Exhibition of the week<\/p>\n
Frida: The Making of an Icon Also showing<\/p>\n John Constable White Cube at Claydon The Department of Euterpe Aleksandra Kasuba Image of the weekIt\u2019s a cover-up \u2026 La Caverne du Pont Neuf by French street artist JR. Photograph: AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Earlier this week, street artist JR transformed Paris\u2019s oldest bridge into a giant immersive cave-like artwork called La Caverne du Pont Neuf. The installation includes sounds from Thomas Bangalter, one half of Daft Punk, smells of damp earth from an expert perfumer, and is designed to evoke primeval fears of the dark. We spoke to JR to find out why he built it with no light at the end of the tunnel.<\/a><\/p>\n What we learned<\/p>\n Gilbert & George have a mystery collaborator<\/a><\/p>\n What it\u2019s like to \u201ceat art\u201d during a Frida Kahlo-inspired meal <\/a><\/p>\n A new photobook pays tribute to Spain\u2019s ineffectual napkins<\/a><\/p>\n A self-made nude is the star attraction at the Indigenous American Artists exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park<\/a><\/p>\n Sculptor Nicholas Pope, famous for his gravity-defying works, died aged 77<\/a><\/p>\n Tilda Swinton narrates Olivia Laing\u2019s The Lonely City audiobook, about how artists including Andy Warhol and Edward Hopper navigated loneliness<\/a><\/p>\n See Martin Parr\u2019s final commission at Lacock Abbey<\/a><\/p>\n In other French news, where to see the best art in Marseille, Aix, Avignon and Arle<\/a><\/p>\n Masterpiece of the week<\/p>\n Saint Peter Martyr, Giorgio Schiavone, c. 1456-61<\/p>\n Photograph: (c) The National Gallery, London<\/p>\n Christian art has a long history of violence. Frida Kahlo (see Exhibition of the Week) was arguably influenced by religious images of martyrdom that were brought to Mexico by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s onwards. However, this painting comes from Italy\u2019s east coast and is the work of an artist from the Balkans whom Italians nicknamed Giorgio Schiavone \u2013 \u201cGiorgio the Slav\u201d. His real name was Juraj \u0106ulinovi\u0107. Its brutal imagery of suffering has a directness that would echo down the centuries in the art of the Catholic world, intended to harrow, terrify and inspire the flock. Peter Martyr has a savage-looking sword buried in his head and a dagger plunged in his heart. He has been cruelly murdered, yet is alive in eternity, contemplating God. His face expresses pain and suffering: his lips are slightly parted as if muttering his dying words and a vein stands out throbbing through his skin. Schiavone trained in Padua and it is clear from this raw expressiveness that he must have been deeply struck by the sculptures of Donatello, the revolutionary Florentine artist who visited Padua and created an equestrian monument there. It makes you feel for this martyr who was, in reality, an inquisitor sent by the church to punish heretics, who then supposedly murdered him. 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
The great surrealist and self-explorer Frida Kahlo gets a show that emphasises her influence and posthumous fame.
Tate Modern, London<\/a>, 25 June to 3 January<\/p>\n
Open air sketches by the passionate, melancholy observer of nature who was one of Britain\u2019s supreme artistic geniuses.
British Museum, London<\/a>, until 4 October<\/p>\n
Rachel Kneebone, Cerith Wyn Evans, Enrico David and more show amid rococo and Palladian magnificence at this National Trust property.
Claydon Park, Buckinghamshire<\/a>, until 14 September<\/p>\n
An installation that digs into the fascinating history of Aby Warburg\u2019s art institute.
Warburg Institute, London<\/a>, until 3 October<\/p>\n
Summer\u2019s here and the time is right for experiencing this Lithuanian-American artist\u2019s nature-inspired sculptures and installations at Tate\u2019s seaside venue.
Tate St Ives<\/a>, until 4 October<\/p>\n
National Gallery, London<\/a><\/p>\n