Stephen Friedman Gallery

We are delighted to announce that Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962, UK) is the eighth artist to receive the prestigious annual Art Icon award, generously supported by the Swarovski Foundation. On Monday 22 March 2021, the award will be presented during a virtual gala celebration hosted by Iwona Blazwick OBE (Director, Whitechapel Gallery), and feature an exclusive performance from Angélique Kidjo.

'Community of Fragments' is an extensive site-specific presentation by Thomas Hirschhorn, which transforms the galleries of GL Strand, Copenhagen in March 2021.

‘Emma Kunz Cosmos: A Visionary in Dialogue with Contemporary Art’ is a group exhibition at Aargauer Kunsthaus, Switzerland that presents the oeuvre of the Aargau researcher, healer and artist Emma Kunz (1892–1963) alongside contemporary artistic practises. Included in the exhibition are a selection of capes from Rivane Neuenschwander's 2015 project, 'The Name of Fear' at Whitechapel, London. 

'Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America' is a group exhibition conceived by curator Okwui Enwezor and presented at New Museum, New York. The show brings together works made in the past decade by thirty-seven artists who have addressed the concept of mourning, commemoration, and loss in response to racist violence experienced by Black communities in America. 

On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, MAXXI presents an exhibition that represents the past ten years of the museum’s activity, aimed at providing a new perspective on the institution’s future. Curated by Hou Hanru, MAXXI’s broad program is collated using 1,200 images, archive interviews, texts and publications analysed within five sections: MAXXI and the City; The Multitude; Worlds; The Challenges of Reality and Do You Believe in Innovation?

'Nasher Mixtape' is a group exhibition compiled of 'tracks', micro-exhibitions focused on the Nasher’s permanent collection installed throughout the museum. Curated by Catherine Craft, each 'track' contains further content including interviews with artists, inspiration playlists, and insights from curators, educators, and living artists to accompany the exhibition.

Stephen Friedman Gallery is pleased to participate in South South’s inaugural event, South South Veza. The selling events feature over 50 galleries from more than 40 cities spread across 30 countries and 5 continents, coming together in their dedication to art of the Global South.

Brazilian artist Luiz Zerbini presents his second exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery, following his acclaimed solo show at South London Gallery in 2018. Juxtaposing organic and geometric forms, Zerbini’s paintings explore the relationship between colour, light and movement. Inspired by the Amazon and Mata Atlântica rainforests, the exhibition reflects the artist’s ongoing interest in the relationship between nature and humanity in and around Rio de Janeiro.

'I'm' at The Contemporary, Austin is the first institutional solo exhibition in Texas by Austin-based artist Deborah Roberts. To coincide with the exhibition, the artist has also created a new figurative mural on the exterior of the Jones Center building. 

Stephen Friedman Gallery and The London House of Modernity are pleased to present a collaboration at 14 Cavendish Square. This unique project brings together a diverse curated selection of international contemporary art and the best of classic mid century Nordic design.  Artists include Marina Adams, Mamma Andersson, Juan Araujo, Tonico Lemos Auad, Jonathan Baldock, Claire Barclay, Andreas Eriksson, Manuel Espinosa, Kendell Geers, Wayne Gonzales, Jim Hodges, Ilona Keserü, Rivane Neuenschwander, Ged Quinn, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA and Luiz Zerbini.

Ilona Keserü features in the group exhibition ‘Tracing the Fragments’, co-presented by K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai and Q Contemporary, Budapest. Situating Central Eastern European and Chinese contemporary art in dialogue, the works selected explore the idea of timescape, as well as the formation and interpretation of memories.

A new sculpture from international artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, has been commissioned by the David Oluwale Memorial Association [DOMA] to honour the life of the British Nigerian and Leeds resident whose personal story inspired local people to create a lasting legacy to mark his life. The sculpture will be unveiled as part of Leeds 2023, the city’s landmark year of culture.

