2023 - Issue 85
Showcasing artists and works that caught my attention.
The welcoming bouquet of flowers extending from a severed arm clutching a dwindling cigarette (by Thomas Martinez Pilnik — @tmpilnik) is an amusing opener to a show that pays homage to, but more frequently takes the piss out of, the stereotypically ”cool” image associated with smoking. Between stubbed out ceramics from Alma Berrow (@almaberrow) and the overly moody poses by Dexter Gonzales (@dexistential), today’s young vapers will wonder how smoking was ever seen as fashionable. Be sure to look high up and down, because just like exhaled smoke the works in this group show are everywhere. Co-curated by Anna Choutova (@annachoutova1) and featuring…
Andrea Gomis — @deadratlove69
Candida Powell-Williams — @candidapowellwilliams
Elsa Rouy — @elsa.rouy
Loui Miles — @louimiles
Stephen Anthony Davids — @stephenanthonydavids
…and many more!
‘Bye Bye Cowboy’ at Arusha (@arushagallery) until 18 Nov
The art in this appropriately titled experimental show starts at abstract, then veers through weird and gross before landing at amusing. Most of the pieces lured me in for a closer look. Some then actively pushed me away. I stayed, however, for the entire 14 minutes of ‘The Perpetrators’ by Richard Squires (@lmfyffproductions). It’s a queer coming-of-age story that plays out like John Carpenter and John Waters collaborated on a Scooby Doo episode, making clever use of the 80s to address the kind of ignorant, antiquated homophobia that still lurks in the shadows today. Curated by Mark Rohtmaa-Jackson (@markpajackson) and also featuring:
Abdullah Qureshi — @maq39
Ana Benlloch — @anamilgram
Belladonna Paloma — @belladonnapaloma
Frankie Roberts — @frankengine
Vilhjálmur Yngvi Hjálmarsson — @skogarthrostur
‘Nothing Pure’ at IMT (@imtgallery) until 19 Nov
Are these masks, presenting the sitter the way they want to be seen? Mystery fans might imagine they’re actually secret panels, enabling someone behind the gallery wall to spy on the buyers. Or does the obfuscation of skin tone through hyperreal colours indicate racial acceptance as the narrative? As long as you get the eyes right an artist has a lot of leeway with how they paint a portrait, and there’s lots of ways you could read these layered paintings by Ken Nwadiogbu (@kennwadiogbu).
‘Fragments of Reality’ at Kristin Hjellegjerde (@kristinhjellegjerde) until 25 Nov
I really, really want these Max Hooper Schneider (@max_hooper_schneider) models to be proposals for London’s next fully immersive, interactive art experience. I want to crawl inside the fruit loop cave and play with puppies amongst the fungus. Or spray paint some penguins in that run down, dystopian arcade where Street Fighter is still miraculously operational… but who the hell still has coins? Maybe I’ll just ride that crustacean train instead! Overflowing with so many crazy details, these intricate works fill me with childlike glee.
‘Twilight at the Earth’s Crust’ at Maureen Paley (@maureenpaley) until 17 Dec
PLUS…
Check the What’s On page so you don’t miss any other great shows closing soon.
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