6 days ago
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Exhibition of the week
Mat Collishaw: Move37
How many artists are really “cutting edge”? Collishaw is. He catches the essence of now in this eerie experiment with AI.
Seed 130, London, until 31 May
Also showing
Niki de Saint Phalle and Yayoi Kusama: Inner Child
Two legendary, subversive artists together at last in a delirious encounter.
Opera Gallery, London, until 5 May
Maurizio Cattelan: Bones
The artist whose gold loo got heisted at Blenheim reveals his latest ironies and japes.
Gagosian Davies Street, London, from 8 April until 24 May
Mark Wallinger: Gravity is the Weakest Force in the Universe
The Turner prize winner shows new works about gravity which is, he reminds us, “the weakest force in the universe”.
Tension Fine Art, London, from 5 April until 31 May
Anne Collier
Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath and Valerie Solanas are represented by relics in Collier’s photographs.
The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until 21 May
Image of the week
There can be few sewage facilities designed with the finesse of the new €139m (£117m) wastewater treatment plant in Arklow, which stands like a pair of minty green pagodas on the edge of the Irish Sea and whose inspiration was Sydney Opera House. Read the full article
What we learned
Pete Sedgley, key collaborator with fellow op artist Bridget Riley, has died aged 94
Artists shared grave fears over Donald Trump’s attacks on ‘anti-American art’
700-odd Post-it notes Ed Atkins drew on for his child are central to his new show
New York’s Frick Collection is set to reopen after a five-year, $220m renovation
Berlin’s Works on Skin project is selling artworks to be etched on the human body
The brilliantly odd work of Ken Kiff is being reassessed
A huge new show highlights how Paris became a haven for Black artists
The work of Vanessa Bell is emerging from the shadow of the Bloomsbury Group
Tate Modern was given a six-metre Joan Mitchell painting from a billionaire’s bedroom
Trees and humans merge in Giuseppe Penone ecstatic new show
Masterpiece of the week
Saint Sebastian by Matteo di Giovanni, probably 1480-95
How do you survive having your body pierced by a shower of arrows? According to the medieval Golden Legend, the Roman soldier Sebastian, who had converted to Christianity, pulled through after being shot many times by pagan archers. That made him a popular symbol of endurance, resilience and, above all, recovery from plague. This painting from 15th-century Tuscany may not be massively distinguished but it is typical of images of Saint Sebastian that were placed in churches and homes to protect people. It may have been commissioned as a personal prayer or spell.
We need to remember the otherness of the past and the religious atmosphere of former centuries before leaping to what may seem, to us, the obvious interpretation that Sebastian is a gay icon. That said, even this humble painting stresses his nudity, depicted with an elegant combination of muscularity and grace, as well as his dreamy face and an arrow just above his loincloth: there is sensuality in his suffering. Homoeroticism and piety may not have have been mutually exclusive: later medieval religion sought emotional contact, and if secret desire helped unlock it – why not?
National Gallery, London
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