UK Reviews

From an unexpected exhibition of works by a Renaissance oddball at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, to Ming Smith’s first UK solo show at Pippy Houldsworth, London

Two major exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Basel and Hayward Gallery unravel the artist’s vulnerabilities through text, textile and the human figure

‘Surrealism Beyond Borders’ is a comprehensive overview of one of the 20th century’s most influential movements

A major exhibition at London’s V&A makes a beautiful show of the rich realm of menswear but misses some fundamental basics

A new exhibition at Goldsmiths CCA, London, invites 47 artists to propose solutions to that reliably problematic artform, the monument

From a groundbreaking group exhibition of Black ceramicists to Rachel Jones’s suite of colourful, new paintings

At The Approach, London, the artist’s latest series dissects classical Hollywood headshots and film stills, leaving only the ghostly outlines of absent stars

The artist’s inaugural show at Simon Lee, London, draws from the annals of cinema history – from Rainer Werner Fassbinder to Chantal Akerman

An intimate new exhibition at London’s Two Temple Place explores how Black female artists – from Ladi Kwali to Shawanda Corbett – have reimagined one of the world’s oldest art forms

At New Art Gallery Walsall, a founding member of BLK Art Group depicts the near future through the anxieties of the present

From Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s interactive exploration of Black trans allyship to Lubaina Himid’s overdue retrospective at Tate Modern

‘She Keeps Me Damn Alive’ at Arebyte Gallery, London, is a digital game tasking visitors to protect Black trans lives against a monster feeding on marginalized groups

An impassioned show of new works at Sim Smith, London, affirms the artist’s longstanding engagement with queer sisterhood, solidarity and survival

At Seventeen, London, a group show engineered by Joey Holder and Omsk Social Club presents itself as a creepy ‘Squid Game’-esque clinic

At Nottingham Contemporary the group show – billed as an ‘exhibition-as-sci-fi-novel’ – presents a speculative reality shaped by environmental crisis

An overdue show at Tate Modern, London, focuses on the artist’s preoccupation with theatre but fails to enliven her previous triumphs

The artist’s debut UK exhibition at Pilar Corrias, Savile Row, delights through spinning environmental ethics with a grotesque sensibility

These are the best exhibitions of the year – from a chronically overdue retrospective of Paula Rego to a debut offering of obfuscated, sexualised sculpture by Jack O’Brien

A characteristically understated exhibition at The Modern Institute uses light and domestic materials to allude to inimical forces at play in the home

At The Box, Plymouth, the paradigm-shifting show presents more than 300 paintings, sculptures, ceramics, weavings and films in blazing celebration of the profoundly rich culture