From Julian Opie’s dynamic exploration of the walking figure to Louise Bourgeois’ emotionally charged works, these exhibitions offer a rare opportunity to experience the vision and creativity of renowned artists in intimate, thought-provoking settings. Spanning continents and showcasing diverse artistic practices, these 10 shows promise to engage and inspire art lovers across the globe.
As these exhibitions unfold in galleries across the globe, they offer more than just a display of artistic mastery, providing an invitation to reflect on the deeper connections between art, memory, identity, and our collective experience. Each show, in its own way, challenges us to confront the complexities of our world – whether through the exploration of human form, the contemplation of trauma and history, or the reimagining of cultural heritage. In a time when art can serve as both a mirror and a compass, these exhibitions are an opportunity to pause, reflect, and connect with the powerful narratives these artists have woven into their work.
Julian Opie: New Works on Walking Figures
Dates: February 13 – April 19, 2025
Location: Lisson Gallery, New York
Lisson Gallery presents a captivating exhibition by renowned British artist Julian Opie, featuring a series of new and recent works centred around the theme of the walking figure. Spanning sculptures, animations, and paintings, the show reflects Opie’s signature approach to simplifying the human form while maintaining a powerful sense of individuality. Opie, born in 1958 in London, has built a career based on reducing the human figure to its essential elements, often incorporating aspects of popular culture, iconography, and movement. His works are celebrated for their crisp lines, bold colour palettes, and how they blur the boundaries between art and visual communication.
In this exhibition, Opie explores the relationship between motion, modern life, and individual expression through his Busan Walkers series (2023) – four high-gloss sculptures, a volumetric depiction of a figure in motion, based on photographs of pedestrians in Busan, Korea. Sculptures like Red Phone and Yellow Phone (2023) reflect urban life by portraying people walking while engaged with their phones, highlighting the intersection of the physical and digital worlds. In contrast, works such as Black Shorts and Turquoise Hair (2023) add narrative depth, focusing on individual gestures and expressions. In his recent animations, Opie incorporates children into his usual adult-centered figures. These LED animations show schoolchildren moving in sync with slight variations, suggesting dynamic relationships between individuality and uniformity. Opie also presents three large resin paintings of children walking, their alternating forward and backward motions evoking the grandeur of ancient friezes while capturing the rhythm and variation in movement.
Julian Opie’s exhibition at Lisson Gallery is an exploration of how the simplicity of the walking figure can convey profound emotional and social narratives. Through a combination of familiar forms and fresh explorations, Opie continues to evolve his distinctive visual language while challenging our perceptions of movement, identity, and the passage of time.
Sadamasa Motonaga and Etsuko Nakatsuji: Afterimage of Memory
Dates: February 14 – April 4, 2025
Location: BLUM Tokyo
On view at BLUM Tokyo, Afterimage of Memory is a two-person exhibition featuring works by the late Sadamasa Motonaga and Etsuko Nakatsuji. The show highlights their long collaboration as both artistic partners and individuals, offering a unique exploration of postwar Japanese avant-garde practices. Through a selection of sculptures, paintings, and installations, the exhibition reflects their shared commitment to abstract forms while exploring themes of human perception, body, and memory.
Sadamasa Motonaga (1922–2011) is celebrated as a key figure in post-war Japanese avant-garde art, particularly for his role in the Gutai Art Association. Known for his dynamic, abstract works, Motonaga combined fluid compositions with innovative material use, creating vibrant, experimental pieces showcased in major institutions like the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Centre Pompidou. His ability to merge life’s complexities with a playful, energetic visual language cements his legacy as a pivotal figure in 20th-century Japanese contemporary art. Etsuko Nakatsuji, who collaborated with Motonaga from 1960, developed her distinct artistic voice, focusing on human perception and form through abstract painting and surreal, playful sculptures. Her humanoid fabric sculptures, known as poco-pins, evoke organic forms suspended between life and the afterlife, blending whimsical and psychological elements. Together, Motonaga and Nakatsuji’s works explore the intersection of abstraction, perception, and the body, offering a powerful dialogue between their individual practices.
Afterimage of Memory marks a significant collaboration between the two artists’ estates, highlighting their long-standing creative partnership, offering an opportunity to see how both Motonaga and Nakatsuji, though working in different mediums, converge in their shared exploration of abstraction and the human figure. Their works continue to speak to themes of memory, life, and the search for meaning within perception.
Manuel Mathieu: Unconscious Dream
Dates: March 1 – April 5, 2025
Location: HdM Gallery, Beijing
HdM Gallery presents a captivating solo exhibition by Haitian-Canadian artist Manuel Mathieu, titled Unconscious Dream, marking his fifth solo show in China. It explores the powerful intersections between painting, memory, and identity. Known for his evocative use of mixed media, Mathieu delves into themes of Haitian history, post-colonial identity, and the lasting impacts of trauma, both personal and collective.
