Welcome to This Week in Culture, a weekly agenda of show openings and events in major cities across the globe. From galleries to institutions and one-of-a-kind happenings, our ongoing survey highlights the best of contemporary culture, for those willing to make the journey.
Chicago
“Descending the Staircase”
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
When: December 16, 2023 - August 25, 2024
Why It’s Worth a Look: The only thing connecting this diverse array of works—spanning puppetry, mask-making, automatons, abstract sculpture, performance, and more—is that each piece presents a new way of artistically representing the human body.
Know Before You Go: Drawn primarily from the museum’s permanent collection, but also featuring a number of new works, the show interrogates contemporary tensions concerning the body, such as its relationship to labor and emerging technologies.
Berlin
“Mimesis”
Where: Galerie Barbara Weiss
When: December 9, 2023 - January 20, 2024
Why It’s Worth a Look: In Galerie Barbara Weiss’s end-of-year exhibition, a number of young artists-to-watch put up their final pieces before the ball drop announces the start of 2024. Participating painters, sculptors, installation artists, and more are a combination of the gallery’s existing roster and other emerging talents.
Know Before You Go: Sculptor Dozie Kanu, conceptual artist Puppies Puppies, filmmaker Carolyn Lazard, multimedia artist Sung Tieu, painter Ambera Wellmann, and more are on view.
Los Angeles
“Sexy Xmas VII”
Where: The Lodge
When: December 7, 2023 - January 6, 2024
Why It’s Worth a Look: Lust, desire, Christmas: these are the themes circulating in The Lodge’s seventh annual end-of-year group show. With a mix of emerging and established creatives, the exhibition spans painting, sculpture, multimedia work, and more.
Know Before You Go: Artists on view include sculptor Andrew Orloski, painter Brittany Fanning, photographer Edward Cushenberry, abstract artist Louise Langgaard, painter Sis Cowie, Pop artist Sylvie Fleury, and painter Zack Rosebrugh.
Paris
“Breath of an architect” by Bijoy Jain / Studio Mumbai
Where: Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain
When: December 9, 2023 - April 21, 2024
Why It’s Worth a Look: Using architectural fragments—such as terracotta sculptures, old facades, and bamboo—Bijoy Jain, the founder of Studio Mumbai, has created a site-specific installation that puts his work in conversation with the glass-panneled Fondation Cartier building, designed by architect Jean Nouvel. This is accompanied by pieces from the painter Hu Liu and ceramicist Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye.
Know Before You Go: Of the exhibition’s focus on silence, Jain said in a statement, "Silence has a sound, we hear its resonance in ourselves. This sound connects all living beings, it is the breath of life. It is synchronous in all of us. Silence, time and space are eternal, as is water, air and light our elemental construct.”
London
“Andy Warhol: The Joseph Beuys Portraits”
Where: Thaddaeus Ropac
When: December 14, 2023 - February 9, 2024
Why It’s Worth a Look: For the first time since their presentation in the 1980s, Andy Warhol’s portraits of German artist Joseph Beuys are being exhibited as a collection. The works—normally scattered across museums in New York, Philadelphia, and London—represent some of Warhol’s earliest uses of diamond dust in portraiture and span painting, trial proofing, line drawing, and editioned works on paper.
Know Before You Go: The two artists, who were at the time representative of contemporary movements in American and European art, first met at a 1979 exhibition opening at Hans Mayer in Düsseldorf. In 1988, American writer David Galloway recalled the moment, writing, “For those who witnessed them approaching each other across the polished granite floor, the moment had all the ceremonial aura of two rival popes meeting in Avignon.”
