Weekly global art events agenda: Turner Prize, Drawings by Rembrandt

The week of December 7 will be a busy week in this year's art calendar with galleries launching major exhibitions in the weeks before the Christmas holidays.

The often controversial Turner Prize will be announced on December 7 in the UK, Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference opens at the J. Paul Getty Museum in the USA and a major exhibition of works by Danish-Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson will be on show in Australia.

Turner Prize winner announced
December 7
London/UK - TV Broadcast on Channel 4

The Turner Prize is a contemporary art award given to a British artist under the age of 50. One of four shortlisted artists for 2009 will be awarded the prestigious Turner Prize on December 7. Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright are the hopeful candidates for this year's award - one of whom will be selected for the prize by judges Mariella Frostrup, Charles Esche, Jonathan Jones and Andrea Schlieker. A selection of works created by the artists is on show at the Tate Britain until January 3, 2010.
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/

Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference
December 8, 2009-February 28, 2010
J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles/USA

The exhibition Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference explores the similarities between the 17th century Dutch artist's drawings and works of art crafted by his more than 50 documented students. The works of 15 of Rembrandt's students will be closely compared with his own.
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/rembrandt_drawings/

Decode: Digital Design Sensations
December 8, 2009 - April 11, 2010
Victoria and Albert Museum in London/UK

Technology and art collide at the Decode: Digital Design Sensations exhibition. The installation-based exhibition explores the realm where computers become the creators and where art intrudes in the space normally reserved for 0s and 1s. One-off performances and specially commissioned works will be shown within the Porter Gallery and for the first time V&A has commissioned digital works that will be shown on the V&A website during the exhibition.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/future_exhibs/Decode/index.html

Take your Time: Olafur Eliasson
December 10, 2009 - April 11, 2010
Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney/Australia

Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art has sourced Olafur Eliasson artworks from galleries across the world to produce this major Olafur Eliasson exhibition. The show encompasses the Danish-Icelandic artist's career from 1993 to present and includes a number of large-scale installations, sculptures and photographs. Viewers will be able to walk through spectacular kaleidoscope-like installations and light-filled environments that embody the shifting lines between the artificial and the organic.
http://www.mca.com.au/default.asp?page_id=10&content_id=4820

Gabriel Orozco
December 13, 2009 - March 1, 2010
MoMA in New York/USA

The works of Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco will be displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York from December 13, 2009 to March 1, 2010. The artist moves freely between disciplines making art in the fields of sculpture, installation, drawing and painting. Orozco is known for his interest in the everyday object as art and his works often lie in the space between reality and artistic creation. The exhibition will travel to the Kunstmuseum Basel, the national modern art museum Centre Pompidou, Paris before being shown at the Tate Modern, London.
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/323

Via Design 3.0
December 16, 2009 - February 1, 2010
Centre Pompidou in Paris/France

Valorization of Innovation in furnishing (VIA) will feature some of the first works created by famous artists and designers Philippe Starck, Martin Szekely, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Matali Crasset, Mathieu Lehanneur, François Azambourg, Philippe Rahm, Gaetano Pesce and Andrée Putman. The work of young up-and-coming designers will also be featured alongside the work of the great designers to emphasize the importance of the Via initiative.
http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Manifs.nsf/0/8099A823273116F8C125760900350D08?OpenDocument&sessionM=2.2.2&L=2

Jenny Holzer
December 17, 2009 - February 28, 2010
ACCA in Melbourne/Australia

The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art will host the first Australian survey of works by American artist Jenny Holzer in December. Holzer's famous text-based works will be projected across the walls of the main exhibition hall in the Melbourne Gallery. The projections will be accompanied by an LED installation and recent paintings depicting declassified government documents.
http://www.accaonline.org.au/Future

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: 75th Anniversary Show
December 19, 2009 - January 16, 2011
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco/USA

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will celebrate its 75th anniversary with a spectacular Anniversary Show, sourcing more than 400 artworks from its collection to highlight the museum's history of trend-setting exhibitions. The mammoth show will include paintings, drawings prints, sculptures, videos, photographs, architectural models and design objects. Expect to see works from Jeff Koons, Frida Kahlo, Pollock, and Mike Mandel.
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/401

Animamix Biennial
December 27, 2009 - January 1, 2010
Four different locations/China

Contemporary art and animation collide at the international Biennial of Animamix. The exhibition covers a developing trend of emerging artworks that are created by or are the derivative of comic animation. Animamix examines the subculture and the integration of Animamix (the art of animating comics) with clothing design, food packaging, and within the home. The international Biennial will be hosted by four museums, MoCA Shanghai, MoCA Taipei, MoCA Kaohsiung and Today Art Museum in Beijing. Organized in collaboration with Shanghai eArts Festival.
http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/bien/animamix

Sydney Festival 2010
January 9 - 30
Various locations in Sydney/Australia

January is a great time to be in Australia, summer is in full swing in the land down under and there are many events taking place under the guise of the Sydney Festival. The festival has been running since 1977 and aims to showcase local and international talent while at the same time celebrating Australian culture and the vibrant state of New South Wales. More than 500 artists in the fields of dance, theater, music, visual arts, and cross media platforms will be involved in the 2010 Sydney Festival. Many of the events will be free to the public.
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2010/

London Art Fair
January 13 - 17, 2010
Business Design Centre in London/UK

The London Art Fair is hailed as the event that "launches the art world year in the UK." This long-standing event is in its 22nd year and will host more than 100 galleries in 2010. Organizers expect more than 22,000 visitors to attend the contemporary art fair - the largest Modern British and Contemporary art fair in the UK. Two curated sections will run alongside the main fair this year. Art Projects exposes 25 projects and new works from emerging artists and Photo50 showcases contemporary photography.
http://www.londonartfair.co.uk/