Some fantastic art exhibitions have burst onto the London scene since the New Year. Aside from last month’s arrival of the highly anticipated pop art showcase, Lichtenstein: A Retrospective (at the Tate Modern until May 27), here are three others we recommend you see before they’re gone:
Man Ray Portraits, National Portrait Gallery
This exhibition, the first major retrospective of Man Ray’s avant-garde photography, takes viewers on a journey through the artist’s career between 1916 and 1968, via iconic portraits of Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Ava Gardner, Catherine Deneuve and Lee Miller — contemporaries, friends and lovers he captured on film in Paris, New York and Hollywood. On show until May 27.
Light Show, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
This spatial and sensory exploration of light through a dazzling display of installations and sculptures from the 1960s to modern day is curated from a 22-strong roster of artists, including Ivan Navarro, Bill Culbert, Cerith Wyn Evans and David Batchelor. It’s a smile-inducing feast for the eyes. On show until May 6.
Manet: Portraying Life, Royal Academy of Arts
This first-ever retrospective of Edouard Manet’s portraits features more than 50 works spanning his career. The 19th-century Parisian artist’s family, friends and luminaries of the time are among the subjects who sat for him, on display here in a series that beautifully captures life at the time. On show until April 14.
Photos Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Tate Modern and David Batchelor
