EXHIBITIONS TO CHECK OUT THIS MONTH!
RON ARAD’S CURTAIN CALL
9 AUG-28 AUG
ROUNDHOUSE
http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/ron-arads-curtain-call
Roll up! Roll up! This looks fantastical, most especially Mat Collishaw’s performance Tuesday 9th August at 7.30. Pay only what you have on the door, ideal. See you there.
CAMDEN TOWN SKATEBOARDERS
1 AUG- 31 AUG
THEPRINTSPACE
http://www.theprintspace.co.uk/blog/camden-town-skateboarders/
A refreshing study of skateboard culture which aims to bring out different and perhaps unsuspecting characters.
BOXI: TIME OF THE SIGNS
29 JUL-1 SEP
LAZARIDES/THE OUTSIDERS
http://www.lazinc.com/
Sadly I missed this opening, but have checked it out and the Lazarides crew have not failed to put on a great spread of subversive street art. Never predictable or tiresomely ‘urban’, Boxi’s hyperrrealist art commands this space.
MARIO MERZ: WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
28 JUL- 30 OCT
HENRY MOORE INSTITUTE
http://www.henry-moore.org/hmi/
Sculpture rethought and redefined, Merz is driven by his questioning: what can an artist do in the face of a precarious future? Heavy stuff.
JENNY WATSON: STRIPED PAINTING AND UNDERCOVER
27 JUL-26 AUG
GIMPEL FILS
http://www.gimpelfils.com/exhibitions.php#
A lovely feminist nugget. An exploration into feminine identities and curiosities. Watson asserts that her work is not strictly portraiture, but rather embodies certain emotions of frustration and desire through her protagonist alter ego. Looks like a really sensitive piece of work. Bit of a snag, she describes it as ‘post conceptual'(?)… this is where she looses me.
JEFFREY STOCKBRIDGE
16 JUL-3 SEP
THE WAPPING PROJECT
http://www.thewappingprojectbankside.com/
Contemporary, documentary photographic work (mouthful) exploring interior scenes. Plus The Wapping Project is an inspiration in its own right.
LOOK WITH ALL YOUR EYES, LOOK
15 JUL-30 SEP
FRITH STREET GALLERY
http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/shows/
Not usually my bag, but this mixed medium exhibition explores the juxtaposition between absence/materiality and structure/illusion which is all very Derrida and relevant to my last post.
JAKE&DINOS CHAPMAN
15 JUL-17 SEP
WHITE CUBE, HOXTON
http://www.whitecube.com/exhibitions/
Need I say more. You know what its going to be like. Commercially priced, shockingly busy, questionable in artistic validity, teetering the limits of aesthetic appreciation, yet frankly morbidly intriguing, a nice afternoon out and a iconic exploration of the grotesque. Which can never hurt.
EYEWITNESS: HUNGARIAN PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE 20TH CENTURY30 JUN-2 OCT
ROYAL ACADEMY
My expectations of this Hungarian photography 20th century retrospective are incredibly high, being a Kertesz fan and all. (Will get back to you) But for now, interestingly, there is a photography exhibition running alongside this exhibition! (For details: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hungarian-photography/eyewitness-photography-competition,1700,AR.html
TWOMBLY AND POUSSIN: ARCADIAN PAINTERS
29 JUN- 25 SEP
DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY
Twombly and Poussin are brought together for this cataclysmic fusion of refined classicism and expressionist dribbles. This is sure to be a dramatic, absurd and yet perfectly apt, eye-opening comparative study.
FALLING UP
22 JUN- 4 SEP
THE COURTAULD GALLERY
http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/exhibitions/2011/curating/index.shtml
A stunning exhibition by the Curation MA team that explores the relationship between weight and weightlessness. At the opening, the imagination, graft and dedication of the MA team was reflected in the intelligent and poignant comparisons made between Rubens and Tillmans, Rodin and Parker. A visual and intellectual feast.
SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME: NEW SCULPTURE
3 JUN-16 OCT
SAATCHI GALLERY
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/sculpture/
I am actually going to see this today! Matt Brannon is especially intriguing as he comments on the panic of the economic collapse by trying to answer the question: what can we make when we should not be making anything? I like self relexive art like this, that develops as you look at it in both subjective interpretation and artist intention.
THIS IS WHITECHAPEL
11 MAR- 4 SEP
WHITECHAPEL GALLERY
http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/this-is-whitechapel
I think this exhibition of Ian Berry’s photography looks really exciting. I love the voyeuristic nature of social commentary, its raw captured truths and subtle twists of surreality caught by the camera’s discerning eye. I used to live in Whitechapel and the characters still remain, but this exhibition sets out to explore the old Whitechapel and it’s diminishing Jewish community through the settlement of people from South Asia and the Caribbean.
Aching for Everything 