Exhibition of the week<\/p>\n
To Improvise a Mountain Also showing<\/p>\n The Sleepers Harold Gosney Irma H\u00fcnerfauth Ahmet Do\u011fu \u0130pek Image of the weekMartin Parr\u2019s Gourock Lido, 2004. Photograph: Martin Parr\/Magnum Photos<\/p>\n \u201cI make serious photographs disguised as entertainment,\u201d said Martin Parr, the photographer acclaimed for his observations of British life, who died last week<\/a> aged 73. In August, Parr looked back at his life through his photographs \u2013 from the super-saturated snapshots of church fetes and Conservative clubs, to his wry portraits of British leisure \u2013 and talked us through them<\/a>.<\/p>\n What we learned<\/p>\n Japanese artisans using ancient techniques create a dazzling array of exquisite everyday artefacts<\/a><\/p>\n Polish artist Zofia Kulik manipulates images of male nudes to comment on masculine power-plays<\/a><\/p>\n The London underground is home to an overlooked collection of distinctive designs on its seats<\/a><\/p>\n Nnena Kalu became the first artist with a learning disability to win the Turner prize<\/a><\/p>\n Frank Gehry, who died last week, changed architecture for ever<\/a><\/p>\n Former puppet maker Ron Mueck\u2019s new sculptures are wowing Sydney gallery goers<\/a><\/p>\n The Ghanaian capital Accra is showing off its spectacular art scene<\/a><\/p>\n Masterpiece of the week<\/p>\n An Astrologer by Cornelis Bega, 1663<\/p>\n Photograph: Album\/Alamy<\/p>\n Science takes a cool view of magic in this icily observed 17th-century painting. Cornelis Bega\u2019s almost clinical style could easily be mistaken for a much later artist\u2019s photorealist work. In fact, it reflects the optical discoveries \u2013 telescopes, microscopes, experiments with projection and the camera obscura \u2013 that were at the heart of the scientific revolution then taking hold in Europe. Galileo had led the way and the likes of Boyle, Hooke and Newton were transforming knowledge. Where did this leave occult practices such as astrology that had for so long delivered illusory knowledge? This astrologer looks lost, sitting melancholically among his nonsensical books. He fears the coming of the age of reason. Sign up to the Art Weekly newsletter<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already receive our regular roundup of art and design news via email, please sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n
Painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye portrays fictional people in made-up settings. Where does she get her haunting ideas? Here she reveals her inspirations from Walter Sickert to Bas Jan Ader.
MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, until 25 January<\/a><\/p>\n
Helen Cammock, Tracey Emin and others explore what it is to sleep, and not to be able to sleep.
Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, until 22 February<\/a><\/p>\n
A close look at how this Yorkshire sculptor works with bronze and other materials to evoke nature.
York Art Gallery until 28 June<\/a><\/p>\n
This 20th-century German artist created sci-fi sculptures that oppose militarism and the cold war.
Arcadia Missa, London, until 16 December<\/a><\/p>\n
Ancient standing stones and Cornish landscapes as seen by this Istanbul artist on a residency in St Ives.
Tate St Ives until 8 March<\/a><\/p>\n
National Gallery, London<\/a><\/p>\n