We are neck-deep in “Best of 2014” season—the best movies, the best music, the best TV shows, and, of course, the best art. Outlets as diverse as the Huffington Post, the LA Times, and Artforum have produced authoritative rankings of the art shows that mattered in 2014. These lists often have a predictable format. They throw in one or two shows you’ve never heard of, just to demonstrate a measure of eclectic taste, but otherwise they feature exhibitions that have already been widely promoted and exhaustively analyzed throughout the year. Rarely do these year-end lists offer anything new.
What value do these year-end lists have, if any? Are they simply obligatory exercises that serve to reinforce canonical and popular artworks? Or do they offer a useful occasion to reflect on how the art world has evolved in the previous twelve months?