuity, and efficiency in materials, developing into intricate story telling touching both the personal and the universal.
– INDRA MCEWEN and JAKE MOORE at the ARCHITECTURE CONCORDIA SPEAKER SERIES. (Concordia University, Montreal; 21 Nov 2014)
When you think about it, everything is surface.
Chloe’s Alternative Entries
– BEN DAVIS: 9.5 THESES ON ART AND CLASS (Haymarket Books, 2013)
So many of the things that are on our minds when we wonder how to not be complicit.
– DONNA TARTT: THE GOLDFINCH (Little, Brown Books, 2013)
A painting as a repository for memories. And is just as burdensome.
– DAN’L BOONE: S/T (Drag City, 2014)
Abstract rock n’roll.
Abraham Cruzvillegas, Autoconstrucción, installation view. Courtesy the artist and Museo Jumex, Mexico
JOSEPH HENRY (New York)
Critic
@joseph_p_henry
– STAGE SET STAGE: ON IDENTITY AND INSTITUTIONALISM
(SBC Galerie d’art contemporain, Montreal;
30 Nov 2013 – 2 Feb 2014)
– CARRIE MAE WEEMS: THREE DECADES OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO
(Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC;
24 Jan – 14 Mar 2014)
– CODED AFTER LOVELACE
(Whitebox Art Center, NYC; 14 Aug – 2 Sep 2014)
– XAVER LE ROY: RETROSPECTIVE
(MoMA PS1, NYC; 2 Oct – 1 Dec 2014)
– PIERRE HUYGHE
(Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LA; 23 Nov 2014 – 22 Feb 2015)
– RON ATHEY: INCORRUPTIBLE FLESH: MESSIANIC REMAINS
(]performance space[, London, UK; 30 May 2014)
[Read Joseph’s review on CARRIE MAE WEEMS]
Image: Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled (Woman and daughter with makeup) (from Kitchen Table Series), 1990. Gelatin silver print, 69.2 x 69.2 cm. Collection of Eric and Liz Lefkofsky, promised gift to The Art Institute of Chicago © Carrie Mae Weems. Photo: © The Art Institute of Chicago
DOMINIQUE FONTAINE (Montréal, Canada)
Independent curator
dominiquefontaine.com | @dofontaine
– CHRIS OFILI: NIGHT AND DAY
(New Museum, NYC; 29 Oct 2014 – 25 Jan 2015)
– THE POWER PLANT’S FALL 2014 EXHIBITIONS [PEDRO CABRITA REIS; JULIA DAULT; SHELAGH KEELY]
(The Power Plant Contemporary Gallery, Toronto; 20 Sep 2014 – 4 Jan 2015)
– ZERO: COUNTDOWN TO TOMORROW, 1950s–60s
(Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC; 10 Oct 2014 – 7 Jan 2015)
– UNDER ANOTHER NAME
(The Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC; 17 Jul 2014 – 8 Mar 2015)
– HENRI MATISSE: THE CUT-OUTS
(MoMA, NYC; 12 OCT 2014 – 8 FEB 2015)
– DAK’ART 2014, BIENNALE DE L’ART AFRICAIN CONTEMPORAIN (Dakar, Senegal; 9 May – 8 Jun 2014)
Special mention: François-Xavier Gbré (BIENNALE DAK’ART OFF); Art Vert/Green Art (Botanical Garden of the Faculty of Medecine of the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar)
Image: Dawit L. Petros, Proposition 1: Mountain, 2007. Digital photograph, 26 x 34 in. The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum Purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee 08.15.7. Courtesy The Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC
SHINOBU AKIMOTO and MATTHEW EVANS [aka SMFOUNDATION] (Montreal/Tokyo)
Co-directors of Residency For Artists on Hiatus;
art enthusiasts
residencyforartistsonhiatus.org | @_RFAOH
– RESIDENCY FOR ARTISTS ON HIATUS
The highlight of 2014 for us was that our project Residency For Artists on Hiatus embarked on its second year with brand new residents and steady responses from worldwide. In 2014, we were once again attracted to stuff that went beyond the framework of “art exhibitions” as our own practice continues to reflect.
– MARTIN CREED: BALLET (WORK NO. 1020)
(The Southbank Centre, London, UK; 8 Apr 2014)
The first one of such was UK’s Martin Creed and his band, accompanied by 5 dancers he choreographed, performing his absurd and fantastic tunes in Ballet : Work No. 1020, as a prominent part of his retrospective “What’s the point of it all” at Southbank Centre, London.
