Never mind that, that was then, this, once again is about this week and next and cake and yes, the annoying frustration of or with so much of it so far this year, getting past that art school BS floating in the river right now, a lot of hype, some rather aloof attitudes, galleries and curators seemingly afraid to actually engage, seemingly wanting to play everything by a rather flawed art school book, the annoyance of the new gatekeepers far more aloof and unfriendly than the old ones, that was all said last week though. Back now though, back for more and for what things are worth, here we go with five more art things. five art things, five more art things happening somewhere around right now (or any moment now). Five art shows to check out in the coming days. 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, these five recommendations come 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”. This Five Things thing is simply a regular list of five or so recommended art things happening now or coming up very soon that we think you might find as interesting as we think we will…

These exhibitions are free to enter unless otherwise stated…

1: Outside, Looking In at Richard Saltoun Gallery – 31st March until 20th May 2023 – Richard Saltoun Gallery is pleased to present Outside, looking in, a group exhibition celebrating the fundamental role women artists have played in the evolution of abstract art. Referencing the writings of British artist Shelagh Wakely in its title, the exhibition is inspired by the notion of questioning set divisions and hierarchies, examining how female abstractionists have historically pushed the boundaries of the movement, despite being eclipsed by their male counterparts in dominant discourse.

Including works of photography, painting, textile and ceramics from 1960 to the present day, Outside, looking in offers a foray into the practices of twelve international artists: Lynda Benglis, Magda Cordell, Romany Eveleigh, Běla Kolářová, Rosa Lee, Barbara Levittoux-Świderska, Bertina Lopes, Joan Snyder, Annegret Soltau, Vivian Suter, Jan Wade and Shelagh Wakely. head here for more information

Richard Saltoun Gallery is at 41 Dover Street, London W1S 4NS. The gallery is open Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 6pm and Saturday, 11am – 5pm

2: Caitlin Flood-Molyneux – Suspended in Time at Fitzrovia Gallery – “Excited to announce my solo show Suspended In Time at Fitzrovia gallery, London in April” said Caitlin. There’s a so called Private View on the evening of the 3rd April, 6-9pm. The show runs from April 4th until the 9th.

“Caitlin Flood-Molyneux is a contemporary Welsh Artist based in South Wales. Their artistic practice investigates the relationship between pop culture imagery and the way in which we attach emotion and memory to images and use this to narrate their subjective experiences of hardship. The work is both deeply personal and universal, as it charts key moments of their life; a private and enigmatic visual story with which Flood-Molyneux invites the viewer to forge their own connection”. Caitlin’s work has an energy, an urgentless in those marks, in the way the paint is used, in the way the paint is manipulated. Caitin has figured m a number of our Cultivate online shows, including the most recent group show, Mixtpae No.4, we’re rather looking forward to seeing the work in the flesh…. 

Suspended in Time runs from April 4th until April 9th, Fitzrovia Gallery is at 139 Whitfield Street, London, W1T 5EN and is open 11am until 6pm, (until 1pm on a Sunday).

Here’s two of Caitlin’s paintings that currently feature in Cultivate’s Mixtape No.4 group show.

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3: Lee Eelus, Disorder at Jealous East – 30th March and 23rd April with an opening on Thursday 30th march – “For his first solo exhibition in over five years, Lee Eelus has returned with a novel body of work inspired by his recent ADHD and Dyslexia diagnosis at the age of 43. ‘DISORDER’ features artworks which explore personal struggles, as Eelus comes to terms with years of undiagnosed neurodivergence”.

“The paintings on display feature innovative techniques, layering acrylic with spray paint and oil stick elements, in a magnificent display of creative confidence. Eelus’ new aesthetic style has developed from his earlier stencil works that made him an influential name in London’s urban art scene in the mid 2000s. We will also be releasing a new print edition, each one with hand finished details applied by the artist. This will be available to buy on the opening night and will then be widely released through the Jealous website Friday 31st March.

Please join us this Thursday (March 30th) for the exhibition opening between 6.30-8.30pm at Jealous East, 53 Curtain Road, EC2A 3PT. The wonderful Whitebox will be showering us with tasty cocktails once again for the evening. All are welcome to come along, so don’t be shy!” .

‘DISORDER’ will run between 30th March and 23rd April. at Jealous East, 53 Curtain Road, EC2A 3PT. The gallery is open Tuesday through ot Saturday, 10am until 6pm and 11am until 5pm om Sundays.

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4: Florence Blanchard, Smithereens at Stolenspace – 31st March until 30th April 2023 (with an opening on Thursday 31st, 6 until 8pm). Seems like an age since we caught a decent show at Stolen Space, over-polishing that floor and painting it black was akin to Samson heading off to a Shoreditch barber for an overpriced haircut, there was a time when we were regularly shouting about exciting shows in one of our favourite spaces to view art (loved it lots more before the floor violations). Rather looking forward to seeing Smithereens. We’ve covered dozen and dozen of exciting shows at Stolenspace over the last ten or so years, seems like ages since we last were excited enough to cover soemthing…

“Smithereens refers to the fact that each artwork represents a fragment of an art practice continuously focused on researching the never ending possibilities of form and colour combinations”.

