Editorial

Our columnists summarise shows and contextualise exhibitions. They give their honest insights, using simple language to help you understand what they are all about. This section is updated every two weeks.
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Anish Kapoor’s show at Casa Bradesco

Curated by Marcello Dantas, it is the second by this artist in Brazil, after 18 years. Named ‘Inflammation,’ it gathers 19 large-scale works. Some of them were created specifically for this occasion.

Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2024

Just like last year, painting is in abundance at Frieze London, while sculptural and three-dimensional works seem to have taken a step back, retreating closer to the comfort of the walls.

Yayoi Kusama: Every Day I Pray for Love

Renowned for her immersive installations, large-scale sculptures, infinity rooms, and her use of polka dots and bright colours, Yayoi Kusama is one of the most well-known contemporary artists.

All Rendered Truth: Lonnie Holley (Camden Art Centre)

“All Rendered Truth” is one of the most enthralling exhibitions currently on view in London. A solo show by celebrated artist and musician Lonnie Holley at Camden Art Centre, the exhibition features a series of new works produced during a residency in Suffolk and other never-seen pieces.

Julio Le Parc: Couleurs (Nara Roesler)

Le Parc was born in Argentina and emigrated to Paris, France, in 1958. Once he was in Europe, Galerie Denise René was crucial for the development of his international career. At that gallery, he was sided by Venezuelan Carlos Cruz-Díez, another kinetic artist.

Jean-Marie Appriou (Duarte Sequeira)

The gallery Duarte Sequeira is a modern structure, built on a hillside in northern Portugal, in the vicinity of the historic Monastery of St. Martin of Tibães, a place where the Benedictine rule of silence, obedience, poverty, and prayer were followed

Zanele Muholi (Tate Modern)

A major survey of the work of South African artist and activist Zanele Muholi, the exhibition at London’s Tate Modern offers a glimpse into their vast body of work and encapsulates the range of their artistic practice.

Michelangelo: The Last Decades (British Museum)

Curated by Sarah Bowels (The Smirnov Family Curator of Italian and French Prints and Drawings at The British Museum) and Grant Lewis, the show illustrates the last thirty years of Michelangelo’s activity, from when he left his hometown Florence to Rome in 1534, until his death at almost 90 years old.

Pierre Huyghe: Liminal (Punta della Dogana)

The highly anticipated 60th iteration of the Venice Biennale opened to the public in April, attracting hundreds of artists, curators, cultural practitioners, and aficionados to the Floating City.

The Last Caravaggio (National Gallery)

If you had to sum up the life and work of Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio in one word, it’d be drama. A dramatic life, with equally dramatic paintings.

The Secret Lives of Plants (Gallery of Everything)

The exhibition borrows its title from the controversial book, published in 1973, ‘The Secret Lives of Plants’, in which the authors claimed that plants are beings with emotions and are able to communicate with other creatures like humans.

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States (Serpentine)

The first major exhibition of Yinka Shonibare in over twenty years, Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, on view at the Serpentine South Gallery until early September, features recent sculptures and installations.

Mark Rothko (Fondation Louis Vuitton)

Displayed across four floors of the Frank Gehry designed building, this show features over 115 works from major global institutions and smaller collections, some of which have been rarely displayed.

Some May Work as Symbols: Art Made in Brazil, 1950s-70s (Raven Row)

Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, Ione Saldanha, Willys de Castro, Djanira, Abdias do Nascimento. These are only a few of the thirty artists featured in Some May Work as Symbols: Art Made in Brazil, 1950s-70s, currently on view at London’s Raven Row until early May

Dutch Masters (National Gallery)

Investigating the figure of the brilliant, prolific and fascinating Rembrandt Van Rijn (Leiden, 1606 – Amsterdam 1669) is not easy.

Oscar Murillo: Masses (WIELS)

Turner Prize winner, Oscar Murillo, is a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on issues such as migration, globalisation, and identity.

Indigenous Histories (MASP)

‘Indigenous Histories’ is one of the four shows now on display at MASP, not to mention their long-term show with European and Brazilian art pieces. It is part of the theme of the year 2023 at MASP: Indigenous Histories, which has been orienting the events and shows held at the museum.

Pope.L: Hospital (South London)

William Pope.L, better known as Pope.L, was an artist and educator who confronted and changed the mainstream contemporary art scene through his provocative, often absurdist works that explored issues of race, gender, and class in the United States.

Philip Guston (Tate)

Philip Guston (1913-1980) was born in Montreal, the youngest of seven children of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.

Hiroshi Sugimoto: Time Machine (Hayward Gallery)

In Hiroshi Sugimoto: Time Machine, a large retrospective of the great Japanese artist at the Hayward Gallery, the visitor is introduced to a rich and vast landscape of photographs that spans his 50-year practice.

Antônio Obá: Revoada (Pinacoteca)

The show consists of 20 paintings and one site-specific installation. The paintings develop themes relating to childhood and are constructed upon a vertical movement.

Re/Sisters: A Lens on Gender and Ecology (Barbican)

RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology exhibition featuring 250 works by nearly 50 women and gender nonconforming artists. Photographs, films, installations exploring the relationship between gender and ecology, spanning decades, continents, and media, offering perspectives on our ongoing ecological crisis.

Claudette Johnson: Presence (Courtauld)

At a time when prominent UK arts institutions are amplifying women’s voices, The Courtauld has taken a significant step by presenting its first-ever exhibition dedicated to a black woman

Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas (Tate)

Tate cleverly used the walls surrounding this exhibition to engage in a fun conversation between young Sarah and today’s Sarah.

Ai Weiwei: Making Sense
Design Museum, Spring 2023

Ai Weiwei: Making Sense (Design Museum)

Using objects to try and make sense of the world is the core of the current Ai Weiwei’s
exhibition at the Design Museum. He questions the value of things and if time changes that.