To take stock of the past year, Artforum asked an international group of artists to select the single image, exhibition, or event that most memorably captured their eye in 2012.
RITA ACKERMANN
Gang Gang Dance (September 22, Cameo Gallery, Brooklyn) If materialism is the unwanted fat on our spirits, Gang Gang Dance’s music is the blade that cuts it all off. Their sounds burn up that heaviness of need and greed and lift the spirits to other dimensions. A hundred years ago, Rudolf Steiner wrote The Philosophy of Freedom and feverishly lectured about protective space and other visionary ideas to nurture future societies riddled by war; his near-cultish visions have found their great-grandchildren in this band. They create the most contemporary sounds and beats, using ancient recipes of the human consciousness in order to stay human.
MICHAEL ALMEREYDA
“Photographic Masterworks by William Eggleston”
— Rita Ackermann, Michael Almereyda, Tarek Atoui, Jo Baer, Trisha Baga, Nina Beier, Jérôme Bel, Huma Bhabha, Ginny Bishton, Gregg Bordowitz, Liz Craft, Jonathas de Andrade, Simon Denny, Willie Doherty, Jack Early, Roe Ethridge, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Mark Flood, Katharina Fritsch, Leslie Hewitt, Elliott Hundley, Runa Islam, Iman Issa, Barbara Kasten, Alex Katz, Ragnar Kjartansson, Shio Kusaka, David Lamelas, Sam Lewitt, Linder, Peter Liversidge, Kerry James Marshall, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Tony Matelli, Barry McGee, Ryan McGinley, Marlie Mul, Vik Muniz, Clifford Owens, Greg Parma Smith, Katie Paterson, Susan Philipsz, Otto Piene, William Pope.L, Elaine Reichek, Thomas Ruff, Fumie Sasabuchi, Heji Shin, Roman Signer, Andreas Slominski, Alec Soth, Sturtevant, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Amelie von Wulffen, James Welling, Claudia Wieser, Akram Zaatari
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