Where were who or what? Still still poking at things? We already said all this, we almost certainly do need to (or maybe don’t need to do?) 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? No one ever reads the editorial at the top, we could say anything here. We are kind of still repeating ourselves whilst under stress, did you even notice the repeating? Do you just cut to the chase every single time?. And well, we could do it again, we could? We could? We really could? Shall we? Who reads this? What is this Five Art Things thing? We said all this last week didn’t we? And the week before, and so five art things…
So five art things, five more art things happening somewhere around right now, or coming up any moment now, five art shows to check out in the coming days . Hey, I know we said it last time but we will try to do it most weeks and now we appear to be coming out of lockdown, and yes this admittedly rather fractured Five Art Things feature was and is intended to be a regular, almost certainly weekly, or something like something near weekly thing – an almost weekly round up of recommended art events. Five shows, exhibitions or things we rather think might be worth checking out. Mostly London things for that is where we currently operate and explore, and like we said last time (and the time before), these five recommendations come, as we already said up there, with no claims that they are “the best five” or the “Top Five”, we’re not one of those annoying art websites that ignore most things whilst claiming to be covering everything and proclaiming this or that to be the “top seven things” or the “best things this weekend”, no, this is simply a regular list of five or so art things coming up soon that we think you might find as interesting as we do, five art things coming in in the next few days in no particular order and not a selfie of any of us hanging out at the damn show next to a piece of art either…
1: Dylan Bardoe, Kerosene at Bermondsey Project Space, 3 Aug 2021 – 21 Aug 2021 – “Dylan Bardoe’s second solo exhibition at Bermondsey Project Space combines obsessive, excessive large-format canvases, with intimate, instinctive works on paper”
“Kerosene is an attempt to express a reflection on the vivid societal turbulence of current times and what I see as a continually exasperated, and often irrational rage among us. I hope to provide or present a certain form of aggressive yet playful catharsis, which I’ve found to have acted as an auxiliary through this heavy whirlwind of absurdity.” Dylan Bardoe, July 2021
Bermondsey Project Space is at 183-185 Bermondsey Street (adjacent to White Cube Bermondsey), London, SE1 3UW (although the last time I went there, they decided they didn;t like the look of me and wouldn’t let me it)
2: Hang-Up presents Game Changers – Renegade artists defying convention – The show runs from 30th July until 17th September2021 with a private view on the evening of 29th July 6-9pm. “Hang-Up’s first exhibition of 2021 is a celebration of women in contemporary art. Presenting works by Bridget Riley, Tracey Emin, Yayoi Kusama, Nancy Fouts, Swoon and Nina Chanel Abney, the show highlights women who are and were true artistic game changers, playing on a field that was rigged against them”. Hang-Up is now at, 10D Branch Place, Regents Canal, Hoxton, London, N1 5PH
3: King Robbo Day 2021 is happening so we are told. The date is 31st July at Allen Gardens Shoreditch from 1pm – “Let me stress this now this day is about nothing but love, respect and sharing your tributes to my dad, the graffiti legend Robbo and if you can’t bring good vibes don’t bother coming. This day is about love, respect, positivity and remembering my dad in the right way! Bring ya best tributes for the King. So happy to have been able to organise something like this for the amazing man I call my dad” Jasmine Lilly Robertson
Around these fractured parts we have a lot of time to larger than life thing that Robbo was and indeed continues to be, let’s hope for good weather and the flow of paint.
Previously on these pages
ORGAN THING: KIng Robbo, In the words of Charley Urzell Edwards, “Drax nails it…”
4: ‘The Monstrous Femmes‘ is a two-woman collective and show led by London-based artists, Toraigh Watson and Zeena AlTai at Safehouse 1, Peckham, from August 2nd. – The exhibition will feature a new immersive environment that plays with light, shadow, and movement, as well as a range of lino prints and works on paper. Watson, a sound and performance artist grounded in her Irish Musical foundation provides the ambient and chilling audios infusion to AlTai’s fantastical and abject yet hilarious visuals. The basis of the work is communicated through tapestries and references to feminist retellings of Celtic folklore.AlTai’s and Watson’s audio-visual environments combine ambient soundscapes and paintings, lino prints and tapestries. These works employ a cast of objects within a fantastical and psychologically charged environment that is at once vaguely familiar, evocative, and meditative. Through a series of immersive installations, the viewer is taken into an escapist parallel reality.
Further into the space, the intensity builds. In an isolated room an installation of rotating wire mobiles that are illuminated by light animates the a surface of a paper screen to reveal a narrative which plays on tropes of a archaic and contemporary bacchanal celebration in a whimsical play of light and shadow. Finally, the exhibition concludes with ‘The Monstrous Femme’ tapestry installation and Watson’s track ‘Revival’, alluding to the haunted attic and the parallels of silencing femmes and LGBTQ rage. The sound element, a “collaged” musical composition of found sounds, layered flute melodies and cello drones composed by Watson, lends another dramatic dimension to the overall work. The result is “part fantasy, part dream, and entirely analogue. It’s a workout of time or place.”
Safehouse 1 and 2 are at, 137 – 139 Copeland Road Peckham, London, SE15 3SN. The show runs from from August 2nd until the 7th with an evening opening on August 4th
5: Mark Malarko at BSMT Space – opening night, Thursday July 29th – the Street Artist and ceramicist who became synonymous with Brick Lane shutters will be coming to BSMT this July for his solo show ‘FLOMPER’. Not been to a BSMT Space show for an age what with Covid and the cost of recycling and rebellion and well, you know the score. This does look like it might be worth a moment your time as well as ours, we’re always up for a bit of malarkey
“In the face of a very rainy UK summer, BSMT Space Gallery have a crisp new show from street artist Malarko coming that should brighten things up! Much like the naive energy and clunky precariousness characteristic of his work, ‘FLOMPER’, as the Urban Dictionary suggests, promises to deliver the unexpected and something a little out of the ordinary- with a vibe! Originally from Southeast London, Malarko’s style is an interesting fusion of the low-brow art of early skate mags morphed with the actual experience painting on bumpy shutters which led him to simplify his designs. It was when he started studying ceramics in Stoke on Trent that his work really diversified and became his go-to medium with which to bastardise his experience of everyday life. Both playful and serious, Malarko has merged the appropriation of popular culture with found objects, stylising his paintings and ceramics to elevate these ideas into something completely refreshing and outspoken. Encompassing a brand-new collection of contemporary paintings and ceramics, ‘FLOMPER’ will also be revisiting some old classics by the artist we have grown to love. ‘FLOMPER’ will open with a private view on July 29th and the exhibition will run until August 15th. BSMT Space is now located at 529 Kingsland Rd, London, E8 4AR and is open to the public Wed- Sun, check the website for more details
And while we’re here and while you’re here, the Saturation on-line group show brought to you by Cultivate is now open and can be fully explored via this link right here
THE ORGAN 
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