Exhibition of the week
Hew Locke
Witty assemblage art that uncovers the darkness of Britain’s imperial history.
• Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, until 2 June.
Also showing
Anthea Hamilton
In an exhibition called The Prude, this witty pop eroticist continues her mission to resurrect the 1960s.
• Thomas Dane Gallery, London, until 18 May.
Martin Parr
The comedy and absurdity of life never misses this photographer’s eye or lens.
• National Portrait Gallery, London, until 27 May.
Joanna Piotrowska
Installation of black-and-white photographs by this Polish-born artist in Tate Britain’s Art Now space.
• Tate Britain, London, until 9 June.
Craft and Graft
See how scientific research works in this behind-the-scenes look at cutting-edge biology.
• Crick Institute, London, until 30 November.
Masterpiece of the week
The Florentine Renaissance is famous for obsessing about perspective and the mathematical modelling of reality but it also produced the visionary religious art of Fra Angelico. This painting – by him or done under his direct influence – shows why he entranced contemporaries such as Cosimo de’ Medici, who paid for him to decorate the monastery of San Marco in Florence. It is a soaring golden dream of heaven. The saints are portrayed with vivid, immediate humanity. Their assembly is like a council meeting that has been transported into ethereal realms. As a vision of Paradise, this echoes the last book of Dante’s poem The Divine Comedy. The Renaissance was a happy time when people preferred to celebrate heaven than brood on hell.
• National Gallery, London.
Image of the week
Restored with relish, the unhappy 1990s MK Gallery in Buckinghamshire is now proudly of its place. With eye-popping interiors inspired by a 1978 Habitat catalogue, this is a shining temple to Milton Keynes’ mythology. We went for a closer look.
What we learned
Joanna Piotrowska on her unsettling domestic scenes
Female photographers are battling sexism
The 2019 Deutsche Börse photography prize revealed its shortlist
Betty Tompkins found artistic inspiration in porn
Performance artist Carolee Schneemann has died, aged 79
Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, whose designs include an inflatable concert hall, has won the 2019 Pritzker prize
Henry Moore should never have gone near a chisel
Selfies were a thing in 1970s Birmingham
Hogarth’s grotesque masterpieces will be united by Sir John Soane’s museum
Clare Clark went on the trail of the Van Gogh forgers
Will Alsop’s last building is a scientific porcupine
Australian artist Rone has brought glamour to a decaying art deco landmark
Did Leonardo do a nude Mona Lisa?
Barbara Bosworth’s space photos are getting harder to take
Lucian Freud “refused” to paint Andrew Lloyd Webber
Leigh Bowery liked an outrageous look
Don’t forget
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