The Best Art Exhibitions to See This Month

We're already a few days into the new year, which means that everyone around you has probably already made up his mind to lose weight or drink less in 2015—new year's resolutions that are sure to last only a few days. Instead of vowing to accomplish the impossible, make a new year's resolution that you'll actually keep: visit more art exhibitions. There is scientific evidence that our brains have literally been designed for art appreciation. It's a foolproof goal that'll only add more culture to your life and help you not look like an idiot during Art Basel Miami Beach next December.

There are a handful of dope art exhibitions happening throughout the month of January. Spring Breakers filmmaker Harmony Korine will soon open not one but two shows with Gagosian Gallery, in Beverly Hills and the Eden Rock Gallery in St. Barts. Then, on Jan. 16, the New York Historical Society will be opening the doors to "Freedom Journey 1965," in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March that took place during the Civil Rights era. Close-up photographs taken by Stephen Somerstein of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, and others will be on view.

No matter where in the world you find yourself this winter, there's an art exhibition for everyone. Check out the Best Art Exhibitions to See This Month (January).

“Focus: Jules de Balincourt”

Location: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St., Fort Worth, Texas 76107

Dates: Nov. 15, 2014 - Jan. 25, 2015

Kicking off the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth's “FOCUS” exhibition series, Jules de Balincourt's ongoing show features major works from the past few years of his career as well as new works on display for the first time. De Balincourt is best known for his expressive, whimsical paintings that straddle abstraction and representation, utopia and dystopia. Although his cityscapes and paintings of people engaged in leisure may look beautiful and idyllic, there's an element of darkness to these canvases as well. De Balincourt creates these paintings to “comment on and critique American societal norms” and to examine “the space where leisure and global concerns collide,” according to the show's press release. Even the aerial perspective utilized in de Balincourt's paintings references the view of modern methods of warfare, such as planes and drones.

“Speaking of People: Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art”

Location: The Studio Museum in Harlem, 144 W. 125th St., New York 10027

Dates: Nov. 13, 2014 - March 8, 2015

Since Ebony and Jet's founding more than 60 years ago, the two magazines have documented historical moments in African-American history, including the Civil Rights March on Washington and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, among other events. Now, the two publications have inspired an art exhibition, on view at the Studio Museum. “Speaking of People: Ebony, Jet, and Contemporary Art” examines how contemporary artists use the two magazines as resources for their work. The ongoing show features more than 30 works of photography, painting, sculpture, and sound by 16 artists, including Jeremy Okai Davis, Theaster Gates, Leslie Hewitt, Lorna Simpson, Hank Willis Thomas, and Mickalene Thomas, just to name a few. Much of the art contains text and imagery taken from Ebony and Jet, while some were inspired by the mere concept of the iconic magazines.

“Robert Orchardson – Aperture”

Location: NOW Gallery, The Gateway Pavilions, Peninsula Square, Greenwich Peninsula, London SE10 0SQ

Dates: Jan. 30 - April 24, 2015

Robert Orchardson's upcoming exhibition takes place in London's Greenwich Peninsula, the home base of many astronomers. “Aperture” will showcase a series of intricate sculptural forms and large-scale photographs, all inspired by the region's history. After discovering a collection of scientific paraphernalia that used to belong to astronomers William and John Herschel, Orchardson re-imagined these objects as sculptures and massive “cyantypes,” a printing process founded by John Herschel. All of the art is displayed inside concrete walls that resemble the remains of a dismantled telescope or an old observatory. The idea of the immersive installation is to provoke viewers into looking beyond our present moment and thinking about the unknown.

“Freedom Journey 1965: Photographs of the Selma to Montgomery March by Stephen Somerstein”

Location: New York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York 10024

Dates: Jan. 16 - April 19, 2015

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March, the New York Historical Society will showcase of photographs shot by Stephen Somerstein. Then a 24-year-old City College student, Somerstein felt compelled to document the historic moment. He joined the protesters in Washington and was able to gain access to everyone from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, James Baldwin, and many others. “Freedom Journey 1965” depicts African-Americans' fight for equality through 55 black and white and color photographs.

“Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage”

Location: New York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York 10024

Dates: Nov. 21, 2014 - Feb. 22, 2015

Surely you're familiar with Annie Leibovitz's editorial work. The American portrait photographer has shot some of the most controversial photos in recent history, including the famous Rolling Stone cover of a nude John Lennon wrapped around Yoko Ono and Vanity Fair's cover of a nude and pregnant Demi Moore. Her ongoing show at the New York Historical Society, however, is a departure from her staged portraits. “Annie Leibovitz: Pilgrimage” contains 70 candid shots of subjects that moved or intrigued Leibovitz. The various subjects all speak to her curiosity about the world around her.

