This Week In Art : Monday 17th – Sunday 23rd July

This Week In Art : Monday 17th – Sunday 23rd July

Our weekly round-up of the best art exhibitions to attend, and engaging reads to keep you up to speed

What’s happening this week

  • Can art help treat dementia? New research suggests it can!  [Guardian]
  • The Aros Triennal (in Aarhus, Denmark) opens an incredible new show on climate change. [Art News]
  • Is the Venice Biennale marginalising photography? [Aperture]
  • In Detroit, Nick Cave’s new show is putting people in a dream state. [Hyperallergic]
  • Galleries and gallerists are finding innovative ways to survive unrelenting rent increases. [Art Newspaper]
  • Up in smoke! Police mistake an art installation for a cannabis farm and destroy it. [Independent]
  • South African photographer Zanele Muholi tackles disturbing issues through an emotional and deeply personal self-portrait series. [Guardian]
  • George A. Romero has died at 77. [Variety]
  • Geneva closes art exhibition after paintings ‘turn out to be fakes’. [Telegraph]
  • Luxury firms are using art to attract customers.  [BBC News]
  • Violent storms invade the Louvre, damaging art by Poussin and other holdings. [Artnet News]
  • Salvador Dali’s body will be exhumed next week as surreal paternity battle comes to a head. [Artnet News]

Openings

Our selection of must-see events to put in your calendar:

  • Trajal Harrell: Hoochie Koochie –  20th July to 13th August, Barbican Centre, London: The Barbican opens an ambitious exhibition from Trajal Harrell, collecting choreography and performances spanning the last two decades. The project will feature 14 emotional and stirring performances, including live shows and video projections. Watch out for dancing from Harrell himself. [Barbican]

Photograph: Barbican Centre

  • Katy Moran: Solo Exhibition – 19th July to 19th August, Modern Art, London: Katy Moran is back for a new solo show at Modern Art, exhibiting her new and colourful collages that take a departure from the sombre tones of her previous autobiographical works. [Modern Art.]

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Photograph: Katy Moran

  • Summer School : The Body Politic – 17th July to 21st, Drawing Room, London: Have you ever wanted the chance to attend workshops run by professional artists? Look no further than the Drawing Room’s Summer School 2017, ‘The Body Politic’, which is suitable for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. [Drawing Room]

Photograph: Joy Gerrard, Protest Crowd, (BLM, Oakland, July 08, 2016), 2017ICourtesy of the artist.

What not to miss

Don’t miss your last chance to see these exhibitions, now in their closing week:

  • From Selfie to Self Expression – closing 23rd July, Saatchi Gallery, London: The selfie sensation – self-promotion or art? This exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery is one of the first of its kind, taking a critical look at the modern phenomenon and celebrating the newest form of artistic expression. [TIME]

Photograph: Victoria Jones

  • Bambo Sibiya: Ubuntu Ngabantu – closing 21st July, Jack Bell, London: In Sibiya’s first solo show in the UK takes a look at the Swenka subculture from South Africa that developed in hostels around the harsh mining townships throughout the country. Sibiya’s paintings illustrate how the workers expressed themselves through music and clothing and their refusal to be broken. [Jack Bell]

Photograph: Custodians of the Swenka Movement , 2017 Bambo Sibiya, Jack Bell

  • Bernar Venet: Looking Forward: 1961-1984 – closing 22nd July, Blain|Southern, London: Blain|Southern stages a monumental tribute to the early career of French artist  Bernar Venet, whose work will also feature in Frieze Sculpture later this year. The show follows the artist‘s renowned practice over two decades, focussing on the pivotal works that defined his oeuvre. [Blouin Artinfo]

Photograph: Blain|Southern

Catch Up

Recently opened and unmissable. Make sure you save some time to visit these ongoing exhibitions:

  • Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power – till 22nd October, Tate Modern, London: The acclaimed exhibition shines light on the defining era of Black Power and the Civil Rights Movement; how this impacted African American artists, and in turn, how they changed the course of American art. [Guardian]

Photograph: Tate Modern

  • Joseph Beuys: Boxkampf für die Direkte Demokratie – till 11th August, Waddington Custot, London: Influential artist and thinker Joseph Beuys’ famed boxing match at documenta 5 is up for review at Waddington Custot. His 1972 sculpture ‘Boxkampf für die direkte Demokratie’ (Boxing Match for Direct Democracy), along with archival footage and amazing original photographs will be open to the public. [Waddington Custot]

Photograph: ‘Boxkampf für die direkte Demokratie’ at documenta 5, Hans Albrecht Lusznat, 1972