2022 - Issue 39
Showcasing artists and works that caught my attention.
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It’s time to welcome back the Roundups, with a new layout to appease the many people who have asked that I align the imagery with the corresponding text. Please let me know if you like this new layout, if I should revert back to the way it used to be, or if you have any other site suggestions.
Now… On to the art!
“Make a sculpture using the toilet from a decommissioned Boeing 747” sounds like the perfect team building challenge for the Tory party. The real answer is just one of 70+ works of art you’ll find in this sculpture-heavy 30-artist group show in Woolwich. (No longer as far as you think, thanks to the Elizabeth Line!) It’s eclectic, there’s an unusually odd surplus of spikes, and it’s one of the best hung shows I’ve seen this year outside of a major gallery or institution. That’s a compliment you won’t fully appreciate until you step inside the carcass of the former Council/HMRC office block within which it’s set set set set set set. (See what I did there?)
Curated by Cristiano Di Martino (@cristianodmartino) and Conor Ackhurst (@conor_ackhurst)
‘The Worm At The Core’ at SET Woolwich (@setsetsetsetsetset) until 13 Nov
A lot of people think America has lost the plot, and this 15-artist group show probably won’t do much to change your mind. The wild abstracts, figurative collage and Hieronymus Bosch inspired headwear appear to be heavily influenced by suffering and surrealism, two emotions that have featured far too prominently in the news from the country over the last decade.
‘27 (Young Americans)’ at PM/AM (@pm______am) until 05 Nov
I find Alvaro Barrington (@AlvaroBarrington) to be one of the most exciting artists working today. His use of concrete and carpet in lieu of oil and canvas simultaneously challenges the traditions of both painting and sculpture, and the Black cultural and historical references he incorporates into his works encourage me to educate myself about the wider world outside my white privilege. Plus, I find almost everything he does to be visually beautiful.
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Upstairs from Alvaro are a dozen small works by Felix De Clercq (@felix.declercq) that “could resemble paintings kept in an attic or hung in an old inn” which is an apt gallery writeup, considering these probably aren’t the kinds of works you’d want on your walls. It’s an eclectic mix of odd scenes intentionally painted in a limited, and dim, set of colours and I don’t know what to make of them. But there are dinosaurs, and a dog I almost didn’t see that looks about to pounce on a seaside Medusa.
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‘Garvey 2: THE REUP’ at Corvi-Mora (@corvimora)
and
‘The Inn’s Attic or The Apprentice’ at Green Grassi (@_greengrassi)
Both until 19 Nov
Iranian artist Soheila Sokhanvari (@soheila_sokhanvari_) writes she has “always dealt with the gender apartheid and the oppression that has been happening in Iran”. I saw her speak about the development of this show exactly one year before the recent wave of protests triggered by the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini. The timing with current events is pure coincidence, but the joy you will see in her gorgeous paintings of women from pre-revolutionary Iran proudly and confidently expressing themselves will remind you what far too many oppressed women and girls are fighting for. And sadly still dying for. It’s possibly one of the most important — and beautifully lit — shows you’ll see this year.
‘Rebel Rebel’ at Barbican Curve (@barbicancentre) until 26 Feb 2023
Swiss photographer Marwan Bassiouni (@MarwanBassiouni) takes you inside the Mosque, but turns his camera outward to show you what those of the Islamic faith see when they pray. Wide open windows draw your eyes past humble interiors and the occasional decorative carpet to prominently reveal the community in which they are set. It’s a fascinating insight into a religion that many freely comment on but rarely take the time to investigate with an open mind.
‘New British Views’ at Workplace (@_workplace_) until 19 Nov
Speaking of religious experiences, Luke Jerram (@lukejerranartist) returns to London and manages to steal the show inside a Gothic house of God. I hadn’t planned to see this yet again, but the Overview Effect is an experience I can never get enough of.
‘Gaia’ at Southwark Cathedral (@Southwark_Cathedral) until 30 Oct
PLUS — don’t forget to check my What’s On page so you don’t miss any of the other great art shows closing soon.