“Harmony Korine: Raiders”

Location: Gagosian Gallery, 456 North Camden Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Dates: Dec. 28, 2014 - Jan. 31, 2015

Harmony Korine is best known for his cult films. You may know him for his most recent flick, Spring Breakers. What many don't know about him is that he's also a painter. His latest art exhibition, on view at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills, showcases his expressive paintings that mirror the sonic and visual themes in his movies. To create these highly tactile works of art, Korine swapped traditional brushes and paints for Squeegees, leftover household paint, and masking tape. All of his finished products stand out for their radiant and explosive quality.

“Ed Ruscha: Paintings”

Location: Gagosian Gallery in Rome, Via Francesco Crispi, 16 Roma

Dates: Nov. 20, 2014 - Feb. 10, 2015

Ed Ruscha's latest exhibition of paintings will either make you nod in agreement, scratch your head in confusion, or both. That's because the paintings are accessible as much as they are profound. They depict deadpan, gritty representations of everyday objects such as abandoned chairs, discarded beer cans, and torn up tires beneath obscure words written in white. The new show actually follows his 2011 “Psycho Spaghetti Westerns” exhibition, which similarly explored the effects of time on the American landscape. His paintings show the degradation of “the romantic road trip of youth” to a dystopian wasteland riddled with trash.

“Parra: Yer So Bad”

Location: Jonathan LeVine Gallery, 557C W. 23rd St., New York 10011
Dates: Jan. 8 - Feb. 7, 2015

“Yer So Bad,” Parra's upcoming show at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, gets its name from Tom Petty's song about a girl who marries a yuppie and takes a man for all he's worth, though it's uncertain whether Parra's latest paintings follow the same narrative. The exhibition is a continuation of the artist's cheeky, post-pop imagery. Just as with his past works, his bold color palette and graphics call to mind the works of Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein. Parra's nude human-bird hybrids return in this show consisting of works on canvas and paper.

“Cross Section of a Revolution”

Location: Lisson Gallery, 52-54 Bell St., London

Dates: Jan. 30 - March 7, 2015

Lisson Gallery's upcoming show is a group exhibition featuring works by Allora & Calzadilla, Broomberg & Chanarin, Liu Xiaodong, Haroon Mirza, Rashid Rana, Wael Shawky, and Santiago Sierra. The theme of the show is rather heavy, as it examines “global aspects of trade, trauma, religious belief systems, and contested territories” through a collection of photographic, sculptural, painterly, and cinematic media, according to the press release. Their works show how the “cross pollination” of different cultures can make one question and reevaluate his or her faith and morality.

“José Parlá: Segmented Realities”

Location: High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St., N.E. Atlanta 30309

Dates: Dec. 12, 2014 - May 24, 2015

José Parlá's latest body of sculptural paintings looks a lot like the walls and building surfaces covered in graffiti around us. “Segmented Realities” features 10 paintings that resemble urban landscapes that have survived social and cultural upheaval and transformation. It's a prologue to Parlá's upcoming exhibition “Imaging New Worlds,” which opens in a month at the High Museum of Art.

“Tal R.: Alstadt Girl”

Location: Cheim & Read, 547 W. 25th St., New York 10001

Dates: Jan. 15 - Feb. 14, 2015

Awkwardness plays a large role in Tal R.'s practice. The Copenhagen-based artist draws pictures of women. Sometimes they're nude, and usually they're confined in intimate settings like hotel rooms, bedrooms, and even shower stalls. His creative process begins the moment Tal R. asks a woman, typically a stranger or casual acquaintance, to pose for him. That uneasiness, however, is the very foundation of Tal R.'s drawings.

“1AM Revolution”

Location: 1AM Gallery, 1000 Howard St., San Francisco 94103

Dates: Jan. 9 - 30, 2015

This January marks 1AM Gallery's sixth year anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, the San Francisco exhibition space will soon present “1:AM Revolution.” It's a group show that plays off the gallery's mission of promoting freedom of speech and revolution, featuring abstract, typographical, and illustrative artwork by the likes of Optimist, Kamea, Tes One, Poesia, Bask, and others.

