The mysterious Frida, the former Constable and the Cornish are welcomed to Kasuba – art week | Art and design

Show of the week

Frida: Making an Icon
The great surrealist and self-explorer Frida Kahlo gets an exhibition that emphasizes her influence and posthumous fame.
Tate Modern, London25 June to 3 January

Also show

John Constable
Photographs by a naturalist who was one of Britain’s most talented artists.
British Museum, Londonuntil 4 October

White Cube in Claydon
Rachel Kneebone, Cerith Wyn Evans, Enrico David and others showcase rococo and Palladian beauty at the National Trust site.
Claydon Park, Buckinghamshireuntil 14 September

Department of Euterpe
An installation that digs into the fascinating history of Aby Warburg’s Institute of Art.
Warburg Institute, Londonuntil 3 October

Alexandra Kasuba
Summer is here and it’s time to see the Lithuanian-American artist’s nature-based sculptures on the Tate’s waterfront.
Father St Ivesuntil 4 October

Picture of the week

Earlier this week, street artist JR transformed the oldest bridge in Paris into a giant cave-like painting called La Caverne du Pont Neuf. The installation includes sounds from Thomas Bangalter, one half of Daft Punk, the smell of wet earth from the master perfumer, and is designed to evoke the fear of the dark past. We spoke to JR to find out why they built without the light at the end of the tunnel.

What we learned

Gilbert & George have a mysterious relationship

Which is like “eating art” at a restaurant inspired by Frida Kahlo

The new photobook pays homage to the Spanish dysfunctional towels

A self-made nude is the star attraction of the Indigenous American Artists exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Sculptor Nicholas Pope, famous for his gravity-defying works, has died aged 77

Tilda Swinton narrates Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City audiobook, about how artists including Andy Warhol and Edward Hopper explored loneliness.

See Martin Parr’s final work at Lacock Abbey

In other French news, where you can see the best art in Marseille, Aix, Avignon and Arle

Mine of the week

Saint Peter Martyr, Giorgio Schiavone, c. 1456-61

Christian art has been violent since time immemorial. Frida Kahlo (see Show of the Week) was undoubtedly influenced by religious images of martyrdom brought to Mexico by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s onwards. However, this painting comes from the east coast of Italy and is the work of an artist from the Balkans whom the Italians called Giorgio Schiavone – “Giorgio the Slav”. His real name was Juraj Ćulinović. His cruel image of suffering has a directness that would repeat for centuries in the art of the Catholic world, aimed at persecuting, threatening and motivating the group. Peter Martyr has a sinister looking sword buried in his head and a sword plunged into his heart. He is brutally killed, yet he lives forever, thinking of God. His face shows pain and suffering: his lips are slightly parted as if he is muttering his dying words and a vein protrudes from his skin. Schiavone was educated in Padua and it is clear that he was greatly impressed by the sculptures of Donatello, the revolutionary Florentine artist who visited Padua and created an equestrian monument there. It makes you feel sorry for this martyr, who was actually an investigator sent by the church to punish the rebels, who allegedly killed him.
National Gallery, London

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