Our pick of this week’s art events: 7 – 13 November
Our pick of this week’s art events: 7 – 13 November
RA Recommends
By Sam Phillips
Published 7 November 2014
From Post-Impressionist views of British Columbia to ground-breaking design from the RCA.
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From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, until 8 March 2015
Featuring expressive Arbutus trees alongside totem poles topped by mythical creatures, the landscapes of Emily Carr (1871–1945) marked a turning point in Canadian art. Painted during her travels through aboriginal settlements, the works brought Post-Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism to scenes of British Columbia, while simultaneously drawing inspiration from First Nations’ culture. In this first European show of the artist, indigenous artefacts such as masks, baskets and bowls accompany Carr’s canvases.
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Transmitting Andy Warhol
Tate Liverpool, until 8 February 2015
Distribution, argues this new exhibition, was as important to Andy Warhol as production. As well as his serial repetition of Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali et al through the medium of silkscreen printing, his myriad projects in publishing, film, performance, music and broadcasting allowed him to disperse his ideas and images more broadly – from the launch of his celebrity magazine Interview to the multi-disciplinary series of happenings Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966–67).
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Polly Apflebaum
Frith Street Gallery, London, until 20 December 2014
The textile works of Polly Apflebaum have often developed from the achievements of American art movements such as Colour Field, Minimalism and Pattern & Decoration. But for her new show in Frith Street’s Soho space, following her residency in Rome last year, the artist’s fabric installations respond to the drapery of Renaissance and Baroque paintings.
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Maeve Gilmore
Ancient & Modern, London, until 20 December 2014
To mark its 50th exhibition, contemporary art gallery Ancient & Modern looks back in time and honours Maeve Gilmore (1917-1983), an interesting post-war artist whose work was overshadowed by that of her husband, writer and illustrator Mervyn Peake. I have only seen Gilmore’s paintings in reproduction before, so I’m looking forward to seeing in person how her post-war portraits gradually moved beyond naturalism to more surreal and gestural modes.
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Graphics RCA: Fifty Years and Beyond
Royal College of Art, London, until 22 December 2014
Although it’s not art and architecture (and therefore not quite the ken of the RA), the RCA’s show dedicated to its ground-breaking graphic design department is a must-see for me. It covers influential alumni including Pentagram founder Alan Fletcher, as well as the inventive work of younger practices such as Graphic Thought Facility, Why Not Associates, Kerr Noble, APFEL and Åbäke.
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Sam Phillips (@SamP_London) is Editor of RA Magazine.