This monumental new book explores the recent history of
exhibition-making, looking at the radical shifts that have taken place
in the practice of curating contemporary art over the last 20 years.
Tracing a history of curating through its most innovative shows,
renowned curator Jens Hoffmann selects the 50 key exhibitions that have
most significantly shaped the practice of both artists and curators.
Chosen from the plethora of exhibitions, biennials and art events that
have sprung up across the world since the 1990s, each exhibition
reviewed here has triggered profound changes in curatorial practice, and
reanimated the potential of contemporary art. The book includes an
international roster of curators, and exhibition venues that span the
globe, from the USA, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa to France, Germany,
the Netherlands, Turkey and Spain. It is comprised of nine themed
sections, including: New Lands (on shows such as Magiciens de la
Terre, The Short Century and After the Wall); Biennial Years (which
documents influential biennials such as the Documentas [10, 11, 13]
and the Berlin and São Paulo Biennials); New Forms (including
experiments in exhibition-making such as Do It and NowHere); Others
Everywhere (on 'identity politics' shows such as In a Different Light,
Phantom Sightings and the 1993 Whitney Biennial); Tomorrow's Talents
Today (on influential group exhibitions of emerging artists such as
Helter Skelter and Sensation); and History (on historical surveys
such as Inside the Visible, Global Conceptualism and WACK!). A
bold proposition for the future of exhibition culture as well as a means
of making the recent past accessible, Show Time is essential reading
for any student of curating or museum studies, for professional curators
and for all those interested in one of today's most dynamic forms of
cultural production.
Jens Hoffmann is an exhibition maker and writer based in New York.
He is Deputy Director and Head of Exhibitions and Public Programs at The
Jewish Museum, New York. He has curated and co-curated a number of
large-scale exhibitions, including the 2nd San Juan Triennial (2009),
the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011) and the 9th Shanghai Biennial (2012).
