Ocula

Now in its 11th edition, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art's enduring Asia Pacific Triennial looks out through the eyes of some 70 artists and collectives spanning a vast and diverse part of the world. Since its first edition in 1993, the Triennial has elected not to have a theme, instead preferring to look in all directions—this time stretching from Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia in the west to Japan and Tonga in the east—at art being made across cultures and traditions. In his review, Sam Gaskin highlights several standout works among the 500 works on display. Read the feature: https://lnkd.in/gmDjb2v9

2025 is shaping up to be a mammoth year for the art world. Ocula's editors have scoured the globe—from Los Angeles to London, Hong Kong to Sydney—to map out the artists with career-spanning surveys opening. Consider this your one-stop guide to the artists whose work is being deservedly celebrated in significant institutions this year, and to the exhibitions of the year we consider to be amongst the unmissable. Read now: https://lnkd.in/gGK6M9hc

Julie Mehretu's is an art of accumulation. She often begins a painting or a print by digitally obscuring the original source images—which have variously documented the devastation of war, racial injustice, and environmental destruction—and then working into the surface. Presented as part of the Sydney International Art Series 2024–2025, 'Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory' at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is the first major exhibition dedicated to the artist in the Southern Hemisphere. Mehretu talks to Jennifer Higgie about the radical uses of abstraction, the importance of music, and her interest in the art of the past. Read the conversation in Ocula Magazine: https://lnkd.in/gtKcBKre

Returning to Korea after 22 years, Jorge Pardo's solo exhibition at PKM갤러리 unveils over 20 new works—including paintings, drawings, lamps, furniture, and textiles—that blur the boundaries between art and everyday life. Globally celebrated for merging fine art, design, and architecture, Pardo’s practice redefines spatial aesthetics through vivid colors, organic forms, and functional beauty. Highlights include 14 lamp sculptures from his ongoing series and abstract wall compositions that invite serendipitous discovery. The exhibition is on view until 11 January in Seoul. Discover more about the exhibition on Ocula: https://lnkd.in/gCzDdhDX

Ikon Gallery—an agile and ambitious bastion of contemporary art and culture in Birmingham—celebrates its 60th anniversary with ‘Friends in Love and War – L'Éloge des meilleur·es ennemi·es’, a multimedia, multivocal show notable for its inclusion of several particularly affective works and for showcasing local talent. Co-curated by Ikon's Melanie Pocock, and Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon-macLYON's Marilou Laneuville, ‘Friends in Love and War’ is literally an exercise in both personal and professional transnational relations demonstrating how regional capitals and cultural organisations can continue to collaborate in a post-Brexit world. Read the Feature by Nicola Baird on Ocula: https://lnkd.in/gEBuPh_C

Happy 2025 🎉 Jeremy Deller ‘Hello, today you have day off (wording of text message sent to a worker on a zero hours contract informing him his labour would not be required that day)’ (2023). Courtesy The Modern Institute.

Tao Hui is a true storyteller. Weaving together traditional folk tales from his rural upbringing in Southwest China, teenage TV dramas, and nonconformist mythologies, such as Legend of the White Snake, the artist's multimedia practice seeks forms of contemporary queer empowerment. The artist discusses his recent body of video, sculpture, and graphic work, which explores narratives of political resistance and hope in contemporary China. Read the conversation in Ocula Magazine: https://lnkd.in/gYBmtvd5

Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel and Quadra present Ana Cláudia Almeida & Tadáskía, a dual-gallery exhibition curated by Clarissa Diniz in São Paulo. Featuring new sculptures, paintings, drawings, videos, and photographs, the show explores cosmology, memory, and transformation while emphasizing the differences between the artists' practices. Ana Cláudia Almeida’s works embody memory through layers of paint, fabric, and sculpture, while Tadáskía’s large-scale mixed-media drawings and sculptures highlight impermanence and transformation. Explore more from the exhibition on Ocula: https://lnkd.in/gr9cmy6C

Blending the intimacy of a domestic bathroom with the exuberance of a civic fountain, Yona Lee’s new sculpture ‘Fountain in Transit’ brings a lively, restorative energy to CHRISTCHURCH ART GALLERY TE PUNA O WAIWHETU. Commissioned by the Christchurch Art Gallery Foundation to celebrate the building’s 20th anniversary, the work reflects the gallery’s name, Te Puna o Waiwhetū, which translates as ’water in which stars are reflected.’ Lee’s flowing stainless-steel design, inspired by urban spaces and public transport, connects visitors with the gallery’s architecture and history while inviting moments of reflection and regeneration. ‘We knew Yona would create something special, but we’re stunned by how cleverly this intriguing and beautiful work responds to the building,’ says Lead Curator Felicity Milburn. ‘It’s an instant classic.’

Philippe Parreno has transformed Haus der Kunst into a science fiction landscape in constant flux, where visitors can sense the imminent arrival of something that is not yet present within the galleries. Learn more about the exhibition on Ocula: https://lnkd.in/gT5Z39ZU