Highlights 2014: Jennifer Higgie

By Jennifer Higgie

12 months is 525949 minutes, which sounds both like a very long time and nothing at all. In a year in which global atrocity was commonplace, ‘Rembrandt: The Late Works’, which is on show at the National Gallery in London until 18 January, is a reminder that the greatest art is often the most empathic, and that an artist born centuries ago can be as well-placed to reflect our contemporary crises as those alive today. Who could look at Rembrandt’s self-scrutiny and remain unmoved about how hard it is to be human? 2014 was the year of extraordinary shows by artists in the final years of their life. ‘Matisse: The Cut-Outs’ – which was attended by more than half-a-million visitors at Tate Modern, making it the most popular in the institution’s history – focussed on the work that the great French painter made in the last 17 years of his life, when he was dogged by ill-health. No sign of self-pity was in evidence: these works are, quite simply, jaw-droppingly beautiful and life-affirming: room after room of deceptively simple collages that, seen together, spin into a near-hallucinogenic celebration of colour and composition. 2014 was an extraordinary one for Tate Modern: if Matisse wasn’t enough, it also played host to ‘Malevich: Revolutionary of Russian Art’, the first-ever UK retrospective of this unpredictable genius who, desperate in his longing to give shape to a new world, moved from figuration to abstraction and back again. Similarly, the atmospheric paintings J.M.W Turner made late in his life at a time of personal difficulty are – in their quoting of Classicism and anticipation of Impressionism – in equal parts fascinating and affecting. ‘Late Turner: Painting Set Free’ at Tate Britain, was the first exhibition devoted to this period in the artist’s life and coincidentally staged in the year that Mike Leigh’s enjoyable homage – and surprising box-office hit – Mr Turner was released. Speaking of Turner, the prize that honours his name, also at Tate Britain, was deservedly won by Duncan Campbell, who is an artist I admire, but walking around the show was dispiriting. Why, I wondered again and again, do the wall texts for contemporary art so often deaden, rather than enlighten, our understanding of the work on show? In ‘Late Turner’ the wall texts were clear and concise, while in the Turner Prize they were full of dense, humourless art speak. Why?

Across the channel, Sonia Delaunay’s work was a reiteration, in the most joyful way imaginable, of how useful a wild imagination can be. Her retrospective ‘Les Couleurs de l’abstraction’ at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, which runs until the 22 February and then travels to Tate Modern, is the first major show of Delaunay’s work since 1967 and it’s an embarrassment of riches. I can’t remember enjoying an exhibition more. Delaunay (who, in 1964, was the first living female artist to have a retrospective at the Louvre) had a mind that rejected hierarchies between design and art: for her, the pattern of a dress was as vital and as important as a large abstract painting. A case in point: George Lepape’s 1925 cover for British Vogue that features Delaunay’s ‘Simultaneous’ dress, next to a ‘Simultaneous’ car. Swoon. Also in Paris, ‘Marcel Duchamp: La Peinture, Même’, which runs at the Pompidou in Paris until 5 January, is a totally absorbing exhibition about the enduring importance of painting to the artist who we tend to assume rejected it outright.

Cars again: the ambition and invention of Eric van Hove’s V12 Laraki (2013) – a series of sculptures recreating the Mercedes-Benz V12 engine used in Morocco’s first luxury car, and handcrafted by 42 Moroccan artisans in ceramic, bone, tin, goatskin, and terracotta – has stayed with me since I saw it at the 5th Marrakech Biennale in March. Curated by the Dutch-Moroccan curator Hicham Khalidi and held in multiple venues across the town, this important show included the work of 43 artists either from Morocco, or with strong links to the region. It was aptly titled ‘Where are we now?’ a question that emerged from Khalidi’s experiences as a migrant. Among much strong work, the non-profit African Fabbers project was particularly inspiring: it’s a social innovation initiative based on the idea of bridging the African and the European makers communities through workshops, collaborative projects and talks.

George Lepape’s cover for British Vogue, 1925, featuring a ‘Simultaneous’ dress and ‘Simultaneous’ car by Sonia Delaunay

In London, the wonderful Chisenhale Gallery, under the directorship of Polly Staple (who is also a frieze contributing editor) continued its run of brilliant shows: the year finished with Caragh Thuring, whose sparse, witty paintings I especially love. Sylvia Kouvali’s Rodeo Gallery, which originated in Istanbul, opened a new space in a great address: 123 Charing Cross Road. Its current show of 30 years of Lukas Düwenhogger’s works on paper is utterly brilliant. It runs until 28 February – go! There’s been a lot of movement with London’s commercial galleries: Soho is jumping with both Marian Goodman and Herald St opening spaces on Golden Square, and Frith Street Gallery – who are now, of course, also on Golden Square – re-opening their original gallery on, yes, Frith Street, as a project space. I am very happy to tread those creaky floorboards once more. Stuart Shave’s Modern Art moved to a great new space in Clerkenwell while Hauser & Wirth reversed the move to the West End by opening their new gallery and arts centre in Bruton, Somerset.

As I fear I am going on too long, here’s a list, in no particular order, of other things that made me happy this year.

– The ongoing vitality of Open School East, a brilliant non-profit education facility in London’s Dalston that, thanks to a recent fundraiser, can keep serving its community for another two years.

– Glasgow International, under the sterling directorship of Sarah McCrory. Including an enormous host of local and international artists from Laura Aldridge and Bedwyr Williams, to Jordan Wolfson and Avery Singer, this year’s edition spread throughout the city’s large and small spaces. It zinged!

– The Liverpool Biennial under the directorship of Sally Tallant, who understands that for a show like this to mean anything significant to the city, a long-term vision is necessary.

