Issue 120
Jan - Feb 2009

In its annual roundup, frieze asks 18 critics and curators what, and who, they feel to be the most significant shows and artists from 2008, and what they’re looking forward to in 2009. Steven Stern reports from Prospect.1, New Orleans’ ambitious new biennial. Nicolas Bourriaud reveals his plans for the Tate Triennial 2009, and Daniel Birnbaum talks about his role as the next director of the Venice Biennale. Dominic Eichler reflects on censorship, sexuality, creativity and economic meltdown. Carol Yinghua Lu suggests that the popularity of gigantic sculptures amongst Chinese artists has little to do with good ideas.

From this issue

Fierce jeremiads, ‘pseudomodernism’, the positive effects of the financial crisis, nostalgia and the tallest structure in the world

BY Owen Hatherley AND Shumon Basar | 01 JAN 09

The popularity of enormous sculptures created by Chinese artists has little to do with a rigorous engagement with ideas or materials

BY Carol Yinghua Lu | 01 JAN 09

Virginie Sélavy and Katja Nicodemus reflect on the cinematic highlights of 2008

01 JAN 09

A biography of George Plimpton and Frederick Seidel’s collected poems celebrate two suave writers

BY George Pendle | 01 JAN 09

The best of 2008, from the Olympics to Obama, Macguffins, museum shows and new coins

BY Alice Twemlow | 01 JAN 09

The home of John Latham, one of Britain’s most radical artists, has opened to the public two years after his death

BY Martin Herbert | 01 JAN 09

A recent exhibition of designer and architect Greta Magnusson Grossman highlights the extraordinary career of an overlooked radical

01 JAN 09

Curator Nicolas Bourriaud talks botany, modernity, time, class and exhibition-making

BY Tom Morton | 01 JAN 09

The best releases of 2008 and the year’s most compelling work in the field of extreme music

BY Daniel Trilling AND Frances Morgan | 01 JAN 09

18 critics and curators choose what they felt to be the most significant solo shows of 2008

01 JAN 09

During economic crises, sobriety is not what art needs most

BY Jörg Heiser | 01 JAN 09

18 critics and curators choose what they felt to be the most significant biennials and survey shows of 2008

01 JAN 09

On 20th January, George W. Bush’s disastrous reign will be over, but the hard work will be just beginning

BY Robert Storr | 01 JAN 09

The ambitious new biennial has helped to revitalize a city still suffering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina

BY Steven Stern | 01 JAN 09

Q. What do you wish you knew? A. How to spell would be useful

BY Marvin Gaye Chetwynd | 01 JAN 09

18 critics and curators choose what they felt to be the most significant group shows of 2008

01 JAN 09

18 critics and curators choose who they felt to be the most significant emerging artists of 2008

01 JAN 09

18 critics and curators on what they’re looking forward to in 2009

01 JAN 09

Literary highlights of 2008 included a biography of Theodor Adorno, a new novel by Philip Roth and short stories by Ali Smith

01 JAN 09

What am I looking forward to in 2009?

BY Sean Landers | 01 JAN 09

The history of racial segregation in American art galleries and contemporary identity politics

BY Jennifer Allen | 01 JAN 09

How designers are adopting the strategies of Conceptual art

BY Ronald Jones | 01 JAN 09

Censorship, sexuality, creativity and the economic meltdown. Featuring a specially commissioned collage by Cerith Wyn Evans

01 JAN 09

Daniel Birnbaum talks about curating the Turin Triennial and his role as Director of the 53rd Venice Biennale

01 JAN 09

Various Venues, Yokohama, Japan

BY Jennifer Higgie | 01 JAN 08

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA

BY Benjamin Carlson | 01 JAN 08

Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris, France

01 JAN 08

Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil

BY Jens Hoffmann | 01 JAN 08

New Museum, New York, USA

BY Anne Wehr | 01 JAN 08

Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, UK

BY Sarah Lowndes | 01 JAN 08

Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany

BY Burkhard Meltzer | 01 JAN 08

Various Venues, Taipei, Taiwan

BY Simon Rees | 01 JAN 08

greengrassi, London, UK

BY Colin Perry | 01 JAN 08

International Center for Photography, New York, USA

BY Jenni Sorkin | 01 JAN 08

Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany

BY Sarah E. James | 01 JAN 08

LA Louver, Los Angeles, USA

BY Jeffrey Ryan | 01 JAN 08

Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

BY Michelle Cotton | 01 JAN 08

Francesca Minini Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy

BY Frank Boehm | 01 JAN 08

Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York, USA

BY Katie Sonnenborn | 01 JAN 08

Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou, China

BY Angie Baecker | 01 JAN 08

The Drawing Room, London, UK

BY Chris Fite-Wassilak | 01 JAN 08

Van Abbemuseum / Muziekcentrum Frits Philips, Eindhoven, the Netherlands

BY Douglas Heingartner | 01 JAN 08

Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, USA

BY Christopher Bedford | 01 JAN 08

T1-2 Gallery, London, UK

BY Peter Suchin | 01 JAN 08

Loraini Alimantiri Gazonrouge, Athens, Greece

BY Despina Zefkili | 01 JAN 08

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

BY Jeannie Kim | 01 JAN 08

The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK

BY Brian Dillon | 01 JAN 08

Mücsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary

BY Nicole Scheyerer | 01 JAN 08

MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, USA

BY Natalie Haddad | 01 JAN 08

Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool, UK

BY Michael Bracewell | 01 JAN 08