5 to See: This Weekend

5 to See: This Weekend

Powerful documentary photography, dreamlike images and collaborative installations come together towards the end of April. Each show asks poignant questions about the future.

Work by Giuseppe Penone.

Giuseppe Penone: A Tree in the Wood, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

“The tree is a spectacular creation because each part of the tree is necessary to its life. It is the perfect sculpture.” Humanity’s intimate dialogue with the natural world is the subject of Penone’s work, played out through varied materials. Until 28 April.

Pier 54, A Human Right to Passage, 2014 © LaToya Ruby Frazier

LaToya Ruby Frazier, MUDAM, Luxembourg

Frazier’s powerful documentary practice engages with social, political and economic realities. The show includes The Notion of Family, drawing on three generations of women to document the decline of Braddock, a former steel capital. 27 April – 22 September.

Astrid Kruse Jensen, Parallel Landscapes.

Floating, Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen

The works of Astrid Kruse Jensen exist between dream and reality. In the experimental world of Floating, details are dissolved in double exposures, creating a playground for abstracted truths and disconnected memories. Until 1 June.

Taxicab driver at the wheel with two passengers, NYC, 1956 by Diane Arbus.
Photograph: The Estate of Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus: In The Beginning, Hayward Gallery, London

Looking to the first seven years of Arbus’ career, from 1956-1962, In The Beginning presents nearly 100 intimate, surprising and haunting images of life in New York City. Powerful portraits of diverse communities take centre stage. Until 6 May.

Farshid Moussavi, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, 2008-2012.
Photo credit: Dean Kaufman.

Is This Tomorrow? Whitechapel Gallery, London

Offering 10 experimental, multi-media projects, this show is a speculative vision of the future. It explores topics including our relationship to technology; the fate of the environment; society and the individual; security and freedom. Until 12 May.  

Lead image: Astrid Kruse Jensen, A Place She Had Always Dreamt.