Exhibition of the week
Folkestone Triennial
The contemporary art scene hits the seaside in this admired festival of experimental interventions whose eclectic mix this year ranges from sculptor of found objects Bill Woodrow to Turner prize-nominated Lubaina Himid, among an array that also takes in Emily Peasgood, Amalia Pica, Sinta Tantra and more. Read our review here.
• Folkestone venues from 2 September to 5 November.
Also this week
Nature Morte
Contemporary twists (from twisted contemporaries) on the still life tradition should make this a highly diverting exhibition. Mat Collishaw, Cindy Wright, Nancy Fouts and Gabriel Orozco are among the emblematists of mortality playing with fruit and bones. Read our report here.
• Guildhall gallery, London, 7 September to 2 April.
Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael around 1500
Am I dreaming? Does that really say the dream team of the three greatest artists of the Renaissance are exhibiting together at the National Gallery? And for free? To call this a display of genius is a simple factual statement.
• National Gallery, London, from 2 September to January.
Bruce Nauman
A scintillating selection of the master provocateur’s works from the outstanding Artist Rooms collection. This follow-up to the same team’s magical Louise Bourgeois display proves that Artist Rooms truly is the pearl of Tate Modern’s free displays.
• Tate Modern, London, until July 2018
Antony Gormley
The renowned sculptor is taking over the Kent seashore – as well as participating in the Folkestone Triennial (above) he has a statue in the salty brine off Margate.
• Turner Contemporary, Margate, until 5 November.
Masterpiece of the week
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1813) by Thomas Phillips.
The masterpiece here is Byron himself, a living work of art who outraged and fascinated his contemporaries and inspired everything from vampire stories to decadent paintings before the ultimate surprise of his heroic death fighting for Greek independence in 1824. Phillips portrayed him soon after he “woke up famous” (his words) when the first two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage were published in 1812. He is wearing the traditional costume of brigands he met in northern Greece, as related in this poem. Byron is the prototype of every icon of modern self-invention from Oscar Wilde to David Bowie – and father of Ada Lovelace, a very early pioneer of the digital age.
Image of the week
Shaking off Bake Off’s twee pinnies-in-paradise image, bakers such as Katherine Dey (above) are using hyperreal cake sculptures of severed limbs, hearts and heads (in lemon drizzle), bowls of ramen and half-eaten trifles with cigarette butts.
What we learned this week
Architect Richard Rogers would think twice about tackling a Pompidou today
Art Detectives are solving mysteries for British galleries
Miranda July has landed a charity shop in Selfridges
One Italian photographer has been getting to grips with memes
Poet Lydia Towsey found life modelling radically changed her body image
Wildlife photography is for the birds
Hyperrealist illusion cakes are works of art
Pink Floyd may beat Bowie as the V&A’s most visited music show
Actor Dan Ziskie photographs the drama of the street
Notre Dame wants €100m to save its gargoyles
Palestinian refugees harness the power of photography
Spanish holiday homes get an architectural makeover
Larry Rivers was a master of provocation
The Royal Academy will explore Dalí’s explicit urges
Get involved
On 24 September, art scholar Edgar Tijhuis will lead a full-day course on how to write about art and make money from it at Kings Place, London. Book now to secure your place.
Our A-Z of Art series continues – share your art with the theme W for women.
And check out the entries we selected for the theme V for value.
Don’t forget
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