Diary of a London Art Critic: October / November

Exhibitions in North, East, South and West London

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’s been another hectic fortnight and no sign of the art world slowing down.

Saturday 26 October

It was an east London day for me and involved catching a lot of shows before they closed and a couple with a longer run-time.

With Maayan Sophia Weisstub and her work

Edward Rollitt at New Art Projects (now closed). These are phenomenal staged photographs in moody interiors and he filled the space with furniture given his family’s connection to antiques. It was his first solo show post-graduation from the Royal College of Art and based on the quality of these works, he’s one to watch

Jules de Balincourt at Victoria Miro (now closed). The queues may have been for the Yayoi Kusama exhibition but a separate entrance takes you to the top floor to see these beautiful paintings with great use of colour. It’s less an exhibition, more a showcase but lovely works.

Tarek Lakhrissi at Nicoletti (now closed). An interesting show based on the fact the artist was spat on for carrying the Algerian and Palestinian flags during a Pride parade. It made him examine how spit is both associated with violence and sex, and I like the sculpture in the middle with a queer take on the purple demon head emoji. It’s my first time visiting the gallery since they relocated from Vyner Street to Shoreditch. I do miss the days when Vyner Street was a hub of galleries and every first Thursday of the month turned the street into an art festival.

Divine Perspectives (now closed) was a group show for the weekend only held in a re-purposed church. It was a great mix of artists dealing with perspective. All of the artists work in the nearby studio of Patrick Hughes and his work was included in the show too.

Rana Begum at Kate MacGarry (now closed). I’ve always been a fan of Rana’s big colourful installations. These were smaller works so not as eye-catching, but still lovely to see.

Hew Locke at Hales (now closed). His British Museum exhibition (until 9 February, ticketed) is superb so do go see that and a small sample of his work was here at his gallery. I did like his royal portraits made from cardboard - taking the ‘lowest’ material to recreate those held in high esteem by many.

Disturbing Darlings at Shoreditch Modern (until 16 November, free) gives off lots of creepy vibes in time for Halloween. Re-purposed Furbys made into even creepier creatures, dolls heads made into animal hybrids, and animals in plastic bags. It’s playful but also has an edge that makes you think that if this was a horror movie those artworks would definitely come alive.

Maayan Sophie Weisstub, curated by MAMA salon (now closed). This was a five-day pop-up on Bethnal Green Road and I love Maayan’s work - lightbulbs pulse as if they are breathing, a bed is covered with bruises and everyday tableware has hard-to-see cracks.

In the footsteps of the East London Group at The Nunnery Gallery (until 22 December, free). I wasn’t really aware of the East London Group until I saw this excellent array of paintings of East London, both historical works from 100 years ago to contemporary artists still using the East End as their muse. Finally, an exhibition on this list that’s still open.

My final stop was at Sugar House Island, a new development in Stratford where Hypha Studios has two spaces and artists can apply to take over the space for exhibitions. It’s a great initiative where artists can show works at little cost. There were two group shows Uncanny Playgrounds and Hot Wheels of Karma (both now closed) and I found interesting artists in both shows.

Tuesday 29 / Wednesday 30 October

Not many exhibitions on these days but two activities relating to the not-for-profit artists collective ArtCan, which I’m a proud trustee of.

Reka Ritt Laklia is an ArtCan artist and was showing her work (top) at Strands

On Tuesday I visited Strands at The Department Store in Brixton (now closed), a fab collection of emerging artists in diverse mediums at reasonable prices - I was tempted but I’ve been buying a bit too much art of late.

On Wednesday evening, I chaired a talk on NFTs, yes they’re still around, and it was a fun experience chatting to two artists who have experience of making NFT art.

Beneath the paywall:

• Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael in two separate exhibitions

• Art along the length of the Northern line

• Picasso, art made from felt and lots more …