Born in 1986 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Mathieu’s work is deeply informed by his early experiences of displacement and loss. After fleeing political instability in Haiti as a teenager, he relocated to Canada, where his art became a vehicle for exploring his homeland’s spiritual and cultural remnants. A second life-altering event – a severe head injury following a car accident while studying in London – further shaped his practice. These personal traumas intertwine with his exploration of Haitian spirits and ancestral memories, infusing his works with a sense of resurrection and healing. His paintings are then characterised by a rich blending of magical realism and abstraction, using vibrant, gestural forms to evoke both the energies of Haiti and the introspective nature of personal trauma.
Through his art, Mathieu addresses themes of loss, survival, and the complexities of identity in a post-colonial world. His work has been showcased in esteemed institutions such as the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, The Power Plant in Toronto, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, making Mathieu a rising figure in contemporary art, participating in key conversations surrounding post-colonialism and the exploration of memory. As such, for Unconscious Dream, Mathieu collaborates with poet Dai Weina, whose words add another layer to the exhibition’s exploration of these themes.
Walton Ford: Tutto
Dates: March 6 – April 19, 2025
Location: Gagosian Gallery, New York
Gagosian Gallery unveils Tutto, a striking solo exhibition by American artist Walton Ford. Known for his monumental watercolor paintings that fuse natural history with complex storytelling, Ford turns his attention to the enigmatic figure of Luisa Casati – an eccentric Milanese heiress whose extravagant lifestyle and fascination with wild animals made her a legend of early 20th-century Europe. Through a series of new works, Tutto explores Casati’s world from an unexpected perspective: the exotic creatures that surrounded her.
Ford’s artistic practice is rooted in historical research, drawing from scientific illustration, fables, and colonial narratives to examine the intersection of human culture and the animal kingdom. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he initially pursued filmmaking before finding his voice in painting. A transformative trip to India in the early 1990s led him to explore themes of wildlife and allegory, which have since become central to his work. His paintings, rich in symbolic and historical references, have been exhibited at institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris, and are included in major collections like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
In Tutto, Ford imagines episodes from Casati’s Venetian years through the eyes of her menagerie, which included cheetahs, peacocks, and monkeys. La levata del sole (2025) captures her infamous dawn strolls through Piazza San Marco, clothed in a fur coat with her cheetahs in jeweled collars. La Marchesa (2024) presents a post-masquerade scene on her palazzo’s rooftop, where her animals scavenge among discarded remnants of opulence. The exhibition’s title, drawn from a poem by her lover Gabriele D’Annunzio, reflects the relentless pursuit of excess and beauty that defined Casati’s life. Through these vivid and intricately detailed paintings, Ford brings to life a world where myth and history blur, offering a glimpse into an era of decadence, transformation, and the untamed forces of nature.
Alberta Whittle: Towards a m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶f̶u̶l̶ loving praxis, we cast seeds into the darkness
Dates: March 6 – April 19, 2025
Location: Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York
Marking Alberta Whittle’s second solo show with the Nicola Vassell Gallery, Towards a m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶f̶u̶l̶ loving praxis, we cast seeds into the darkness brings together an intricate mix of collaged paintings, watercolors, sculptures, and video. Through layered textures and vibrant compositions, Whittle responds to contemporary uncertainty with an artistic language centered on love, connection, and care as radical forms of resistance.
Born in Bridgetown, Barbados, in 1980, Whittle is currently based in Glasgow, Scotland, where she has cultivated an interdisciplinary practice spanning painting, sculpture, digital media, writing, and performance. Her work interrogates colonial histories, migration, and systemic anti-Blackness while championing self-care and compassion as essential survival tools. She has exhibited at institutions such as the Institute of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, and Tate Britain, with her work held in prominent collections, including the UK National Collections and the Scottish National Gallery. She represented Scotland at the 59th Venice Biennale and has received accolades such as the Turner Bursary and Frieze Artist Award.
In Towards a m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶f̶u̶l̶ loving praxis, Whittle introduces the term “motherful” to describe a reimagined, gender-inclusive form of care and communal support. This philosophy is woven throughout the exhibition, both conceptually and materially. Her paintings incorporate tactile elements such as fabric, lace, tambourines, and raffia, blending domestic craft traditions with contemporary visual storytelling. While her square-format works take on a more figurative approach, depicting scenes of tenderness, entrapment, or transition. But her sculptural installations extend this exploration into three-dimensional space, with towering beaded coils adorned with feathers, shells, and tambourines, evoking sacred talismans and ancestral artifacts. A key influence in this exhibition is the historical concept of marronage – the act of enslaved individuals escaping bondage, forming communities outside colonial control, and resisting oppression. This legacy of survival and self-determination is embedded in Whittle’s practice, where each piece becomes a vessel for resilience and reflection.
