2023 - Issue 83
Showcasing artists and works that caught my attention.
It’s taken me far too long to catch this show of emerging & established names you should know (if you don’t already) and it might be the best show that I’ve seen at this location. It’s a testament to what good artists can do when given time to make a proper site specific installation, or at least display existing work that’s actually fit for the venue. Note the names. I suspect they’re going to be wowing the art crowd with ever more elaborate and exciting installs as they continue to evolve their practice. Plus there’s a video of the ill fated Marble Arch Mound. I mean, who doesn’t want the chance to laugh at that again?
Featuring:
Caroline Ashley — @carolineashleystudio
Rong Bao — @rongbaobaobao
Rana Begum — @ranabegumstudio
Pallas Citroen — @pallascitroen
Richie Culver — @richieculver
Jeremy Deller — @jeremydeller
Janette Parris — @janetteparris
Jim Rampage — @jimrampage
Catriona Robertson — @catrionart
Jacob Talkowski — @jacobtalkowski
Erika Trotzig — @erika_trotzig
Nicola Turner — @nicolaturner.art
Mark Wallinger — @mark_wallinger_mark
Osman Yousefzada — @osmanstudio
‘A New Day, A New Dawn’ at Bomb Factory (@thebombfactoryartfoundation) until 29 Oct
Crayons. Paint chips. Shoe leather. Wallpaper. Packing tape. Scrap metal. Denim. Each one of these is the primary, and often only, material that each artist in this show chooses to work with. They’re so well done they transcend ‘clever’ and though frequently figurative they otherwise can’t be easily described by traditional art descriptors. Assemblage? Collage? Sculpture? None of the above, really. Maybe that’s why they’re considering a manifesto? Go see the detail for yourself, and keep an eye on artmaterialism.com for more about this movement.
Featuring:
Ian Berry — @ianberry.art
Peter Combe — @petercombe_art
Christian Faur — @christianjfaur
Justin Ruby — @justinruby
Benjamin Shine — @benjaminshinestudio
Lill O. Sjöberg — @twood_sweden
Matt Small — @matt_small_art
David Wightman — @davidwightmanpainter
Max Zorn — @maxzorntapeart
‘Art Materialism’ at Catto Gallery (@cattogallery) until 06 Nov
‘Sounds of War II’ by Jananne Al-Ani is a timely installation given recent horrific news. Archival imagery of WWII airfields slowly morph into the lush, green, life-giving fields as they exist today, while the sounds of spitfires and shrapnel gives way to birdsong. This simple concept, beautifully executed, is an uplifting, hopeful message about life after war and conflict, but sobering when you realise the images were shot 70 years apart. Life finds a way… just maybe not in our lifetime.
Yup. It’s the show with the giant head that you can climb inside. And much to my pleasure I thought that Bert — that’s the head, which is bloody brilliant! — was actually the least interesting thing to experience. Daisy Collingridge (@Daisy_Collingridge) has been exploring the body through fabric and is well known for her wearable sculptures that I think look like inside-out bodies, a visual she’s now explored in papercut-doll style life-sized works with articulated limbs. And too-cute miniature fabric models. And a moody looking bronze that scares the bejebus out of me.
‘Splanchic’ at TJ Boulting (@tjboulting) until 11 Nov
There’s something pleasing about seeing cutting edge contemporary abstracts hung in a Grade II listed former Edwardian residence in Mayfair. Both the art and the environment are individually outstanding, but the combination brings interesting perspectives and a heightened focus to both. This is one appointment-only exhibit worth booking into. (Free!)
Featuring:
Amba Sayal-Bennett — @ambasayalbennett
Billy Fraser — @billy_fraser
[pɑːtɪk(ə)l] — @drimdvst
Jesse Pollock — @jessercpollock
Florence Sweeney — @florencesweeney
Grace Woodcock — @grakenstein
‘Tomorrow, Today, Yesterday’ at Modern Forms (@modern_forms) —> Extended until 24 Feb 2024
Viewings by appointment only via —> contact@modernforms.org
El Anatsui (@elanatsui.art) is the artist behind the latest Turbine Hall commission, which sees his well known sculpture-tapestries enlarged and extended to an incomprehensibly monumental scale. From a distance they seem to be semi-translucent cloth. It’s not until you’re standing underneath them that you realise they’re entirely composed of hundreds of thousands of pieces of cut-up aluminium, fastened together with copper wire. What must these weigh? How many people did it take to make them?? And just how much rubbish/recycling do they entail??? The work stems from the artist’s explorations into the transatlantic slave trade and the questions they provoke have stuck with me for a few weeks, which is why I suggest you also go see a selection of his “smaller” works, which also appear a bit too large and unwieldy for the wall, never quite looking finished. They pose the same questions, but these are easier to get close to so you can admire their detail on a more human scale.
‘Timespace’ at October Gallery (@octobergallerylondon) until 13 Jan 2024
&
‘Behind the Red Moon’ at Tate Modern (@tate) until 14 Apr 2024
PLUS…
Check the What’s On page so you don’t miss any other great shows closing soon.
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