– FICTIVE COMMUNITIES ASIA: KOGANECHO BAZAAR
(Yokohama, Japan; 1 Aug – 3 Nov 2014)
The annual Koganecho Bazaar in Yokohama is often considered the punk rock little sister of the prestigious Yokohama Triennale. For the past several years, this once red-light district under the rail overpass has hosted international artists to stay and do projects in a way that both revitalizes the district and raises questions about gentrification. This year it was all about Asia – a curious mirror of current political/economic trends in the country.
– MAMMALIAN DIVING REFLEX / STANLEY KUBRICK EXHIBITION
During a recent visit to Toronto, we skipped the $25 entry fee at AGO, and went directly downstairs into the basement where the Mammalian Diving Reflex is taking a residency. We’ve been fans of the “social acupuncture” that the group has administered worldwide, this time with an endorsement of a major art institution like the AGO. We also went down to the new hub of the city, the TIFF Lightbox for the Stanley Kubrick exhibition but it was closed. So bummed to have missed it, we bought ourselves the beautiful $50 catalogue.
– RICHARD MOSSE: THE ENCLAVE
(DHC/ART, Montreal; 16 Oct 2014 – 8 Feb 2015)
Back to our homebase, Richard Mosse with his multi-media installation The Enclave crystallizes what we believe “art” may still be able to do. We had seen it when it debuted at the 55th Venice Biennale but its current incarnation at DHC art in Montreal again left our heads swimming. Stealing the rug out from under the much-hyped Montreal Biennale (except Hito Steyerl’s charming bemused attempts to transcend the format of the panel discussion), we challenge anyone to walk away from The Enclave and not have some opinion about it.
* Honorary Mention:
No, we didn’t get to go see it but the Twitter kerfuffle (mostly in Japan) surrounding the proposal of “Does this soup taste ambivalent?” by UNITED BROTHERS for Frieze London was worth following – missed points, misplaced blame, artists accusing artists – a classic theater of media indignation.
Image courtesy the Koganecho Bazaar, Yokohama, Japan
MARIE ROUX (London, UK)
Independent photographer, Writer
marieroux.info
– STEPHEN CRIPPS: PYROTECHNIC SCULPTOR
(The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK;
21 Nov 2013 – 16 Feb 2014)
– DAVID TOOP & RIE NAKAJIMA: SCULPTURE 3
(Central Saint Martins, London, UK; 31 Mar 2014)
See video of the Sculpture 3
– CERITH WYN EVANS
(Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London, UK; 17 Sep – 9 Nov 2014)
– MARCEL DUCHAMP: LA PEINTURE MÊME
(Centre Pompidou, Paris; 24 Sep 2014 – 5 Jan 2015)
– ALIBIS: SIGMAR POLKE 1963–2010
(Tate Modern, London, UK; 9 Oct 2014 – 8 Feb 2015)
Image: Sigmar Polke, Untitled (Quetta, Pakistan) 1974–1978 Glenstone © The Estate of Sigmar Polke / DACS, London / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.
HANA SAKUMA (Kobe, Japan)
Artist, Curator
hanasakuma.jimdo.com
– GO-BETWEENS: THE WORLD SEEN THROUGH CHILDREN
(Mori Art Museum, Tokyo: 31 May – 31 Aug 2014)
All the works created and curated in parallel, artistically and intellectually well done.
– AGES OF SARASA
(Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka City, Japan;
11 Oct – 24 Nov 2014)
Exquisite pieces of chintz from different parts of the world… If you love chintz, this is an exhibition you must see.
– ROKKO MEETS ART 2014
(Mt. Rokko, Kobe, Japan; 13 Sep – 24 Nov 2014)
Art festival at Mt. Rokko, Kobe, Japan. Artworks by young artists can be spotted while walking alongside the walking path. Very refreshing and pleasing.
– TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL MOT COLLECTION: CHRONICLE 1995-
(Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; 7 Jun – 31 Aug 2014)
Their collection captures every very moment of Japanese contemporary life.