JR: Outposts
Dates: March 14 – May 3, 2025
Location: Perrotin London
Perrotin London presents Outposts, a solo exhibition by the renowned French artist, JR, marking the gallery’s inaugural exhibition in London. With fifteen works that highlight JR’s ongoing exploration of displacement, identity, and visibility, the exhibition showcases two of his most recent projects, Déplacé·e·s and Les Enfants d’Ouranos (Children of Ouranos), as well as video screenings that document the making of Déplacé·e·s. Through large-scale photography, installations, and innovative visual techniques, JR continues his mission of amplifying marginalised voices and reimagining how communities engage with public space.
Born in France in 1983, JR is internationally recognised for his massive photographic installations transforming urban landscapes into canvases for social dialogue. His work merges street art with documentary storytelling, often pasting oversized portraits onto buildings, rooftops, and public spaces. Themes of human rights, migration, and inequality are central to his projects, which have been exhibited at institutions such as the Centre Pompidou, the Louvre, and the Brooklyn Museum. In Outposts, JR revisits his Déplacé·e·s series, which began in 2022 and features large-scale portraits of refugee children printed on banners and carried through camps and cities. These towering images – some over 120 feet long – depict children mid-motion, running and playing, their youthful energy magnified against landscapes shaped by crisis. Expanding on this theme, Les Enfants d’Ouranos introduces a new artistic technique, transforming the portraits into glowing white silhouettes set against deep black wooden panels. References Ouranos, the primordial Greek god of the sky, the series suggests a connection between the children and celestial divinity.
By presenting these images on reclaimed wood, JR ties past and present, using materials that carry their own histories. His technique not only challenges the way we see but also urges viewers to reconsider the narratives surrounding displacement and childhood. Through Outposts, JR reaffirms his commitment to storytelling as a tool for social change, transforming everyday faces into monumental statements of hope, survival, and dignity.
Ana Jotta: beaucoup, peu, rien
Dates: March 21 – May 10, 2025
Location: Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris
The Marian Goodman Gallery in Paris will present beaucoup, peu, rien, a solo exhibition by Ana Jotta, organised in collaboration with Ampersand. This new project, conceived specifically for the Gallery’s space at 66 rue du Temple, reflects Jotta’s ever-evolving artistic practice – one that resists categorisation and embraces fluidity. Over the years, she has built a body of work that challenges conventional artistic expectations, exploring diverse materials, techniques, and visual languages.
Born in 1946 in Lisbon, Ana Jotta has left an indelible mark on Portuguese contemporary art. Her approach is rooted in reinvention and a deliberate avoidance of stylistic continuity, making each of her works a fresh exploration. Drawing inspiration from everyday objects, decorative arts, and found materials, she blurs the lines between fine art and design. Though widely respected in artistic circles, her recognition has largely remained regional, with significant exhibitions at institutions like the Serralves Museum in Porto and Culturgest in Lisbon.
For beaucoup, peu, rien, Jotta presents a collection of works that reflect her characteristic playfulness and refusal to adhere to traditional artistic hierarchies. The exhibition title – French for “a lot, little, nothing” – suggests a meditation on excess, restraint, and absence. Her art is often minimal in appearance but conceptually rich, navigating the space between what is visible and what is implied. Jotta’s practice is then deeply tied to transformation, a theme that extends to both her art and her personal spaces. Throughout her career, she has reworked and repurposed materials, questioning notions of authorship and originality. She has long been fascinated by interior spaces, describing her work as an extension of her surroundings rather than separate from them.
For beaucoup, peu, rien, Jotta presents a new body of work that continues her exploration of interior spaces, material transformations, and artistic reinvention. However, Ana Jotta is only presenting the wall drawing and the Ladybugs culpture in the public part of the show. As it’s the first time she’s shown so few works in a solo exhibition with the focus of the show being on the wall drawing itself, it shows a very deliberate, radical decision on Jotta’s part. “To throw myself into the abyss! To move forward, to leave”, she said when asked about her plans for the exhibition, and laughed: “Yes, it is a departure; let’s even say a point of departure. You always have to reinvent yourself. Plastic surgery!”.
The other works listed on the show’s webpage will not be visible to the public; instead, they will be shown sequentially in the Marian Goodman Gallery’s showroom and offices.
Ian Hamilton Finlay: Fragments
Dates: April 30 – May 24, 2025
Location: Victoria Miro, London
Victoria Miro presents Fragments, a focused exhibition of works by Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006), an artist, poet, and landscape designer whose practice blurrs the boundaries between art and language. Known for reinvigorating classical traditions through contemporary forms, Finlay remains a key figure in conceptual and concrete poetry, as well as environmental and sculptural art. His legacy is anchored in Little Sparta, the renowned garden in Scotland where he lived and worked for four decades, transforming the landscape into an immersive, poetic experience.
