Tabish Khan the @LondonArtCritic picks his Top 5 Art Exhibitions to see in London in July. Each comes with a concise review to help you decide whether it’s for you. For more exhibitions see his top picks for Summer.
Michelangelo: The Last Decades @ The British Museum
It’s time to see a subtler and more delicate side to the man behind David and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This is Michelangelo in later life when he produced delicate drawings and letters to his closest confidantes. It’s a different side to the Renaissance master and one worth seeing. Until 28th July.
Yoan Capote: See Escapes @ Ben Brown Fine Art
These landscapes created using fish hooks and barbed wire are spectacular, and they need to be seen in person to see how spectacular they are in their fine details. I’ve seen the fish hook seascapes before but the clouds of barbed wire were new to me and both are equally impressive. Until 26th July.
The Last Caravaggio @ The National Gallery.
Dramatic lighting is what we’ve come to expect from Caravaggio paintings and that’s what we get in the brutal martyrdom of St Ursula. It’s considered his last painting and it hangs alongside the gallery’s own stunning Caravaggio in a top-drawer one-room display. Until 21 July, free.
Harmony Korine: Aggressive Drifert II @ Hauser & Wirth
I like the feel of these paintings that look like screen grabs of a film that was made using a thermal imaging camera. Whether that be close-ups of hands or a head under a balaclava every work has a feeling of threat as it’s a technology we associate with the military and in my case the film Predator. Until 27th July.
Merete Rasmussen: Undulations @ Pangolin
Sometimes you see sculpture that just mesmerises you with its curves and its texture and that’s what happened when I saw Merete Rasmussen’s stunning sculptures made from ceramic and bronze, with their tactile dimpled texture. Until 20th July.
Michelangelo image © The Trustees of the British Museum, Caravaggio image © Archivio Patrimonio Artistico Intesa Sanpaolo / foto Luciano Pedicini, Napoli, Harmony Korine image © Harmony Korine. Photo: Keith Lubow. All other images copyright and courtesy artist and gallery.
