Exhibition of the week
Julie Mehretu and Louise Bourgeois
One of today’s most powerful abstract artists and the last of the 20th century’s great surrealists make a substantial double act.
• Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, 22 January to 24 March.
Also showing
Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of Memory
The intimate painter of French domesticity brings his eerie calm to Tate Modern.
• Tate Modern, London, 23 January to 6 May.
Richard Pousette-Dart
It’s well worth discovering the cosmic abstractions of this little-known American painter.
• Pace Gallery, London, until 20 February.
Fausto Melotti
Stylish abstract sculpture inflected by a scientific sensibility.
• Estorick Collection, London, until 7 April.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A jaguar killing a caiman and wasps rolling mud balls are among the moments of wonder in this epic view of life on Earth by professional and amateur photographers.
• Natural History Museum, London, until 30 June.
Masterpiece of the week
Samson and Delilah, c.1609-10, by Peter Paul Rubens
Rubens painted this sultry scene in his home town Antwerp soon after returning from a long stay in Italy. It glows with what he discovered there. Samson’s rippling, ridged back is a homage to Michelangelo’s male nudes. The dramatic lighting set against nocturnal darkness emulates Caravaggio, who died in 1610 as this painting was finished. Rubens was powerfully struck by Caravaggio’s revolutionary art. He was instrumental in getting Caravaggio’s Death of the Virgin to the collection of Charles I in England. Yet the yellow glow that illuminates Samson’s mighty back is much more buttery than anything by Caravaggio. However much he imitates Italian art Rubens is always, deep down, a Flemish artist with a rollicking peasant appetite for fat flesh and buxom cuddles.
• National Gallery, London.
Image of the week
Roden Crater, Arizona, by James Turrell
Rapper Kanye West has donated $10m to help complete James Turrell’s vast Roden Crater installation. The artist who specialises in exploring light and space has for decades been gradually transforming the extinct volcano into a huge observatory for exploring phenomena of the sky and cosmos.
What we learned
An umbrella-wielding rat in Tokyo might be a gift from Banksy …
… whose artwork on a Welsh garage sold for six-figure sum
… and we found out just what happens when the street artist daubs your property
Phuong Ngo is remembering Vietnamese refugees with 10,000 paper boats
The British government wants housing to look more beautiful …
… while one Spanish city would prefer things to be uglier
Hardeep Pandhal’s cartoons untangle the legacy of empire
2019 will be a year for anniversaries
Protest artists are building walls …
… while at London’s National Gallery, Bridget Riley is painting them
Spanish corporate art is a dissatisfying meal
Our technology podcast asked: can computers be creative?
Photo50 has a twist on family portraits
Film director Peter Greenaway plans a racy installation in honour of Jack Kerouac
A Belgian church has lost its Michelangelo
A new opera house has risen in Nevill Holt, Leicestershire
Illustrator Carol Adlam took a fresh look at Nottingham
One grieving artist found strength in inspirational women
Rock band Toto will play Africa for ever
Norway’s favourite painting is coming to Britain
Photographer Kathy Shorr shot Brooklyn from a limo …
… while KangHee Kim gazes at the sunsets in New York
Carla Kogelman’s best shot is of children playing on a swing
Koen Wessing recorded postwar history around the world
English regions are to benefit from a £20m culture fund
We remembered stage designer Dacre Punt
Don’t forget
To follow us on Twitter: @GdnArtandDesign
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