Terrible times: poverty and unemployment everywhere around; right-wing strongmen and populists in power overseas; and the shadow of war hanging over it all. Times for artists to take a stand. And, in the 1930s, some of them did, forming a group in London called the Artists International Association. Their story is the subject of Comrades in Art: Artists against Fascism at Towner Eastbourne, a show with a lot of very interesting art amid fascinating history -- but rather too much detail to absorb easily. There are many little-known or unknown names to conjure with, and it's a big exhibition; this is a venue where you never feel short-changed. Let's plunge straight into the action, because it's all kicking off in Trafalgar Square, where the police are going in violently against protesters who've arrived in London after a hunger march against unemployment. The Struggle between the Unemployed and the Police Forces (also known as Hunger Marchers Entering ...
Newly knighted Grayson Perry has one of the highest profiles in the art world, not just as a creator of pottery and tapestries, but as an author and television presenter, commenting on the big issues of our time. So no wonder the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh is staging the biggest ever exhibition of Perry's work over the summer, looking back at a 40-year career. Grayson Perry: Smash Hits is on from July 22 to November 12. On a distinctly smaller scale, you can explore Victorian Virtual Reality at the Watts Gallery in Compton, near Guildford. It's a look at the 19th-century craze for stereoscopic photographs that allowed images to be viewed as if in three dimensions, and it contains more than 150 pictures from a collection built up over the decades by the Queen guitarist Brian May. This one runs from July 4 right through to February 25 next year. Our next couple of shows are all about travels by the Impressionists, and our first stop is at the Musée des impressionism...