We almost certainly do need to do that five art things thing again don’t we? We probably should? Just a bit more of that glue that holds the who or what together. The art of repetition? Where were we? Still repeating ourselves whilst under stress? Did you even notice? Do you just cut to the chase?). And well, we could do it again, we could? Shall we? The Five Art Things thing? We said all this last week didn’t we? And the week before, and we really can almost smell open galleries now, almost, no actual opening nights, but real walls and art hanging on them. Can we see a way out yet? Can we think of things happening for real rather than things happening on-line, we still can’t quite really feature or preview forthcoming physical shows that much at the moment, no, hang on, stop, we can! Indeed our in-box is bursting with press releases and galleries telling us they’re open again and we probably can can’t we? There are hints, like the Misha Milovanovich show we featured on these pages recently – Misha Milovanovich’s exhibition The Shape of Colour promises to be something rather special, the exuberant show has just opened at London’s Dellaposa gallery… or the Alex Hudson show hopefully opening in April at Hackney’s – New Art Projects that we previewed a couple of weeks back now – A Fergus Hare on-line book to explore, Alex Hudson coming up at Hackney’s New Art Projects (hopefully)
We have been saying all this for weeks now and all the “oh, I don’t know, this five art things to go check out feature is kind of shot to pieces now”. The regular feature was supposed to be about five upcoming art shows that we were excited about, five recommended art exhibitions that are about to open, five shows we were looking forward to putting on our coats and going out to, a selection of the five most exciting openings selected from the many (many) coming up. Still in lockdown then, so once again this week it is mostly all about art on line, hopefully this well be the last time it will be all about exploring art on line. Here you go then, our latest contribution to the infodemic…
here we go then, five art things in no particular order, see you out there (socially distanced and all masked up of course)
1: Misha Milovanovich’s exhibition The Shape of Colour is now has (hopefully) properly physically opened at London’s Dellaposa gallery, here’s the link ot te feature we write a few weeks back – Misha Milovanovich’s exhibition The Shape of Colour promises to be something rather special, the exuberant show has just opened at London’s Dellaposa gallery…
“From 14 April at Delaspossa Gallery in London apart from the works in steel we will include small selection of sculptures in wood. Smaller works are all made in marine ply, household paint, carbon fibre and cellulose paint. All these works are unique.’The Shape of Colour’, at @Dellasposa, London features new works that expand the artist’s form and investigations into colour.From 14 April at the Gallery, : 2a Bathurst St, Tyburnia, London W2 2SD.Exhibition views: Misha Milovanovich, ‘The Shape of Colour’, Dellasposa Gallery, London (10 March–9 May 2021)”
“Dellasposa Gallery will be opening the offline exhibition to the public on Tuesday 13 April, subject to UK government guidelines. Advance bookings recommended for viewings by appointment – arrange your visit here”
2: Alex Hudson at Hackney’s New Art Projects – “New Art Projects are delighted to present our first solo show by Alex Hudson. His new paintings here are deeply rooted in the Northern European painting tradition and seek to both celebrate and debate the cultural highs of the last 500 hundred years. These paintings playfully dip in and out of the Dutch Golden Age, making playful references to Frans Hals comedic portraits, Melchior d’Hondecoeter’s moody and characterful depictions of birds, small mammals and fruit while looking closely at English myth and literature.
The Alex Hudson show is physically open from April 12th until June 26th. In case we’ve all forgotten BY now, New Art Projects is at 6d Sheep Lane, Hackney, London, E8 4QS. Just beside Broadway Market, not far from the Regents Canal and a stone’s throw from Beck Road
Previous New Art Projects coverage here on these pages
3: Mulberry – Tree of Plenty is a collaborative project between artists Sara Heywood & Jane Watt, UCL science researcher Dr David Chau, community participants and St Margaret’s House. The project explores the materiality of the iconic mulberry tree.
Mulberry – Tree of Plenty is a collaborative project between artists Sara Heywood & Jane Watt, and UCL science researcher Dr David Chau. The project explores the materiality of the iconic mulberry tree (Morus nigra and Morus alba).