– The Borealis music festival in Bergen, Norway. The 2015 edition is directed by Peter Meanwell: interesting sounds guaranteed.

– ‘Play What’s Not There’, curated by Michael Bracewell at London’s most beautiful gallery, Raven Row. An elegant, enigmatic exhibition that paired, in wonderfully surprising ways, work by artists including Steven Campbell, Linder, Cerith Wyn Evans and Katharina Wulff.

– Lisa Brice’s first solo show in London at the best-named gallery in London’s Bethnal Green, French Riviera. Dreamy paintings of poodles, in a former poodle-parlour.

– Julian Stair’s ceramic dinner setting at Corvi-Mora, which I was privileged to enjoy a dinner from. Never have I been made more aware of the importance of the weight of a plate.

Caragh Thuring, Golf, 2014. Courtesy: the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London; commissioned: Chisenhale Gallery, London; photograph: Richard Ivey

– Ben Rivers new film and photographs at Kate McGarry gallery, a Super 8 love letter to the objects he lives with.

– Giuseppe Gabellone at Greengrassi, an artist whose next move is impossible to predict: using only a small sewing machine, he created an enormous multi-coloured cloth which filled the huge space, and paired it with mysterious, geometric wall drawings.

– Philosopher Jean-Francois Chevrier’s astonishing exhibition at Madrid’s Reina Sofia, ‘Biographical forms, Construction and Individual Mythology’, which included works by artists ranging from Antonin Artaud, Claude Cahun, Philip Guston to Dorothea Tanning and Valie Export. My only complaint was that to do it justice would have taken me days.

– Glenn Ligon’s minimal, furious solo show of sculpture and film at Camden Arts Centre.

– Pierre Huyghe at Hauser & Wirth: a fantastic show of new work, including a genuinely unsettling film of a monkey in a child’s mask (which I have written about in the January/February issue of frieze), aquariums filled with fish and lily pads from Monet’s pond in Giverny, and a film of amber filled with copulating bugs: the oldest known example of sex on earth. Utterly compelling.

– Kerry James Marshall ‘Painting and Other Stuff’. The most important show to date of this great artist in Europe, and what a show it was! It was held in two venues, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona, and the Reina Sofia in Madrid. I only got to see the Barcelona iteration, but it blew my socks off.

– Beatrice Gibson’s ‘F’ for Fibonacci’ at Laura Bartlett Gallery in London: a new film that spins off William Gaddis, Stockhausen, John Paynter and the economic crisis, and is voiced by Adam Chodzko’s son. Perplexing and compelling.

– Kai Althoff at Michael Werner: remarkable new paintings, one amazing drawing and some sculptures and clothes, all of which he made in order to soothe himself and the viewer. As you walked into the gallery, an assistant put on a record of gentle music, to ease you into it. It worked.

– David Hammons, Senga Nengudi and Etel Adnan at White Cube. Amazing shows, amazing artists.

– Melvin Edwards at Stephen Friedman: about time London hosted a show of this important African-American sculptor, whose work spans five decades.

– Lynda Benglis’s ceramics at Thomas Dane: brilliantly nuts.

– Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s 20,000 Days on Earth, a documentary homage to the musician Nick Cave, who co-wrote the script, and which was the deserved winner of the 2014 British Independent Film Award Douglas Hickox Award (Directorial Debut).

– Simon Bill’s trippy oval paintings at Baltic.

– Martino Gamper ‘Design is a State of Mind’ and Ed Atkins at the Serpentine Gallery. Unfettered imaginations run amok.

– ‘Welcome to Iraq’, South London Gallery: curated by Jonathan Watkins of Birmingham’s IKON, this show travelled from the Venice Biennale. It’s impossible and humbling to imagine the challenges faced by artists living in Iraq today, but this exhibition revealed profound levels of imagination, resilience and humour. It should be noted that none of them were able to get visas to travel to the opening.

– The wild and wonderful paintings of Rose Wylie, who was the deserved winner of the 2014 John Moore’s painting prize.

– Marlene Dumas’s retrospective at the Stedelijk. It’s travelling to Tate Modern in 2015, praise be.

– Melbourne: my old home town! From ACCA, Gertrude Contemporary, Heide and the NGV, and galleries including Anna Schwartz, Neon, Sarah Scout and Sutton Gallery, the city is always a joy to return to.

– Athens: Despite the economic disaster – or perhaps because of it – rents are low, food is cheap and art is thriving. There is a great energy in the city, which will be co-hosting the next Documenta in 2017: I loved ‘This is not my beautiful house’ at the Kunsthalle Athena, a non-profit initiative set up by Marina Fokidis in a crumbling, atmospheric building. The city is also lucky to have the dynamic non-profit organization Neon, which staged Tino Sehgal’s first-ever public performance at the Roman agora; and State of Concept, a great new non-profit space run by Iliana Folkianiki. When I visited, The Breeder gallery, who support a slew of good artists in the city and internationally, had memorable wall hangings in their office by Zoi Gaitainidou (whose work reminded me of a young Geta Bratescu).

– The Fiorucci Art Trust who, from their headquarters off Sloane Square, continue to exhibit, support and promote art in ever-generous and surprising ways. Their first site-specific commission for its London’s HQ, Nick Mauss’s By, With, To & From turned a living room into an atmospheric dreamscape.

I’m sure there’s a slew of things I’ve forgotten, so forgive me. In terms of what I’m looking forward to in 2015? I’m making my first trip to India, in March, and will be visiting Mumbai, Delhi and Kochi. And, of course, in May it’s off to Venice to see what Okwui Enwezor – and so many other curators, writers and artists – have dreamed up.