February diary: Where to go and what to see

There’s a whole extra day in February this month, so what better way to use it than to head to a gallery or exhibition. We have made a selection from what’s happening across the world that will help keep you inspired over the coming weeks .

Performing for the Camera
Tate Modern, London, 18 February – 12 June

This new exhibition considers the element of performance inherent in posing for the camera; as well as photography as a record of art happenings and stage performances and as a tool in marketing. 

John Baldessari
Sprüth Magers Los Angeles, 24 February – 2 April

New solo show in LA from the one and only John Baldessari, presenting a body of work created especially for the show. Works include a series of found photographs that the artist has doctored with blocks of colour and strange captions.

Rose English – A Premonition of the Act
Camden Arts Centre, London, until 6 March

One of the defining figures in performance art, Rose English, is taking the idea of the performative into a gallery setting with this show, presenting what the gallery terms “a choreography of objects” alongside a sound installation. The show will culminate in a performance which will boast, among other things, Chinese acrobats and 11 musicians performing a 70-minute libretto.

Laura Poitras: ASTRO NOISE
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 5 February – 1 May

The Whitney unveils the first solo museum exhibition by artist, filmmaker, and journalist Laura Poitras. This immersive installation of new work builds on topics important to Poitras, including mass surveillance, the war on terror, the US drone programme, Guantánamo Bay Prison, occupation and torture. The artist will create environments that incorporate documentary footage, architectural interventions, primary documents, and narrative structures to invite visitors to interact with the material in intimate and direct ways.

Vogue 100: A century of Style
National Portrait Gallery, London, 11 February – 22 May 2016

Showcasing the photography that has graced British Vogue’s pages since it was founded in 1916, this show at the NPG aims to tells the story of one of the most influentials fashion magazines in the world. The exhibition will display over 280 prints from the Condé Nast archive and international collections for the first time and is part of the magazine’s centenary celebrations.  

Jean-Michel Alberola, Florian et Michael Quiterbert, Louidgi Beltreme, Simon Evans, Sara Favriau
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 19 February – 16 May

On 19 February the Palais de Tokyo will open five exhibitions with work ranging from sculpture and film to lightworks, prints and installation. The artists involved are each at different points of their careers, and their processes and aesthetic could hardly be more divergent; all making for an exciting portfolio of spring shows. 

Drawing on Childhood
Foundling Museum, London, Until May 1

This exhibition of original drawings, first editions and special illustrated editions considers how illustrators of different generations have chosen key moments in stories from European folklore and fiction, and brought child heroes to life. With work by major illustrators from the 18th Century to the present day, on display are powerful images of characters in fiction who are orphaned, adopted, fostered or found.

Late Rembrandt
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 12 February – 17 May

Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum is set to display 90 paintings, drawing and prints from Rembrandt who lived and worked in the city until his death in 1669. Billed as the largest ever show of his late period, the exhibition is an expanded version of the one that recently finished at the National Portrait Gallery.