The team have worked with community participants and St Margaret’s House to learn and share knowledge about the mulberry trees of Bethnal Green, east London. Together they have explored local heritage walks, mulberry tasting, gel formation, fabrication and profiling, skeletonization and ghosting of leaves, 3D digital scanning, ink making, drawing, nurturing and growing saplings.
Mulberry – Tree of Plenty will be presenting a live, site- specific moving image installation on the exterior windows of the Create Place, St Margaret’s House for 3 days. Visit at any time during the weekend. FREE – no booking is required. (yea yea, I know, jsut an outside windows thing whe nwe’re all desperate to get inside and look at a piece of art hanging on a wall or walk around a piece of art, but het, it does look and sound like it might be rather good and well, do what you will with the informatino we offer you.
LIVE TALK AND Q&A
Thursday 15 April, 7.30pm to 8.30pm when the Mulberry – Tree of Plenty team will present a live talk and Q&A on their project and share some of the discoveries they have made along the way. More from mulberry-tree-plenty or from www.mulberrytreeofplenty.org
Create Place is at St Margaret’s House, 26 Old Ford Road, London, E2 9PL
4: Adébayo Bolaji: The Power & The Pause at Beers – Now we’re not big fans of Beers Gallery and the way they go about things, indeed the last time we went there we were asked to leave, and far enough you might say, we have questioned the way they treat artists with their rather dubious open calls and pay-to-merely-submit to an open call or a book about the best hundred this and that who were silly enough to pay to be in the damn book scams. But hey, this does look to be a rather rewarding show and well, read all about it (or at least a little bit about it, go see it, (if they’ll let you in)
“For his first solo with the gallery, Bolaji presents ‘THE POWER AND THE PAUSE’ (OR ‘THE PAUSE’), a series of brand-new works that unravel like individual characters or short stories within a greater context that operate to tell a greater narrative”.
“A modern-day Renaissance Man, British-Nigerian artist Adébayo Bolaji has experience both on screen and stage, before and behind the curtain; he is a thinker and poet – frequently posting his musings online for his followers to consider; and an artist, effortlessly breaching the gap between painting and sculpture, and blurring the lines between his personal life and a shared, creative persona presented to us, the viewer. Since working with BEERS, he and the gallery have spread his work to a slew of collections worldwide, including South Africa, the US, and of course, throughout London.
For his first solo with the gallery, Bolaji presents ‘THE POWER AND THE PAUSE’ (OR ‘THE PAUSE’), a series of brand-new works that unravel like individual characters or short stories within a greater context that operate to tell a greater narrative. The works consider the strength and complications that arise from periods of cessation. Certainly as a result of happenings in 2020, the world has experienced a global halt or interruption unprecedented in modern times; but on a microcosmic level, each of us – creators and otherwise – have also experienced the ramifications of this abscondment from daily life. But when viewed from an alternate angle, how can this period become fruitful? In spiritual teachings, the breathing pause is a space of clarity, oneness, revitalization. Across many religions and cultural traditions, the concept of ‘stepping out’ of the real world is seen as beneficial; a closeness to transcendence. How can an artist translate such a period, with its myriad emotions, complex political and social effects, and indiscriminate and severe consequences, into something powerful, productive? Bolaji does exactly that, and in the process, challenges notions of control and power, personal strength and weakness, and the illusory and very, very real occurrences resulting from a prolonged period of suspended animation – on intimate and global scales?
Adébayo Bolaji, is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working in London, England. At the centre of his practice is the dialogue of change and the focus of the individual within a connecting society whether that be anthropological, religious, historical or popular culture. The use of the vibrant and metaphorical language, is a crucial element in his work, helping to narrate a different story within each painting allowing for the viewer to take an active role in the works. Bolaji has exhibited internationally in London and Zurich, with artist residencies in New York and Margate, including an Artist Residency with Yinka Shonibare MBE Guest Projects”.
Beers is at 51 Little Britain, London, EC1A 7BH. The show runs from 17th April until May 22nd, More details There’s a rather good video here
4: ‘All that kale’ by Brooklyn, NY based painter Jule Korneffel – “Claas Reiss’ inaugural show presents new paintings by Brooklyn, NY based Jule Korneffel in her first UK exhibition. Re-opening on Saturday 17 April 2021 until 15 May 2021.
