We rounded up the most captivating cultural events that you will not want to miss in 2022.
1. Hito Steyerl: “I Will Survive”
“I Will Survive,” Steyerl’s largest-ever retrospective exhibition in the Netherlands, will span the German artist’s career, from her video works made in the early 1990s to her architectural installations that have become predominant in the last decade. Rein Wolfs, director Stedelijk Museum, called it a “sweeping overview” that will bring together 20 major loaned works from “each phase of Hito Steyerl’s artistic practice,” including a few early works that are in the Stedelijk collection.
Where? Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
When? January 29–June 12, 2022
2. Gaudí
The Musée d’Orsay will host the first major exhibition devoted to Antoni Gaudí to be held in Paris in fifty years. In an immersive museography, it will show the spectacular creations of this artist, presenting in particular sets of furniture never before exhibited in France.
Where? Musée d’Orsay, Paris
When? 12 April – 17 July 2022
3. Barbara Kruger
The newly reopened Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, an exquisite museum of contemporary and modern art designed by Mies van der Rohe that will now be headed up by Klaus Biesenbach, will see Kruger install a new text installation for its main floor. Out of respect for the design of van der Rohe, Kruger will leave key parts of the building untouched (which is not her usual way). From outside the glassed-in museum, passersby might not even see the show, which only becomes fully revealed once inside the space.
Where? Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
When? April 29–August 28, 2022
4. The Venice Biennale 2022
A global pandemic, the catastrophic effects of climate change, and developments in artificial intelligence are just some of the major threats to the future of humanity that artists will be tackling for this year’s main exhibition at the 59th Venice Biennale. “Despite the climate that forged (the show), it aspires to be an optimistic exhibition,” said its curator, Cecilia Alemani, in a statement. For all the latest news on the national pavilions, see Venice Biennale 2022: All the National Pavilions, Artists and Curators. -José da Silva
Where? Venice, various locations
When? April 23—November 27 2022
5. Raphaël in London
This exhibition, one of the first ever to explore Raphaël’s complete career, looks at his celebrated paintings and drawings as well as his work in architecture, poetry, and design for sculpture, tapestry and prints.
Where? The National Gallery, London
When? 9 April – 31 July 2022
6. Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child
This major retrospective of the renowned French artist will focus exclusively on Bourgeois’s late career turn to sculptures made using domestic textiles and fabrics. More than 90 works spanning the mid-1990s to her death in 2010 will be presented, revisiting many of the subjects that preoccupied the artist throughout her storied career. Topics including identity, sexuality, and family relationships are explored in “The Woven Child,” as well as her spider motifs and figurative sculptures of female bodies. All told, the survey hopes to address broader themes of reparation and memory, and explore what the artist called “the magic power of the needle… to repair the damage.”
- Where? Hayward Gallery, London
- When? February 9–May 15
7. Whitney Biennial 2022
The Biennial is back. Surveying the landscape of American art and shaping the cultural conversation since 1932, the eightieth edition of the landmark Whitney Biennial is now on view.
Where? Whitney Museum of American Art, new York
When? 6 April – 5 September 2022
8. “Cézanne”
The Art Institute of Chicago and London’s Tate Modern are organizing the greatest Paul Cézanne exhibition for a generation. Called simply “Cézanne,” it will span the full career of the artist. In Chicago, where the show opens, it will comprise 90 oil paintings, 40 works on paper and two sketchbooks, although it will be slightly reduced in London (70 oils and 18 on paper). Cézanne (1839-1906) has always been regarded as an “artist’s artist” and was a great influence on later painters, including Monet, Pissarro, Matisse and Picasso. He remains an inspiration, and among the exhibition lenders will be Jasper Johns, the American abstract expressionist, who will be sending three key watercolors (plus an oil painting of a nude to Chicago only) from his personal collection. Technical analysis of the artist’s palette, compositional construction, and mark making will deepen our understanding of how Cézanne created his paintings. Chicago promises that the show will “reframe Cézanne, a giant of art history, for our own time.” –Martin Bailey
Where? Art Institute of Chicago
When? May 15-September 5 2022