From Picasso’s colourful and bold linocuts to contemporary British sculpture and paintings by artists such as Francis Bacon, George Shaw, Winifred Knights and Ingres, this month of June is brimming with exciting art and exhibitions to visit and discover around the UK. Here is Jackson’s definitive list of the shows not to be missed this month.
‘Still Life under the Lamp’ by Pablo Picasso. © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2016. Image courtesy of Trustees of the British Museum
1. Picasso Linocuts from the British Museum
This bold and colourful exhibition will showcase 17 large linocut prints by modern master Pablo Picasso, on display for the first time outside of the British Museum. Picasso explored the printmaking technique of linocutting in the late 1950s and early 1960s and the prints included in this exhibition were made in 1962 when Picasso was 80 years old. Artworks include prints from the ‘Jacqueline Reading’ series – his wife and muse – and the ‘Still Life under the Lamp’ series.
Showing at the Lady Lever Gallery from 24 June 2016 – 8 January 2017.
‘Turning a Tile Hill tarpaulin into something like silk’: The Living and the Dead, 2015–16. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist and Wilkinson Gallery, London
2. George Shaw: My Back to Nature
Well known for his highly detailed approach and suburban subject matter, British artist George Shaw unveils new works at the National Gallery, displayed alongside the works of Old Masters. Created during Shaw’s two year studio residency at the National Gallery and painted with Humbrol enamel paint (typically used to colour model trains and aeroplanes), Shaw’s new works create an otherworldly beauty and tension between the natural and the man-made in woodlands strewn with litter and other discarded items.
Showing at the National Gallery from 11 May – 30 October 2016.
3. Making It: Sculpture in Britain 1977–1986
Focusing on the late 1970s and 1980s in British art, this exhibition is the first to survey this period of time when a younger generation of artists emerged and shared a revived interest in the sculpted object, in materials, and in ideas around making. Making It will include works by over 40 major artists including Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Cornelia Parker and Alison Wilding among many others.
Showing at the City Art Centre from 7 May – 3 July 2016.
American Survey Officer (1969) by Bhupen Khakhar. Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
4. Bhupen Khakhar: You Can’t Please All
Opening at the Tate Modern this Summer, this landmark exhibition celebrates the extraordinary work of Indian artist Bhupen Khakhar (1934–2003), one of the key figures in modern Indian art. From vivid works on canvas, to luminous watercolour paintings and experimental ceramics, the Tate Modern brings together Khakhar’s work from across five decades for the first time since the artist’s death, exploring the artist’s signature paintings with influences ranging from devotional aesthetics and street culture to European painting and pop art.
Showing at the Tate Modern from 1 June – 6 November 2016.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Dante offering his Works to Homer (study for the Apotheosis of Homer), about 1827 and about 1864-5 © Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen / photo: Pernille Klem
5. Painters’ Paintings: From Van Dyck to Freud
Presenting works from the private acquisitions of major artists such as Freud, Matisse, Degas, Leighton, Watts, Lawrence, Reynolds, and Van Dyck, this new show spans over five hundred years of art history and reveals why these painters acquired other painters’ works. Works include Cézanne’s ‘Three Bathers’ once owned by Matisse, Sisley’s ‘The Flood. Banks of the Seine, Bougival’ once owned by Degas, and Gainsborough’s ‘Girl with Pigs’ once owned by Reynolds.
Showing at the National Gallery from 22 June – 4 September 2016.
Sonja Braas, ‘Firestorm’ (detail), 2008, from ‘The Quiet of Dissolution’ series. Courtesy of Fabian Claude Walter Gallery, Zurich.
6. Magical Surfaces: The Uncanny in Contemporary Photography
Exploring the uncanny and otherworldly, this exhibition at Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art presents the work of seven artists including Sonja Braas, David Claerbout, Elger Esser, Julie Monaco, Jörg Sasse, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld, all of whom have chosen photography as their medium. From David Claerbout’s use of fractal algorithmic software to Sonja Braas’ use of an analogue camera, these works push the boundaries of the photographic medium to create a world between reality and fiction.
Showing at the Parasol Unit for Contemporary Art from 13 April – 19 June 2016.
Francis Bacon 1909-1992. Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne 1966. T00879 Oil on canvas 839 x 686 (33 x 27)
7. Francis Bacon: Invisible Rooms
Tate Liverpool presents the largest exhibition ever staged in the north of England of one of Britain’s greatest modern painters: Francis Bacon. This new show looks at some of the artist’s most iconic and powerful paintings with a focus on the artist’s use of ghost-like framing around his subjects. Francis Bacon: Invisible Rooms will feature approximately 30 paintings including the haunting Crucifixion (1933) and Chimpanzee (1955), alongside a group of rarely seen drawings and documents.
Showing at Tate Liverpool from 18 May – 18 September 2016.
Below Carn Barges (Rocks Below Lamorna) by Robert Hughes. Oil on canvas. On loan from Newlyn Art Gallery.
8. Compass’d By The Inviolate Sea: Marine Painting In Cornwall From Turner To Wallis
This new ocean-themed exhibition at Penlee House Gallery & Museum celebrates the Cornish landscape and seas as a source of inspiration for artists in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The show traces the influence of Cornish artists on the development of British marine paintings, from Turner’s paintings and engravings from his visits in 1811 and 1813 to the works of leading British marine painters, such as Clarkson Stanfield, Edward William Cooke, James Clarke Hook, Henry Moor, John Brett, and Alfred Wallis.
Showing at the Penlee House Gallery and Museum from 18 June – 3 September 2016.
Held (2015) by Clare Chapman. 70×95 cm, Oil on canvas
9. Oriel Davies Open 2016: Painting
Bringing together works by established and emerging artists from the UK and overseas, the Oriel Davies Open 2016 showcases the diversity of contemporary painting, from the abstract and figurative, to the representational and imagined. Exhibiting artists include Clare Chapman, Ned Armstrong, Tom Pitt, Ellie Young and many others.
Showing at the Oriel Davies Gallery from 16 April – 15 June 2016.
Winifred Knights: ‘The Deluge’, 1920. © The Estate of Winifred Knights
10. Winifred Knights (1899-1947)
The first major retrospective of British artist Winifred Knights opens at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, as part of the gallery’s Modern British series, a programme of exhibitions devoted to critically neglected Modern British artists. Knights was an award-winning Slade School artist, and this show will present her completed paintings for the first time since their creation, including the apocalyptic masterpiece ‘The Deluge’ (1920), alongside nearly 120 preparatory studies, illustrations and portraits.
Showing at Dulwich Picture Gallery, from June 8 2016 – Sunday September 18 2016
Image at the top:
American Survey Officer (1969) by Bhupen Khakhar
Oil on canvas, 105.4 x 86.6 cm
Courtesy Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