– BALLETS RUSSES: THE ART OF COSTUME
(The National Art Centre, Tokyo: 18 Jun – 1 Sept 2014)
A visual sensation, and an excellent channel through which to introduce the world of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
Image: Osamu Kokuhu, Driving in a forest (2013) Courtesy the aritist and Rokko Meets Art, Japan
JESSICA HOUSTON (New York/Montreal)
Artist
jessicahouston.net
– HENRI MATISSE: THE CUT-OUTS
(MoMA, NYC; 12 Oct 2014 – 8 Feb 2015)
– ZERO: COUNTDOWN TO TOMORROW, 1950s–60s
(Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC;
10 Oct 2014 –7 Jan 2015)
– WILLIAM KENTRIDGE: THE REFUSAL OF TIME
(Metropolitan Museum, NYC; 22 Oct 2013 –
11 May 2014)
– LATE TURNER – THE PAINTING SET FREE
(Tate Britain, London, UK; 10 Sep 2014 – 25 Jan 2015)
– MAKING COLOUR
(National Gallery, London, UK; 18 Jun – 7 Sep 2014)
Image: Otto Piene, BerlinStencil Painting (Rasterbild), 1957–58. Oil on canvas, 98.4 x 70.2 cm. Kravis Collection © Otto Piene. Photo: Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York
YUKI MIYAKE (London, UK)
Director at White Conduit Projects and online gallery Open-Draw
whiteconduitprojects.uk | open-draw.com | @OpenDraw
– SHINRO OHTAKE
(Parasol Unit, London, UK; 12 Oct – 12 Dec 2014)
– EVA BERENDES & ANDREAS BUNTE: NORMA
(Ancient & Modern, London, UK; 10 Sep – 25 Oct 2014)
– PIPILOTTI RIST: WORRY WILL VANISH
(Hauser & Wirth, London, UK; 27 Nov 2014 – 10 Jan 2015)
– CHRISTIAN ROSA ‘CALIFORNIA SCREAMING’ (Ibid Projects, London, UK; 20 Sep – 8 Nov 2014)
– RICHARD TUTTLE: I DON’T KNOW. THE WEAVE OF TEXTILE OF LANGUAGE
(Whitechapel Art gallery, London, UK; 14 Oct – 14 Dec 2014)
– BEN RIVERS: THINGS (Kate MacGarry, London, UK; 19 Sep – 25 Oct 2014)
– MIRROR CITY (Hayward Gallery, London, UK; 14 Oct 2014 – 4 Jan 2015)
– DEXTER DALWOOD: LONDON PAINTINGS (Simon Lee Gallery, London, UK; 18 Nov 2014 – 24 Jan 2015)
– GERT & UWE TOBIAS
(Maureen Paley, London, UK; 8 Sep – 5 Oct 2014)
– ACTING TRUTHFULLY UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES
(Tenderpixel, London, UK; 14 Nov – 20 Dec 2014)
Image: Gert & Uwe Tobias, Untitled, 2014. woodcut on canvas. 200 x 200 cm. Courtesy the artists and Maureen Paley, London
CÉCILIA BRACMORT (Montreal)
Arts writer
@BracCecilia
– PETER DOIG: NO FOREIGN LANDS
(Musée des Beaux-arts de Montréal, Montreal;
25 Jan – 4 May 2014)
2014 had an amazing beginning with No Foreign Lands, this exhibition was the best source of light and heat during the first winter months of this year.
– JAKE & DINOS CHAPMAN: COME AND SEE
(DHC ART, Montreal; 4 Apr – 31 Aug 2014)
– LINDA HACKETT: IDIOTS
(Espace 40 Mile End, Montreal; 8 Oct – 1 Nov 2014)
I discovered this artist at a Mile End gallery called Espace 40. I was mesmerized by Hackett’s large scale paintings, perfectly synthesizing the whole of last century’s art history from Picasso to Basquiat, apparently showing her works publicly for the first time in 30 years.
– ISABELLE ROY: LA CHAMBRE DES FANTASMES
(La Maison Rouge, Paris; 18 Oct 2014 – 18 Jan 2015)
– HAÏTI, TWO CENTURIES OF ARTISTIC CREATION
(Grand Palais, Paris; 19 Nov 2014 – 15 Fev 2015)
This was the best opportunity to discover Haitian contemporary creations made by gifted artists still unknown to European audiences.
Image: Dubreus Lherisson, Sans titre, crâne humain, Port-au-Prince, collection Reynald Lally © Photo Josué Azo. Courtesy Grand Palais
OLI SORENSON (Montréal)
Artist, M-KOS Editor-in-chief
olisorenson.com | @olisorenson
– JEFF KOONS: A RETROSPECTIVE
(Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC;
27 Jun – 19 Oct 2014)
Loved the very early Hoovers in neon-lit Perspex boxes and the very recent 8-metre high pile of play-doh made of painted aluminum, almost as much as my favourite balloon sculpture depicting the Venus of Willendorf.
