2023 - Issue 53
Showcasing artists and works that caught my attention.
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From a brand new gallery to a well known name, this week has a little bit of everything. Even pigs in space!
My photos from this show look like they’ve been extracted from an “Art or Science?” Buzzfeed Image Quiz. Spoiler alert: the answer to every one is Both! Seven collaborative teams of artists and astrophysicists worked for a year to produce this show. Some of the results are beautiful, some are mind boggling, and one of the works has pieces that have actually been to space. If you go, be sure to chat with the invigilators (e.g. gallery attendants) to get the behind the scenes stories, because what you’ll see isn’t always as easy to understand as it is on the eyes.
‘SPACE Lab’ at APT Gallery (@aptgallery) until 05 Mar
Sick of white walled (and floored) galleries? Check out new-on-the-scene Haricot, located by the back of the flashy Nobu Hotel in Shoreditch. Maybe that explains the salmon pink floors? It’s got fab interior signage too!
The inaugural show presents two distinct styles from artist Constance Read (@ConstanceRead). Upstairs, ‘Chaos’ features mono prints that look like quick architectural spatial studies, the largest ones mounted in perfectly matched colour frames. Downstairs you’ll see geometric illustration silkscreens that I forgot to photograph because I spent all my time having an enjoyable chat with HARrY and COnsTance.
‘The Chaotic Forms of an Organised Mind’ at Haricot Gallery (@haricotgallery) until 18 Mar
Wanna come up and see my etchings… and woodblocks… and lithographs? There’s a fab solo show by printmaker Michael Taylor featuring all of the above in well-priced editions and a few select one-offs. I was drawn to many of these works by their distinct core elements — a man with a clown nose, or thick figurative outlines that remind me of propaganda posters — but once up close I noticed subtle details that blend in and out of focus courtesy of their watercolour-like backgrounds.
‘The Last Man’ at Standpoint Gallery (@standpointgallery) until 11 Mar
I first saw Eric Pina’s massive wall sculpture ‘Terra Incognita, Moments Brefs’ in a July ‘22 group show. Cast resin figures extrude off the wall in a crowd scene that plays with perspective. I studied them so long that I wished for Pym Particles so that I could step inside and wander amongst them. That work returns along with stand-alone 3D figures and a series of intricate blackstone and pastel on paper works that contain teeny, tiny surprises. If you can find them. They’re hung alongside a series of soothing abstracted landscapes by painter Ermias Ekube (@ErmiasEkubeStudio).
‘Foreign Lands’ at Ed Cross Fine Art (@edcrossfineart) until 25 Mar
You can browse the work of 40 artists while having your haircut at the new location of the Ben Oakley Gallery, which has moved into Mork Barbershop in the Nelson Arcade that leads into (or out of) Greenwich Market. Be sure to get down to the basement where there’s lots more work to see. Many have been made by street artists, so expect lots of irreverent works. With almost everything priced under £500 you’re sure to find a unique, conversation-starter piece for your collection.
‘Close Shave’ at Ben Oakley Gallery (@BenOakleyGallery_) until 02 Apr
Peter Doig (@peterdoig) has been called a painter’s painter but that doesn’t mean universal acclaim. I find these works a bit Marmite, preferring the ones with bold colours and distinctly stylised faces. Because, and I hate to say this, many of his faces look like Painting 101, but I loved the self portrait with crispy burnt skin. And the guitar player that looks a friendly alien wearing the kind of lazy disguise you might see in a kids film.
Most of the works are far too large for the small rooms and large crowds you’ll encounter, which is a shame because these works reward slow looking. But you can escape to a lower gallery to study 19 small etchings that look like pen & ink sketches filled in with watercolour. They’re made with “spit bite aquatint” — acid thickened with spit to make it more controllable when brushing it on the etching plate.
‘Peter Doig’ at The Courtauld Gallery (@courtauld) until 29 May
Adult tickets from £14 // Many discounts available
PLUS — don’t forget to check the What’s On page so you don’t miss any other great shows closing soon.