Best of 2022: Visual Arts

BEST OF 2022: VISUAL ARTS Museums and galleries no longer afraid of giving women major shows

Museums and galleries are no longer afraid of giving women major shows

Have you noticed how exhibitions now seem to go on for ever and ever? Three months seems to be the norm, but five months is not unknown. Ever wondered why? In terms of time and money, mounting a major exhibition is incredibly expensive, of course.

Magdalena Abakanowicz, Tate Modern review - a forest of huge and imposing presences

★★★★ MAGDALENA ABAKANOWICZ, TATE MODERN A forest of huge, imposing presences

Smell the sisal and feel small in the company of giant hangings

First off, I must confess that fibre or textile art makes me queasy. I don’t know why, but all that threading, knotting, twisting, coiling and winding gives me the creeps. So it’s all the more extraordinary that I was blown away by Magdalena Abakanowicz’s huge woven sculptures.

Things, Musée du Louvre, Paris review - the still life brought alive

Monumental Paris art show asks questions about the nature of things

Only a Eurostar day-trip away, at least from London, the Louvre is hosting an exceptional exhibition, which makes the journey to Paris well worthwhile. Things – A History of Still Life (Les choses – une histoire de la nature morte) is one of those massive shows that explores a complex theme in a thoroughly original and adventurous way.

Donna Fleming: Apocalypse, The Pie Factory, Margate review - personal passions and intense feelings

Six years of work expressed through mercurial changes of medium

Donna Fleming’s exhibition at the Pie Factory Gallery in Margate is called Apocalypse, which is confusing because it has nothing to do with the end of the world. Fleming does not even watch the news because she “does not want to think about miserable things”. Instead the title refers back to the Greek word that apocalypse is derived from, apokalypsis, which means uncovering.

Making Modernism, Royal Academy review - a welcome if confusing intro to seven lesser known artists

★★★ MAKING MODERNISM, ROYAL ACADEMY Welcome if confusing intro to lesser known artists

Women artists in Germany describe their world in paint

The Royal Academy’s Making Modernism is a welcome introduction to seven women painters working in Germany at the beginning of the last century. It wouldn’t surprise me if you’d never heard of Gabriele Münter, Marianne Werefkin and Paula Modersohn-Becker even though they enjoyed international reputations during their lives, since their male counterparts (Kandinsky, Klee, Jawlensky and Macke) are not well known here either.

William Kentridge, Royal Academy review - from art to theatre, and back again

★★★ WILLIAM KENTRIDGE, ROYAL ACADEMY From art to theatre, and back again

The past is hideous, the future an unknown entity in the varied forms of the artist's work

South African artist William Kentridge appears on video in his studio, twice. On the right he sits scribbling, waiting for an idea to surface. Meanwhile his alter ego stands impatiently by, trying to peek at his other half’s notes and, desperate for enlightenment, even reads a recipe out loud. The artist, it seems, doesn’t have a clue; he is as much in the dark as everyone else. A Lesson in Lethargy, 2010 offers a brief moment of humour in this relentlessly dark exhibition.

Hopper: An American Love Story review - a dry view of a much richer subject

★★ HOPPER: AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY A dry view of a much richer subject

The inscrutable American artist gets the cinema treatment in a conventional biography

This rather disappointing documentary about the great American painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967) has such a dry parade of experts and such a slow linear narrative that it leaves plenty of time to be frustrated by all that’s been left out.

Lucian Freud: New Perspectives, National Gallery review - a powerful punch in the gut

★★★★★ LUCIAN FREUD: NEW PERSPECTIVES, NATIONAL GALLERY Powerful punch in the gut

The complexity of human relationships laid bare in centenary show of the artist who always disturbs

There stands Lucian Freud in Reflection with Two Children (Self-portrait), 1965 (main picture) towering over you, peering mercilessly down. Is that a look of scorn on his face or merely one of detachment? His two kids seem to be squirming and giggling beneath their father’s unblinking stare. Who wouldn’t be, especially when the huge lamps hanging overhead are reminiscent of an interrogation chamber? All the better to see you with, my dear.

Hallyu! The Korean Wave, V&A review - frenetic but fun

★★★★ HALLYU! THE KOREAN WAVE, V&A Frenetic but fun

Learn how to succeed, South Korean style, right across the cultural board

Remember Gangnam Style, the music video that went viral in 2012? PSY’s cheeky lyrics and daft moves attracted 1.6 billion hits on YouTube, sparked dozens of parodies and turned the world on to K-pop. And that was just the beginning; K-pop has since mushroomed into a global phenomenon characterised by catchy tunes and fast-paced dance routines performed by beautiful young people in snappy outfits.

Marina Abramović: Gates and Portals, Modern Art Oxford and Pitt Rivers Museum review - transcendence lite

★★★ MARINA ABRAMOVIC: GATES AND PORTALS, MODERN ART OXFORD AND PITT RIVERS MUSEUM The grandmother of performance art induces deep breathing and a slow heartbeat

The grandmother of performance art induces deep breathing and a slow heartbeat

I have powerful memories of performances by Marina Abramović. Back in 1977 at Documenta in Kassel, Germany, she and her then partner Ulay stood either side of a doorway, facing one another. There was only enough room to squeeze through sideways and, since both were naked, choosing whom to face was an interesting challenge.