Exhibition of the week
Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art
The V&A reopens its gallery of art from all periods of Japan’s history: a refurbished and reinvented showcase for one of the most fertile of all artistic traditions.
• V&A, London, from 5 November.
Other exhibitions this week
Chantal Akerman
This exhibition of the Belgian film-maker was planned before her recent death and now stands as an epitaph for her searching art.
• Ambika P3, London, until 6 December.
Theaster Gates
Bristol becomes a cascade of sound and image in this collaborative project, the first British public artwork by this subversive US artist.
• Sanctum, Temple Church, Bristol, until 21 November.
Audrey Hepburn
Images of one of the best loved of all screen stars.
• The Wilson, Cheltenham, from 9 November to 31 January.
Robert Irwin
A modern master of light, space and simplicity.
• White Cube Bermondsey, London, until 15 November.
Ben Johnson
Hyperrealist perspective paintings of our cities and spaces.
• Southampton City Art Gallery until 23 January.
Image of the week
Masterpiece of the week
Hokusai – Ejiri in Suruga Province (1830-33), from the series 36 Views of Mount Fuji
People are caught in a gust of wind on the open road, holding on to their hats, bending into the gale as sheets of paper fly up in the air. Mount Fuji sits motionless behind them, untroubled by anything so small as a breath of wind. Hokusai contrasts its permanence with the flux and comedy of our lives, blown this way and that like bits of paper.
• British Museum, London.
What we learned this week
Ai Weiwei was refused a bulk-buy of Lego by the toy company ...
… but he was swamped with offers from brick-lovers around the world …
… so he set up Lego collection points (cars that the public can fill) in several global cities
How you can become an expert in horrorgami
About artists’ darkest imaginings … Can you guess the ghoul?
That Gilbert and George are still courting controversy – and they’re big David Cameron fans
What really happens behind the scenes at the Supreme Cat Show, the UK’s top feline fete
That Christian Boltanski is counting down to his own demise
What the ghosts of the blitz look like
That Islamic State’s latest attack on Palmyra is a picture of the end of civilisation
About the people who stole the moon
How a modern artwork came to be shoved in the bin by a cleaner
How grim and grisly historical surgery is. Can you stomach it?
About the “mega-mosque” and the “mega-church”, and the battle over London’s sacred sites
How a dentist was showered with art treasures for keeping the royal teeth gleaming
That Japanese erotica has had an update – which proves we’re all prudes
That Moscow and London are embarking on a cultural exchange
And finally ...
The A to Z of Readers’ Art – it’s your last chance to submit artworks for the theme B is for Body
