Disrupted Choreographies, Nimes, France
Eight Vietnamese artists present work that questions how the country and its history is perceived globally, from the tourist industry of today, the Vietnam War to the country’s colonial relationship with France. Disrupted Chronologies is co-curated by Zoe Butt, executive director and curator at Sàn Art, an artist-initiated, non-profit contemporary art organisation in Ho Chi Minh City, and Jean-Marc Prevost, director, Carré d’Art, Nimes. The exhibition is organised as part of the France-Vietnam Year.
21 February – 27 April, www.carreartmusee.com
Gabriel Orozco – Natural Motion, Stockholm, Sweden
This major retrospective of Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco’s work is his first showing in the Nordic countries. Curated by Ann-Sofi Noring, the exhibition at Moderna Museet features a selection of key works from the last 30 years and includes the installation, Dark Wave (2006), a nearly 15-metre long reconstruction of a whale skeleton made of calcium carbonate, and Until You Find Another Yellow Schwalbe (1995), a series of 40 photos of yellow motorbikes parked two by two.
Until 4 May, www.modernamuseet.se
El Lissitzky – Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Utopia and Reality, Graz, Austria
Key chapters in Russian history are explored in this exhibition, which places the work of the influential early Soviet artist El Lissitzky next to that of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, born in 1933 and 1945 respectively. Reflecting periods of the country’s history that have had a lasting cultural and political impact, the works move from hope and belief in the new, to the harsh and often farcical realities of the later Soviet era. The exhibition is curated by Charles Esche and Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.
Until 11 May, www.museum-joanneum.at
Public Intimacy: Art and Other Ordinary Acts in South Africa, San Francisco, USA
Jointly organized by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), this exhibition brings together 25 artists and collectives who offer an alternative and unexpected image of a country still known largely through its apartheid history. The exhibition focuses on artists whose work offers close views, small actions or gestures that occur in public, and includes William Kentridge, Billy Monk and Santu Mofokeng.
21 February – 29 June, www.ybca.org
Biographical Forms: Construction and Individual Mythology, Madrid, Spain
This group exhibition at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía focuses on ‘the exploration of identity as subjective construction and reconstruction’. Charting the progression of styles in artists’ work and highlighting individual identity as an experimental form, it features work by many of the 20th century’s most important artists, including
Louise Bourgeois, Georges Braque, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Philip Guston, Jeff Wall, Kurt Schwitters and Francesca Woodman.
Until 31 March, www.museoreinasofia.es
