Diary of a London Art Critic: Space and beyond

Gardens, a gold dragon, lots of balloons and a rippled house.

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.

Saturday 10 May

An East London day that had me travelling from St. Paul’s to Walthamstow, via Angel.

Checking out the new ArtCan hub in Angel

I started the day with Remus Grecu’s exhibition at Beers London (now closed). I’m always intrigued by artists using AI, and he uses it to create images and then paints them. I liked the concept but wasn’t sold on the aesthetic, which probably says more about what I think of his chosen AI’s aesthetic. I look forward to the gallery’s next show of portraits by Andrew Salgado (22 May - 28 June, free).

Shifting Perspectives is a group show at White Conduit Projects (until 25 May, free). I’m a big fan of Karen Knorr’s photography, which places animals in domestic settings. The other two photographers were new to me, and both were intriguing, even if they haven’t entirely won me over.

I’m an honorary trustee of ArtCan, which has a new hub upstairs in the Angel Central shopping centre (ongoing, free). The current show features a selection of artists from the collective and is a brilliant example of how artists can use empty spaces to fill them with art — you can still see that it used to be a Bella Italia. Hopefully, no new retail outlet will want it for a while, so ArtCan can have a series of shows in the venue.

Medieval Eyes is another group show, at James Freeman Gallery (until 31 May, free). A ceramic skull of Medusa with snakes still writhing and a fly on its head makes eye contact with visitors to this exhibition of contemporary artists inspired by the medieval era.

Each of the four artists adds their contemporary twist to the works. Pinkie Maclure’s stained glass piece may feature a scroll that looks centuries old in its style, but it also has a pair of trainers hanging from it.

I then trekked across to the far side of town (for me) to visit Morris Mania at William Morris Gallery (until 21 September, free). It’s a fun show on how the designs of William Morris have propagated to everything from saris to lucky cats. It’s a clever move for a free museum whose small exhibitions consistently punch above their weight.

Behind the gallery, in Lloyd Park, is Winns Gallery — a community space that supports emerging artists. This was a new find for me. When I visited, the weekend-only show had a drawing workshop, and it was great to get involved and see what people were making.

I finished my East London rounds at Steve Perfect’s playful drawings exhibition at Stone Space Gallery in Leytonstone (until 1 June, free). I’ll return to the space on Monday, 19 May, to hold an in-conversation with the artist.

I was meeting friends for dinner in Wimbledon, so I popped into Koppel Project’s Pause / Frame space on Broadway. People often ask me what motivates me to visit a space, and geographical convenience is a huge part of it if it’s on my way to other plans. The current show is 'If I become an alien’ (until 6 June, free) and I liked Irum Rahat’s paintings.

Below the paywall

• Out in space, in the garden and surrounded by art

• Walking through a hall filled with balloons and under a bendy house

• My thoughts on Photo London

• Tons more exhibitions