“Sturtevant: Double Trouble”

Location: Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53th St., New York 10019

Dates: Nov. 9, 2014 - Feb. 22, 2015

“Double Trouble” is a fitting name for Elaine Sturtevant's posthumous exhibition. If you're not familiar with Sturtevant, she's an artist who made a career off appropriating and “repeating” the works of artists like Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Keith Haring. Her works are groundbreaking in that they challenge the ideas of authorship (not to mention the fact that they're near perfect replicas, if not better versions, of the original art). Despite her prowess and ability to make sometimes better art than her better-known male counterparts, Sturtevant has been largely overlooked in American post-war art history. It was only until recently that she started getting the recognition she deserves. Fun fact: Roy Lichtenstein's Crying Girl sold at Christie's for $78 thousand in 2007. Sturtevant's version sold for about $711 thousand.

“Friedrich Kunath: Earth to Fuckface”

Location: White Cube, 50 Connaught Rd., Central, Hong Kong
Dates: Nov 20, 2014 - Jan. 31, 2015

Friedrich Kunath has a knack for articulating all the things you never knew you wanted to say. His works, which typically center on themes of loneliness, anxiety, and fantasy, are at once literal landscapes and psychic landscapes depicting the human mind. For example, one of his paintings from last year's Art Basel Miami Beach portrays a man walking towards a sunset. Scrawled in the upper left corner is a rather emo torrent of thoughts: “I may not be 100% happy, but at least I'm not with you.” Now, a collection of his work, including everything from drawings to sculptures to photography, is currently on view at Hong Kong's White Cube gallery until the end of this month.

“Sun Xun: The Time Vivarium”

Location: Sean Kelly Gallery, 475 10th Ave., New York 10018
Dates: Dec. 13, 2014 - Jan. 24, 2015

Historical events are remembered and recounted differently, depending on who's telling the story. That is the whole idea behind Sun Xun's two-part show at Sean Kelly Gallery, “The Time Vivarium.” After a trip to New York's American Museum of Natural History, Sun recognized a parallel in the official Chinese accounts of the past and the dioramas found throughout the American museum. Both are designed with socio-political agendas. Through a collection of paintings, murals, and even a painted Chinese folding album, Sun explores his own experiences as a Chinese citizen and revisits his father's memories of the Cultural Revolution. For the second part of the exhibition, the gallery will be turned into a theater space, in which a film about Sun's artistic process will be on view until Jan. 24.

“Danh Vo: Homosapiens”

Location: Marian Goodman Gallery, 5-8 Lower John St., London
Dates: Jan. 15 - Feb. 21, 2015

You may know Danh Vo as the artist who decided to reproduce the Statue of Liberty, recreating a life-size replica, breaking it up into 250 pieces, and dispersing some of them throughout New York City. For those who missed the artist's We the People installation from this past year, you can see more of his work at London's Marian Goodman Gallery. It's Vo's first large-scale solo exhibition in London, and it consists of an entirely new body of work.

“Joe Fyfe: Make Me One With Everything”

Location: Long House Projects, 285 Spring St., New York 10013

Dates: Dec. 12, 2014 - Feb. 7, 2015

Don't be intimidated by the name of Joe Fyfe's ongoing exhibition at Long House Projects; it actually references the cliché joke in which a Buddhist monk asks a hot dog vendor to “make [him] one with everything.” Even the artwork on display at the New York gallery maintains a light-hearted tone, consisting of paintings made from felt, cotton, plastic banners, flags, umbrellas—essentially anything and everything Fyfe felt like using.

“Andy Warhol: Shadows”

Location: Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles 90012

Dates: Sept. 20, 2014 - Feb. 15, 2015

For the first time ever, Andy Warhol's Shadows project is being shown on the West Coast. Head to Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Art to see the 102-part painting. The series of silk screened and painted canvases consists of two different compositions, alternating between “the peak,” a black positive against a colored background, and “the cap,” a colored image against a black background. They range in colors, from bright green to dull brown, and are based off photographs of Warhol's studio, The Factory.

“Pop Terrariums”

Location: Gallery1988 (East), 7021 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles 90038

Dates: Jan. 10, 2015 - N/A

Nicole Gustafsson's upcoming solo exhibition is a throwback to our childhood. “Pop Terrariums” features a collection of the Washington-based artist's delightful paintings, in which she depicts the worlds of her favorite films, TV shows, and video games inside glass terrariums.

“Juan Muñoz”

Location: Marian Goodman Gallery, 24 W. 57th St., New York 10019

Dates: Dec. 9, 2014 - Jan. 29, 2015

Juan Muñoz's exhibition at Marian Goodman Gallery puts viewers in a familiar situation of wanting both to be in the comfort of a community and to have individual autonomy. One of the key works in the exhibition, for instance, is a skillfully crafted sculptural installation entitled Thirteen Laughing at Each Other. It literally places viewers amongst 13 bronze figures that are laughing at one another. The immersive quality of his installation forces viewers to engage with the art.