GALLERIES

Russian but also humanistic. I would very much like to feel the same kinds of things of the Rachel Whiteread show at Tate Britain but, after the Kabakov’s soaring, imaginative inventions and sheer humanity, I find this essentially a one note art, predicated on the idea of finding casting solutions to a whole variety of objects and structures and also the negative or interior spaces within them. This has covered everything from hot water bottles, wardrobes and tables to such celebrated architectural pieces ‘Ghost’, ‘House’ and ‘Untitled (Stairs)’ and led to commissions such as the Vienna Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial. The powerful human resonances of her work are thus felt by a great many; I just find myself too aware of the art still. N icholas Usherwood left M odigliani ‘Nude 1917’ Tate Modern with some 65 small rooms, each describing a whole range of imagined human projects, from the mad and desperate to the utopian and melancholic. What pure delight and wonder now to have a whole exhibition of the Kabakovs at Tate Modern and what nicely subversive timing in this 100th anniversary year of the Soviet Union, for if anything or anything can be said to comprehend the decline and fall of the Soviet ‘project’ it is the collaborative work Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have been producing since they first came together in exile in 1989. Though shaped by the experiences of their life in the Soviet Union (both were born in the 30s) their art has also moved on to a wider critique of contemporary society in general, and is all done with a profound sense of ideas, a biting irony, black humour and ultimately, also, compassion. Unmistakably huge sums in the sale rooms – but Basquiat has never had a major show in this country so the Barbican’s 30th anniversary celebration of his death in 1987 is particularly welcome. Having only seen his work in ones and twos, I remained sceptical of the hype around him. Not any more: in its range of reference, literary, musical and artistic, and the creative force and imagination that lies behind it, these charge graffitiesque collages are quite intensely cultured visual re-inventions of the highest order and of an utterly original kind. I still count visiting (‘seeing’ doesn’t do it somehow) the Kabakovs’ gigantic installation ‘Making the Palace of Projects’ in The Roundhouse in 1998 among the more remarkable artistic experiences of my life, a towering, glowing ziggurat of rooms shoe horned into the extraordinary Victorian engine shed and filled JANUARY 2018 GALLERIES 9 SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY EDINBURGH See gallery website for details. Map 3 SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, EDINBURGH A New Era. Until Until Jun 10. Map 3 SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, EDINBURGH When We Were Young: Portraits of Children from NGS. Until Apr 29. Map 3 TATE BRITAIN, LONDON The EY Exhibition: Impressionists in London. Until May 7. Map 19 TATE MODERN, LONDON Modigliani. Until Apr 2. Map 26 THELMA HULBERT GALLERY, DEVON South West Academy: Winter Exhibition. Jan 13–Feb 24. Map 10 12 STAR GALLERY, LONDON Land of Roses. Jan 10–19. Map 19 VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM LONDON Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic. Until Apr 8. Map 19 LEAMINGTON SPA ART GALLERY WARWICKSHIRE Lights of Leamington. Jan 19–Apr 15. Map 7 LEIGHTON HOUSE MUSEUM, LONDON The former home and studio of Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton. Map 17 NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON Drawn in Colour: Degas from the Burrell. Until May 7. Map 22 PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY, WEST SUSSEX David Bomberg. Until Feb 4. Map 13 PETWORTH HOUSE & PARK, WEST SUSSEX William Blake: In Sussex – Visions of Albion. Jan 13–Mar 25. Map 13 ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS, LONDON Charles I – King and Collector. Jan 27–Apr 15. Map 20 ROYAL ALBERT MEMORIAL MUSEUM & ART GALLERY, EXETER George Shaw: My Back to Nature. Jan 27–Apr 8. Map 10 BARBICAN ART GALLERY, LONDON Basquiat: Boom for Real. Until Jan 28. Map 26 THE BOWES MUSEUM, DURHAM New Light Prize Exhibition: Shining a Light on Northern Art. Until Feb 18. Map 13 COMPTON VERNEY, WARWICKSHIRE See website for details. Map 7 ESTORICK COLLECTION, LONDON The Enchanted Room: Modern Works from the Pinacoteca di Brera. Jan 24–Apr 8. Map 27 FRUITMARKET GALLERY EDINBURGH Jacqueline Donachie: Right Here Among Them. Until Feb 11. Map 3 GUILDFORD HOUSE GALLERY SURREY Sunday Times Watercolour Competition: 30th Anniversary. Jan 13–Mar 10. Map 13 HAYWARD GALLERY, LONDON Andreas Gursky: Photography. Jan 25–Apr 22. Map 13 Exhibitions in public spaces around the UK