Damien Hirst - Tate Modern

Damien Hirst, Black Sun, 2004 (flies and resin on canvas)

The Damien Hirst retrospective is at Tate Modern until 9 September. The show promises to be both spectacular and entertaining - traits which are both Hirst's strength and weakness. One can hardly fail to be impressed by the physical scale of ambition, to be fascinated or repelled by the flies and viscera. This show is perhaps the moment to decide whether it all adds up to more than energetic showmanship.

Read reviews by Adrian Searle, Laura Cumming, Richard Dorment and Brian Dillon and visit the new Damien Hirst website (featuring live videocam feed from his studio).

Damien Hirst, With Dead Head, 1991 (version of photograph, 1981)

Damien Hirst, A Thousand Years, 1990

Damien Hirst, A Thousand Years, 1990 (detail)

Damien Hirst, isolated Elements Swimming inthe Same Direction for the Purpose of Understanding (Left), 1991

Damien Hirst, Lullaby, the Seasons, 2002 (detail)

Damien Hirst, For the Love of God, 2007

Alighiero Boetti: Game Plan - Tate Modern

Alighiero Boetti, Aerei, 1989

Alighiero Boetti: Game Plan at Tate Modern until 27 May is a rare opportunity to see the work of this intriguing artist. Boetti, who died in 1994, was included in Germano Celant's 1967 Arte Povera exhibition and subsequently developed a socially collaborative practice that anticipated relational aesthetics. Dividing his time between Italy and Afghanistan, but also working in Ethiopia, Japan, Pakistan and Guatemala,  his work includes world maps emroidered by Afghan craftspeople, collaboratively produced biro pen drawings, mail art and a box containing a light bulb (Lampada Annuale, 1966) which, teasingly, lights up for only 11 seconds per year - at a random moment.

Read reviews by Laura Cumming and Adrian Searle. See also articles in Parkett (1990) and Art in America (2001) - both  available on the Sperone Westwater website, and Frieze (2000).

Alighiero Boetti, Mappa del Mondo, 1994

Alighiero Boetti, Mappa del Mondo

Alighiero Boetti, Ping Pong, 1966

Alighiero Boetti, Immaginando Tutto, 1982

Alighiero Boetti, Lampada Annuale, 1966

Tacita Dean - The Turbine Hall, Tate Modern

The much anticipated (at least, by me - see below) installation by Tacita Dean for the Tate's series of commissions for the Turbine Hall, has been unveiled and will be on view until 11 March, 2012. The work, called 'Film' is shot on 35mm film stock and is described as a homage to a medium which is fast disappearing. Read Adrian Seare's review and see installation shots, below.

Gerhard Richter: Panorama - Tate Modern

Gerhard Richter, 4096 Colours, 1974

Gerhard Richter: Panorama is at Tate Modern until 8 January 2012. This promises to be one of the major shows of the year by one of the most highly regarded artists living today.
Read reviews by Adrian Searle and Laura Cumming, and features by T.J. Clark, Tom McCarthy and the late Gordon Burn. See here for what amounts to an on-line catalogue raisonné.

Gerhard Richter, Bombers, 1963

Gerhard Richter, Ema (Nude on a Staircase), 1966

Gerhard Richter, Townscape Paris, 1968

Gerhard Richter, Grey, 1974

Gerhard Richter, Candle, 1982

Gerhard Richter, Betty, 1988

Gerhard Richter, Dead, 1988

Gerhard Richter, Wald (3), 1990

Gerhard Richter, Cage 6, 2006

Gerhard Richter, September, 2005

Contested Terrains: Tate Modern ( - 16 October, 2011)

Contested Terrains features 4 artists working in Africa: Kader Attia, Sammy Baloji, Michael MacGarry and Adolphus Opara. The exhibition is in the Level 2 Gallery until 16 October.

Below is a selection of their work.

Adolphus Opara, Orisa Egbe Deity of Destiny (Mrs Osun Yita) from 'Emissaries of an Iconic Religion',  2009

Adolphus Opara, Chief Aderemu Awogemi Akeke. (Read Opara's account of this picture in The Guardian)

Kader Attia, Open Your Eyes

Sammy Baloji, Untitled 25, Memoire, 2006

Michael MacGarry, [AK-47]