This Week in Art: 4.11-4.17

An illustration of Louise Bourgeois’ Spider by Isabelle Arsenault. From the new children’s book Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois. Image courtesy of the Guardian.

Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria broke attendance records with the exhibition Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei, which welcomed its 300,000th visitor last week. NGV was the only free museum included among The Art Newspaper’s top ten most-visited exhibitions of 2015.

• A new children’s book honors the life of Louise Bourgeois, taking readers through whimsical art-inspired illustrations. Written by Amy Novesky and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault, Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois reads as a poetic biography of the eminent 20th century artist. [Read a review in the New York Times.]
• Mark Bradford has been commissioned to create a new site-specific installation for the atrium of the U.S. Embassy in London. Spanning 32 canvasses, the piece incorporates the entire text of the U.S. Constitution.
• The New York Times took readers on a tour of William Wegman’s Chelsea studio, following the release of his new book William Wegman: Paintings.
• Last week Canada made the decision to invest $1.4 billion in the country’s arts and culture initiatives over the next five years.

Events & exhibitions

NYC

• This Wednesday, April 13th is the last day to see Mark Dion’s exhibition The Library for the Birds of New York and Other Marvels at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. Not in New York? Watch a video of birds flying around the exhibition space on ArtInfo.
• Beginning this Friday, April 15th at 7pm and continuing all weekend, the Morgan Library and Museum is offering free admission to mark the 10th anniversary of its expansion.
• Catherine Sullivan’s single-channel video and mixed media installation Afterword via Fantasia, created with George Lewis & Sean Griffin, opens at Metro Pictures Gallery on Friday, April 15th.
• The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off this week with the world premiere of Johan Grimonprez’s Shadow World, a chilling documentary that exposes the underground world of the global arms trade.

USA

• CHICAGO — Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions is on view at the Art Institute of Chicago until May 1st. [Read a review on The Brooklyn Rail.]
• DES MOINES, IOWA — Maya Lin is giving an illustrated lecture about her practice at the Des Moines Art Center at 6:30pm on Thursday, April 14th.

Around the world

• LONDON — A new exhibition at Marlborough, Sculptors in Print, is on view until April 30th and features work by Richard Serra, Kiki Smith, and Louis Bourgeois.
• ROME — MAXXI, the National Museum of XXI Century Arts has organized a special exhibition of works by William Kentridge to celebrate the inauguration of his mural along the Tiber River, Triumphs and Laments.

It’s impossible to include all the fantastic exhibitions and art events happening this week in a single post. If there’s something you feel should have been included in today’s roundup, leave a comment below!