Three August exhibitions: one to skip, two that smash

I love London for the way art hides around every corner.

Three August exhibitions: one to skip, two that smash

I love London for the way art hides around every corner.

That’s how I accidentally wandered into Jenny Saville’s show at the National Portrait Gallery. I’d never seen her work in person before — and here, suddenly, I was completely taken in.

Her commercially successful paintings are, of course, thick, monumental, and impressive. But what struck me most were the drawings (she’s an extraordinary draughtswoman): portraits of mothers with infants and an entire room filled with erotic works. The latter radiated such energy that we stood rooted to the spot, unable to look away.

I’ve missed good painting, honestly.

Everyone I talk to lately seems to have exhibition fatigue (is this a neologism or does it exist?). It feels like we’ve seen it all: endless abstractions, neon signs, video art on a loop. And then — a breath of fresh air: Pictograms: Iconic Japanese Designs at Japan House in London.

It’s about a visual language we all know, but rarely think about. From train station signs to emoji, pictograms weren’t created for beauty, but for clarity — to help us navigate space. Their modern form was born in Japan in 1964 for the Olympics, so visitors from around the world could find their way without words. Eventually, they became a global system of meaning.

Oh, and they pour an excellent matcha on the ground floor. Perfect plan: see the exhibition, grab a drink, and head to the Kyoto Garden in Kensington.

Somehow ended up at Kiefer / Van Gogh at the Royal Academy of Arts.

I thought that after the Summer Exhibition here (basically a glorified sewing-and-cutting fair), nothing in this space could disappoint me further. But it did. I’ve seen Kiefer’s work many times in person, yet here the connection to Van Gogh felt painfully contrived — “they both read poetry and were inspired by nature” — engineered to boost the market value of the former. Naturally, the partners include White Cube and the Rothschilds.