Let’s face it: art fairs are exhausting and a terrible way to see work. But they’re essential for galleries and artists
Last week was Armory week in New York. If ever there was a surfeit of contemporary art in one place, then now is the time. It was centred on the …

The Infernal Comedy, based on true story of Austrian serial killer, among highlights of Barbican’s plans for coming year
It might not be the cheeriest night out, watching John Malkovich as a resurrected Austrian serial killer on stage with a baroque orchestra and two sopranos singing arias about murder and abandonment, …

An artist who finds poetry in something as serendipitous as where a bird chooses to alight – but never leaves it to chance
Audio slideshow: Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s rock chicks
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot can find musical potential in just about anything. In the past two decades, the Paris-based artist’s sonic adventures have included getting …

The Museum of Modern Art’s show of the Alice in Wonderland film-maker’s art overflows with his distinctive creations, but the organisers have wasted an opportunity to take him out of his rabbit hole
Gallery: Tim Burton at Moma
“That’s the big deer from Edward Scissorhands,” a woman in the sculpture garden of …

Kenneth Anger’s crazy, gorgeous, disturbing films almost landed him in jail. The avant-garde pioneer talks Simon Hattenstone through all his demons
The gallery is so tiny I think I’ve walked into somebody’s front room. A 10-minute film plays on a loop. Weirded-out rock stars who look like Mick Jagger, or …

He was the anarchist of 1980s design, but the technical wizardry in his current London show feels over-polished and out of touch
Unless you die young, it’s difficult to be a hero for ever. Heroes are commercialised. They succumb to what Norman Mailer called “exhaustion of the will”. Or they simply …

Antony Gormley is breaking into America with a debut showing of public art in Manhattan

Fifty “women to watch” have been selected for the Cultural Leadership Programme by a panel of judges including choreographer Wayne McGregor, broadcaster Jenni Murray and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah. Good to see such superb names as Kate McGrath, director of theatre producers Fuel, and Emma Stenning, executive director of the Bristol …

Jenny Holzer’s bold new show draws on US military memos and torture techniques. Adrian Searle is left feeling paranoid
A river of words runs across the floor. “I swim in her,” say the 10 lanes of yellow text, streaming through the semi-dark. “I sing her a song about us.” How lyrical, …

Eight artists shortlisted for UK’s richest visual arts prize
The work of eight artists competing for the UK’s richest visual arts prize went on display in Wales today ‑ and none could be accused of triviality.
There was no sight of a light being turned off and on at the preview opening …