Reviews

Pectoral disc (19th century), Ghana, Asante peoples

The great West African kingdom that made its mark in gold

An exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art places the powerfully symbolic gold objects of the Asante peoples centre stage

16 Jul 2018
NSA-Tapped Fiber Optic Cable Landing Site, Keawaula, Hawaii, United States (2016), Trevor Paglen. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Trevor Paglen reveals the hidden networks that rule our lives

The artist’s subjects include drones, undersea cables and a sculptural satellite in space

16 Jul 2018
Frida Kahlo with Olmec figurine (1939), Nickolas Muray.

A fresh look at Frida Kahlo

By placing the artist’s possessions next to her portraits, the V&A seeks to reveal the woman behind the icon

13 Jul 2018
Bilte, (2008) Tomma Abts, installation view at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, 2018, © 2018 readsreads.info

Tomma Abts’ intriguing paintings contain infinite worlds

In the largest survey of her work so far, the artist explores the tensions between control and chaos

11 Jul 2018
Sorry for suffering – You think I’m a puppy on a picnic? (1990), Lee Bul. Twelve-day performance at Kimpo Airport, Narita Airport, downtown Tokyo and Dokiwaza Theater.

The monstrous bodies of Lee Bul

A survey of the Korean artist’s work reveals a fascination with the fragile boundary between beauty and horror

10 Jul 2018
Film still from txtferz (2018) by Elizabeth Price, installed at Morley Gallery (5–14 July).

Elizabeth Price’s gestures of protest

The artist’s new video piece, installed at the Morley Gallery, draws attention to the current crisis in UK higher education

9 Jul 2018
January, Yellow and Black (1957), Paul Feiler.

The modern mysticism of Paul Feiler

An exhibition in Hastings makes clear the abrupt shift in the St Ives artist’s style of painting

7 Jul 2018
A selection of glazed ceramic buttons (1944–45), Lucie Rie.

The great modern potter who made an art form of buttons

A comprehensive look at the career of Lucie Rie places the spotlight on her handcrafted buttons

6 Jul 2018
Alberto Giacometti and Francis Bacon, 1965, (1965) Graham Keen, © Graham Keen

Bacon and Giacometti remain as elusive as ever at the Fondation Beyeler

The Fondation Beyeler ingeniously pairs Bacon and Giacometti in a way that highlights the individuality of both artists

4 Jul 2018
Cérémonie d'inauguration du Canal de Suez à Port-Saïd. (17 November 1869), Edouard Riou.

A brief history of the Suez Canal

An ambitious exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe looks at the role of the famous waterway in Egypt and beyond

3 Jul 2018
Peasants Preparing to Hunt Rabbits with Ferrets, (detail) (c. 1470–90), Southern Netherlands, Brussels (?). Burrell Collection, Glasgow

The Burrell Collection’s European tapestries trace the history of an art form

William Burrell’s exceptional medieval and Renaissance tapestries now have the catalogue they deserve

29 Jun 2018

The artists of Georgian Dublin deserve another look

An exhibition celebrating the Society of Artists in Ireland casts light on some lesser-known 18th-century figures

28 Jun 2018

Cooking up a storm in Picasso’s kitchen

An exploration of Picasso’s passion for food sheds new light on the artist’s other appetites

28 Jun 2018

Change is in the air at Riga’s first biennial

In taking change as its theme, RIBOCA covers everything from science and perception, to ecology and technology

27 Jun 2018
Lightning-struck Tree, (2012), Giuseppe Penone, Private collection, photo: © Jonty Wilde; courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Giuseppe Penone sees the wood for the trees in Yorkshire

The Arte Povera pioneer explores art and nature in Europe’s largest sculpture park

26 Jun 2018
Birthday, Marc Chagall

Memory and modernity in Chagall’s early paintings

Marc Chagall realised new worlds in his art – but he peopled them with characters from his own provincial childhood

26 Jun 2018
Serpentine Pavilion 2018, designed by Frida Escobedo, Serpentine Gallery, London. Photography © 2018 Iwan Baan; © Frida Escobedo, Taller de Arquitectura

This year’s Serpentine Pavilion is a more serious affair than usual

Frida Escobedo has created a surprisingly sombre structure for this year’s temporary pavilion

22 Jun 2018

Approaching the divine at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco

An exhibition at the Asian Art Museum asks visitors to consider what it means to represent divinity in human form

21 Jun 2018
The view into the Painted Room at Port Lympne, Kent, with murals by Rex Whistler, photographed in 1933.view into the Painted Room at Port Lympne, Kent, with murals by Rex Whistlerinto the Painted Room at Port Lympne (photo 1933), Rex Whistler.

Why modernism was not the only way of being modern

A new study of art and design in the interwar years makes the case for a distinctly baroque take on modernity

19 Jun 2018

How Cedric Morris fused his twin passions for plants and painting

The British artist was as devoted to cultivating flowers as he was to painting them, as this colourful exhibition reveals

15 Jun 2018
Installation view of ‘Albert Oehlen: Cows by the Water’ at the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, 2018.

Colour and chaos in the work of Albert Oehlen

The self-declared ‘post-non-figurative’ painter proves himself a master colourist in this survey at the Palazzo Grassi

14 Jun 2018
Installation view of ‘Grandfather: A Pioneer Like Us (1974)’ at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2018

The man who turned curating into an art form

Why the experimental exhibitions of Harald Szeemann still have something to teach today’s curators

13 Jun 2018
Sweating Blood (1973), Ana Mendieta.

The disappearing acts of Ana Mendieta

A focused exhibition of the Cuban-American artist’s films explores humanity’s complex relationship with the natural world

13 Jun 2018
Washing Day (detail; 1899), Edward Stott. Watts Gallery Trust

Twilight on the South Downs with Edward Stott

The Sussex landscape was an enduring source of inspiration for Stott, which makes Eastbourne an ideal site for a major survey of his work

12 Jun 2018