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The best art exhibitions of 2016

Eddy Frankel
Written by
Eddy Frankel
Art & Culture Editor
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YO WHAT'S HAPPENING, my name's Eddy B Frankel and I'm the god damn art editor here at Time Out. That's right, me. Eddy B Frankel: art editor. That means I get to make a list of my favourite shows of the year, and you get the pleasure of looking at it. Here it is, read it and weep.

The Infinite Mix at 180 Strand


The Ethics of Dust at Houses of Parliament


Abstract Expressionism at The Royal Academy

 

A photo posted by Royal Academy (@royalacademyarts) on


Donna Huanca at Zabludowicz Collection

 

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Anselm Kiefer at White Cube

 

A photo posted by katemccg (@kate_mccgwire) on


Jeff Koons at Newport Street Gallery

 

A photo posted by Sarah E (@cre8tivetimes) on


William Eggleston Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery

 

A photo posted by Annabel Herrick (@annabelherrick) on


Animality at Marian Goodman

 

A photo posted by Lex (@aleximjmarshall) on


Yayoi Kusama at Victoria Miro

 

A photo posted by Cori Matius (@corimatius) on


Robert Rauschenberg
 at Tate Modern

 

A photo posted by Marseld Art (@marseld_art) on


Zaha Hadid at The Serpentine


Molly Soda at Annka Kultys

 

A photo posted by Svitlana Kolesnichenko (@sveety_k) on


Bruce Nauman at BlainSouthern 

 

A photo posted by Krishan Parmar (@krishanparmar_) on


And the worst...

As a rule, we don't really review things that we think are terrible – our job is to recommend great things for you to see, not exercise our own egos by being mean about exhibitions. But some shows are too big to not cover, or might be something that people have to pay a fair amount of money to see, and then we have an obligation to knock 'em down a peg or two. Here's what I thought were the worst shows of the year. Yeah, loads of people loved the Kjartansson show, my colleague Matt even gave it four stars, but that shit sucked. 

South Africa: The Art of a Nation at the British Museum

Does trying to sum up the entire artistic production of a whole country in a five-room exhibition sound like a good idea? No. It doesn't.

Bill Viola at St Paul's Cathedral

Overblown, over-the-top and over-cooked, but still Bill Viola's installation in St Paul's manages to be totally eclipsed by its surroundings. It's enough to turn you into a satanist.


Björk Digital
 at Somerset House

Take away the already very dated-looking virtual reality technology, and this is just a really boring show of music videos that you could watch on YouTube. 

Ragnar Kjartansson at Barbican

The only idea happening here is 'find something to do, and then do it for a really long time', over and over again. Aesthetically and conceptually, this show made my face hurt.

Check out our top ten art exhibitions in London right now.

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