How weather. Cool art.
w/c 01 July 2025
I’m hot. You’re hot. We’re all sick of this heat. This e-mail is dropping on day five of the second heatwave of the summer. I don’t have the energy to write anything witty about the weather, which is good because you’ve probably run out of the necessary patience to be able to deal with that.
Let’s get right to the reviews, shall we?
Full Reviews:
Last week I caught one more degree show while putting the finishing touches on the July edition of my monthly column. Here are links to both those articles:
RA Schools Show 2025 @ Royal Academy of Arts
Twelve rooms. Eight artists. One good show.
Why I Like It: Winged Figure (1961-62)
The month’s edition features an abstract guardian of the high street.
One-line reviews of everything else I saw…
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👍🏻👍🏻 ROUNDUP-WORTHY — see it if you can!
Modern Art - Mark Manders (St. James’s) — Are there really three dead birds under that giant canvas you can walk on, or is that just part of the visual illusion and conceptual trickery that makes this show grow more compelling with each and every double take detail? (e.g. The photo below? It’s all bronze.) 🗓️ Until 12 July
Royal Academy of Arts - Kiefer/Van Gogh (Mayfair) — Did MOMA say no? It’s more likely the RA didn’t even attempt to get Starry Night on loan. You don’t get a lot of Van Gogh for your £17 entry fee, and the drawings are better than the paintings, but seeing Kiefer quite literally overwhelm the three rooms of the RA’s smaller galleries is an imposing reminder of the power of his work. 🗓️ Until 26 October
White Cube - Anselm Kiefer (St. James’s) — The sombre sunflowers and past-their-prime hay fields laced with gold leaf are Kiefer at his most uplifting compared to his usual grey and muddy war-torn landscapes. Bittersweet is the happiest emotion I’ve seen from this artist, and this is a must-see pairing with the Kiefer/Van Gogh RA exhibit… and this one’s free! 🗓️ Until 16 August
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👍🏻 IF YOU’RE IN THE AREA — but don’t go out of your way…
Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert - Hockney in London: 1960-1963 (St. James’s) — Early Hockney can be hard to digest if you’ve only tasted his vibrantly colourful late career oeuvre, but these fun-filled works rife with pop-art flourishes show the bold precociousness that foreshadowed his legend status right from the start. 🗓️ Until 18 July
Krupa Gallery - Inside Job (duo show) (Clerkenwell-ish) — Very few of the works felt individually strong enough, but there are tiny details galore to draw you in and make you study the production precision. 🗓️ Until 03 July
Saatchi Yates - Once Upon a Time in London (St. James’s) — It’s not a show, it’s a show of force. It’s unsubtle marketing from a gallery currently flogging their new membership scheme, saying “Look at all the big name artists we managed to get into one single 10,000 sq ft room. Impressive, right? Want more? Of course you do!” And you’ll go, because there are too many big names to miss. 🗓️ Until 17 August
Whitechapel Gallery - Hamad Butt (Aldgate East) — The opening room sculptures set a high bar that the rest of the show simply can’t live up to, and will make you wonder what could have been had the artist not had an untimely death aged 32. Don’t miss the archives in Gallery 3, including a selection of news reactions to one of his toxic works malfunctioning in a Tate exhibition. 🗓️ Until 07 September (£ ticketed)
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👎🏻 NOPE — you can give these shows a skip:
Workplace - Cathleen Clarke (Fitzrovia) — The wind-swept figures painted in a palette that’s begging to be shown under a black light weren’t doing much to keep my attention, even the one that looks like a zombie shovelling snow. 🗓️ Until 12 July
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🛑 NOW ENDED — it’s too late to see these…
I managed to catch Shyama Golden @ PM/AM (Fitzrovia) before it closed and though I’m not sure who’d want these hanging on their walls I quite enjoyed the narrative series that was visually amusing despite the macabre journey of horrors depicted. Next door the ST.ART Gallery was open and I was reminded that there’s a lot of reasonably priced good art going if you know where to look. It’s just a shame this gallery isn’t open more often.
I also escaped the heat by descending into Crypt Gallery (Euston) where @MothMeister and three taxidermy artists (Mabel Edwards @loveanddeath_taxidermy, Simon Wilson @simon_the_stuffa, and Andre Robolobavich @robolobavich) made me laugh, made me wince, and thanks to a handful of taxidermied horse penii (yes, really) made me think the insufferable humidity outside wasn’t that bad after all.
Anonymous Art Anecdotes
“That guy just snorted coke in the other room!”
“Er… what?!”
That conversation took place as a hushed but overly excited whisper since my partner and I were on a guided art tour. I won’t reveal where and I won’t reveal when, for obvious reasons. And also because my partner never actually saw any actual substances passing into a nostril because the ingestor in question had their back turned while they hid behind some sculpture after the rest of the tour group had moved on.
There’s always a straggler or two on a guided tour. My partner lagged behind, but didn’t expect that one last glimpse was going to include the unmistakable motions of someone snorting something off the back of their hand, with accompanying sniff sound! Did it really happen? We didn’t need to debate it because the previously subdued subject in question was incredibly animated and chatty afterwards.
Some people get a natural high when in the presence of art. Others need a manual assist.
Looking ahead…
Here’s a long list of currently open shows I haven’t yet managed to visit:
Lady Lilith (group show) @ Alice Black — until 12 Jul
Only Your Name (trio show) @ SLQS Gallery — until 12 Jul
Future Relics (group show) @ Union Pacific — until 12 Jul
Jonny Briggs @ Kristin Hjeellegjerde — until 12 Jul
The Pleasure of Misuse (group show) @ Royal Society of Sculptors — until 13 Jul
Manow Nowhere @ BSMT Space — until 13 Jul
Raha Farazmand @ No Show Space — until 19 Jul
Alexandra Metcalf @ The Perimeter — until 25 Jul
Mark Woods @ Cross Lane Projects — until 26 Jul
The Weight of Lightness (trio show) @ BlueriderArt — until 27 Jul
Summer (group show) @ Frestonian Gallery — until 09 Aug
Andrew North @ South Parade — until 09 Aug
Playtime (trio show) @ Ubicua Gallery — until 22 Aug
And here’s some new shows opening this week:
Summer Show @ Niso Gallery — 01 Jul - 02 Aug
Conviction Fair @ Hypha HQ Euston — 04 Jul - 04 Aug
Group (trio) Exhibition @ Lungley — 05 Jul - 09 Aug
The Gallery Entry Game
The window gallery pictured last week is Flexitron, located at 46 Penton St, N1 9QA in Islington. Technically this is a window gallery even through visits inside are available on an appointment-only basis during limited set times, which are listed on the website.
Check your inbox on Friday morning for another new entry entry! (That’s not a typo.)
What else would you like to see / read / know?
Thanks for making it all the way to the end of my Newsletter. Did you like what you read? Was there something else you expected? Leave a comment and let me know!
Will you/have you been to the Courtauld's 'Abstract Erotic' show? :)