Spike Island presents a selection of paintings and works on paper by Denzil Forrester in his largest institutional exhibition to date. Titled 'Itchin & Scratchin', this touring exhibition spans Forrester's engagement with the dimly lit dancehalls of 1980s East London to the present-day open-air clubs of Jamaica. The exhibition is presented in partnership with Nottingham Contemporary where it opened in February 2020. 

Nordic Watercolour Museum, Tjörn presents a solo exhibition of watercolours, drawings and hand-woven textiles by Swedish artist Andreas Eriksson. Encompassing a wide range of media, this exhibition offers a unique window onto the artist’s experience of his rural surroundings in Medelplana, Sweden. 

Yinka Shonibare CBE's 'The American Library' comprises a room filled floor-to-ceiling with over 6,000 books bound in the artist's signature batik fabric. Each volume bears the name of an individual who has made a significant contribution to American culture who is a first or second generation immigrant or was affected by the Great Migration. Visitors are invited to learn more about those named and to contribute their family's own migration stories, through an interactive digital platform.

Claire Barclay has been commissioned by Tideway, London to create artworks for the new public realm site at Putney. In response to the heritage theme ‘Recreation to Industry: Society in Transition', Barclay has developed a series of three works: three bronze oars to be incorporated into the foreshore balustrade in the form of lengths of handrail; text integrated within the inlaid University Boat Race (UBR) marker line in the form of raised cast lettering; and a graphic pattern waterjet cut into the granite walling of the foreshore kiosk.

Swedish artist Mamma Andersson is one of the most important and intriguing painters of her generation. This summer exhibition at Louisiana marks the first large-scale presentation of her work in Denmark. 

Borders and edges, ruptures, wholes and holes are the subject of Holly Hendry’s major new outdoor commission and solo exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion. Emphasising the Pavilion’s proximity to the coastline and its resulting vulnerability, Hendry visualises the building as a body being eaten, becoming porous and ridden with holes before eventually dissolving into its surroundings. 

A major retrospective of Yinka Shonibare CBE's practice will be held at Museum of Salzburg, Austria in May 2021, coinciding with the centennial of the Salzburg Festival. Curated by Thorsten Sadowsky and Marijana Schneider, the show will present around sixty works from the past three decades including major large-scale sculptures. 

Ilona Keserü is included in 'Women in Abstraction: Another History of Abstraction in the 20th Century', a group exhibition at Centre Pompidou, Paris, France in collaboration with Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. 

Mamma Andersson is included in 'Heat/ Energy', a group exhibition which opens at Kummelholmen, Stockholm in April 2021 and travels to Körsbärsgården, Gotland later in the coming year. Inspired by the Kummelholmen's architecture, location and former function as a district heating centre, the exhibition explores the interconnections between art, culture, society and ecology. 

'Breaking the Mould' is a major touring exhibition which challenges male-dominated narratives of post-war British sculpture by presenting a diverse and significant range of ambitious work by women. Included in the exhibition is Holly Hendry's 'Gut Feelings (Stromatolith)', 2016, a geological-style cross section that references undersides, be it subterranean or subcutaneous. 

On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, Marval Collection presents an exhibition of female artists to explore the concept of 'female objectivity'. Situated at the unique location of Castello di Villanterio, 'Female Objectivity' provides a new perspective on this vast private collection, through the work of its women artists.

As part of South South Veza’s ongoing series ‘In Dialogue: Collector Talks’ Yinka Shonibare CBE RA will join Pulane Kingston (South South Ambassador, South Africa), Tio Stephen Kauma (South South Ambassador, Uganda) and Jim Amberson (South South Ambassador, Singapore) for a virtual conversation to explore topics related to the arts ecology of the Global South. The event will be moderated by Daudi Karungi (Director, Afriart Gallery, Uganda).

As part of SAIC's ongoing series of lectures ‘the Visiting Artists Program’ Yinka Shonibare CBE will join Delinda Collier (Associate Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism and interim Dean of Graduate Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) for a virtual conversation followed by an audience Q&A. The event is free, non-ticketed, and open to the general public.