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Anatomy of an artwork
9 October 2020
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes: a vision of vengeance
There’s a violent urgency to the 17th-century Italian painter’s iconic work, which resembles a female version of David and Goliath
2 October 2020
Nathaniel Mary Quinn's Lunch: the human form stripped back to its essence
The American mixed-media artist’s new work explores the way we perceive each other, especially during the pandemic
25 September 2020
Dana Schutz’s Boat Group: dystopian visions and existential angst
The American artist turns the still-life cliche, a bowl of fruit, into a crazed Raft of the Medusa
18 September 2020
Dana Lixenberg’s Big Shaan: a stark tale of neglect
The Dutch photographer and film-maker’s 20-year project preserves moments from a part of LA that the US would rather forget about
11 September 2020
Tavares Strachan’s Every Knee Shall Bow: cryptic clues
The New York-based conceptual artist reiterates the power of narrative, as told by the storyteller
4 September 2020
Victor Hugo's Dentelles et Spectres: phantom threads
The famous poet and novelist, and lesser-known painter, created shape-shifting visual creations
28 August 2020
Max Ernst’s The Joy of Life: horror rooted in the everyday
The great surrealist explores trauma by painting the woods, a stand-in for wild imagination in 19th-century Romanticism
21 August 2020
Sutapa Biswas’s Housewives With Steak-Knives: avenging goddess
The London-based artist challenges Britain’s colonial past and art history’s prejudices
14 August 2020
Rembrandt’s Bearded Old Man: captures an end-of-the-day feeling
A young Rembrandt painted this study in his mid-20s, honing his craft with finely layered paint
7 August 2020
Ruth Ewan’s Worker’s Song Storydeck: a Marxist magic trick
The Scottish artist made the film in collaboration with magician Billy Reid, swapping kings and queens for workers’ struggles
31 July 2020
Cao Fei’s Asia One: human behaviour
The Chinese visual artist delivers a surreal sci-fi romcom that speaks to China’s past and the global future
24 July 2020
Catherine Opie's Rusty: jock meets surfer dude
The American photographer known for capturing gender fluidity questions the age-old view of manliness
17 July 2020
Tullio Crali’s Tricolour Wings: cosmic vision
The Italian futurist painter who looked to capture the world from a new perspective conveys the thrill of flight
10 July 2020
Gordon Parks’s At Segregated Drinking Fountain: persistent inequalities
The American photographer was a pioneering voice in documenting the everyday radical divide
3 July 2020
Walter Wegmüller’s The Tower: the all-seeing eye of providence
The Swiss painter is known for creating a set of tarot cards, with the Tower seen as a sign of disaster
26 June 2020
Sunil Gupta’s Untitled No 12: love, poetry and protest
The Indian-born photographer known for capturing lives at the margins of society looks at the impact of Section 28
19 June 2020
Tschabalala Self's Pop: a vision of plenitude
The American artist explores the complex back and forth between personal desires and outside influences
12 June 2020
Mike Silva's Tempa T: the politics of representation
The London-based Swedish artist paints the politics of representation in stark and understated tones
5 June 2020
Jessie Makinson���s Furry Darkness: a carnivalesque party
The British artist paints a tantalisingly drama in an eerie landscape – a space for dreaming and reimagining
29 May 2020
C.G. Jung’s The Tree of Life: from Norse gods to eastern mysticism
Included in the secret Red Book, the illustration marks Jung’s departure from science into the realms of myth, magic and soul
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