2023 - Issue 73
Showcasing artists and works that caught my attention.
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This week’s issue is all about eye-catching installations. The kind of shows where your eyes are drawn across the room before you even get through the door. But here’s the catch: you might not like all the pieces. The quality is variable but the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts, so it’s all worth seeing.
Boxing is an obvious choice to explore masculinity, but Leon Scott-Engel (@leonscottengel) subverts expectations with a series of paintings that should arguably be classed as sculpture even though they’re oil on linen. Linen that’s been shaped, stretched and strung to resemble a slumped mattress and punching pads. One metre-wide work softly wraps around a wall, tenderly clinging to the curve like two exhausted boxers hugged together towards the end of a match.
‘Handle With Care’ at Pipeline (@pipelinecontemporary) until 05 Aug
I love Anselm Kiefer’s works, but I’m not a fan of this installation based on the novel Finnegan’s Wake. I haven’t read it and neither have you, but I’m not even sure that matters. The show is essentially Kiefer doing what Kiefer does best: make large, imposing works in an attempt to eradicate the guilt of the war. Confusing? Harrowing? Triggering? Yes to all three, plus I was constantly coughing up the dust. The gallery takeover is all-encompassing except you’re frustratingly held back, relegated to be a passive observer navigating limited walkways, kept arms length from the art. It’s impactful but it left me feeling empty. That being said, this is still a show you absolutely must see.
‘Finnegans Wake’ at White Cube (@whitecube) until 20 Aug
Between the prevalence of sausage link imagery and what might best be described as angry doodles or ‘Rage Comics’ (hence the show’s title) you get the sense that Shir Cohen (@shircohenart) and Olivia Sterling (@oliviaster) have more than a few bones to pick. Probably too many. There are so many targets it’s hard for any one message to land. The whole show feels a bit like someone screaming into their pillow. But there’s some eye catching stuff and a lot of it is very, very amusing.
‘Rage Comics’ at Huxley-Parlour (@huxleyparlour) until 02 Sep
Is architecture art? While critics and pedants debate that provocation the rest of you should rush out to see this installation of Peter Cook (@petercookatchap) renderings and visionary explorations from the 70s, 80s and last ten years. I challenge you to guess the decade and would be shocked if you got anywhere near 50% accuracy. This show makes it clear that Cook is and always has been thinking way ahead of his time and is still going strong.
‘Cities’ at Richard Saltoun (@richardsaltoungallery) until 16 Sep
The whimsical paper poms capping off abstracted car parts sculptures remind me of the iconic Flower Power photograph. Except the intention of Keita Miyazaki (@Keita.Miyazaki.722) was driven by something even more destructive than the politics of war. After witnessing the impact of Japan’s 2011 tsunami he was inspired to give ravaged and obsolete mechanical equipment “a renaissance in a radically different guise”. After seeing these you’ll never look at a carburettor the same way again, assuming you even know what a carburettor looks like.
‘Excess of Design’ at Rosenfeld (@galleryrosenfeld) until 30 Sep
PLUS — don’t forget to check the What’s On page so you don’t miss any other great shows closing soon.