5 to See: This Weekend

The top picks for this weekend offer global dialogues, navigating international domains from China to Germany. Drawing a portrait of a changing landscape, these shows discuss worldwide growth and the resulting altered nature of the image through photography and installation.

Erwin Olaf: Shanghai, Danysz Gallery, Shanghai

Olaf’s highly cinematic photographers are defined by a strong sense of narrative. The series – which takes Shanghai as its location – is the second in a three-part project tracking the artist’s intercontinental travels. Traversing the boundaries between public and private spaces, many of the pieces examine the position of women in the city. From 7 April. Find out more here. 

Alfredo Jaar: The Garden of Good and Evil, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

This exhibition occupies both YSP’s underground and open air spaces, offering a selection of monumental installations which transform the park into an arena for political reflection. Addressing notions of human trauma and the state of image-making in a world defined by information networks, Jaar’s work is timely and socially responsive. Until 8 April. Find out more here.

Andreas Gursky, White Cube Bermondsey, London

Gursky’s large-scale photograph, Rückblick, constructs a fictional scene in which German political figures sit in front of Barnett Newman’s painted investigation into the sublime, Vir Heroicus Sublimis. The expansive work reduces the characters to tiny figures, questioning the effects of capitalism and globalisation whilst using digital manipulation to address notions of truth. Until 8 April. Find out more here.

German Art 2018, Galleri K, Oslo

Featuring well known pracititoners from Germany, this show offers an overview of the country’s notable contribution to the art world. Featuring names including Bernd and Hiller Becher, Thomas Demand, Candida Höfer, Thomas Struth and Wolfgang Tillmans, the collection provides a trajectory through the past, present and future of photography in the region. Until 29 April. Find out more here. 

Diane Arbus: A box of ten photographs, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington

At the time of Arbus’ death in 1971, the artist had completed printing eight of the sets in this portfolio. The collection paved the way for her posthumous career, and Smithsonian tracks its history from its conception in 1969 to 1973, unearthing how the series enabled a critical understand of photography as an art form.  Until 21 January. Find out more here. 

Credits:
1. Erwin Olaf, Shanghai Du Mansion Portrait 01, 2017 – 2018, Courtesy Danysz Gallery. 
2. Alfredo Jaar, The Sound of Silence, 2006. Courtesy the artist, New York and YSP. Photo: Jonty Wilde.
3. Andreas Gursky, Rückblick, 2015 Copyright: Andreas Gursky / DACS, 2018 Courtesy White Cube.
4.  Candida Höfer, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, 2006.
5. Diane Arbus, A family on their lawn one Sunday in Westchester, N.Y. 1968.