This year, we (mainly me) sifted through countless art exhibitions. We looked at paintings, gawped at sculptures, stared at videos and immersed ourselves in installations. We read millions of gallery handouts filled with sentences that made no sense, we sauntered through snooty galleries in Mayfair, elbowed tourists out of the way at major museums on the South Bank. We visited literally hundreds of shows.
And why? For fun? No, we did it so that we could tell you what was worth going to, and what wasn’t, to help you sort the art wheat from the art chaff. And this lot right here, these are the ones where you really should’ve listened to us.
Martin Wong: ‘Malicious Mischief’ at Camden Art Centre
Sensual, erotic, gritty, violent, psychedelic: Martin Wong’s show at Camden Art Centre told the story of immigrant America through prison scenes, poetry and Bruce Lee. His work was a collision of street art, ceramics, poetry and a wholly unique approach to painting that was as full of hope as it was with misery and decay.