The Top 10 Everything of 2008

1. Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective

The wall drawings of Sol LeWitt are art's equivalent of gifts that come with "some assembly required." LeWitt was a pioneer of Conceptual art. For him the idea behind a work was all important, the execution a secondary matter. So a LeWitt wall drawing was simply a set of instructions devised by him to be carried out by others. Often he didn't even see the final result. But from this very cerebral recipe all kinds of vivid, sensual results emerged. Before his death last year LeWitt agreed to have more than 100 massive drawings from all periods of his career executed at MASS MoCA, the contemporary arts center that inhabits a group of converted industrial buildings. And the plan is for the drawings to remain in place for a minimum of 25 years. So this isn't just an exhibition. It's a great new American art-world destination.
The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Mass. (11/16 – 2033)

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