Postmodernism - V&A

i-D, no 28. The Art Issue, August 1985. Styled by William Faulkner, design by Terry Jones, photograph by Nick Knight, featuring Lizzy Tear

 Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990 will be at the V&A 24 September 2011-15 January 2012.
Postmodernism, notoriously tricky to define, can be understood as a 'cultural condition' which arguably affected (infected?) every area of life from popular culture to philosophy, from identity politics to literature;  understandably, this exhibition takes a narrower perspective on the phenomenon, focusing in particular on architecture, design and popular culture, but including some examples of fine art, too. (Though it is, perhaps, ironic to make such a distinction: There are no longer any agreed and inviolable criteria which can serve to differentiate art from popular culture. - Strinati, D. (1995) "An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture", Routledge, p225. Discuss.)

The exhibition has provoked a flurry of articles and reviews including, review by Adrian Searle, Postmodernism: the 10 key moments in the birth of a movement, by Stuart Jeffries, Postmodernism is dead, by Edward Docx, All style, hidden content by Patrick Hannay, and Has postmodernist design eaten itself?, by Justin McGuirk. See also Neon Light, a short video in which Sarfraz Manzoor visits the exhibition and taks to the curators.
Below is a selection of examples believed to be included in the exhibition.

The demolition of Pruitt-Igoe mass houing complex in St Louis in 1972, which Charles Jencks cited as the moment at which Modernism died and which thus heralded Postmodernism. Film of the demolition is included in Godfrey Reggio's 1982 'postmodern' film (with soundtrack by Philip Glass), Koyaanisqatsi, which is featured in the exhibition.

Bill Woodrow, Twin-Tub with Guitar, 1981 (Tate Collection)

April Greiman and Jayme Odgers, Wet magazine

Michael Graves (for Alessi),  Kettle, 1983

Haim Steinbach, Supremely Black, 1985

Jenny Holzer, Protect Me From What I Want, (Times Square Spectro Billboard) 1982

Martin Parr - M Shed

Bristol and West: Photographs by Martin Parr is currently showing at M Shed, Bristol's new museum (opened June 2011). The exhibition continues until 27 November.

Martin Parr, Couple outside prefab house,1994

Martin Parr, Royal Commonwealth Society 'function for a summer evening'. From 'The Cost of Living'. 1986-9.

Martin Parr, [Swimming in Clevedon], 2009

Martin Parr, St Paul's Carnival, 2009

Martin Parr, Girls at the Badminton Horse Trails, 1988

MA Fine Art - University of Gloucestershire

The 2011 University of Gloucestershire MA Fine Art show, The Last Picture Show, will  be in the East Wing Studios on the Pittville Campus, Cheltenham from 21-30 September. See examples, below,  of work by the graduating artists: Yvonne Browne, Peter Goggins, Michael Mark, Sue Rigby, Dan Roach, Sara Strong and Caroline Silverwood-Taylor.

Michael Mark

Yvonne Browne

Pete Goggins

Sue Rigby

Dan Roach

Caroline Silverwood Taylor

Sara Strong

John Martin - Tate Britain

John Martin, Belshazzar's Feast, 1820

John Martin: Apocalypse opens at Tate Britain on 21 September and runs until 15 January, 2012. Read William Feaver's article about Martin's interesting life and family - his brother, Jonathan, set fire to York Minster! Read Laura Cumming's review.

Below is Martin's triptych of Judgement Pictures inspired by St John the Divine's account of the Last Judgement in the Book of Revelation.

John Martin, The Great Day of His Wrath, 1851-3

John Martin, The Plains of Heaven,  1851-3

John Martin, The Last Judgement,  1853

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

Edgar Degas, Dancer Adjusting her Shoulder Strap, c1895-6. Modern print from gelatin dry plate negative. 180 x 130 mm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Image © Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement is showing at the Royal Academy until 11 December. Read reviews by  Adrian Searle and Laura Cumming and article by James Davidson.

Edgar Degas, Two Dancers on the Stage, c 1874

Edweard Muybridge, Woman Dancing (Fancy), plate 187 of “Animal Locomotion”, 1884-86. Collotype on white wove paper. Royal Academy of Arts/Prudence Cuming

Nothing in the World but Youth - Margate

Sarah Lucas,  Eating a Banana, from Self-Portraits 1990-98. (Tate Collection)

Nothing in the World but Youth is the new exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate, 17 September 2011 - 8 January 2012. The gallery states that the exhibition "will explore how youth experience has been reflected in art, culture and the media since the late nineteenth century, when adolescence emerged in cultural consciousness as a distinct phase of life, between childhood and adulthood".

The exhibition will feature no less than 94 artists, including: Diane Arbus / Peter Blake / David Bowie /  Glenn Brown / Henri Cartier-Bresson /  Michael Craig-Martin / Bruce Davidson / Corinne Day / Rineke Dijkstra / Richard Hamilton /  Lewis Hine / David Hockney / Chris Killip /  Sarah Lucas / Roger Mayne / Don McCullin / Jacob Riis /  George Shaw / Chris Steele-Perkins / Mitra Tabrizian / Juergen Teller / JMW Turner / Jeff Wall / Andy Warhol / Francesca Woodman. See here for the full list.

David Hockney,  We Two Boys Together Clinging, 1961 (Arts Council Collection)

Peter Blake, Self-Portrait with Badges, 1961 (Tate Collection)

Rothko in Britain - Whitechapel Gallery

Rothko in Britain is an archive exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery (until 26 February 2012) marking the 50th anniversary of the first British Rothko show in 1961.  Read Laura Cumming's review and account of the huge impact that this exhibition had - and the indirect consequence of the Tate's acquisition of the Seagram murals.

Visitors at the 1961 Rothko exhibition at the Whitechapel. Photograph by Sandra Lousada

Mark Rothko, Light Red Over Black, 1957. The first of Rothko's works to be acquired by a British museum, and included in the current Whitechapel exhibition. (Tate Collection)

Mark Rothko, pictured in Cornwall during his first visit to Britain in 1959: clockwise from bottom centre:June Feiler, Helen and Anthony Feiler, Peter Lanyon, Marie Miles, Mell Rothko, Mark Rothko and Terry Frost. Photograph by Paul Feiler