– MONTREAL BIENNALE 2014
(Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal; 22 Oct 2014 – 04 Jan 2015)
Lots of issues based works, especially enjoyed the many videos, including Hito Steyerl’s Liquidity Inc. installation incorporating capital and rising sea levels.
– FEATURE ART FAIR (Joey & Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre, Toronto; 23–26 Oct 2014)
A boutique sized fair that steered well away from rampant commercialism while offering top quality works to collect.
– ERWIN REDL: INMOTION (Bitforms Gallery, NYC; 6 Feb – 15 Mar 2014)
Quiet series of kinetic works by Austrian artist involving ping-pong balls, pocket fans on sticks and lazer lights.
– CUT TO SWIPE (MoMA, NYC; 11 Oct 2014 – 22 Mar 2015)
A collective exhibition gathering the MoMA’s acquisitions of media works from the past 30 years, articulating Dara Birnhaum’s seminal PM Magazine installation (1982) to Ken Okiishi’s paintings on video monitors (2014).
Image: Hito Steyerl, Liquidity Inc. 2014. single channel Video HD, 30 mins. © Hito Steyerl Courtesy the artist and Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam
MIWA KOJIMA (Montréal)
M-KOS Managing editor
@MKOSnet
– PHYLLIDA BARLOW: DOCKS (Tate Britain, London, UK; 31 Mar – 19 Oct 2014)
Barlow embraces chaos, chance and messiness into temporal forms in her colossal sculptural installation. There were no conceptual gimmicks, no pretention, but a compelling and delightful experience.
– PIERRE HUYGHE: IN. BORDER. DEEP.
(Hauser & Wirth, London, UK; 13 Sep – 1 Nov 2014)
Distant times collapse, historical narratives unfold onto new points-of-view and the line between reality and fiction blurs to haunting imagery. I was totally intrigued.
– ART FAHRENHEIT 451: SAILING INTO THE SEA OF OBLIVION – YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2014 (Special Mentions: Marcel Broodthaers, Interview with a Cat (1970); Melvin Moti, No Show (2004); KAMA GEI)
(Various Venues, Yokohama, Japan; 1 Aug – 3 Nov 2014)
Broodthaers and Moti’s works were my favorites in this triennale. The former’s absurd and hilarious dialog reaches beyond any intellectual analysis, while the latter astounds with a reenactment film of a tour guide, showing an Hermitage museum empty of any paintings safe for the frames, striking the imagination with even stronger imagery than the original works. It is also worth mentioning the Kama Gei, a non profit organization in Kamagasaki, known as day-laborers town in Osaka. Its aim is to offer learning opportunities to local people through different cultural programmes. In the triennale, Kama-Gei displayed a large installation comprising a number of different projects as well as offered several participatory activities to the audience.
– TRIS VONNA-MICHELL
(VOX, Montreal; 7 Feb – 12 Apr 2014, TURNER PRIZE 2014 EXHIBITION, Tate Britain: 30 Sep 2014 – 4 Jan 2015)
Fragments of images and objects related to collective histories and personal anecdotes are interwoven by sound of spoken words, together to construct a recombinant perception.
– ISA GENZKEN: RETROSPECTIVE
(MoMA, NYC; 23 Nov 2013 – 10 Mar 2014)
Fascinating to see Genzken’s works chronologically laid out, to understand how her work changed from one experiment to the next.
Image: Phyllida Barlow, Docks, 2014. Installation View. Photo by Miwa Kojima
Image from top left to right: Teresa Hubbard & Alexander Birchler, Eight, 2001. Courtesy: Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York (Showed in Go-betweens: The World Seen through Children); Performance view from Retrospective by Xavier Le Roy at MoMA PS1. Courtesy of the artist and MoMA PS1; Chris Ofili, installation view from Night And Day at New Museum, NYC. Courtesy the artist and New Museum NYC; Henri Matisse, The Sheaf 1953. Collection University of California, Los Angeles. Hammer Museum © Succession Henri Matisse / DACS 2013; Pierre Huyghe, (Untitled) Human Mask, 2014. Film still. Film, colour, 19 minutes. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, London and Anna Lena Films, Paris; Graeme Patterson, Secret Citadel, 2013, animation (still). Courtesy the artist and Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal; Richard Mosse, Love is the Drug, 2012. Digital C-print. 110″x211″. Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, NYC; Jeff Koons, Play-Doh, 1994–2014. Courtesy the artist and Whitney Museum of America Art, NYC; Lindsay Seers, Nowhere Less Now, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Hayward Gallery, London. Via The Guardian