Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University, Dryden St, Nottingham NG1 4GG
Sophie Cundale’s new film commission ‘The Near Room’ (2020) is an absurd psychological melodrama about loss and the aftermath. The film as a whole asks, but doesn’t answer the question of how we make sense of experiences in flux, like ecstasy or crisis. In unfathomable times, when death feels closer to life than ever, this film is an unsettling watch. Review by Andrew Price
The Assembly Room, 82 Borough Road, London, SE1 1DN, United Kingdom
Elizabeth Price’s cycle of three multi-channel video works comes to London’s Assembly Room after showings at the Walker Art Centre, Nottingham Contemporary and the Whitworth, University of Manchester. Review by Kirsty White
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, 5-9 Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland
2019 saw Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca represent Brazil at the Venice Biennale with a new video titled ‘Swinguerra,’ in the Giardini della Biennale. And whilst it’s less than a year since Venice, the world that ‘Swinguerra’ originally inhabited seems like a lifetime ago. Its presentation in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in Dublin comes amidst a global pandemic, blazing wildfires and a deepening culture war on both sides of the Atlantic. And whilst these topics have dominated the media 2020, they have been core issues in Brazil for a number of years with the continued deforestation of the Amazon and increasing violence against LGBTQ+ communities. Review by Aidan Kelly Murphy
MeetFactory, o. p. s., Ke Sklárně 3213/15, 150 00 Praha 5, Czech Republic
Curated by Tereza Jindrová, the exhibition inaugurated a long-term programme line titled ‘Other Knowledge’. If one of the pillars of Western modernity is rationality and the division between nature and culture, the involved artists challenge both of these notions and propose to open up to a much wider array of epistemologies. Review by Jaroslava Tomanova
Kiasma, Mannerheiminaukio 2, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
There’s a stillness in Liisa Lounila’s moving image works that inspires an urge to slow-down, to sit-down and to stay put, for a while. ‘Shadow Zone’, a collection of Lounila’s works from 2008 to 2020, challenges the viewer to observe the slight nuances in a seemingly repetitive world. Though spanning over a decade, the pieces selected remain relevant today; reflecting on broad themes such as the environment and consumerism, while providing a space in which to reinvigorate our relationship with the screen and digital media. Review by Selina Oakes
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Ely House, 37 Dover Street, London W1S 4NJ
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For those who might ask why her work resonated so thoroughly with the generation just before her, the 'Life Captured Still' exhibition at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac may offer some answers. A selection of Hito Steyerl’s work was shown alongside a major influence on her life and work; the late filmmaker and video artist Harun Farocki. This exploration of the connections between these two prominent German filmmakers and visual artists was the first major posthumous exhibition of Harun Farocki’s work in the UK and, remarkably, the first exhibition to put their work in conversation together. Review by Chris Hayes
Holt/Smithson Foundation (online)
Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson are two key figures in earth, land, and conceptual art, pioneering some of the most influential site-specific installations and video work in the 20th century. As many galleries and museums are continuing to find new digital means of presenting their programme, the Holt/Smithson Foundation launched a weekly film programme of both artists’ most iconic films alongside lesser known works with each available for just 24 hours. Throughout the series we see each artist in a new light, framed around the early experimental energy of video art as they explore artistic collaboration and themes of presence and absence against the backdrop of their monumental earthworks. Review by Aileen Dowling
Galerie Lelong & Co. and P·P·O·W (online)
Proposed by Carolee Schneemann in the last year of her life, ‘Irrigation Veins: Ana Mendieta & Carolee Schneemann, Selected Works 1966 – 1983’ is a compelling exhibition of two canonical artists who sought to explore their embodied relationship to the land and its history through the body as material. Considering their inclusions in influential essays by Lucy Lippard and Gloria Feman Orenstein, as well as exhibitions at A.I.R. Gallery, the first artist-run gallery for women artists in the United States, it is remarkable that Mendieta and Schneemann have never been placed in direct dialogue. Review by Aileen Dowling
Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA
On the wall of a lobby, against a deep red velvet backdrop, a prophetic message welcomes the visitor: ‘In our splendid universe, motion pictures mirror our reality’. In Cao Fei’s ‘Blueprints’, different worlds merge and flip. Combining theatrical sets, photography, moving images, and her first VR work, the artist traces patterns of reality, teleporting visitors through distant territories and histories. Focusing on the district of Jiuxianqiao in Beijing, where the first Chinese computer was invented, the exhibition offers local perspectives of contemporary technological developments in China, mapping feelings that resonate globally. Review by Giulia Civardi
External Pages
You are browsing the internet at different speeds, across temporalities. You take a deep dive in the realm of ‘BLACK MEME’, encountering material you are surrounded by every day. A journey curated by Legacy Russell. Review by Clara Nissim
Danielle Arnaud Gallery, 123 Kennington Rd, Prince's, London SE11 6SF
‘Mirror III: Horizon’ is part of a broader’ project series’ created by London-based artist David Cotterrell in collaboration with Ruwanthie de Chikera. ‘Mirror III: Horizon’ is part of the six-week online programme curated by Tess Charnley of Danielle Arnaud Gallery, titled ‘Mis(sing) Communication. ‘Mirror III: Horizon’ is profoundly complex, evident in both the making of the project and also throughout the thematic intersections the work addresses. These intersections relate to anxiety and empathy, feelings brought forth by the inherent fear of isolation, risk and the unknown. All this is set against the context of the ongoing global refugee crisis. Review by Sheena Carrington
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The COVID-19 pandemic has cleared the cultural calendar for the foreseeable future and Glasgow International, Scotland’s largest festival of contemporary art, has been postponed until 2021. Indeed, the cancellation of a festival which was planned to span 60 exhibitions and 120 artists will be a disappointment to artists and the public alike. The digital programme is the unintended consequence of this unforeseen event. Review by Hailey Maxwell
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
Historically in western art, trees have generally been depicted as ornamental afterthoughts, their upright forms used to frame a scene or add definition to a landscape. ‘Among the Trees’ at Hayward Gallery, however, puts trees centre-stage, emphasising images where branches and leaves fill the frame, confusing the eye and defying the human scale of the viewfinder or canvas. Review by Anna Souter
Villa Romana, Via Senese, 68 50124 Florence, Italy
The artist, Lerato Shadi, is a South African, Berlin-based artist. ‘MOSI KE O NE’ begins with Shadi walking through a labyrinth of trees in the Italian countryside. Shadi is poised, dressed in all white, and the camera never reveals her face. She moves effortlessly, and her calm demeanour invites the viewer to follow her—the landscape of Shadi's work functions as a compelling narrative. ‘MOSI KE O NE’ is filmed outside of the traditional white-cube gallery setting. The landscape demonstrates how our bodies intrinsically connect to the earth. Review by Sheena Carrington
