Over the past decade, critics and curators have rigorously reimagined Mel Bochner’s oeuvre, while the artist himself has propelled his work forward with mordant wit and explosive energy. Trailblazing recent shows at the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery in Washington have been matched by Bochner’s increasingly topical twist on his nearly half-century-long engagement with language. (One recent thesaurus painting unspooled synonyms for that endangered species “master of the universe.”) Now audiences across the pond will be treated to his first major career survey in the UK. A catalogue with contributions by the curators and noted Bochner scholars Briony Fer and Mark Godfrey promises to further advance this artist’s historical stature and contemporary relevance.