After a winter in lockdown, we can’t wait to inject culture back into our lives. As the UK begins to open back up, it’s time for galleries to dust away the cobwebs and take us on a journey once more. Here, Margaret Hussey has rounded up the seven must see exhibitions of the summer.
Credit: Paula Rego The Artist in Her Studio, 1993. Leeds Museums and Galleries (Leeds Art Gallery) U.K. / Bridgeman Images © Paula Rego
Paula Rego showcases 100 exhibits by one of the most prolific and uncompromising artists. Highlighting her socio-political background and feminism, it features many rarely seen works from her early days to The Artist In Her Studio and beyond. At Tate Britain from July 7 to October 24, tate.org.uk
Credit: Guests in Conversation on a Sofa_ Studio 54_ New York_ 1979 © Bill Bernstein, David Hill Gallery, London
Night Fever: Designing Club Culture shows how art, fashion, lighting and sound all come together on the dancefloor. Looking at Studio 54 and The Hacienda among others, it also has a socially distanced silent disco. At the V&A Dundee now until January 9, 2022, vam.ac.uk
Credit: Portrait of Nero (Type IV), AD 64–8, Rome, Italy. Marble. State Collections of Antiquities and Glyptothek Munich, photographer Renate Kühling
Challenging common preconceptions Nero, The Man Behind The Myth, paints a different picture of the life and times of the Roman emperor through incredible artefacts from court art to street graffiti. From May 27 to October 24, britishmuseum.org
Credit: Key 21 David Hockney, No. 133, 23rd March 2020 iPad painting © David Hockney
Painted on an iPad during lockdown David Hockney: The Arrival Of Spring, Normandy 2020, showcases more than 100 works showing the progression of a season and the glory of nature. Classic Hockney. From May 23 to September 26, royalacademy.org.uk
Credit: Auguste Rodin Right hand of Pierre and Jacques de Wissant 1885–86 Musée Rodin
With over 200 works and unprecedented access, The Making of Rodin shows how Auguste was ahead of his time in representing the human form. Highlights include The Burghers of Calais and The Kiss. At Tate Modern from May 18 until November 21, tate.org.uk
Credit: Barbara Hepworth with Figure for Landscape and a bronze cast of Figure (Archaean) November 1964. Photo Lucien Myers © Bowness
To mark the eponymous museum’s 10th anniversary Barbara Hepworth: Art and Life celebrates the work of one of Britain’s most famous sculptors and artists. The largest exhibition of her work since her death in 1975, it runs from May 21 to February 27 2022, hepworthwakefield.org
Credit: Miracle window, Canterbury Cathedral, early 1200s. © The Chapter, Canterbury Cathedral
With an entire 800-year-old stained glass window from Canterbury Cathedral as its centrepiece, Thomas Becket, Murder and The Making of A Saint focuses on his brutal murder and its huge ramifications in the Middle Ages. A must for history buffs. From May 20 to August 22, britishmuseum.org
Featured image: Key 21 David Hockney, No. 133, 23rd March 2020 iPad painting © David Hockney
Further images: as credited within the feature
