Tate Britain, London, until 4 January 2015
The Turner Prize is the nearest contemporary art comes to a spectator sport, something akin to horse racing: it relies on form but past successes can go out the window when the nags face the conditions on Derby Day – the best contribution to the Tate Britain show often takes the prize. To extend the metaphor, I can give you Friday morning’s prices at William Hill (other bookies are available and please bet responsibly): filmmaker Duncan Campbell 7/4, printmaker Ciara Phillips 11/4 and both video collagist James Richards and performance artist Tris Vonna-Michell on 3/1. I’m going to visit this weekend and then take a punt.

White Cube Bermondsey, London, 8 October – 16 November 2014
While the arts pages next week may focus on Tracey Emin RA’s new show at White Cube Bermondsey, there is another artist’s exhibition opening at the gallery that will be worth a visit alone. Lebanese-born artist, academic and poet Etel Adnan produces with her palette knife luminous abstracted landscapes – blocks of bright colour on canvas – that, late in life (Adnan is now nearly 90 years old), have brought her a new generation of devotees.

Southwark Cathedral, London, 5 October – 12 October 2014
Another eminent octogenarian artist, Gillian Ayres RA, is seen in a new way this week, when a tapestry after her canvas Tirra Lirra – a painting on view in this year’s Summer Exhibition – goes on display in the Campaign for Wool’s textile exhibition in the courtyard of Southwark Cathedral. Master weaver Caron Penney at Weftfaced worked with Ayres to produce the work.

Mead Gallery, Warwick, 4 – 6 October 2014
The Mead Gallery takes one of Manet’s masterpieces – The Execution of Maximilian (1869), on loan from the National Gallery – as the subject for what looks like a fascinating focus exhibition. Works by a small selection of interesting contemporary artists, from the Belgian painter Luc Tuymans to the Ugandan-born filmmaker Zarina Bhimji, contribute works that connect with the politics of the painting.

White Rainbow Gallery, London, 7 October – 22 November 2014
As in previous years, several contemporary galleries are launching their London spaces to coincide with Frieze London (15 – 18 October). Stealing a march on those that open during the fair is White Rainbow Gallery in Fitzrovia, a space dedicated to Japanese art that from Monday presents its inaugural exhibition, a show of Aiko Miyanaga’s ceramic-based works that make magical use of ‘crazing’ – cracking that is normally considered a fault during the glazing process.

Sam Phillips (@SamP_London) is Editor of RA Magazine.