Finlay’s influence extends beyond his garden, encompassing collaborations with artisans, typographers, and sculptors to bring his vision to life in museums, parks, and public spaces worldwide. His works often draw from historical and philosophical themes, merging poetic inscription with material craftsmanship. Whether through stone carvings, neon signs, or printed matter, his art carries a quiet but powerful resonance, reflecting on politics, nature, and the passage of time. Fragments brings together a selection of works from the 1990s, centering on two recurring themes in Finlay’s art: the sea and revolution. A key reference point is the French Revolution, a subject that fascinated him for its political upheaval and symbolic power. Works such as La Révolution est un Bloc (1992) use language and form to evoke both the ideals and violence of that era, while stone carvings like Head of the Dead Marat (1991) reinterpret Jacques-Louis David’s neoclassical portraits of revolutionary figures. His neon work, less commonly exhibited than his stone inscriptions, extends his poetic ideas into glowing, sculptural forms – such as A, E, I, O, Blue (1992), where language dissolves into color and abstraction.
Through a mix of sculpture, tapestry, and neon, Fragments highlights Finlay’s ability to distill complex ideas into precise, poetic gestures. With quiet wit and intellectual depth, his works continue to invite reflection on how words shape our perception of history, nature, and human experience.
Gala Porras-Kim at Kukje Gallery
Dates: Fall 2025, exact dates TBA
Location: Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Gala Porras-Kim’s thought-provoking works will take center stage at Kukje Gallery in Seoul this fall, marking the artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. Known for her deep engagement with the politics of cultural artifacts and museum preservation, Porras-Kim challenges the way institutions interpret and present historical objects. Through a practice that blends research with artistic intervention, she brings attention to how artifacts acquire meaning within different contexts, questioning the systems that define cultural heritage.
Porras-Kim, a Colombian-Korean-American artist, works across multiple disciplines, including drawing, sculpture, and installation. Based in Los Angeles and London, she examines the shifting significance of objects over time and how their placement within museums alters their original purpose. Her practice is rooted in linguistic and historical research, often focusing on the ethical implications of conservation and institutional narratives. As an artist-in-residence at the Getty Center and a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Peabody Museum, she has investigated archaeological collections, studying the intersections of art, language, and history. Her work has been featured at major institutions, including Leeum Museum of Art, and was the subject of a 2022 Artforum cover story.
At Kukje Gallery, Porras-Kim will continue her exploration of intangible cultural legacies and the systems that regulate them. This exhibition will present her ongoing engagement with museum collections and archival material, offering a critical lens on the conventions that shape historical narratives. By challenging the artificial frameworks that museums impose on artifacts, she encourages a reconsideration of ownership, interpretation, and value. Her work visualises the human tendency to impose order on nature, ultimately questioning how we seek to understand and control the past.
Louise Bourgeois at Kukje Gallery
Dates: Fall 2025, exact dates TBA
Location: Kukje Gallery, Seoul
Also on view this fall at Kukje Gallery is Louise Bourgeois’s posthumous solo exhibition. The exhibition will highlight the artist’s deeply personal and psychologically charged work, which spans drawing, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and installation. Throughout her career, Bourgeois explored themes of memory, trauma, sexuality, and the unconscious, creating a body of work that continues to resonate with contemporary audiences.
Born in Paris in 1911, Bourgeois was immersed in the world of textiles from an early age, assisting her family’s tapestry restoration business. This formative experience, combined with personal struggles – including her father’s infidelity – shaped the themes that would define her art. Moving to New York in 1938, she worked in painting and printmaking before turning to sculpture in the late 1940s. Her practice evolved over the decades, shifting between abstraction and figuration and experimenting with diverse materials. Though she worked largely outside mainstream movements, her work gained widespread recognition in the 1980s, culminating in a landmark retrospective at MoMA in 1982. From her monumental spider sculptures to her haunting Cells installations, Bourgeois’s art served as a means of psychological exploration and catharsis, famously stating, “Art is a guarantee of sanity”. She continued creating until her passing in 2010 at the age of 98.
Kukje Gallery’s upcoming exhibition will offer an in-depth look at Bourgeois’s artistic legacy, emphasising her enduring themes of fear, identity, and emotional vulnerability. The presentation will showcase a range of works from different periods, demonstrating her mastery across mediums and her ability to translate personal experiences into universally resonant forms. With her deeply introspective and emotionally charged creations, Bourgeois remains a defining figure in contemporary art, and this exhibition will provide an opportunity to engage with her work in a fresh and compelling context.
