This year will see the opening of long-awaited cultural venues, as well as noteworthy exhibitions at beloved institutions. And there’s something for everyone, whether you favour masterpiece paintings or quirkier fare — say, a retro Nintendo museum, or the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the “Pope of Trash” (John Waters). Here are five art destinations worth the trip.
In 2024, the National Gallery will celebrate its 200th anniversary. To toast the occasion, the London landmark will be launching a dozen exhibitions of national treasures, all opening May 10. The program involves sending 12 iconic paintings to 12 venues in the U.K. — “The Water-Lily Pond” by Monet will go to York; Botticelli’s “Venus and Mars” to Cambridge; and “The Rokeby Venus” by Velazquez to Liverpool.
At home in London later in the year, the gallery will also host a major exhibition on Van Gogh, encompassing some of its current holdings (including “Sunflowers” and “Van Gogh’s Chair”), as well as works on loan from galleries worldwide. “Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers”will be a rare chance to see many of the renowned French artist’s works — some seldom displayed — in the same space.
For decades, Nintendo’s Uji Ogura plant produced trading cards. When the factory closed, the company announced the space would be revitalized into a massive gallery showcasing 150 years of gaming history and memorabilia from the Nintendo vault.
Details are still under wraps, but the museum will be just south of Kyoto (a 30-minute train ride from the city centre), and also within day-tripping distance of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, if you want to build out a travel itinerary full of Mario, Luigi and the gang.
“Woman in Grayscale (Alicia)” (2017) by Derrick Adams is part of the Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys’ exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.
Derrick Adams Studio / Dean Collection, courtesy of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys / photo by Glenn Steigelman
Over the past 20 years, Swizz Beatz (music producer Kasseem Dean) and Grammy-winning R&B artist Alicia Keys have been quietly amassing a collection of more than 1,000 world-class artworks. Now, fans will be able to see the couple’s curated gems with the opening of this Brooklyn Museum exhibition.
While “Giants” features plenty of notable names, the focus is on championing Black artists. Among the works, find pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Arthur Jafa, Lorna Simpson and Gordon Parks, alongside massive paintings by Meleko Mokgosi and powerful portraits by Kehinde Wiley.
This new exhibition explores the eccentric cinematic universe of the man that William S. Burroughs dubbed the “Pope of Trash”: director, actor and art icon John Waters. Delve into Waters’ work and his world of drag queens, lowlifes, misfits and the other colourful characters that inspired him.
There’s plenty of interesting artifacts from his oeuvre, including set decorations, handwritten scripts and costumes (like the big wigs and cockroach dress from “Hairspray”). The museum will also be screening movies from Waters’ filmography.
Over the past few years, a historic, 1930s-built grain silo building on a scenic peninsula in Kristiansand, in Southern Norway, has been undergoing a careful restoration. This spring, the space is slated to open as Kunstsilo, a new global hub for Nordic art.
The museum’s core will be the Tangen Collection, the world’s largest collection of Nordic modernist art, encompassing more than 5,500 works amassed by Nicolai Tangen. Works from Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Danish artists will be spread out over three floors. Kunstsilo will round out its offerings with exhibits of interactive digital art, concerts and recitals, restaurants and, further into the future, an adjoining hotel.
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