Four art shows to feed your soul in the new year

Whether you’ve decided to be ambitious in your new year’s resolutions, taken a more streamlined approach, or even decided to discard them this year, there is always room for more art in life. Art, after all, is how we justify our existence, according to gallerist David Zwirner. Read on to see four exhibitions to start the year off with:

1. ‘The Sculptor and the Ashtray,’ and ‘Composition for Idlewild Airport,’ Noguchi Museum

A calming oasis by the East River, the Noguchi Museum in Queens is small enough that a quick tour can be fit into any busy schedule but big enough to allow enough time to detach from the outside world—and it features a sculpture garden, too.

Alongside the permanent collection, these two temporary exhibitions explore Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi’s approach to the ashtray, and his competition entry to create a monumental sculpture for Idlewild Airport, now known as JFK. After experiencing these showcases, little doubt should remain of Noguchi’s ability to work across different scales, and his ability to use sculpture to elevate even the most humble and quotidian of experiences.

“The Sculptor and the Ashtray”and “Composition for Idlewild Airport” on till May 30, 2021, Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard), Long Island City, New York. 

2. Marking Time: Process in Minimal Abstraction at the Guggenheim

In the face of so many interruptions to our usual markers of time, what better year would it be to meditate on the passing of time? This exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York invites viewers to contemplate the influence of duration and rhythm in art. Featuring Agnes Martin, Park Seo-Bo and other abstract artists working in the 1960s and ’70s, their minimalist works allow their process to be more exposed, and perhaps seen more clearly. If this exhibition reminds you too much of the past year, another exhibition at the Guggenheim, ‘The Fullness of Color: 1960s Painting’ explores the same period through the lens of color, offering a bright way to approach the new year. 

‘Marking Time: Process in Minimal Abstraction’ and ‘The Fullness of Color: 1960s Paintings’ on till March 14, 2021, Guggenheim New York, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York. 

3. ‘Claudia Andujar’ at the ICA Miami 

Treading the line between art and activism, photographer Claudia Andujar’s work documents the Yanomami people, whose homelands lie in the Amazonian rainforest in northern Brazil. Determined to create her own style as a documentary photographer, her work pushes the boundaries of the genre both creatively and aesthetically. Shot on film, the images are hyper-pigmented and boldly expressive as they evoke not just her subjects’ lives, but also the way they see the world. The ICA’s latest exhibition presents a concise curation of Andujar’s most experimental and daring work. 

‘Claudia Andujar’ on till May 2, 2021, ICA Miami, 61 NE 41st Street, Miami. 

4. ‘We=Link: Sideways’ at Copenhagen Contemporary

It’s hard to believe the Internet has been around for nearly 40 years, and this group exhibition at Copenhagen Contemporary is here to track it. Starting from the first internet-era artwork to now, the exhibition spans three decades of net art, from its early experimental days through its increasing commodification and control. If you’re unable to make it in person, you can also access the curatorial essay by Zhang Ga, the artistic director of the Chronus Art Center in Shanghai, where the exhibition first took place. 

‘We=Link: Sideways’ is on till May 23, 2021 at Copenhagen Contemporary, Refshalevej 173A, 1432 Copenhagen K.

Closed till 20 Jan, in accordance with Danish health guidelines

Installation view, The Sculptor and the Ashtray, The Noguchi Museum, February 12 – May 30, 2021. Photo: Nicholas Knight. ©INFGM / ARS