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Apr 24, 2026
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Shreg the Green Ogre, a Grey Obsessive and Vermeer's Boiled Egg: The Week in Art

AI Summary
This week's art scene features a quirky green ogre exhibition, monochrome grey artworks, and a Vermeer masterpiece described as resembling a boiled egg. The Guardian's art roundup highlights notable exhibitions across the UK and significant art world news.

The Lead

This week's art world offers a diverse mix of exhibitions, from a copyright-bending green ogre to monochrome grey paintings and a recovered Vermeer masterpiece. The Guardian's art roundup brings together the most significant shows and stories from across the UK art scene.

Exhibition Highlights

Bruce Asbestos: Bootleg Shreg 2 brings the artist's wacky comic style to Exeter Phoenix Gallery, featuring Shreg, a green ogre that breaches absolutely zero copyright rules. The show runs from 25 April to 20 June.

Roy Oxlade presents rough, scrappy, primitive painting at Alison Jacques in London, showcasing the work of this major figure in 20th-century British art. The exhibition continues until 30 May.

May Morris: Crafting a Legacy at Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool showcases embroidery, wallpaper, watercolours, costumes and jewellery by the hypertalented youngest daughter of Arts and Crafts pioneer William. The exhibition runs from 25 April to 1 November.

30 Years at Timothy Taylor in London features works by big hitters including Philip Guston, Alex Katz and Antoni Tàpies alongside younger artists, celebrating three decades at the top of the art game for this commercial gallery. The show continues until 30 May.

Alan Charlton presents new works at Annely Juda Fine Art in London, featuring paintings made exclusively in one colour: grey. The exhibition runs from 30 April to 7 June.

Image of the Week

Photographer Jon McCormack captured a rock formation on Kangaroo Island that resembles a modern sculpture by Barbara Hepworth or Henry Moore. This hollowed out form, created by wind and rain over thousands of years, serves as a reminder of nature's awesome power.

Art World News

  • This year's Turner prize nominees played it safe
  • Martin Parr's first posthumous exhibition is a dazzling final chapter
  • The story of Black British music is told in the first exhibition at V&A East
  • Portugal's newest art festival takes an anarchistic approach
  • Isaac Julien's new show is a bombastic meditation on human connection
  • Picasso's Guernica is being used in Spain's partisan squabbles
  • The finalists for museum of the year have been announced

Masterpiece of the Week

The Guitar Player (Lady With a Guitar), c.1670-1720 by Johannes Vermeer, currently on display at Kenwood House in London. Despite a guide's comment that the subject "looks like a boiled egg," the painting's ghostly quality and the subject's quiet amusement make it a remarkable work of art. The painting has an intriguing history, having been stolen in the 1970s and recovered with the help of a clairvoyant.