The best exhibitions of summer 2022 and beyond: Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and South America
Our refreshed and revised guide to the best exhibitions happening across the globe during the remainder of 2022, from Color Field painting in Japan to Impressionism in Abu Dhabi
Over the past five decades, Audrey and David Mirvish have assembled one of the finest collections of Color Field paintings in the world. The pioneers of this style of abstraction, which flourished in New York during the late 1950s and 1960s, exploited the expressive power of flat planes of singular colour and eliminated the emotional, mythic or religious content associated with Abstract Expressionism.
Installation view of Color Fields, featuring works by Kenneth Noland and Anthony Caro from the Collection of Audrey and David Mirvish. Photo: Osamu Watanabe
The first exhibition in Japan dedicated to Color Field paintings focuses on nine key figures represented in the Mirvish collection, notably Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland and Anthony Caro. Also featured are works by Morris Louis, Larry Poons and Helen Frankenthaler.
It’s a rare opportunity to appreciate their inventive approach to colour and innovative techniques — from spray painting to staining the canvas — which opened up new horizons in art.
The inaugural edition of Frieze’s first fair in Asia will feature more than 110 galleries from around the world, including a core contingent of Asia-based exhibitors as well as 15 that are new to Frieze.
In addition to the fair’s main section is Frieze Masters, which presents pieces spanning thousands of years of art history, from rare books and manuscripts to Old Masters and paintings from the late 20th century. Another highlight is Focus Asia, which features 10 solo artist presentations from Asia-based galleries opened in 2010 or later.
Kohei Nawa (b. 1975), Throne (g/p_pyramid), 2019. Mixed media. 155.2 x 72.6 x 49.5 cm. From an edition of 10. © Kohei Nawa. Courtesy of the artist and Arario Gallery
Tammy Nguyen (b. 1984), Stations of the Cross: Jesus Meets His Mother, 2022. Watercolour, vinyl paint, pastel, and metal leaf on paper stretched over panel. 14 panels, each 167.6 x 139.7 cm. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin
Taking place alongside the fair is Kiaf SEOUL, operated by the Galleries Association of Korea, and an expanded Frieze Week programme of exhibitions and events peppered across the city.
‘There is a powerful sense of anticipation that gives every indication of the strong appetite for Frieze Seoul,’ says the fair’s director, Patrick Lee. ‘We are really looking forward to welcoming everyone to celebrate the creative life of the city this September.’
Using projected light and computer programming, Joanie Lemercier conjures three-dimensional environments that make us question our perception of reality.
Whether they depict volcanoes, mountains, valleys or imaginary geographies, Lemercier’s immersive installations employ geometric lines, patterns and grids that reflect his interest in mathematics, science and the rhythms and harmonies discernible in nature.
Joanie Lemercier (b. 1982), FUJI, 2013. Drawing, projection, sound. Courtesy the artist
As you move through the galleries, you’ll encounter six computer-generated landscapes that shed light on urgent environmental issues, from over-exploitation of the natural world to climate change.
Highlights include Fuji (2013), part of Lemercier’s ongoing series on volcanoes, and The Hambach Forest and the Technological Sublime (2019-21), a series of immersive audio-visual installations depicting the ecological impact of one of the largest coal mines in Europe.
This exhibition invites the visitor to explore downtown New York City during the 1980s and consider its influence on a group of young artists of very different backgrounds, many of whom now stand among the most important figures of the late 20th century.
Charlie Ahearn (b. 1951), Wild Style (video still), 1983, video, 1.37:1, color, mono sound, 82’00”. Courtesy the artist
From graffiti art to political painting, the works on display reflect a period of radical experimentation and rapid gentrification, set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis and the growth of consumer culture.
Alongside works by lesser-known figures are paintings and drawings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, which are being shown in China for the first time.
Landing at the Louvre Abu Dhabi this autumn is Impressionism: Pathways to Modernity, one of the most significant Impressionist exhibitions ever to be held outside of France.
Marking the museum’s fifth anniversary, it brings together more than 150 artworks, including paintings, drawings, prints, costume and photographs, to explore how a group of progressive artists responded to the dramatic social and cultural changes in Paris between the mid-1850s and the end of the 19th century. It will also consider how Impressionism paved the way for future artistic revolutions.
