Saint Francis of Assisi (National Gallery, London)
This summer, the National Gallery celebrates the medieval Italian mystic — an enduring figure in art history whose asceticism, spirituality and love of nature have proved inspirational to artists from Botticelli and Caravaggio to Antony Gormley. The exhibition traces his influence across panels, relics and manuscripts as well as modern-day films and even a Marvel comic. To July 30, nationalgallery.org.uk
Tomás Saraceno: Web(s) of Life (Serpentine, London)
Spiders might be the first things that crawl to mind when thinking about the art of Tomás Saraceno. His arachnid installations invite crowds to sit amid artificial webs and ponder ecological themes. Now, birds, insects and people will all be able to enjoy his work in a “collaborative and multi-species exhibition” unfolding across Serpentine South and Kensington Gardens. Interactive sculptures will celebrate the interconnectedness of ecosystems and encourage us to engage more deeply with nature. To September 10, serpentinegalleries.org
New Photography 2023 (MoMA, New York)
African photographers take centre stage at MoMA with the return of its long-running New Photography programme for the first time in five years. The focus this time is on Lagos in Nigeria; seven artists — Kelani Abass, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Yagazie Emezi, Amanda Iheme, Abraham Oghobase, Karl Ohiri and Logo Oluwamuyiwa — present images of urban scenes, protests, archival footage, questioning in different ways what photography can be. To September 16, moma.org
Doris Salcedo (Fondation Beyeler, Basel)
Doris Salcedo’s mournful installations materialise catastrophe, violence, grief, remembrance and the deafening silence that follows. These themes reverberate throughout Fondation Beyeler’s retrospective of the Colombian artist, which brings together eight major series and 100 works from across her career. It opens alongside Salcedo’s installation “Palimpsest”, reflecting on the refugee crisis, which has been on show at the gallery since October. To September 17, fondationbeyeler.ch
Keith Haring: Art is For Everybody (The Broad, Los Angeles)
Keith Haring’s art might be everywhere, but the fact he’s never had a major museum survey in Los Angeles is a major omission. The Broad makes up for lost time with Art is For Everybody, a show celebrating the democratic spirit of an artist who sought to bring his energetic figures and line works to as many people as possible through graffiti, murals and merch. More than 120 artworks and archival materials from the late 1970s to late 1980s bring those efforts to life, culminating in posters highlighting Haring’s activism during the Aids crisis. To October 8, thebroad.com
Yoshitomo Nara: All My Little Words (Albertina Modern, Vienna)
The Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara’s drawings of scowling children are admired the world over for their punkish, rebellious spirit. The Albertina traces their evolution across 40 years of work; whimsical sketches on envelopes, exhibition invitations and restaurant napkins also offer insight into Nara’s thought process. To November 1, albertina.at
Erwin Wurm, Trap of the Truth (Yorkshire Sculpture Park)
Bread carved from marble, giant bronze pickles, sausage men — in Erwin Wurm’s sculptures, banal objects are transformed into props and characters in an absurdist theatre of contemporary life. This tasty spread will form a riotous show at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which also includes the Austrian artist’s interactive “One Minute Sculptures” and colourful “Skins” paintings. June 10-April 28 2024, ysp.org.uk
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Modena Paintings (Fondation Beyeler, Basel)
In 1982, the fast-rising art star Jean-Michel Basquiat was scheduled to open one of his first solo exhibitions at an Italian gallery. In the end, the show never went ahead and the large-scale works created for it were never publicly seen together. Now, gathered from international collections, they appear alongside each other for the first time at the Beyeler. June 11-August 27, fondationbeyeler.ch
Capturing the Moment (Tate Modern, London)
Tracing the vibrant dialogue between photography and painting, Capturing the Moment aims to highlight how the two mediums have shaped each other in the 20th and 21st centuries. Forty artists feature, exploring the influence of photography on painters such as Picasso, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Gerhard Richter and Alice Neel, as well as the painterly photographs of Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jeff Wall, Louise Lawler and Candida Höfer. Finally it turns to contemporary painters including Laura Owens, Christina Quarles and Salman Toor, who all use digital media in their work. June 13-January 28 2024, tate.org.uk
Secessions: Klimt, Stuck, Lieberman (Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin)
This show in the German capital tells a tale of three cities — and three major breaks in art history. At the turn of the century, Berlin, Munich and Vienna were avant-garde cauldrons bubbling over with Modernist movements such as Symbolism, Art Nouveau and Impressionism. Secessions explores these currents through 200 paintings, sculptures and graphic works by 80 artists, including an impressive array of Klimts. June 23-October 22, smb.museum
Carrie Mae Weems (Barbican, London)
One of today’s most celebrated African-American photographers, Carrie Mae Weems has spent decades building a variegated image of the US, asking burning questions about racism, sexism and politics along the way. Her survey at the Barbican, the first of its kind in the UK, provides an overview of her trailblazing career, from her breakthrough Kitchen Table Series (1990) to her recent panoramic video installation “The Shape of Things” (2021). June 22-September 3, barbican.org.uk
A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography (Tate Modern, London)
Even more African photography this summer as Tate Modern stages a multigenerational group show of photographers from across the continent. The show attempts to shed light on how artists are finding new ways to represent spirituality and identity, as well as confront urbanism and climate change. From portrayals of busy cities to surreal utopias, images, film and audio will offer diverse views of the continent. July 6-January 14 2024, tate.org.uk
Michael Rakowitz (Baltic, Gateshead)
The Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz continues his mission to resurrect the “ghosts” of lost or looted art with a new commission responding to the Iraq war. Evoking the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, his immersive installation will feature trees, hedges and herbs alongside cardboard sculptures that summon archaeological objects stolen or destroyed in the region since the US-led invasion in 2003. July 15-May 26 2024, baltic.art
Paula Rego: Crivelli’s Garden (National Gallery, London)
In the early 1990s, the late painter Paula Rego left her mark on the National Gallery with her monumental mural “Crivelli’s Garden” — a feminist reworking of a 15th-century altarpiece by Carlo Crivelli. With its recasting of friends, family members and gallery staff as biblical heroines, it invites viewers to remember an artist who fearlessly put female experience at the centre of her art. July 20-October 29, nationalgallery.org.uk
