Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his Top 5 Art Exhibitions to see in London during late October. If you are after more exhibitions, check out last week’s top 5.
Damaris Athene: Undercurrents at SLQS Gallery
Tentacles spread out down the walls and across the ceiling. The gallery feels like it’s had an art infestation, like something out of a science fiction film. The mixture of fabric and glass makes it feel as if the entity sits somewhere between the man-made and the organic, with glass eyes watching our every move. Accompanied by wall-based works, this is a sumptuous and ambitious exhibition. Until 15th November.
Hugh Hayden: Hughmanity at Lisson Gallery
There’s a dining table on fire, facing off with skillets with thirteen faces representing the disciples at the Last Supper. The dinner table is a place of coming together, but also a sight of disharmony, and it’s this tension we find through Hugh Hayden’s work. McDonald’s French Fries are covered in thorns, possibly the only way to stop the world eating something we all know is bad for us, and an American flag is covered in cigarettes as if it could burst alight at any moment. How we read these impressive and ambiguous works arguably tells us more about ourselves. Until 1st November.
David Hepher: The Elegy of Robin Hood Gardens at Flowers Gallery
I’ve always been a fan of David Hepher’s paintings of concrete Brutalist tower blocks. These latest works tower over us, and they are so thick it feels like lumps of concrete could fall off the wall onto the gallery floor. These works of Robin Hood Gardens in Poplar, East London, are covered in graffiti and scrawls, capturing the evolving architecture of London. Until 15th November.
Karin Kneffel: A House in Hampstead at Dirimart
The Isokon building is an excellent example of Bauhaus architecture in London, and Karin Kneffel’s monumental still lifes focus on its history. It was a cultural hub so there are references to its former residents and visitors, including a Henry Moore sculpture and an Agatha Christie novel, plus a reference to get-togethers where nobody wore clothes. You could spend hours admiring the details of each work, and it’s great to see a new gallery set up in Mayfair. Until 15th November.
Sonia Gomes: E preciso nao ter medo de criar at Pace
Experimenting with second-hand materials, including fabric, driftwood and wire, the title of this show, which translates as ‘one must not be afraid to create’, feels apt for Sonia Gomes’ work. The work ‘Tereze’ ties many of her textile pieces together and is named after the Brazilian Portuguese prison slang for the knotted sheets they use to escape. Here it hangs static, but it can be the tool for liberty in others’ hands. Stories like this one breathe life into her works. Until 15th November.
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Art Critic for both FAD and Londonist. See as many exhibitions as possible and write reviews, opinion pieces and a weekly top 5 for FAD.