Dazzling Aussie Abstraction & Armored Ceramics: Explore Uncool YBA’s Take on Nature – Art Week Highlights

Featured Exhibition

Cecily Brown: The Art of Creation

Explore the vibrant, nature-inspired new works full of rich textures and painterly flair by the YBA who always considered herself too uncool for the group. The exhibition opens just as the Serpentine area begins to burst into spring bloom.

Serpentine Gallery, London, until 6 September

Other Notable Exhibitions

Phoebe Collings-James: A Rose, A Bridge, A House

Engage with politically charged ceramic works that transform into armors and painted clays, drawing on ancient cuneiform scripts and Ashanti myths.

Pitzhanger Manor, London, 1 April-14 June

Veronica Ryan: Conversations Multiplied

Celebrate the Turner prize-winning artist’s career with a large exhibit featuring over 100 pieces of thought-provoking sculptures.

Whitechapel Gallery, London, 1 April-14 June

Frank Bowling: In Pursuit of the Sublime

Discover the evolutionary journey of this trailblazing British-Guyanese painter from his early representational work to his revolutionary abstract techniques.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, until 17 January

Portals to Place: Three Papunya Tula Artists

Experience the mesmerizing abstractions that serve as conduits for age-old wisdom in this exhibition by indigenous Australian artists Lorna Ward Napanangka, Yukultji Napangati, and John West Tjupurrula.

Edel Assanti, London, until 16 May

Photograph of the Week

War continues to ravage the Middle East, echoing the turmoil captured 20 years ago by Peter van Agtmael. This image shows an American soldier amidst a night raid in Rawa, Iraq, seated in a starkly contrasting bright yellow room. The juxtaposition of modern military gear against the quaint domestic setting highlights the surreal and often senseless nature of war. The soldier’s expression, whether one of boredom or emotional numbness, underscores the often mundane reality of conflict.

Read the full story here.

Insights of the Week

A vibrant retrospective of Henri Matisse bursts with color

Following an $82 million expansion, New York’s New Museum enters a groundbreaking era

Donald Trump unveils a new statue in Washington D.C., celebrating Columbus as an ‘American hero’

Hurvin Anderson’s art delves deeply into his African Caribbean heritage

After centuries of misattribution, works by Michaelina Wautier gain recognition in a remarkable exhibition

UK government considers entry fees for tourists at national museums

Claude Monet is reimagined in musical form, exploring his life and art through song

Masterpiece Highlight

Paul Cézanne, Montagne Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine, c 1887

Cézanne left the Parisian glitz to obsess over Mont Sainte-Victoire, seeing it not just as a mountain but as a canvas for exploring light and color, almost abstracting it into mere shapes and hues. The painting transcends traditional landscape to become a study in form and color, reflecting his deep connection to his Provençal roots.

Courtauld Gallery, London

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