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Ben Luke

<p>The National Portrait Gallery </p>
Exhibitions

Wow! The National Portrait Gallery, reopened, has never looked better

At last the gallery is worthy of its magnificent collection

Jun 21, 2023
Exhibitions

Carrie Mae Weems at the Barbican review: a transcendent show

The American artist’s first major UK museum show is breathtaking

Jun 21, 2023
Exhibitions

Dear Earth at the Hayward Gallery: full of complexity and real poetry

The show’s greatest strength is that it’s hard-hitting, while refraining from too much sloganeering

Jun 19, 2023
Exhibitions

Life Is More Important Than Art at Whitechapel Gallery: just excellent

This is a show about the movement of people, about memory, and about human vulnerability

Jun 16, 2023
Exhibitions

Capturing the Moment at Tate Modern: all killer, no filler

Sure, the substance of this show is a little lightweight, but with banger after banger it’s totally forgiveable

Jun 12, 2023
Exhibitions

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: faith restored (after a test)

This display of depressing mediocrity is only saved by the work of a few true greats, like beacons in the mist

Jun 5, 2023
Exhibitions

Chris Ofili’s Seven Deadly Sins at Victoria Miro: phew, what a show

Oh my. These are among the best paintings he’s ever made

Jun 2, 2023
Exhibitions

Tomás Saraceno in Collaboration: Web(s) of Life: the anger is palpable

Interesting and necessary thinking abounds here, but that doesn’t always translate into effective art

May 31, 2023
Exhibitions

Tate Britain rehang: a masterclass in how to refresh a museum

The last 10 years have seen seismic change and the gallery has dealt with our new ways of seeing with aplomb

May 23, 2023
Exhibitions

The V&A’s Photography Centre: shows off 170 years of photo riches

Photography has never been more universal and diverse, and these handsome new galleries reflect that

May 22, 2023
Exhibitions

Sarah Sze: The Waiting Room at Peckham Rye Station: spectacular

The US artist has created a portal to a transcendent experience

May 17, 2023
Exhibitions

Radio Ballads review: affirms the transformative power of art

The show, featuring multiple films and video installations from four artists, takes a few hours to see - but it’s really worth the time

Apr 27, 2023
Exhibitions

Isaac Julien exhibition at Tate Britain: a sensual and beautiful show

The British artist’s survey show needs time to be seen properly, but it’s worth every moment

Apr 26, 2023
Exhibitions

Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian at Tate Modern: a fascinating show

You can feel the tectonic plates of art history shifting under your feet

Apr 18, 2023
Exhibitions

Steve McQueen: Grenfell at the Serpentine: you must see this film

This relentless, devastating, surveillance-style approach feels necessary. Nothing happens, and nothing needs to: you just have the evidence

Apr 5, 2023
Exhibitions

Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers review: an essential show

Artists like Lonnie Holley, Thornton Dial and Joe Minter are finally getting due attention, but this exhibition will leave visitors wanting more

Mar 14, 2023
Exhibitions

Nalini Malani at the National Gallery review – wonderfully poetic

It’s as if we enter the artist’s brain as she takes on 22 paintings from the National and three from the Holburne

Mar 1, 2023
Exhibitions

David Hockney at Lightroom: do we really need it bigger and closer?

The experience projects the artist’s seven decades of work onto huge walls in the new Lightroom space... but too much disappoints

Feb 21, 2023
Exhibitions

Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons at Hayward Gallery - a great survey

This sounded like an impossible exhibition, but the gallery has pulled it off with aplomb

Feb 21, 2023
Exhibitions

Peter Doig at the Courtauld Gallery: magnificence among the masters

This show proves the Scottish artist is almost unsurpassed among his peers

Feb 9, 2023