It's 100 years since Mary Louisa Armitt bequeathed her library to the people of Ambleside to help safeguard the town's rich cultural heritage. Here, 15 artists present work in a centenary celebration, proving the relevance of the English Romantic tradition at a time in which our creative intervention into the natural world is of crucial concern. Above, a still from Family Tree by Chris Daniels. At The Armitt Museum until 22 March 2013
Photograph: The Armitt Museum
This show of 17 large works from the last 20 years demonstrates Fiona Rae's metamorphic methods as baroque elaborations mutate into geisha cartoons. While courting lyrical pleasantries, Rae always deepens her images with hints of an underlying disorientation and dread of being forever lost in this world of wonders. Above, The Woman Who Can Do Self-Expression Will Shine Through All Eternity, 2010. At Leeds Art Gallery until 26 August 2012
Photograph: Fiona Rae/Courtesy, Buchmann Galerie, Berlin/Timothy Taylor Gallery, London
Yto Barrada's photographs afford a cryptic significance to the apparently banal features of her native Tangier. The accompanying show by Bedwyr Williams relies on a more madcap form of mystification. He evokes an atmosphere of cultural siege, taping up windows and piling up sandbags. Above, The Hill Farmer, 2011, by Bedwyr Williams. At Ikon Gallery until 8 July 2012
Photograph: Bedwyr Williams
The fraught but soulful relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera became inseparably identified with the struggles of the Mexican revolution. This photographic exhibition charts their love story, which is rarely lacking in drama. Above, Diego y Frida compartiendo la mesa en San Angel. At Bowes Museum until 24 June 2012 Photograph: PR
The film trilogy And Europe Will Be Stunned … might be Israeli artist Bartana's masterpiece: a deeply provocative meditation on Jewish identity that levels political punches with surreal wit. Above, Mur I Wieza (Wall and Tower), And Europe Will Be Stunned, 2011, by Yael Bartana. At Hornsey Town Hall, N8, 22 May to 1 July 2012 Photograph: PR
This show tracks 100 years of artists looking to the future, experimenting with fresh technology and fashioning sci-fi visions. Earlier works include László Moholy-Nagy's abstract set designs for his montages of an underground city in 1936 film Things To Come, written by HG Wells. Above, Ein Lichtspiel, schwarz-wei-grau (Lightplay, black-white-grey), 1930 by László Moholy-Nagy. At Firstsite, 20 May to 27 August 2012
Photograph: László Moholy-Nagy
New work by an intriguing cross-section of 14 young London-based artists is brought together here in the ad-lib style of the Arnold Bennett collection of essays from which the show takes its name. The lineup includes Simon and Tom Bloor, who've made a name for themselves in the past few years with projects that pay half-ironic homage to Britain's unloved, ill-conceived public sculpture and town planning schemes. Above, An Inner City Afternoon, 2009 by Simon and Tom Bloor. At Waterside Contemporary, N1, 24 May to 14 July 2012 Photograph: Simon & Tom Bloor
As you might expect from an institution associated with the development of video art, Lux's first biennial, conceived in conjunction with the ICA, has all bases covered, from screenings to education and events. Eleven artists and curators at the forefront of the medium have been invited to put programmes together. Above, These Hammers Don’t Hurt Us, 2010 by Michael Robinson. At ICA, SW1, 24 May to 27 May 2012 Photograph: PR
