Museums are back
Hockney, Becket, Rodin and more
Museums are back, baby. We’re only a couple of days into the big reopening but already it feels like life is returning to normal - a normal where you’re actually allowed to see great art and artefacts.
The only downside to the lifted restrictions is that there’s now just SO many exhibitions to see. With many shows delayed by the lockdown, we’ve gone from 0-100 literally overnight. It’s (almost) an embarrassment of riches.
So as promised in my weekly news round up on Friday, I’ve pulled together some of the best bits of the key reviews of the biggest new shows. It’s been easy to miss them with a new blockbuster unveiled seemingly everyday.
I hope this helps guide you on what to see in the coming weeks (and don’t forget to book ahead). And if you read just one of these reviews in full, make it the very last one on the email. It’s a corker.
Love art, museums and galleries? Then my newsletter is for you, helping stay up-to-date on what to read - and what to see. Subscribe below (it’s free!)
Thomas Becket: murder and the making of a saint at the British Museum
Discover the murder that shook the Middle Ages in this dramatic exhibition about the life, death and legacy of Thomas Becket. From 20 May.
“This exhibition has plenty to fascinate history buffs. But its glory is to make the art of the middle ages come alive. The emotional story of Becket’s slaying and the strangeness of the rites and rituals that celebrated him provide a direct human connection with the people and images of a remote world. Suddenly the art of that faraway time seems brutally contemporary.” The Guardian
“Murder and the Making of a Saint presents itself as a story in over 100 objects, and the collection is sublime: the blue and gold reliquaries are mesmerising, as is the vast array of religious tat that would’ve been sold to Chaucer’s pilgrims.” The Telegraph
“This is a marvellous, multifaceted exhibition which, in its mission to bring history to imaginative life, resurrects not just a solitary figure but an entire age of faith”. The Times
Grayson’s Art Club at Manchester Art Gallery
An exhibition of works selected by artist Grayson Perry during Grayson’s Art Club, the popular Channel 4 TV series. Open now
“Wonderfully, there’s no room for cynicism in this celebratory show that is the post-lockdown party we all need.” The Guardian
The EY Exhibition: The Making of Rodin at Tate Modern
Auguste Rodin broke the rules of classical sculpture to create an image of the human body that mirrored the ruptures, complexities and uncertainties of the modern age. This major exhibition is the first to focus on the importance of plaster in his work. Open now
“It’s a handsome palette-cleanser of a show, but nevertheless, an odd choice for Tate Modern, particularly coming only two years after the British Museum’s Rodin exhibition.” The i
“Tate’s bizarrely censorious attitude does a disservice to The Making of Rodin… Enough with the finger-wagging. If you don’t like the work, don’t show it. The trouble with all the tutting is that it acts as a buzzkill. We arrive expecting Rodin to be the exhibition’s hero. By the end, he’s the villain of the piece.” The Telegraph
Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser at the V&A
This immersive and theatrical show charts the evolution of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from manuscript to a global phenomenon beloved by all ages. From 22 May.
“it feels genuinely good for the soul to wander around an exhibition which is an unapologetic celebration of brain-expanding curiosity. It’s the perfect antidote after months of staring at screens.” Evening Standard
“Alice is revealed here to be so universal, so multifarious in modern culture that pinning down the Mad Hatter’s tea party or Jabberwocky to one interpretation, one idée fixe is futile…See this and feed your head.” The Guardian
Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street at the Design Museum
Step up and discover the footwear phenomenon that has challenged performance design, inspired subcultures and shaken the world of fashion. Open now
“There are some incredible shoes here. It’s quite astonishing to see all these pairs together in one place, a technicolour medley of shapes and styles, especially when you consider how rare some of them are, and how valuable.” Evening Standard
“The Design Museum tells the stories of these subcultures in its trademark vibrant, arresting style…And, of course, there are sneakers. So many sneakers.” City AM
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms at Tate Modern
A rare chance to experience two of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms. These immersive installations will transport you into Kusama’s unique vision of endless reflections. From 14 June
“this is endlessly entrancing. I could have stayed an hour. It’s like being in the world’s most restful videogame.” Evening Standard
“Although such installations are perceptually complex and disorientating, their spectacular effects are all too readily assimilable to Instagram…The staging of her lights and mirrors remind me less of star-fields or pinging neurons and networks of firing synapses, as of airports or refineries at night.” The Guardian
David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020 at the Royal Academy of Arts
In the midst of a pandemic, David Hockney RA captured the unfolding of spring on his iPad, creating 116 new and optimistic works in praise of the natural world.
“Despite Hockney’s admirable enthusiasm to record dramatic seasonal effects, his embrace of new technologies and his sheer productivity, even amid the pandemic, this show is deeply unsatisfying.” Evening Standard
“I hate these paintings. I hate them in my bones. I hate that the Royal Academy walls are plastered in them. I don’t know why this is happening.” City AM
Love art, museums and galleries? Then my newsletter is for you, helping stay up-to-date on what to read, and what to see. Subscribe below (it’s free!)