“Jule Korneffel, born and raised in Germany, graduated from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 2008 as Meisterschüler under Tal R. In 2015 she moved to New York, where she feels the particular inspirations of Mary Heilmann and Agnes Martin. After graduating from the M.F.A. program at Hunter College in 2018, Korneffel quickly gained attention for emotional but reductive paintings: recent shows include Phase Patterns at ltd los angeles, Here comes trouble at Spencer Brownstone in NYC and Mini Me Mary in Dialogue with Mary Heilmann at Albada Jelgersma Gallery in Amsterdam.” – Hey, that’s mostly a boring a list, I hate boring lists, do like that imagery up there though and the bits we’ve seen of the artist before and well, here’s some more
“Korneffel’s abstract style of inscriptive mark making follows a minimalist sensibility yet, by allowing underpainting to remain visible, the paintings reveal a process of reduction and the layering appears as a filtering of experiences. The picture plane is a lived experience in which she is able to arrive at precise forms and colours by what she calls ‘floating through its creation’.
A sun is the most recent and most reduced work with its one single mark on an ochre-ish ground. As in all her paintings, Korneffel imbued personal every day life experience into abstract language. ‘Suns are isolated and shine’ says Korneffel, referring to living in NYC during the Coronavirus pandemic….. read on
Claas Reise is at 96 Robert Street, London NW1 3QP. The show has been online for some time, but hey, there is a real life option from April 17th until May 22nd. and how how we need ot stand in a quite gallery with living breathing paintings on the wall…
5: Markus Amm – Part One at Herald Street Gallery – “In his exhibition of new works, Markus Amm turns the canvas into a window onto fluctuating emotional atmospheres. Quiet, luminous, transitional: the paintings suggest a continuum of sensations, in which the viewer almost feels looking as its own form of delight – akin to the afterimages playing behind closed eyelids in a sunlit room. Amm handles the canvases with dexterity. The highly absorbent gesso board creates a kind of screen onto which the oil diffuses. Rendered as smooth and lapidary as glass, pigment fogging the canvases like coloured smoke. In their uniformity (the majority of the canvases measure 35 x 30cm), the untitled works glint in the gallery’s light-filled white space, jewel-like and fragile. Taken as a whole, the works – alternately translucent and opaque – create an interface between opposing states: ‘inside’ and ‘outside’; form and dissolution. Through this sense of porousness, the undefined achieves its own kind of clarity”.
Now I have to say I;m itching to see this one, jsut t osee it, to stand there, to get a hit of art, a painting (a painting that isn;t mine, I’m in my studio here surrounded by paintings, I need to see someone elses’s painting! I need it goddamn! Look at that white wall and all that inviting space in Herald Street…
6: We did mention Drawn Out last time, the show is happening at Herald’Street’s other space (that is;nt in Herlad Street) Drawn Out is a group show that happening at Herald St Gallery’s Museum Street space. The exhibition opens physically on April 14th, there is a rather good on-line preview and lots to explore in terms of the show on the gallery website right now. The show features work from Josh Brand, Matt Connors, Michael Dean, Cary Kwok, Christina Mackie, Sanou Oumar and Diane Simpson. The gallery is found at 43 Museum St, London, WC1A 1LY
And while we’re here, and others still go on about nothing more than a rather “Unhappy Pile of Poo emoji”, some blowing of our own trumpets, it looks like things have gone monthly in terms of the Cultivate on-line shows that are hosted here on Organ website, January was and is ReCultivate, February was and still is Self, March is Alright?, all three shows are still there waiting to be explored, we see no reason to close an on-line show once it has opened. Our next show is next, that opens next Tuesday
And also, while we’re here, the next on-line edition of the beautiful thing that is the Art Car Boot Fair is coming up this May, lots more news about that very soon, the date has been announced now – ORGAN PREVIEW: The Art Car Boot Fair bursts into May with a special Flora and Fauna edition… I do beleive the tickets go on sale this week.
Previously
THE ORGAN 