“Florence Blanchard is a French painter, muralist, and screen-printer, who began writing graffiti in the early 1990’s under the moniker, Ema. Blanchard spent 10 years in New York, where she graduated with a PhD from NYU in molecular biology, and now resides in Sheffield, UK, producing small batches of intricate limited edition screen-prints and paintings from her home studio. Her work is directly inspired by both of her experiences working as a scientist, and writing graffiti. Abstraction has allowed Blanchard to have a more personal take on the same creative energy that fuelled her practice since the beginning, her shapes now have a similar role to what her letters used to do, providing a frame for experimentation with colour and composition.

The shapes she paints represent imagined molecular landscapes, where particles float around fluidly, and the viewer is given this imagined ‘microscope’ to observe the world from a different angle. Her artworks aim to magnify what the human eye can’t see. By offering a window into this imaginary molecular world, she intends to question our idea of visual perception. Taking advantage of the versatility of fluid molecular patterns, her work conducts visual studies on the fluidity and structure of our surroundings – the unfamiliarities of which aim to confront viewers with a startling and insightful window into the fabric of the universe”.

Stolenspace is at 17 Osborn Street, London, E1 6TD (top end of Brick Lane to you and me, just around the corner from the bloated Whitechapel Gallery.  They say the gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday 11am until 6pm (5pm on Fridays) although that hasn’t been my experience in terms of finding the space open. 

As is often the case at Stolenspace, there are two shows running at the same time. Cranio also has a show on at the space, opening on the same night and running for the same time period.

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5: Michelle Williams Gamaker – Our Mountains are Painted on Glass at South London Gallery – Running from 31st March until 18th June 2023 – Something a little different here; “Through her practice British-Sri Lankan artist Michelle Williams Gamaker explores race, identity, her love of cinema and the power of storytelling.  Williams Gamaker’s solo exhibition, Our Mountains Are Painted on Glass, premieres a new film work, titled Thieves, at the South London Gallery.

“Known for her inventive filmmaking and screenwriting, Williams Gamaker draws on and celebrates the classic movies she watched growing up. Taking inspiration from early Hollywood and British cinema, Thieves is a fantasy adventure retelling of The Thief of Bagdad. The Thief of Bagdad is a silent, black and white film from 1924, which was remade in colour in 1940.

Williams Gamaker reimagines the marginalised characters as claiming leading roles in her film, played in the originals by Chinese-American actor Anna May Wong and Indian-born American actor Sabu.  Now, both characters reclaim the story as their own, challenging the racial discrimination of the film industry. Told as a movie within a movie, in Thieves Anna May Wong is found on set by Sabu, but there is something wrong: she is in black-and-white while everything else is in Technicolor, and both find themselves trapped in their screen-images. Both must navigate the structural violence on set (in this case, the casting of white actors to replace actors of colour) by joining forces to overthrow the set and those in charge.

Thieves is a vivid retelling, blending classic analogue methods with contemporary practices. The artist celebrates the best of past and present filmmaking and shares her love of cinema through the stories she unpicks. Drawing out elements of the film’s set, Thieves will be screened in the main gallery alongside sculpture, props, and archival cinema materials. Thieves was awarded a Film London FLAMIN Production Award 2022 and co-commissioned by FLAMIN, the South London Gallery and Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA), where it will further develop in late 2023.

“I see this mode of filmmaking as critical affection. I deeply love old cinema classics, but they are riddled with injustices that can no longer be overlooked. I lean heavily on the magic of cinema, and I turn the fiction machine on itself by sabotaging the casting process: the previously marginalised actors have a chance to come back: they have a voice, they are politically astute, and, crucially, their agency is restored.” – Michelle Williams Gamaker

South London Gallery is at 65 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UH. The gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am until 6pm

And while we’re here, this show is about to end

Tricia Gillman – I see I’m quoted on this show poster (which is nice to see), it is indeed a fine show, an excellent exhibition, more than most shows it really needs to be seen in the flesh though, it is work that you need to have a private conversation with. highly recomended if you can make it, the gallery is just off Redchurch Street, East London. One of my favourite art shows of the year so far and I’m yet to see a photograph that goes anywhere near telling you why… . the full review – ORGAN THING: Tricia Gillman, Moment Fields at Benjamin Rhodes Arts – the tiny details feel important, the layers beneath, the things you almost sense rather than see. This, for more than one reason, is a rather recommended exhibition…

Tricia Gillman: Moment Fields 2019-2023, is at Benjamin Rhodes Arts, 62 Old Nichol Street, London E2 7HP. The show runs until 1st April 2023, the gallery is open Wed-Sat 12-6pm).  

And…. This is still happening, there are no plans to close it, Cultivate presents Mixtape No.4 – an online art exhibition…