Archive

Jiang Dahai: ‘There are universal values shared among artists and scholars around the world’

The Chinese-born artist unfolds his search for abstraction in all art, his pursuit of musicality and why all art should be judged by the same standards regardless of nationality
Laura Owens

Laura Owens’s dynamic abstract paintings, accompanied her own quirky audio guide, ensure there is never a dull moment in this vibrant exhibition
Intrigue: James Ensor by Luc Tuymans

Ensor’s star has remained dim in the UK. This small exhibition of his works, selected by fellow Belgian and lifelong admirer Tuymans, establishes Ensor as a major figure of his era
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec: Rêveries Urbaines

Dreaming of new ways to connect humans to cities, the Paris-based brothers have sidestepped architectural rhetoric to ignite imaginations with a handful of inspired, three-dimensional sketches
Magnus Plessen: ‘I try to undo or confuse any preconceived ideas while working on a painting’

The German artist talks about his latest show at White Cube in London, which includes paintings done in the past two years as part of his continuing project, 1914, looking at the horrors inflicted on first world war soldiers
Monica Bonvicini: ‘It is not merely a display of sculptures and objects but a praxis about what it means to produce, show and display’

The Italian artist talks about her survey show at Baltic and how bringing together her works in new combinations helps her see them in different ways
Wael Shawky: ‘When you invert language, you make it even stronger’

With two exhibitions of his work opening in Italy this month, Wael Shawky talks about his film-making, connecting literature with myth and history, and why he uses marionettes and children as his protagonists
In Focus: Stanley Spencer – A Panorama of Life

This bite-size exhibition offers a concise but surprisingly thorough overview of the artist’s life in, and love for, Cookham; his complex personal relationships; and his dedication to depicting everyday domestic life through a religious lens
Anthea Hamilton: ‘There is something quite liberating about knowing that you can’t always resolve things because it gives you the freedom to go for it’

The Turner Prize-nominated artist talks about her experience of reimagining the Kettle’s Yard collection at the University of Cambridge in a contemporary and collaborative fashion
Cheng Ran: Diary of a Madman

For his first solo US exhibition, the Chinese artist presents his view of New York through a multimedia installation. It’s a fascinating insight into the city seen through the eyes of a stranger
Century: 100 Modern British Artists

The UK may be struggling with its identity in a globalised world, but the artists of the past century knew exactly who we were, as seen in this joyous and playfully curated sweep through 20th-century British art
György Jovánovics: ‘A relief shows a dynamic promise, which is more than what one can see at first glance’

The Hungarian neo-avant-garde relief artist unravels his enduring interest in the abstract possibilities of drapery, his belief that reliefs should be afforded the status of a fine art in their own right, and the difficulties of staying connected to contemporary…
Donna Huanca: ‘Memory is perhaps the most permanent architecture’

The Chicago-born artist discusses shedding skin, the idea of permanence, and being involved in Manifesta 11
Maureen Gallace: ‘I wasn’t straining to do anything clever with such an odd or seemingly unfashionable way of painting’

For her third solo exhibition at Maureen Paley, London, the New York-based painter shows a group of new works that continue to mystify with their enigmatic portrayals of secluded houses and nature scenes
Peter Wächtler: ‘It’s a strange mixture of respect, and total disrespect’

The Berlin and Brussels-based artist discusses the benefits of repetition, grappling with tradition, and being an extra in a film with Tom Cruise
South Africa: The Art of a Nation

This exhibition is packed with fantastic items that tell stories of resilience and resistance. But they are not given the space they deserve
Thinking Pictures: Moscow Conceptual Art in the Dodge Collection

As viewers, we witness Moscow conceptualism caught in a perpetual bind between the Romantic obscurity of the “inside” and the unattainable transparency of the “outside.” For us, then, Moscow conceptualism remains incurably Romantic
Piotr Lakomy: Room Temperature

For his latest instalment at the south London gallery The Sunday Painter, the Polish artist poses questions about our relationship to the objects, architecture and nature that surround us
Helaine Blumenfeld: ‘Beauty has no real meaning any more’

The sculptor talks about her ideas of beauty and pain, and how she learned to express these through a visual language
Joel Shapiro: ‘As an artist, you are synthesising the stuff around you in a way that engages you’

The influential American sculptor, now in the fifth decade of his career, brings out his wood wall reliefs from the late 1970s for their first survey exhibition, at Dominique Lévy in New York, along with a new installation
Ai Weiwei: ‘It’s about humanity’

Ai Weiwei is showing at four New York City galleries simultaneously. To mark this, Royal Academy America hosted an informal event at which Ai talked to members and the general public about his work and his mission
Leah Raintree – Another Land: After Noguchi

This modest exhibition consists of 10 photographs by Raintree of the work of Isamu Noguchi. Manipulating light and shadow, she transmutes his predominantly stone sculptures into otherworldly pitted lunar landscapes, Martian horizons and comets nestled within dustclouds
Athena Papadopoulos: ‘Art is a kind of alchemy: turning shit into gold’

Drawing inspiration from her childhood and her womanising, fur-dealer father, Papadopoulos works across painting, drawing, textiles and collage to create messy, domestic installations using materials such as bedsheets, tablecloths, red wine, hair dye and lipstick
Tim Benson: ‘I wanted my work to have more meaning’

The artist talks about storytelling through portraiture, and the human face of Ebola