Liliana Porter delights in dissonance, which she stages in assemblages that place a host of recognisable characters in unlikely companionship, from rubber ducks and plastic soldiers to porcelain figures of Chairman Mao and Elvis Presley. In some scenes, minuscule figures perform colossal tasks: painting a human-sized chair, for instance, or an...

The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue is an apt title for this exhibition at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin (14 September 2019–5 January 2020), which revolves around the work of Chicago Imagist Christina Ramberg. Borrowed from a BBC documentary, the title implies that gender roles are constructs, which occupied...

Hans Hartung and Art Informel at Mazzoleni London (1 October 2019-18 January 2020) presents key works by the French-German painter while highlighting his connection with artists active in Paris during the 50s and 60s. In this video, writer and historian Alan Montgomery discusses Hartung's practice and its legacy.Born in Leipzig in 1904, Hans...

At first glance, Gao Weigang's International Standard (2018) looks like a regular wooden frame—rectilinear, with a cross bisecting each of its four sides, almost resembling the generic windows from children's drawings—except that it has been coated in 24-karat gold leaf. International Standard belongs to 'The International Standard', a...

Small, circular mirrors glint from rings of colour—green, dark green, and pale pink from inside out—while sprightly brushstrokes of red, yellow, and green acrylic paint compose the background. This painted collage, titled Stained Glass (2000), is the work of the late Pacita Abad; it was donated by the artist's estate for Asia Art...

'Good Morning Hong Kong', read the layered calligraphic letters rendered in thick ink and acrylic brushstrokes on a work donated by contemporary artist Yang Jiechang for Asia Art Archive's upcoming annual fundraising auction. On view at Christie's in Hong Kong from 11, 14–17 October, the work has a sense of dynamic urgency about it: the ink has...

Colin McCahon's Gate III (1970) has graced the walls of Victoria University of Wellington since 1972. Thousands of students and staff have walked past it over these years, and many remember their first encounter with the towering words 'I AM' that dominate its composition.Gate III was commissioned for the exhibition Ten Big Paintings at Auckland...

Claudia Peña Salinas began her ongoing project 'Tláloc' in 2013. It comprises video, photographs, and sculptures, and investigates the eponymous Aztec deity of rain and lightning as well as his consort, Chalchiuhtlicue—the goddess of horizontal waters and fertility. The latest iteration of 'Tláloc' is on view now in Atlpan, a solo exhibition...

According to Kishore Singh, the curator of The Curious Seeker at DAG New York (13 September–27 October 2019), the artist Madhvi Parekh 'defies categorisation'. Parekh's oeuvre—from drawings and paintings to serigraphs and reverse paintings—fluidly draws from multiple sources, including European modernist works, Indian folk art,...

Arin Rungjang was born in Bangkok in 1975, a time of political turmoil in Thailand. Two years prior, student demonstrations led to the fall of military dictator Thanom Kittikachorn, who returned from exile in 1976. That year, students gathered at Thammasat University to protest and the military opened fire; 46 died, 167 were wounded, and over 3,000...

Light Break and the sound i saw (5 September–26 October 2019), are concurrent exhibitions of Roy DeCarava's work, curated by art historian Sherry Turner DeCarava. They might be separated by David Zwirner's New York locations, but the shows, (the first presentation of the photographer's work since the gallery announced exclusive representation of...

An afterimage is a false visual burned onto the eyes even after its source is no longer being viewed. Victor Wang, the curator of Afterimage: Dangdai Yishu (3 July–7 September 2019) at Lisson Gallery, London, borrows the term to describe one of the key accomplishments of contemporary art: the accommodation of work that is post-figurative, or 'after...

Mary Corse: A Survey in Light is an ideal title for Corse's major retrospective exhibition, now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (28 July–11 November 2019), that succinctly summarises her decades-long and ongoing experimentation with light. A Survey in Light debuted last year at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (8 June–25...

Mark Bradford walks through Mark Bradford: Los Angeles Mark Bradford: Los Angeles at the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai (27 July–13 October 2019) is the artist's largest solo exhibition to date in China. In this video for Ocula, Bradford and Diana Nawi, curator of the show, walk through selected works that convey the artist's concerns with...

For three months, Frieze Sculpture (3 July–6 October) transforms Regent's Park, London, into an open gallery with sculptures by artists from all over the world. This year's edition is again curated by Clare Lilley, director of programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park since 1992 and curator of Frieze Sculpture since 2012. This video, created for...

Sherry Paik introduces Images of a Pop Youth — Political Paintings and Prison Drawings, Sérgio Sister's solo exhibition at Galeria Nara Roesler in São Paulo (10 August–5 September 2019), which centres on his early years as an artist.

从两个艺术家与三个展览，回到一个人真实的生活现场。

This essay appears in 52 Artists 52 Actions: Small Acts of Disobedience, co-published by Artspace Sydney and Thames & Hudson Australia in 2019. It is now exclusively published online with Ocula in collaboration with Artspace Sydney. The publication is available to purchase from here.As part of his Instagram intervention for 52 ARTISTS 52...

This essay appears in 52 Artists 52 Actions: Small Acts of Disobedience, co-published by Artspace Sydney and Thames & Hudson Australia in 2019. It is now exclusively published online with Ocula in collaboration with Artspace Sydney. The publication is available to purchase from here.The world has seen dramatic change over the past decade;...

Yun Hyong-keun at Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, is the first international retrospective exhibition of the eponymous Korean artist's work since his death in 2007. Curated by Kim Inhye, the retrospective runs throughout the duration of the 58th Venice Biennale, which concludes on 24 November. In this Ocula video, created for Ocula's IGTV, Kim provides an...

Chinese artist Liu Wei is showing two works in the 58th International Art Exhibition, May You Live In Interesting Times, as part of the 2019 Venice Biennale (11 May–24 November 2019). Curated by Ralph Rugoff, current director of London's Hayward Gallery, the exhibition is held in the Arsenale and Giardini's Central Pavilion and includes works by 79...

South African artist Nicholas Hlobo's signature materials of rubber, ribbon, leather, and wood were all present in his first solo exhibition in Korea, held between 21 March and 18 May 2019 in Seoul. It comprised new and recent paintings along with a sculpture of copper piping titled Dyumpu (2019), each piece reflecting the artist's long-standing...

In this IGTV video, Felicia Chen, associate director of Blum & Poe, Tokyo, provides a short but insightful introduction to Korean-born artist Ha Chong Hyun's practice through a discussion of the works exhibited by Blum & Poe in the artist's solo exhibition, which took place at the gallery's Tokyo space between 23 March–18 May 2019). The...

In the summer of 2018, the K11 Art Foundation mounted a solo exhibition of German artist Katharina Grosse in Shanghai, bringing her immersive installations to China for the first time. Internationally acclaimed for a practice that boldly challenges viewers' perception of space, her playful work has been shown at institutions worldwide, from the...