The best art shows to see in autumn 2012

Liverpool Biennial The latest Liverpool Biennial, titled The Unexpected Guest, explores the underwhelming theme of hospitality. It's a city-wide catch-all including 242 artists in 27 locations: rude words by Gilbert & George , Mona Hatoum in the Cunard Building, the sci-fi work of Anthony McCall and the brilliantly voyeuristic photographs of Kohei Yoshiyuki . Various venues, Liverpool, 15 September to 25 November. biennial.com Everything Was Moving: Photography from the 60s and 70s More than 400 works by 12 photographers from around the world, including the incomparable William Eggleston , Boris Mikhailov , Raghubir Singh and Sigmar Polke. What the subversive German painter Polke is doing here is a tantalising mystery, in a show that deals with politics, wars, colonial misadventures and photography's coming of age. Barbican, London, 13 September to 13 January 2013. barbican.org.uk Thomas Schütte: Faces and Figures Schütte is one of the best sculptors alive, whether building architectural models, making gorgeous, grotesque ceramics, iron and steel women, or evil and benign figures . He's also a terrific watercolourist and draughtsman. Serpentine Gallery, London, 25 September to 18 November. serpentinegallery.org Frieze London art fair Always interesting, always mad, Frieze brings together commercial galleries, specially commissioned projects , films and talks, rich fanatics and star-spotting crowds. A great opportunity to love and hate art – or be alarmed and entertained by an art-world stratosphere that lives in a financial bubble, while another struggles to keep afloat. Regent's Park, London, 11 to 14 October. friezelondon.com Jim Shaw: The Rinse Cycle LA artist Jim Shaw is best known in the UK for his hilarious, abject and sometimes inspired paintings found in thrift stores. His investigations of popular (and unpopular) culture span all media: painting, music, video and performance. This survey show should be a treat. Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, 9 November to 17 February 2013. balticmill.com