Diary of a London Art Critic: November / December

London to Bilbao and back again - a critic's tale

In this post, I summarise every exhibition I’ve seen over the last few weeks, not just those I write about in other publications, and you get my honest thoughts on them.

It feels like the number of art openings is slowing down for the year, though there’s still a lot to see, plus you get my highlights from a sunny visit to Bilbao.

Tuesday 26 November

A major new exhibition at Tate Modern and a day out of town in the Hampshire countryside to visit an artist’s residency.

In the Carlos Cruz-Diez installation at Tate Modern

I arrived at Tate Modern bright and early to see Electric Dreams, an exhibition exploring how artists used technology from the 1960s to the 1990s (until 1 June, ticketed). It’s great to see a mix of lo-fi tech including mirrors, prisms and simple motors through to an immersive stripy room filled with balloons by Carlos Cruz-Diez. Every time technology has evolved, artists have used it to create important artworks and you can find examples of them all here.

I was at Tate Modern early because I was being ferried to North Hampshire to see the Xenia residency. Residencies are normally funded by wealthy collectors who want to provide a space for artists to be creative, somewhere where they can gain inspiration and have the time and space to think. This is a great example set on a farm with beautiful countryside around it. It was great to meet the artists that were in residence and got me thinking about whether I’d ever go on a writer’s residency.

Wednesday 27 November

A morning at the V&A followed by an evening in Wakehurst, West Sussex.

The Jameel Prize at V&A

The morning press view was for the Jameel Prize at V&A, an annual art exhibition dedicated to contemporary Islamic art (until 16 March, free). I normally enjoy this exhibition but maybe because this year is all video works I struggled to get into them even though each piece covered an important issue.

This year’s V&A Christmas tree is by Anna Lomax (until 5 January, free) and I like her fun concept of a V&A column made into a swirling glowing Christmas tree.

That evening I went to the annual Christmas lights at Wakehurst, called Glow Wild (until 1 January, ticketed) - I’ve always been a fan of Wakehurst, the harder to get to and wilder cousin of Kew Gardens. Glow Wild is fun and as a bonus, it’s never as busy as Christmas at Kew.

Below the paywall

• Highlights from Bilbao

• Art by Boris Johnson’s mother

• Plenty of London exhibitions

• A spot of indoor cricket