Francis Bacon, Man and Beast, a fulsome exhibition of his visceral work opens at the Royal Academy, London.
Life Between Islands : Caribbean-British Art 1950s – now is on show at Tate Britain and it’s great. The people of the Caribbean diaspora have a clearly distinct culture; it’s fascinating seeing the work of artists from the 1950s, many of whom travelled and settled in the UK, who have brought the spirit and ethos of their heritage into British society. And we also see the work of their ‘children’ – inheritors of that geographical and social change – who have much to say about the contemporary life of black people in Britain.
Lubaina Himid creates beguiling and thoughful artworks which surprise the viewer with a very original style and glimpse of an inner life. A new show at Tate Modern shows just how versatile, intriguing and important an artist she is.
Glorious, gorgeous, exquisite and priceless. The Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution exhibition at the V&A is stunning. It feels surreal to stare through glass at jewels which are so perfect in design and craftsmanship but also bear witness to a turbulent and tragic time in 20th century history.
Peru: A Journey in Time at the British Museum. This new exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view objects and artefacts – some made two thousand years ago. The portraits are stunning, the fabrics are beautifully preserved and some of the stories which these objects tell shed light on a long-lost civilisation.
There’s always something new to discover in John Constable’s paintings. An exhibition at the Royal Academy – Late Constable – provides a great opportunity to view works made in the last two decades of his life after he’d become an Academician and his career was established. But it’s clear to see that he still kept pushing his art.
Can we ‘end the waste age’? The Design Museum presents some satisfying, and encouraging solutions to the appalling and polluting impact of plastic and our wasteful approach to living which has endangered the planet.
If HELL turns out to be anything like artist Pablo Bronstein’s vision it might be rather a fun place to hang out. Bronstein has produced a series of large watercolour paintings – Hell in its Heyday – now on show at Sir John Soane’s Museum. The show is filled with visions of a cityscape mingling contemporary technology and invention with the design aesthetics of the Baroque and decorative past. The results are beguiling and fun.
Paper Places 