Exhibition of the week
Soundscapes
Artists and musicians including Susan Philipsz, Jamie xx and Janet Cardiff create aural responses to paintings in the National Gallery in this pioneering encounter of sound and vision.
National Gallery, London WC2, from 8 July until 6 September.
Other exhibitions this week
Richter/Part
More sound and vision. The authoritative painter of modern life Gerhard Richter is partnered with eminent composer Arvo Pärt for this year’s Manchester International Festival.
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, from 9-19 July.
Isa Genzken
Radically original paintings from the 1980s and 90s by one of Europe’s greatest living artists.
ICA, London SW1, until 6 September.
Thomas Hirschhorn
This always provocative and memorable artist brings his pungent radicalism to Camberwell.
South London Gallery, London SE5, to 13 September.
Laura Ford
Contemporary dreamlike sculptures in the atmospheric setting of Horace Walpole’s 18th-century “castle” where he wrote the first ever gothic novel.
Strawberry Hill, London TW1, until 6 November.
Masterpiece of the week
Lorenzo Costa – The Concert (c 1485-95)
Music has always fascinated artists, as this Renaissance painting proves, and so has the mystery of trying to communicate sound in the silent medium of painting. Costa manages it beautifully in this lovely work, the open mouths and harmonious poses of the singers making you almost hear their madrigal.
National Gallery, London WC2.
Image of the week
What we learned this week
How Damien Hirst created a monster (and why he’s decided to turn his hand to curating)
That John Waters has turned his hand to art – and wants to be despised
That Athena, that poster powerhouse from the 80s and 90s, is back!
... And here are Athena’s best posters (way more than just Tennis Girl)
That Marina Abramović has revealed plans for her funeral – her last artwork
The new towers set to ruin London’s skyline (from the Can of Ham to Gotham City)
That the pope’s portrait has been made – in condoms
That Jackson Pollock’s later work is art as nervous breakdown ... and it’s majestic
Warhol’s One Dollar Bill fetched £20.9m on a record night for Sotheby’s
What a sea of plastic looks like
That a beautiful bomb has hit south London
Why Juno Calypso went on a one-woman world tour of honeymoon hotels
What life at home is like for Mexican wrestlers (weights made of concrete blocks and all)
