Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, Barbican review - the fabric of dissent

★★★★ UNRAVEL: THE POWER AND POLITICS OF TEXTILES IN ART, BARBICAN An ambitious exploration of a neglected medium

An ambitious exploration of a neglected medium

Judy Chicago created Birth Project in the 1980s, recognising with typical perspicacity that the favouring of “the paint strokes of the great male painters” over “the incredible array of needle techniques that women have used for centuries” has implications far beyond the precedence of one art form over another. She saw that a gendered hierarchy of art forms had contributed to the erasure of female experience, and pointed to the “iconographic void” where images of childbirth in western art might be.

When Forms Come Alive, Hayward Gallery review - how to reduce good art to family fun

★★★ WHEN FORMS COME ALIVE, HAYWARD GALLERY How to reduce good art to family fun

Seriously good sculptures presented as little more than playthings or jokes

Under the guidance of director Ralph Rugoff, the Hayward Gallery seems hell bent on reducing art to the level of fun for all the family. And as though to prove the point, cretinous captions strip the work of all meaning beyond the banal, while press pictures showcase kids gazing at large sculptures.

Entangled Pasts 1768-now, Royal Academy review - an institution exploring its racist past

★★★ ENTANGLED PASTS 1768-NOW, RA An institution exploring its racist past

After a long, slow journey from invisibility to agency, black people finally get a look in

In Titian’s painting Diana and Actaeon,1559, a cluster of naked beauties bathes beside a stream. Scarcely visible in the right hand corner is a black woman helping the goddess hide her nudity from Acteon who has stumbled into her private glade. The servant’s clothing and dark skin contrast with the pearly pink flesh of the nymphs – so much so that she almost merges with the tree trunk behind her, as though she were just part of the scenery.

Barbara Kruger, Serpentine Gallery review - clever, funny and chilling installations

★★★★ BARBARA KRUGER, SERPENTINE GALLERY Clever, funny and chilling installations

Exploring the lies, deceptions and hyperbole used to cajole, bully and manipulate us

American artist Barbara Kruger started out as a graphic designer working in advertising, and it shows. Her sharp design skills and acute visual intelligence now produce funny, clever and thought provoking installations in which words and pictures illuminate the way language is (mis)used to cajole, bully, manipulate and lie.

Dineo Seshee Raisibe Bopape: (ka) pheko ye / the dream to come, Kiasma, Helsinki review - psychic archaeology

The South African artist evokes the Finnish landscape in a multisensory installation

Rosemary, heather and hops. These are just a few of the ingredients included in a special blend of herbal tea created by artist, Dineo Seshee Raisibe Bopape. Subtle yet deep in flavour, the amber coloured tea has a calming, if not soporific and dream-inducing effect. Picked by Bopape on the Frantsila herb farm in Hämeenkyrö, Finland, the tea was then packaged and delivered to the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, and there partly incorporated into the artist’s current exhibition.

Paul Cocksedge: Coalescence, Old Royal Naval College review - all that glitters

An installation explores the origins of a Baroque masterpiece

"Beautiful outside, unmissable inside" is the is the new tagline for the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. If the restoration of James Thornhill’s painted hall wasn’t enough to prompt a journey on the Thames Clipper, Paul Cocksedge’s installation, Coalescence might do the trick.

Issy Wood, Study for No, Lafayette Anticipations, Paris review - too close for comfort?

★★★★ ISSY WOOD, STUDY FOR NO, LAFAYETTE ANTICIPATIONS, PARIS One of Britain's most captivating young artists makes a big splash in Paris

One of Britain's most captivating young artists makes a big splash in Paris

To take a trip into the world of Issy Wood is to be embraced by paradox. A richness of imagery that can at time shock with its blandness and at others seduce with a sense of wonder; a perfectly accomplished surface that reveals, with familiarity, a labyrinth of unexpected depth and sensuality; a confrontation with the glitz of hyper-reality that’s constantly playing with the illusory nature of all images; collections of apparent trivia bathed in an aura of mystery.

Mark Rothko, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris review - a show well worth the trip across the Channel

★★★★★ MARK ROTHKO, FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON, PARIS A show well worth the trip

Abstraction with emotion and soul in a landmark retrospective

The vast and various spaces of Frank Gehry’s monumental Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris suit the needs of the thrilling Mark Rothko exhibition now inhabiting its labyrinthine multi-storey suite of galleries.

Women in Revolt!, Tate Britain review - a super important if overwhelming show

★★★★★ WOMEN IN REVOLT!, TATE BRITAIN Protesting with all their might in both art and life

Women protesting with all their might in both art and life

The soundtrack to Tate Britain’s seminal exhibition Women in Revolt! is a prolonged scream. On film, Gina Birch of the punk band The Raincoats gives vent to her pent-up anger and frustration by yelling at the top of her lungs for 3 minutes (main picture). And in many ways, this whole exhibition is a scream of rage.