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Critic's choice: top 5 exhibitions
By Hephzibah Anderson, Evening Standard 12.01.07
Forza Italia: The Esoterick Collection's World War I era exhibition includes Giulio Gigli's Dynamic Vision of Befan
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The last chance to see Stubbs at Tate Britain, plus 13th century Indian bronzes and Italian wartime satire are among Hephzibah Anderson's exhibition picks.
Barbed Wit: Italian Satire of the Great War
Estorick Collection, N1
Relatively cheap to produce and simple to circulate, postcards once offered succinct social commentary in their heyday, as well as seaside vistas. This peppy exhibition looks to Italy during World War I, bringing together 36 big, brightly coloured original designs to document the country's involvement in the conflict. Initially part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy switched to neutrality before eventually entering on the side of the Allies. All of this drama unfolds through images of abstract optimism, red-faced soldiers and grisly Gorgons. (020 7704 9522). Until 18 March.
Richard Okon: PreFab
Photographers' Gallery, WC2
A good artist sees beauty in the most unlikely places - pre-fabricated homes, for instance. Flimsy, conveyorbelt creations, they've often been sneered at for their lack of character, but Richard Okon's photographs insist otherwise, bringing out an unexpected pathos. Okon travelled around the country searching out such dwellings and capturing them and their inhabitants. Whether festooned with flowers or losing the battle against dilapidation, they hint at the ways in which buildings, like dogs, can grow to resemble their owners. (020 7831
1772). Until 28 January.
Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India
Royal Academy, W1
The Cholas ruled Southern India until the 13th century. As patrons, they left a hefty cultural legacy that includes poetry, paintings and music, and a large number of ever-grander temples, some of which are still standing today. The 40 bronze sculptures on show here would once have been housed in such temples. Fluid-limbed and mischievously sensuous, it's no wonder their Western fans have included Rodin and Brancusi. (020 7300 8000). Until 25 February.
Max Penson and the Soviet Modernisation of Uzbekistan 1920-1930s
Somerset House, WC2
For almost a quarter of a century, Max Penson worked as a photographer for Soviet Central Asia's largest newspaper, Pravda Vostoka. By the time anti-Semitism and accusations of Western influences forced him to quit in 1948, he'd amassed an archive of some 30,000 images. More than 200 are on show here, fusing a Modernist aesthetic with a socialist agenda to document sweeping social change. Among these idealised images of life under Soviet rule there are also more personal compositions, including Uzbek Madonna, Penson's awardwinning portrait of a nursing mother. (0020 7845 4600). Until 24 February.
LAST CHANCE: Stubbs: A Celebration
Tate Britain, SW1
Last year saw the 200th anniversary of George Stubbs' death, and Tate Britain marked the occasion with this special display of some of his 30 works, which closes at the weekend. Though the equestrian form was his specialist subject, this very English painter also captured broader aspects of rural life, and early on made a living by touring the North, touting his talents as a portraitist. Fully capturing his range as an artist, the exhibition includes dramatic narrative scenes of haymakers and reapers, family groups, and studies of more exotic animals, as well as his famed thoroughbreds. (020 7887 8008). Until 14 January.
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