Elena Soboleva works for Art.sy - an online platform for discovering and collecting art.

1) 55th Biennale di Venezia/ May – September, 2013

The Venice Biennial is an obvious choice, though this year promises to be especially noteworthy as the representatives are a younger and more diverse group.  The 55th iteration will spotlight female artists, whose obsessive tendencies and use of quotidian objects is central to their practice. Sarah Sze will be bringing her highly detailed installations to the USA pavilion, while Joana Vasconcelos, whose combinant forms filled Versailles last summer is Portugal’s delegate and Shary Boyle, best known for her meticulous porcelain figurines, will represent Canada.

The Biennial will also feature several multi-channel video works including Turkey’s Ali Kazma, Austria’s Mathias Poledna and Jesper Just representing Denmark.  Particularly exciting is the work of Richard Mosse, whose infrared photographs depicting the opaque conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo have captured the world’s attention (most recently seen in the NYT Magazine).  Timely and poignant, the work utilizes obsolete infrared film to portray a lucid view of the unfolding humanitarian disaster and will be sure to make the Irish pavilion one of the summer’s best.

2)James Turrell Retrospective at the Guggenheim / June – September, 2013

James Turrell’s first exhibition in a New York museum since 1980, this show will focus on the artist’s groundbreaking explorations of perception, light, color and space, with a special focus on the role of site-specificity in his practice. The project will recast the Guggenheim rotunda through artificial and natural light and promises to be “one of the most dramatic transformations of the museum ever conceived.”  The sweeping curves of the architecture will create a cylindrical volume referencing his magnum opus Roden Crater.

3) Performa 2013  / November 2013

The fifth edition of the Performa biennial will offer a dynamic three weeks schedule of performances, ideas and educational programming alongside new works by artists such as Yvonne Rainer.  With RoseLee Goldberg’s visionary leadership and ability to inspire and direct artists of all media to delve into live art, there is  forward to the unexpected.

4)  Paradigm shift in the gallery world

After Hirst and Kusama left Gagosian and Koons and Serra announced they will be having shows at David Zwirner Gallery – the art world was stunned. Everyone is still trying to decipher the reasons, but surely it points to the shifting nature of the artist-gallery relationship. The rules have changed and no longer rigid and the age of the artist superstar is upon us.

5) Creative Time

Having just launched the Creative Time Reports and Art Breaks on MTV with momentous plans and performances on the horizon for 2013, they are set for a terrific year ahead. The CT Reports provide insights into global issues through the eyes of artists around the world who are actively engaging in and commenting on the most pressing issues of our time.  With Marisa Mazria Katz as the Editor and Hank Willis Thomas, Liam Gillick and international artist collectives involved, this is sure to offer new perspectives in 2013.