Exhibition of the Week
Bruce Asbestos: Bootleg Shreg 2 – The artist who placed a giant inflatable snail in Tate's Turbine Hall brings his whimsical comic style to Exeter with a show centered on Shreg, a green ogre that clearly avoids any copyright infringement. At Exeter Phoenix Gallery from 25 April to 20 June.
Also Showing
Roy Oxlade
Rough, scrappy, primitive painting – reminiscent of the work of his wife, the remarkable Rose Wylie – by this significant figure in 20th-century British art. At Alison Jacques, London, until 30 May.
May Morris: Crafting a Legacy
Embroidery, wallpaper, watercolours, costumes, and jewellery by the highly talented youngest daughter of Arts and Crafts pioneer William Morris. At Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool, from 25 April to 1 November.
30 Years
Works by major artists including Philip Guston, Alex Katz, and Antoni Tàpies alongside younger talents, celebrating three decades of this commercial gallery's success. At Timothy Taylor, London, until 30 May.
Alan Charlton
New works by Charlton, who for over 50 years has produced entirely monochrome paintings following strict rules using only one colour: grey. At Annely Juda Fine Art, London, from 30 April to 7 June.
Image of the Week
It could be a modern art 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 a different sculptor: time. This peculiar, wobbly shape is a rock he photographed on Kangaroo Island, a landmass that separated from mainland Australia 10,000 years ago. Over millennia, nature has taken its course, wind and rain have done their work, leaving behind this hollowed form as a reminder of nature's 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 recent trip walking around Kenwood House with my father, a guide told us the story of how this Vermeer was stolen 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 haven’t had many hairy boiled eggs in my life, but if one showed up at breakfast looking like this, I’d be pretty 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. At Kenwood House, London.
Sign up to the Art Weekly newsletter if you don’t already receive our regular roundup of art and design news via email. Get in touch with any questions or comments at newsletters@theguardian.com.
