Art exhibitions not to be missed this week: July 29
The Queen’s Coronation 1953. A special exhibition at Buckingham Palace brings together, in the largest-ever Coronation exhibition, an unprecedented array of robes and uniforms from the day as well as the Queen’s dress alongside objects from the day and commemorative paintings in a range of styles. 27 July – 29 September at Buckingham Palace, London, SW1A 1AA www.royalcollection.org.uk
Architecture of War – the centennial of the First World War is marked in this thematic arrangement of a selection of IWM’s 20,000-strong art collection. It focuses on architecture during war and peace from the 20th century until now. The exhibit is divided into sections that include cityscapes, construction and interiors. This is one of the largest presentations of WWI art to date. 29 July – 5 May at the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ www.iwm.org.uk
Julian Stair: Quietus – the vessel, death and the human body. The celebrated British potter Julian Stair addresses the containment of the human body in death by the symbolic use of ceramic vessels. The exhibition was shown last summer at the Middleborough Institute of Modern Art, and this December will move to Somerset House. 31 July – 1 October at Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire 01962 857200 www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk or www.julianstair.com
Elizabeth Blackadder: The Nature of Things – a modest collection of subtle watercolours, focusing on flowers, stems and other delicate foliage. 2 August – 4 September in the Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6HZ www.scottish-gallery.co.uk 0131 558 1200
Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man. This exhibition focuses on da Vinci’s groundbreaking anatomical explorations during the winter of 1510-11. 240 drawings cataloguing almost every bone and muscle group and 13,000 in da Vinci’s distinctive mirror writing are on display 2 August – 10 November at The Queens Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Canongate, The Royal Mile, EH8 8DX www.royalcollection.org.uk
Stephen Bird: My Dad Was Born On the Moon – in his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery, Stephen Bird draws inspiration for his ceramics from Australia, particularly Sydney as that is where he is now based since growing up in Stoke-on-Trent. Catalogue available on request. 2 August – 4 September at the Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6HZ www.scottish-gallery.co.uk 0131 558 1200
Group exhibition: featuring work by Frank Auerbach, Stephen Conroy, Robert Devriendt, Hughie O’Donoghue, Nina Murdoch, Victor Pasmore, Celia Paul, Paula Rego, Joe Tilson and John Virtue. 30 July – 16 August at Marlborough Fine Art, 6 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BY www.marlboroughfineart.com 0207 629 5161
Gabriel Orozco: thinking in circles – often described as one of the foremost international artists of this age, this exhibition looks at how the circular geometric motif is used as a way to organize ideas of structure, organization and perspective. The highlight of this display is a series of large geometric works of acetate, made in the mid 1990s but never exhibited before. 1 August – 18 October at The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DF www.fruitmarket.co.uk
David West: gilded carvings – David West draws inspiration from Japanese art and his travels through Japan, along ancient pathways and into sacred buildings. He has shown across Britain as well as in Tokyo, and has been carving in wood for 40 years. Tickets available for a special talk by the artist and/or a Japanese dinner only on Friday 6th September. 3 August – 22 September in Sladers Yard, West Bay Road, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL www.sladersyard.wordpress.com 01308 459 511
Treasures from a hidden garden: plant portraits by the Florilegium Society – every month a handful of artists are given exclusive rights to interpret any plants in the Chelsea Physic Garden. This exhibition is an opportunity to view a selection of the society members’ botanical artwork. The Florilegium Society was founded in 1995. 1 – 30 August in the Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4HS www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk 0207 352 5646
Paul Reid: Mythologies – making contemporary references in his classical portrayals, Paul Reid’s realistic work in this major exhibition on the ancient world is open for interpretation. There will also be a special talk by the artist on Friday 16th August, contact Tommy Zyw at tommy@scottish-gallery.co.uk for reservations. 2 August – 4 September in the Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ www.scottish-gallery.co.uk 0131 558 1200
Jane Adam: Beyond the Surface – in her fifth solo exhibition at the Scottish Gallery, coinciding with the Edinburgh International Festival, Jane Adam makes use of unconventional aluminium in her jewellery pieces. She contrasts the natural forms but manufactured means of her work. 2 August – 4 September at the Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6HZ www.scottish-gallery.co.uk 0131 558 1200
Book launch (Natasha Solomons) and exhibition of portraits of women (Michael Taylor, Henrietta Young and Toby Wiggins) – an internationally-bestselling author and three portrait artists come together. The novel itself, The Gallery of Vanished Husbands, is written in the form of a gallery catalogue. 4 August (open by appointment until 10 August) at The Art Stable www.theartstable.co.uk
No Foreign Lands: Peter Doig (pictured) – this important exhibition focuses on recurrence of detail. Accompanied by a catalogue of essays by the curator of the Scottish National Gallery, and the curator of Contemporary Art in Montreal. 3 August – 3 November in the Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Natural Selection – a group show of international contemporary artists dealing with the duality between the manmade and natural – photography, painting, sculpture, installation and drawings by Paul Davies, Stewart Helm, Janet Laurence, Peter Newman, Angela Palmer, Mario Rossi, Gina Soden and Stephen Sack. At the Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, London W1 until 29 Aug. www.faslondon.com
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Closing Soon
Cleon Patterson: There Is A War. This nightmarish tableaux features scenes or a barbaric holocaust, deviance and abuse. It must be stressed that this not gross-out art and the artist believes that there is even a humour to the ‘over the top’ pictures which intended to challenge notions of beauty, horror and our own neuroses posing unsettling questions about good and evil. 5 July – 3 August at 8 Greek Street, Soho, London, W1D. www.theoutsiders.net
Everything Made Bronze – by Graham Ellard and Stephen Johnstone. Filmed using a spring-wound camera, the focus is the play on light in the Gipsoteca plaster cast gallery by Carlo Scarpa in the Museo Canova in Possagno, northern Italy; contrasting with the plaster workshops of Eugenio de Luigi, an important Venice-based collaborator with Scarpa. Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella. 26th June – 4th August in the Estorick Collection of Modern, Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, London, N1 2AN. www.estorickcollection.com/exhibitions
Trees and Birds and Landscapes – an exhibition of work by two North Yorkshire artists, the wildlife painter Jonathan Pomroy and Carolyn Smith, who creates beautiful, meticulous drawings of trees. Both are inspired by the flora and fauna of N. Yorkshire, at Gallery Beyond, The Barn, Church Street, Nunnington, York until 8 Aug. www.gallerybeyond.co.uk
Three Surrealists: Glenn Baxter, Anthony Earnshaw, Patrick Hughes. Varied explorative works with domestic objects and humour at Flowers, 21 Cork Street, London, W1S 3LZ on the 10 July – 3 August www.flowersgallery.com.
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