Summer has come and passed but unlike Green Day I don’t want to fast forward through to the end of September because it’s the month that the art world re-awakens and overloads us with an amazing selection of shows. I’ve included a huge long list later in this newsletter but before you start making a note of the exciting options, have you’ve seen all the good ones that are already open? There’s over three dozen recommendations on my What’s On listings page.
People always ask me which shows they should go see and my answer is always the same: If I list it then it’s worth a visit, and my reviews explain why. This week’s issue adds three more for you to consider, along with a few ‘bonus’ artworks.
Issue 121
Digital art school. Research based art. One more summer show. Featuring: Part 2 of the Sarabande Foundation summer show; Hauser & Wirth and Hospital Rooms annual charity event; Alia Hamaoui, Amba Sayal Bennett and Raheel Khan at Palmer Gallery. Plus two bonus artworks!
Read the full issue online for mini-reviews of each show, with two dozen photos!
More Reviews:
Here’s a show I recently reviewed in detail:
Sebastian Tanti Burlò - Antic Hay @ Cicek Gallery
I was curious to see how a Maltese political cartoonist would make use of paint and a much larger canvas.
What else, and what didn’t make the cut?
Thanks to the August “shut-down” I’m running out of open shows to see and only managed to get to ten in total last week. Three made the Roundup, one is still in the process of being reviewed, and one was unexpectedly, annoyingly closed on opening day, even after they wrote to personally invite me! (Nor have they replied to my email to explain why. 😡) So what about the other five?
Both Modern Art (Bury St) and Skarstedt had group shows that I just didn’t think we’re Roundup-worthy, although each had a work that captured my attention. I’ve added some thoughts about those pieces to this week’s issue. Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, located close to both, was kind enough to let me in to see the half dozen works that were hanging in their front room but I’m not convinced they were actually officially open. Always ring the buzzer, kids. Sometimes you get lucky!
Over in Dalston, BSMT Space has a solo show by Brazilian street artist Cranio. I really love his silly blue indigenous figures that seem to be enamoured with luxury items like LV handbags. Alas, like a lot of street artists, all the works are essentially variations of the same theme. But if you like his style, then it’s worth a visit.
And then there’s Buffer 3 at Guts Galley. I really love the ethos of this gallery and what they are trying to do, but this is their third show I’ve attended where it feels like they’re just randomly throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. This is an issue I have with many of the new galleries that don’t yet have a strong enough reputation and/or financial independence to engage in a traditional rostered artist model. When every show is a group show you’re at the mercy of the market and have to scrounge around to grab whatever’s available, and it often shows.
Anonymous Art Anecdotes
So far in 2024 I’ve arrived at “unexpectedly” closed venues 11 times. These are shows that advertised they would be open, but just weren’t. Sometimes I write to the organisers to ask why, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I get an explanation and/or apology, and sometimes I don’t. It’s always an annoyance.
Now here’s the telling theme: 8 of the 11 have been at “pop-up” shows (e.g. shows in a venue-for-hire location) or at galleries that have been operating for less than one year.
Getting started in the art world is hard, which is one of the reasons why I rarely name & shame these shows. Whether you’re an artist or gallery there is an enormous amount of work to be done in order to get your exhibition up and running, and sometimes shit happens. Or sometimes the exhibitor is just too hungover from the PV to make it back to opening day. Regardless, none of that matters if no one can actually get in to see the show.
Looking ahead…
This is just a fraction of everything opening over the next five weeks. If you can’t find anything of interest on this list then I’ve got a Samuel Johnson quote for you.
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Emilio Prini - Typewriter Drawings 1970/1975 @ Sprovieri — 27 Aug - 27 Sept
You Can Sit with us Too (group show) @ Haricot Gallery — 30 Aug - 21 Sept
Altar States (group show) @ Josh Lilley — 30 Aug - 28 Sept
Liorah Tchiprout @ Pippy Houldsworth — 30 Aug - 28 Sept
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Lehmann Maupin presents Teresita Fernández @ No.9 Cork Street — 05-21 Sept
Eva Rothschild @ Modern Art — 05-28 Sept
London Mural Festival — 05-29 Sept
Dante Elsner (1920-1997) 'Just to survive today' @ Alice Black — 06 Sept - 17 Oct
Standing Ground @ Thames-side Studios — 07-22 Sept
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MA Fine Art, Carving and Conservation @ City & Guilds of London Art School — 10-14 Sept
Produce. Repeat. by Georgie Hopton @ Lyndsey Ingram — 11 Sept - 8 Nov
Circle II by Pollen Collective @ Kindred Studios, 14 Market Lane, London W12 8EZ — 12-22 Sept (daily 12-6pm)
Hew Locke @ Hales — 13 Sept - 02 Nov
Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers @ National Gallery — 14 Sept - 19 Jan 2025
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Tracey Emin @ White Cube Bermondsey — 19 Sept – 10 Nov
Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights @ Wellcome Collection — 19 Sept - 27 April, 2025
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Turner Prize 2024 @ Tate Britain — 25 Sept - 16 Feb, 2025 (£)
Yayoi Kusama @ Victoria Miro — 25 Sept - 02 Nov. (Free, but booking essential.)
British Art Fair @ Saatchi Gallery — 26-29 Sept
New Artist Fair @ Truman Brewery — 27-29 Sept
Roy’s Art Fair @ OXO Tower Wharf Bargehouse — 27-29 Sept
Yu Hong @ Lisson Gallery — 27 Sept - 09 Nov
Monet and London: Views of the Thames @ Courtauld Gallery — 27 Sept - 19 Jan 2025
War and the Mind @ Imperial War Museum — 27 Sept - 27 April, 2025
New feature: The Gallery Game
I know many of my readers pay very close attention to the details in the art they see. But how many of you are ‘actively looking’ before you walk in the gallery?
Each week I’m going to include a gallery entrance with the signage removed. Your task is to figure out where those doors go!
This week’s gallery:
Do you recognise it? Can you correctly guess which gallery it is? Click the button below to leave your answer in the comments:
Good luck! I’ll publish the answer along with my original, un-scrubbed photo in next week’s newsletter.
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? Please get in touch and let me know!
Thaddaeus Ropac?
I also agree Rego's work was the best one at Skarstedt. Also, it's Ropac's front entrance.