This show follows the zigzagging path taken by abstract painters over the past 50 years and includes works by 49 artists, including Bridget Riley and Andy Warhol. Above, Bridget Riley, Cantus Firmus, 1972-3. At Tate St Ives until 3 January 2012
Photograph: Bridget Riley/Tate
A weirdly disparate series of installations by the renowned Berlin-based artist. Above, Klaus Weber, Large Dark Wind Chime (Arab Tritone), 2008. At Nottingham Contemporary, from 22 October 2011 to 8 January 2012
Photograph: courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, NY & Herald St Gallery, London
Edward Burra's home might have been the cosily cobbled East Sussex town of Rye but his art is anything but quaint. Sailors in dockside watering holes, Harlem strip joints, lorries and motorbikes were his kind of subjects. Above, Edward Burra, Saturday Market, 1932. At Pallant House Gallery, from 22 October 2011 to 19 February 2012 Photograph: www.bridgemanart.com
The satirical magazine turned 50 this year and this show displays work by some of its sharpest caricaturists. Further guffaws come from Private Eye's speech-bubble covers, which chart the magazine's evolution. Above, Private Eye front cover, No 340, Date: 10 January, 1975. At Victoria and Albert Museum until 8 January 2012 Photograph: Private Eye
Kendal provides an ideal temporary setting for this small but representative selection of works on loan from the Anthony d'Offay Artist Rooms' bequest by a sculptor who has gained international recognition turning country rambling into a fine art. Above, Richard Long, A Line in Japan, Mount Fuji, 1979. At Abbot Hall Art Gallery until 17 December 2011
Photograph: Richard Long
The Turner jamboree comes to Gateshead. This year the four contenders are Karla Black, Martin Boyce, Hilary Lloyd and George Shaw. Above, Karla Black, At Fault, 2011 (detail). At Baltic until 8 January 2012 Photograph: Gautier Deblonde
William Morris the storyteller is the focus of this show. Norse sagas, Chaucer's Tales, Greek myths and Arthurian legend weave through his exquisite tapestries and pre-Raphaelite paintings. Above, William Morris, design for King Arthur and Sir Lancelot stained glass panel, 1862. At Two Temple Place, WC2, from 27 October 2011 to 29 January 2012 Photograph: PR
This exhibition charts – not entirely without irony – numerous photo and video efforts to picture the ineffable, the invisible, the beyond. Above, Ulla von Brandenburg, Geister (Ghosts), 2010. At Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, from 27 October 2011 to 11 February 2012 Photograph: PR
