The Best Exhibitions of 2017
The Art That Was Worth Seeing This Year
As we look back on 2017, there were thousands of art exhibitions in the hundreds of major museums around the world. Many of these shows were worth seeing, but of course, some favorites stick out.
We have compiled a roundup of the best museum exhibitions from this past year, which you can see below. We hope you find these shows as stimulating, provocative, elegant, and beautiful as we did.
Kerry James Marshall: Mastry at MoCA, Los Angeles
The final leg of Kerry James Marshall’s astonishing survey wrapped up in Los Angeles this year. Like the iterations that proceeded in Chicago and New York, this comprehensive exhibition was illuminating in its exploration of black identity and politics.
Along with the racial implications of the title Mastry, Marshall’s mastery of his craft is not just remarkable, but awe-inspiring. It is a pity this gut-punch of an exhibition could not be shared and seen in every city in America.
Laura Owens at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
The dazzling mid-career show of Laura Owens’ work at the Whitney Museum in New York was a sprawling evaluation of the craft and history of painting. Curated by Scott Rothkopf, viewers were treated to the many bodies of work by Owens in the airy Whitney galleries.
With playful riffs on abstraction to child-like depictions of love and nature, Owens provided us with an oasis during a very tumultuous year. At a time when art is full of protest (and rightfully so), Owens gave the viewer a much needed oasis.
David Hockney at Centre Pompidou, Paris
David Hockney has had a banner year, and here are a few reasons why.
First, though widely shown, Hockney has yet to have his work viewed in such a state of totality. Secondly, the Tate’s version of this retrospective showed Hockney’s popular appeal by breaking attendance records. Finally, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s version just opened, and it was a critical success all around.
While often regarded as a secondary figure, Hockney has been seen in a new light for his tireless devotion to the history and craft of painting. Ranging from Communism to gay love to experiments in photography, his subject matter was radical, too. It is more apparent than ever that Hockney is a force to be reckoned with.
The reason we chose the retrospective’s visit to the Centre Pompidou was because the architecture complimented the work so elegantly. Summer sun and the rolling rooftops of Paris could be seen through the free-flowing galleries. It seemed to perfectly compliment the Briton’s odes to California and his beautiful portraits.
Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends at MoMA, New York
Although many critics wondered why a retrospective of an already iconic, well-exhibited, and influential artist was really necessary, this exhibition rebuffed any questions.
This extremely thorough show was not only a chance to see Rauschenberg’s vast range and talent, but to see many works that are rarely seen together (or at all). The various collaborations that Rauschenberg participated in were astounding as well. Videos and photographs of works completed with Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, and Merce Cunningham were a treat to see in person.
With MoMA’s vast resources and a myriad of engaging supplementary materials and ephemera, this exhibition was not only a critical accomplishment, but a popular one, too.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Under-Song For A Cipher at the New Museum, New York
The 2013 Turner Prize finalist had a moment of triumph stateside this summer with her elegant and understated exhibition at the New Museum.
The classical technique combined with the elegant but casually posed figures showed the influence of dozens of great masters, but Yiadom-Boakye added a dreamy element to her work.
The imagined figures were always in the midst of non-activity. A sort of slowness or stillness created ambiguous scenes, which was purposefully indeterminate. The artist left the viewer to interpret these figures and their settings based on their own histories. Almost all the figures were black, which certainly is a reminder that the Western canon erased the presence and significance of people of color.
In a way, you could say Yiadom-Boakye is using various histories in her practice to activate both real and imagined narratives for her paintings. Not only that, but the paintings were drop-dead gorgeous in the moodily dark galleries.
