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exhibitions^ 14-20 Oct 2017^ guide^32

Five of the best

1

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov

The Kabakovs have created

some of the most poetic and

captivating installations ever.

Perhaps there is a special Russian

affinity for this art: the spiralling

interiors of Russian churches

are echoed by the Kabakovs’

fascinating spaces. Yet Ilya began

his career designing dreams

on paper while he worked

as a children’s illustrator. A

hundred years after the October

Revolution, this is a fascinating

view of the last days of the Soviet

utopia and its aftermath in the

imagination.

Tate Modern, SE1, Wed to 28 Jan

2

Soutine’s Portraits

The expressionist portraits

of Chaïm Soutine stick out like

a sore, slightly septic thumb

among the abstract paintings,

art deco interiors and surrealist

stunts of Paris between the

wars. The paintings here look

behind the high life of cafes

and grand hotels, at bellboys

and kitchen staff. Soutine’s

anti-glamorous portraits are

the visual equivalent of George

Orwell’s account of the city’s

underside in Down and Out in

Paris and London.

The Courtauld Institute of Art,

WC2, Thu to 21 Jan

3

Rebecca Warren

Where does the human

body fit into modern sculpture?

Is it something to depict or

something to evoke sensually?

Warren offers provocative

answers to such questions as she

explores the erotic, organic and

abstract in highly original forms

that knowingly parody French

rococo porcelain to Brancusi and

Bourgeois. A slobbering, molten

carnality pervades everything

this gutsy artist makes.

Tate St Ives, Sat to 7 Jan

4

Wim Wenders’ Polaroids

The films of Wim Wenders

are cool yet poetic chronicles

of changing times, with his

masterpiece Wings of Desire

preserving the look and mood

of Berlin before the Wende.

His Polaroids have the same

poignant perceptiveness. These

pre-digital instant photographs

constitute a visual diary of life

and art in the 1970s and 80s and

have been put on show by the

director with a sense of nostalgia

and the mystery of memory.

The Photographers’ Gallery, W1,

Fri to 11 Feb

5

Susan Philipsz

One of the most convincing

Turner prize winners of recent

years unveils a new sound work

inspired by Karl-Birger Blomdahl’s

1959 sci-fi opera Aniara. Would-be

travellers to Mars have become

stranded in space. Their pleading

voices drift through the gallery

from multiple speakers, in

what promises to be a haunting

evocation of a rootless world with

no direction home. The artist also

pays homage to David Bowie and

sings the Internationale.

BALTIC, Gateshead, Fri to 4 Mar

Jonathan Jones

 Chaïm

Soutine,

Bellboy

(1925)

 Wim

Wenders,

New York

Parade (1972)

 Ilya and

Emilia

Kabakov, The

Appearance

of Collage

#10 (2012)

exhibitions

ILYA & EMILIA KABAKOV; COURTESY ALFREDO JAAR