Viewing articles from 2019/07

ICA,The Mall, St. James's, London SW1Y 5AH

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, Kathy Acker

Installation view of I, I, I, I, I, I, I, Kathy Acker at ICA, London, 2019

Kathy Acker was a plagiarist, a pirate, an emblem of postmodernism, a fascinating and complicated person, but most importantly, she was a writer. A literary exhibition is a challenging project, and so fuelled by a desire to see what curatorial decisions would locate writing visually, I went to see ‘I, I, I, I, I, I, I, Kathy Acker’ at the ICA - surely if any writer can sustain an exhibition it would be Acker. Review by Katie McCain

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Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA

Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold, Installation view, 6 June - 8 September 2019, Serpentine Galleries

As I walk through the Serpentine Gallery’s retrospective of her 50-year career I can’t get Faith Ringgold, the person, out of my mind. The works on display, despite many of them depicting horrific scenes of physical and social violence; the riots that took place during the civil rights era of 1950s and 60s America; gender inequality; the Black Power movement and the manipulation of black bodies in white consumer-capitalist culture, are permeated with the same warmth and affirmative energy that emanates from the artist in her interviews. This is an unusual brand of ‘political’ art; the works are critical, incisive and defiant, yet the tone remains warm and positive, even joyful - much like the artist herself. Review by India Nielsen

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UNSW Galleries, Cnr of Oxford St and Greens Rd, Paddington NSW 2021, Australia

John Fries Award 2019: There is Fiction in the Spaces Between

Installation view, John Fries Award 2019: There is Fiction in the Spaces Between

‘There is Fiction in the Spaces Between’ connects the 12 artists - who are all finalists in the 2019 John Fries Award - and their nominated artworks through memory, place and personal narratives. Curator Miriam Kelly has produced a curatorial rationale that without intention invokes the sentiment of all the artists. Instead of a ‘prize’ exhibition, what we see at UNSW Galleries is a presentation of what ‘Australia’ looks like today. Review by Emma-Kate Wilson

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The Crossing, 1 Milk Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5SU

Eartheater & Semiconductor: Fracture Patterns

Three hexagon-shaped screens were lined on the floor and the sound of droplets filled the dark room, building tension. The only source of light came from the screens and the three spotlights on the floor, which lit up Eartheater’s white, sequin-covered suit and made it sparkle as she slowly entered the stage. Review by Laura O'Leary

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Nottingham Contemporary, Weekday Cross, Nottingham NG1 2GB

Lis Rhodes: Dissident Lines

Light Music

“Write the first lines last”, says Lis Rhodes in a voiceover. “Ambiguous journeys have many beginnings”. In her films, which are socially diagnostic as much as they are aesthetically rich, Rhodes recognises one of the most important linguistic truths of our time. Hypocrisy is an echo, the same thing twice in two ways. Review by Adam Heardman

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KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststraße 69, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Schering Stiftung Art Award 2018: Anna Daučíková

Upbringing by Touch

The current exhibition at KW Institute presents the work of Anna Daučíková through video, photography and sculpture. Spanning the past five decades, the body of work refuses linearity, welcomes the experimental possibilities between the artist and her materials, and opens up to wider discourses on identity. Review by Eva Szwarc

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Jerwood Visual Arts, Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, Bankside, London SE1 0LN

Jerwood Makers Open

Mark Corfield-Moore, Celestial Meteors, 2019 (left); Nitrous Flame, 2019 (middle) and Golden Showers, 2019 (right). Dyed Warp, handwoven cotton in oak frame.

The work in this year’s Jerwood Makers Open is undoubtedly beautiful and desirable. But it also resists quick consumption. Investigations into traditional craft processes, social anxieties and climate change all appear in this meditation on making. Review by Bernard Hay

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Magasin III Jaffa, 6813131 34, Olei Zion St, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Cosima von Bonin: Ocean and Caffeine

Seasons in the Abyss

Two fish dressed up in skirts and shackled to guitars guard the entrance of Magasin III in Jaffa at Cosima von Bonin’s first solo exhibition in Israel. ‘Ocean and Caffeine’ looks as if it is inspired by the essence of the port city as a surfboard leans horizontally on the wall, but it is a crash course in nearly two decades of von Bonin’s work about marine life. Review by Danielle Gorodenzik

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Museum Voorlinden, Buurtweg 90, 2244 AG Wassenaar, Netherlands

Do Ho Suh

Staircase - III

Do Ho Suh’s solo exhibition highlights the artist’s fabric replicas of the places where he once lived. Reproduced at a 1:1 scale and in a range of colours, this well-known mode of his practice not only charts the route Suh’s life has taken, but also creates a presence that is more atmospheric than architectural. Based on residences in Berlin, London, Seoul, and New York City, these markers speak of the evanescence of past experiences and the frailty of memory. Their cumulative effect balances the mnemonic with fact. Review by John Gayer

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Frith Street Gallery, 17-18 Golden Square, Soho, London W1F 9JJ

Callum Innes: Keeping Time

Installation view, Callum Innes: Keeping Time

When entering Frith Street Gallery, there is an initial risk of misunderstanding Callum Innes’ work. A visitor could easily glance at the paintings here, determine them to be simple and flat, and they could walk away. However, Innes’ pieces function almost like impressionist works - only up-close do his markings and layers become apparent, and you suddenly become aware that each piece is an arrangement of layers and brushstrokes on a canvas, each possessing different finishes and textures. Review by Lois Morton

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Fondazione Prada, Largo Isarco, 2, 20139 Milano MI, Italy

Lizzie Fitch | Ryan Trecartin: Whether Line

Exhibition view of Lizzie Fitch | Ryan Trecartin: Whether Line, Fondazione Prada, 2019

Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin’s new commission at Fondazione Prada is a trip in hyper-reality through means of immersive installations and role-play video performances. The multimedia exhibition unfolds as a journey into different physical and psychosocial spaces - from Milan to the core of contemporary (American) culture, via Ohio’s countryside. Review by Giulia Civardi

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Sprüth Magers, 7A Grafton Street, London W1S 4EJ

Senga Nengudi

Installation view, Senga Nengudi, Sprüth Magers, London, 7 June - 13 July 2019

Nengudi utilises nylon stockings in various shades of brown; stretching them tight, filling the gusset with sand, or allowing them to flap around in front of an air conditioning vent. The ‘R.S.V.P.’ sculptures are powerfully evocative, alluding to the female body and to the racialised body, even while they explore a formal approach to the industrial, the quotidian and the found object. The exhibition also hints at – but perhaps doesn’t make quite enough of – Nengudi’s performance practice, through which she ‘activates’ her stocking-sculptures through dance, adding yet another layer to the ways in which these pieces can be experienced. Review by Anna Souter

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