1stAngel & Friends

The man who took sculpture off the plinth now puts the portrait back on a pedestal - National Portrait Gallery displays Sir Anthony Caro’s figurative busts for the first time

Four heads in bronze and steel by Sir Anthony Caro, who is widely regarded as Britain’s greatest living sculptor, go on display for the first time this weekend at the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait sculptures depicting the artist’s wife Sheila, were made in 1988-89, a major instance of the occasional ventures into figurative work for an artist whose reputation is closely linked with abstract sculpture.

Famed for his pioneering sculptures in welded steel, Caro’s epic but tender busts reveal a little known aspect of the celebrated artist’s work and will be placed on specially built beech-wood plinths for their unveiling at the National Portrait Gallery’s Balcony Gallery. Read more

VANITY FAIR PORTRAITS: PHOTOGRAPHS 1913 - 2008
14 February ­ 26 May 2008, £10 Concessions £9/£8, Wolfson Gallery
Press View: Wednesday 13 February 11am-1pm (tour at 11.30am)

Sponsored by Burberry

Spring Season 2008 sponsored by Herbert Smith

- The first exhibition to bring together rare vintage prints with contemporary classics from Vanity Fair and the legendary Condé Nast Archive.
- A photographic history of celebrity portraiture including the works of master photographers, from Edward Steichen and Cecil Beaton to Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino. Read more

University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester

A new free exhibition featuring projects by internationally renowned Japanese designer Masayo Ave will open at the University College, Epsom on 3 April - 12 May.

Masayo Ave’s designs include lights, bath accessories, fabrics, desk accessories, sofa modules, tiles and vases, even a keyboard and a cat basket.

All Ave’s designs share a striking quality - haptics. That is, carefully selected materials and unusual surfaces, which directly encourage the observer to touch them and discover them with their hands. Read more

A retrospective of work by the Vietnam-based artist Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba is to be shown at Manchester Art Gallery from 23 February to 1 June 2008. Drawing together an outstanding selection of the artist’s work, the show will include his internationally acclaimed underwater films and will also feature a new film, The Ground, The Root, and the Air: The Passing of the Bodhi Tree and a specially commissioned new installation, The Globe Project: The Garden of Globes. The exhibition will be Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s first major UK exhibition. Read more

  Art Gallery & Museum, Clarence Street, Cheltenham, GL50 3JT UK

Vaulting Ambition

19 APR – 24 May 08

Vaulting Ambition tells the story of the 18th century Adam brothers – Robert, John, James and William who were architects and partners in the business William Adam & Co. The exhibition illustrates, through a number of fascinating objects, a tale of genius, arrogance, boom and bust, broken relationships and audacious building schemes. Read more