Edgar Degas (1834-1917), The Racecourse. Amateur Jockeys Near a Car, 1876-87. Oil on canvas. Paris, Musée d’Orsay, RF 1980. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Tony Querrec
Organised chronologically in 15 thematic sections, it looks at the role of Edouard Manet in the development of Impressionism, before exploring the evolution of the movement through pioneering works by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne and Pissarro.
Among the standout works on loan from the Musée d’Orsay are Manet’s The Balcony from 1868-69, Monet’s Women in the Garden from 1866, and Gustave Caillebotte’s radical 1875 painting, Floor Scrapers.
In celebration of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in November, Qatar Museums is transforming the country into a vast outdoor exhibition space, with the installation of 40 new public artworks across Doha and the rest of the country.
The works are installed in spaces including parks, shopping areas and railway stations, as well as in some of the stadiums that will host the tournament.
Richard Serra (b. 1938), 7, 2011. Steel, 24.6 metres. MIA Park. Photo: © Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums
Among the Qatari and international artists taking part in the project are Adel Abidin, Monira al Qadiri, Olafur Eliasson, Shilpa Gupta and Tom Claassen, whose monumental sculpture Falcon (2021) was installed outside Hamad International Airport in July last year.
Accompanying the outdoor exhibition is a wide-ranging programme of events and exhibitions across eight museums and galleries in Doha.
Highlights include a new exhibition celebrating the history of football at the recently opened 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, and a show dedicated to the founder of Maison Valentino, Valentino Garavani, at M7.
Curated by the art historians Natasha Ginwala, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung and Michelangelo Corsaro, Indigo Waves looks at the historical, cultural and linguistic links between the continents of Africa and Asia, focusing on the Indian Ocean as a communal horizon. It also explores histories of forced and unforced movement between the two continents as a result of trade, war and colonialism.
Installation view of Indigo Waves and Other Stories: Re-Navigating the Afrasian Sea and Notions of Diaspora, featuring surge (social cataracts), 2021 by Oscar Murillo and Vessel, 2020, by Sacintya Mohini Simpson with Isha Ram Das. Artworks: Oscar Murillo, courtesy of the artist. Sacintya Mohini Simpson with Isha Ram Das, courtesy of the artists
and Milani Gallery, Brisbane
Through the work of 13 contemporary artists, historians, filmmakers, musicians and writers, including Oscar Murillo, Sohrab Hura and Cinga Samson, the show examines all that this expansive body of water has signified and continues to symbolise today.
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Cressida Campbell
24 September 2022 to 19 February 2023
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
For more than 40 years, the Australian artist Cressida Campbell has explored the transitory beauty of the everyday in her woodblock paintings and unique woodcut prints.
Combining keen observation with a delicacy of hand, she has tackled everything from still lifes and panoramic coastal landscapes to interior scenes and city skylines.
Cressida Campbell (b. 1960), Francis Street, East Sydney, 2000, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2000 © Cressida Campbell
‘I try to convey the poetic beauty of nature as well as portraying everyday objects in a way that shows them as both aesthetic and sometimes comical, by placing them within subjects that people wouldn’t expect,’ she has said.
Curated by Dr Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax, Cressida Campbell brings together works from across her career, revealing the depth and virtuosity of her creative practice.
This huge, wide-ranging show looks at four decades of contemporary Chinese art and explores how international audiences have come to understand China today.
Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958), Bloodline – Big Family No. 17, 1998. Oil on canvas, 149 x 180.2 cm. M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation. © Zhang Xiaogang
The nation’s open-door policy of 1978 triggered profound social and economic change, and propelled a number of Chinese artists onto the world stage. Challenging traditional ideas and art practices, they have staged their own exhibitions and experimented with new mediums and unconventional styles.
Highlights on display include Feng Guodong’s River of Light, a swirling sky of red, blue and green from 1979, and The Second State (1987) by Geng Jianyi, which comprises four monochromatic oil paintings, each showing the same man laughing in a different way.
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In its first monographic exhibition dedicated to a contemporary artist, MACAAL presents a new body of work by Malagasy artist Joël Andrianomearisoa, alongside a selection of works from the Fondation Alliances collections.
Joël Andrianomearisoa in production at the studio of ceramicist Soufiane Tyglienne, Marrakech, March 2022. Photo: © Ayoub El Bardii
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