This week in art, Bruce Asbestos brings his wacky comic style to Exeter with a show about Shreg, a green ogre that playfully skirts copyright rules. The exhibition, titled Bootleg Shreg 2, runs from 25 April to 20 June at Exeter Phoenix Gallery. Asbestos, known for installing a giant inflatable snail in Tate's Turbine Hall, continues his mischievous streak.
Also Showing
Roy Oxlade at Alison Jacques
Rough, scrappy, primitive painting—not unlike the work of his wife, the incredible Rose Wylie—by this major figure in 20th-century British art. Until 30 May in London.
May Morris: Crafting a Legacy at Lady Lever Art Gallery
Embroidery, wallpaper, watercolours, costumes and jewellery by the hypertalented youngest daughter of Arts and Crafts pioneer William Morris. From 25 April to 1 November in Liverpool.
30 Years at Timothy Taylor
Works by big hitters including Philip Guston, Alex Katz and Antoni Tàpies alongside younger artists to celebrate three decades at the top of the art game for this commercial gallery. Until 30 May in London.
Alan Charlton at Annely Juda Fine Art
New works by Charlton, who for more than 50 years has been making totally monochrome paintings to a strict set of rules exclusively in one colour: grey. From 30 April to 7 June in London.
Image of the Week
It could be a work of modern art: a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth or Henry Moore, an abstract composition of undulating organic forms in marble or bronze. But what photographer Jon McCormack captured is the work of an entirely different sculptor: time. This weird, wobbly shape is a rock he photographed on Kangaroo Island, a piece of land that separated from mainland Australia 10,000 years ago. Over the years, nature has taken its course, wind and rain have done their business, and left behind this hollowed out form as a reminder of its awesome power.
What We Learned
- This year's Turner prize nominees played it safe.
- Martin Parr's first posthumous exhibition is a dazzling final chapter.
- The story of Black British music is told in the first exhibition at V&A East.
- Portugal's newest art festival takes an anarchistic approach.
- Isaac Julien's new show is a bombastic meditation on human connection.
- Picasso's Guernica is being used in Spain's partisan squabbles.
- Our latest art series is a guide to taking kids to see art.
- The finalists for museum of the year have been announced.
- Irish artist Racheal Crowther will attack your mind and your nostrils!
Masterpiece of the Week
The Guitar Player (Lady With a Guitar), c.1670-1720 by Johannes Vermeer
On a trip last week walking around Kenwood House with my dad, a guide told us the story of how this Vermeer had been nicked in the 1970s and recovered with the help of a clairvoyant. It was a top quality anecdote. Then the guide said: “Beautiful painting, but he can't do faces, she looks like a boiled egg.” I've not had a lot of hairy boiled eggs in my life, but if one showed up at breakfast looking like this I'd be pretty damn impressed. She is ghostly and strange, doll-like and a bit vacant, but it's her quiet amusement at whatever's happening off-canvas, her distracted smirk and laughing eyes, that make this such a good painting. Not bad for a boiled egg. Kenwood House, London.
