Aspen
“In the House of the Trembling Eye” by Allison Katz
Where: Aspen Art Museum
When: May 30 - September 29
Why It’s Worth A Look: Celebrating 45 years of the Aspen Art Museum, “In the House of the Trembling Eye” is Katz’s mammoth group show taking over the entire museum. Examining both private collection and public works, the show incorporates the work of more than 50 artists and embraces this blur. Even more of a treat, the show was created in tandem with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, which provided ruins of ancient frescoes that will be displayed alongside Katz’s curated work.
Know Before You Go: The is the first show of its kind to exhibit these ancient ruins alongside contemporary works in the U.S.
Miami
“Coming to Fruition” by Jason Seife
Where: Pérez Art Museum
When: May 18 - August 11
Why It’s Worth A Look: Miami-born and -raised Jason Seife’s first ever U.S. solo show is a full-circle moment: Not only is it a homecoming achievement, but “Coming to Fruition” is site-specific and dedicated to the artist’s highly involved process. Works painted on concrete surrounded by intricate wooden frames create a sense of unfinished business: The process becomes the subject.
Know Before You Go: Seife has made a name for himself within the music business designing album covers and merch for the likes of Pharrell Williams, Nicki Minaj, and Big Sean.
“Huguette Caland: Outside the Line”
Where: Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
When: May 3 - October 6
Why It’s Worth A Look: The Lebanese painter, who died in 2019, has been the subject of a recent renaissance: Her saturated color palettes, suggestive figures, and bold abstraction craft a vision of an artist both interested in the erotic and the bounds of what it means to paint the body. Caland was often her own muse, using her corporeal form as the basis of her investigations.
Know Before You Go: “Outside the Line” is the first American museum show for the late artist.
Dallas
“Under the Weight of the World” by Vojtěch Kovařík
Where: The Power Station
When: April 8 - July 1
Why It’s Worth A Look: Inspired by Greek mythology and Picasso’s Fontainebleau period, the Czech painter creates bold, almost Bolero-esque figures that strain against the contours of their compositions. Brightly colored, broad, and informed by his training as a sculptor, his subjects have a cartoonish naivete even when depicting anguish.
Know Before You Go: The site-specific work Leandros and Hero portrays the Greek myth of two doomed lovers separated by the sea, with Kovařík’s painting showing them locked in a final, deathly embrace.
Bentonville, AR
“Space Makers: Indigenous Expression and a New American Art”
Where: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
When: April 8 - September 30
Why It’s Worth A Look: An oft overlooked group in the mid-century art movement, the “Indian Space Painters,” as they were known, blended European cubism with Indigenous American source material. This exhibition seeks to examine the tension between the non-Native artists and their choice of influences while highlighting Native artists who have since expanded upon this visual imagery, pulling from their own heritage.
Know Before You Go: Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, the museum gets its name from a nearby spring, a site which Safdie used as inspiration for constructing the bridge.
Savannah
“In a field, I am the absence” by Hon Eui Chen
Where: Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art
When: May 17 - August 19
Why It’s Worth A Look: New York-based Hon Eui Chen sits with the discomfort of real and imagined memories for her first solo museum show. Through installation, gouache drawings, and embroidered painting, the artist examines her youth from being born in a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and Cambodia to her childhood in Mississippi and the lost moments in between.
Know Before You Go: The title of the exhibition comes from the first stanza of a Mark Strand poem titled “Keeping Things Whole.”
New York
“Bass” by Steve McQueen
Where: Dia Beacon
When: May 12, 2024 - April 14, 2025
Why It’s Worth A Look: Renowned London-based artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen entirely eschews the moving image for an exploration of light and sound. Commissioned by Dia and the Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel, Bass pairs the entirety of the light spectrum with only bass instruments, the blend radiating through all 30,000 feet of the concrete space. It’s an immersive exploration, one that can only come after McQueen’s 30 years of investigation.
Know Before You Go: The installation was not only recorded on site but was also crafted as a direct response to the space. McQueen himself conducted the musicians who played the bass instruments, including the bassist Marcus Miller.
Boston
“The Procession” by Hew Locke
Where: Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
When: May 23 - September 2
Why It’s Worth A Look: British-born artist Hew Locke brings his fascination with ritual, cultural cycles, and the long arm of colonialism to life with this immersive installation. With about 140 life-size sculptures decked out in masks and carnival wear, “The Procession” delights and unsettles viewers with its eerie invitation to examine.
Know Before You Go: Locke spent time in Guyana not long after the country gained independence in 1966, which informed his view on group identity and the ways connections are communicated en masse.
Chicago
“Decadence” by Jordan Strafer
Where: The Renaissance Society
When: May 4 - July 7
Why It’s Worth A Look: Invoking both the erotic thriller and popular court shows, Strafer’s Decadence is the second of a film trilogy following a fictional yet highly publicized '90s rape trial in Florida. Strafer’s invocation of artificiality mixed with her video practice lends itself to an eerie sense of unendingness as the video shows scenes from the night of the alleged rape and the acquittal, omitting the in-between.
Know Before You Go: A photo of Strafer’s mother—who was actually part of a legal team on a notorious rape trial in the same era—was shown on Newsweek as part of the outlet’s coverage.
