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Looking back: The best exhibitions of 2016

By CW Contributor on 16/12/2016

From cosmic infinity in a box, to a radical feminist art collective, here are the exhibitions that blew us away this year, from January to December

Alexander Calder, Red and Yellow Vane, 1934, Calder Foundation, New York, NY, USA Photo credit: Calder Foundation, New York / Art Resource, NY © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2014, Courtesy of Tate Modern

A Tate great: Alexander Calder, Tate Modern ★★★★★

This exhibition proved that Calder was so much more than 'the man who made mobiles' - he was an artist at the vanguard of Modernist thought. It was a joy from start to finish.

WHEN

11 Nov 2015 – 03 Apr 2016, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

WHERE

Tate Modern
Bankside, London, SE1 9TG

Detail Agapanthus Triptych Monet © Saint Louis Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and The Cleveland Museum of Art. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanit

Behold, the Avant Gardens: Monet to Matisse, Royal Academy ★★★★★

The Royal Academy’s triumphant exhibition took _{London by storm earlier this year. We were smitten}

WHEN

30 Jan 2016 – 20 Apr 2016, Monday - Sunday 10am - 6pm, late opening Friday till 10pm

WHERE

Royal Academy
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD

Simply Divine: Botticelli and Treasures from the Hamilton Collection, Courtauld Gallery ★★★★★

Botticelli's exquisite illustrations of Dante's Divine Comedy were a sight to behold at the Courtauld Gallery this year. . Devoid of colour and rendered in a plain, graphic style, they are a marvel of beauty and simplicity

WHEN

18 Feb 2016 – 15 May 2016, Last admission 5.30pm)

WHERE

Courtauld Gallery
Strand, London, WC2R 0RN

All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, 2016 Installation, Yayoi Kusama 25 May – 30 July 2016 Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Road, London, N1 7RW

Infinity in a box: Yayoi Kusama review, Victoria Miro ★★★★★

Yayoi Kusama brought three ‘Infinity Rooms’ to Islington; mirrored convex chambers, each with some flickering light source. When you step into the room alone, and the door is closed behind you, everything was suddenly infinite.

WHEN

25 May 2016 – 30 Jul 2016, 10:00:00 - 18:00:00 Open Tuesday - Saturday

WHERE

Victoria Miro
16 Wharf Road , London, N1 7RW

Untitled, c.1975 (Marcia Hare in Memphis, Tennessee) by William Eggleston © Eggleston Artistic Trust

The majestic father of colour photography: William Eggleston portraits ★★★★★

When you're standing in front of an Eggleston picture, the heightened, frenzied palette takes you straight to some tiny stolen 50 year-old moment, somewhere in the Deep South. The result is pure poetry.

WHEN

21 Jul 2016 – 23 Oct 2016, Opening hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 10.00 – 18.00, Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10.00 – 21.00

WHERE

National Portrait Gallery
St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE

Grrrrl power: Guerrilla Girls, Whitechapel Gallery ★★★★★

They dub themselves the ‘Conscience of the Art World’ and have interrogated the inequalities of a male-dominated art world for over three decades. Radical art collective Guerrilla Girls stormed into Whitechapel this year.

WHEN

01 Oct 2016 – 05 Mar 2017, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM

WHERE

Whitechapel Gallery
72-78 Whitechapel High Street, London, E1 7QX

Inside – Artists and Writers in Reading Prison [STAR:5]

Wilde thing: Inside, Reading Prison ★★★★★

Ai Weiwei, Steve McQueen, Patti Smith and many more honoured Oscar Wilde in the first ever Reading Prison exhibition

WHEN

04 Sep 2016 – 30 Oct 2016, Opening times TBC

WHERE

HM Prison Reading
Reading, RG1 3HY

3D motion picture, DCI DCP 14 minutes 56 min Copyright Cyprien Gaillard Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers Hayward The Infinite Mix Offsite Hayward Exhibition

Sound and Colour: The Infinite Mix, Hayward Gallery ★★★★★

This heady off-site Hayward Show will explore relationship between image and sound, with a collection of 'immersive installations' by art-world heavyweights, including Turner-Prize winner Martin Creed, Jeremy Deller and Cecilia Bengolea.

WHEN

09 Sep 2016 – 11 Dec 2016, Tuesday-Saturday 12-8pm; Sunday 12-6pm. Entry free

WHERE

The Store, 180 The Strand
The Store, 180 The Strand, London, WC2R 1EA

Detail Anselm Kiefer Rorate caeli desuper 2016 © White Cube

Exploding the white cube: Anselm Kiefer, White Cube Bermondsey ★★★★★

'Westward look, the land is bright'. This White Cube Anselm Kiefer show knocked us for six.

WHEN

23 Nov 2016 – 12 Feb 2017, Monday Closed, Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 6pm

WHERE

White Cube Bermondsey
144-152 Bermondsey Street , London, SE1 3TQ

Robert Rauschenberg, Tate Modern review [STAR:5]

America's finest: Robert Rauschenberg, Tate Modern review ★★★★★

The goat has arrived. The Tate Modern celebrates the ultimate rule breaker with a stunning Robert Rauschenberg exhibition

WHEN

01 Dec 2016 – 02 Apr 2017, 10.00–18.00 Sunday – Thursday, 10.00–22.00 Friday – Saturday

WHERE

Tate Modern
Bankside, London, SE1 9TG

Southbank Centre Tove Jansson exhibition 'Adventures in Moominland'

Childlike wonder: Adventures in Moominland review, Southbank Centre ★★★★★

We sent an eight-year-old, a ten-year-old and a twenty-five-year-old review Adventures in Moominland. All three gave it five stars.

WHEN

16 Dec 2016 – 23 Apr 2017, Weekends and holidays Every 15 minutes between 10am – 6pm, Midweek – OFF PEAK Daily, on the hour at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm & 6pm Thursdays and Fridays only, an additional tour at 7pm for adults only

WHERE

Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Looking back: The best exhibitions of 2016

From cosmic infinity in a box, to a radical feminist art collective, here are the exhibitions that blew us away this year, from January to December

A Tate great: Alexander Calder, Tate Modern ★★★★★

Behold, the Avant Gardens: Monet to Matisse, Royal Academy ★★★★★

Simply Divine: Botticelli and Treasures from the Hamilton Collection, Courtauld Gallery ★★★★★

Infinity in a box: Yayoi Kusama review, Victoria Miro ★★★★★

The majestic father of colour photography: William Eggleston portraits ★★★★★

Grrrrl power: Guerrilla Girls, Whitechapel Gallery ★★★★★

Wilde thing: Inside, Reading Prison ★★★★★

Sound and Colour: The Infinite Mix, Hayward Gallery ★★★★★

Exploding the white cube: Anselm Kiefer, White Cube Bermondsey ★★★★★

America's finest: Robert Rauschenberg, Tate Modern review ★★★★★

Childlike wonder: Adventures in Moominland review, Southbank Centre ★★★★★

2016

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