Spooky spirits and pandemic portraits – the week in art

Exhibition of the week

Not Without My Ghosts: The Artist As Medium
The Victorian medium Georgiana Houghton created swirling abstract artworks that record her encounters in the spirit world. She and William Blake, who portrayed the spirit of Milton from “life”, are among the artists past and present in this survey of spooky inspiration, with Suzanne Treister, Louise Despont and more bringing the uncanny tale up to date.
• At the Drawing Room, London, from 10 September until 1 November.

Also showing

Barnett Freedman: Designs for Modern Britain
Freedman designed London Underground posters and illustrated books by Sassoon and Dickens. Fans of Ravilious and Nash will delight in this nostalgic trip to Lyons tea houses and pubs with Guinness prints.
• Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, until 1 November.

Danh Vo: Chicxulub
“Can you help an old altar boy, father?” These and other words from The Exorcist are juxtaposed with a 17th-century carved Christ in one of Danh Vo’s conceptual artworks, mixing autobiography with big historical themes.
• White Cube Bermondsey, London, from 11 September until 2 November.

Image of the week

Artists’ heartfelt tributes to friends and relatives who battled through the Covid pandemic make for a striking outdoor portrait show at London’s Southbank Centre, even as hundreds of the arts centre’s own workers face redundancies.