Five art things, About time, what happened ot January? We’re still itching to get going. Has the London art year got going yet? Condo didn’t offer much, the London Art Fair was mixed and Cacotopia08 failed to open, nothing has really ignited anything yet has it? On we go though and never mind whatever we said last time, that was then, this, once again is about this week and next and cake and yes you are right, at the end of last year we were asking if London’s art scene gone a little flat? Are the newer galleries a little too full of themselves and believing their own hype? Is it all just a little too conservative? Dare we say politely boring? Here, for what any of this is worth is our first five art things of the new year although so far excitement is a little thin on the ground. 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. We do aim to make this 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…

And we should add, that entry to these recommended exhibitions and events, unless otherwise stated, is free.

1: David Tucker, Dad at Gallery 46 – Open now and on until 18th February. This one should be interesting, Gallery 46 are rather good when it comes to debuts, – “The debut solo exhibition of London-based painter, David Tucker – entitled ‘Dad’, a beautiful and sometime dark portrayal through self portraits of unconditional love”.

The exhibition explores the artist’s ‘self’, through self portraits of the artist, in a delicate, tender approach of layering, constructing and reworking his painting practice, from his emotional journey of love for loved ones.

“An exploration into the slow grieving process brought on by ambivalent loss. Discovering the space between destruction and re-creation of oneself.”
David Tucker

The exhibition is the culmination of four year’s work. When he began, the focus was solely on his father. However, it developed into something more with the onset of lockdown in 2020, which resulted in the artist metaphorically ‘putting the mirrors up on the walls’ of his studio, a process of self-evaluation that led to him contemplating himself not just as a son to a father but as a father to his own two children.

These meditations are meshed into the fabric of each of the thirty-plus artworks that have been brought together for this show, and in the case of the oil sculptures almost literally. The presentation is not only brave in its undertaking, but also experimental in its execution.

The mainstay for this show is oil paint on glass, but it is also used on canvas, along with crystals, latex and charcoal, visceral mediums which the artist harnesses to powerful effect. ‘Dad‘, 2019, is typical. Echoing the work of Frank Auerbach and Lucian Freud, Tucker builds an unflinching 3-dimensional portrait of his father with thick layers of oil applied impasto onto six glass panels. These and the other portraits are presented in the same way, such as to give a sense of the subject floating in time, creating a spatial relationship that transcends what can be offered by paint on canvas. Additionally, when seen from the other side, we see a second portrait, suggesting a glimpse of the hidden self.

Meanwhile, the latex and charcoal work, entitled ‘The Light Bringers’, 2023, have the quality of movement, the heads turning and twisting, as if in prayer. The ‘Darkened oil work’, with their sculptural quality of thickly applied paint that builds off and breaks the parameters of the square canvas, have equal intensity, drawing the viewer close to see the portrait created by the dark palette.

Some of the self-portraits were destroyed and reconstituted, which saw Tucker scraping his own image off the glass then taking the dried slabs of paint and forcing them into a mesh which he had impressed his face into. These ‘recycled oil portraits’ are not, as with those on glass, noticeably him, but literal and metaphysical reconstructions configured from his flesh tones.

Gallery 46 is found at 46 Ashfield Street, Whitechapel, London E1.  The show is open now and runs until February 18th, the gallery is open 1pm until 6pm, Tuesday through to Sunday.

Previous Gallery 46 coverage via Organ

2: Barbara Kruger –  Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You at Serpentine South Gallery  – on now and until 17th March 2024 – We almost certainly don’t need to recommend this one, we’re going to anyway.

“American artist Barbara Kruger (b. 1945, Newark, New Jersey, USA) is widely known for her impactful work with images and words. Drawing from an early career as a graphic designer for magazines, Kruger developed an iconic visual language that frequently borrows from the techniques and aesthetics of advertising and other media. Since the 1970s, her artworks have continually explored complex mechanisms of power, gender, class, consumerism, and capital.

Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. at Serpentine South is Kruger’s first solo institutional show in London in over twenty years. It features a unique selection of installations alongside moving image works and multiple soundscapes. The exhibition is the UK premiere of Untitled (No Comment) (2020). This immersive three-channel video installation explores contemporary modes of creating and consuming content online. In the work, Kruger combines text, audio clips, and a barrage of found images and memes, ranging from blurred-out selfies to animated photos of cats.

The exhibition also features recent video reconfigurations – or, as the artist calls them, replays – of several of Kruger’s most iconic pieces from the 1980s, including Untitled (I shop therefore I am) (1987) and Untitled (Your body is a battleground) (1989). Over decades, Kruger has presented her work across various spaces and forms, including on buildings, billboards, hoardings, buses, and skate parks. For this exhibition, the artist has adapted works, which were recently presented at museums in the United States, to specific locations within Serpentine, both indoors and outdoors”.

Serpentine South Gallery is at Kensington Garden, London, W2 3XA. The gallery is open Tuesday through to Sunday. You do need to book via the gallery website, entry is free (although a donation is welcome)

3: Alexis Hunter – 10 Seconds at Richard Saltoun Gallery – on from 6th February until 23rd March 2024 – “Richard Saltoun Gallery presents a solo exhibition of works by Alexis Hunter (1948-2014), a pivotal figure in the British Feminist Movement of the 1970s, marking the gallery’s representation of her estate”.

“Curated by Natasha Hoare, Senior Curator at Goldsmiths CCA, 10 Seconds compliments Hunter’s presence in the exhibition at Tate Britain, Women in Revolt!: Art, Activism and the Women’s movement in the UK 1970–1990. This will be the most extensive display of Hunter’s works since the acclaimed exhibition Sexual Warfare at Goldsmiths CCA in 2018.

10 Seconds focuses on Hunter’s most iconic works produced in the 1970’s, when she was an active part of the Feminist movement. She was working in photography to produce photo-narrative sequences that questioned gender stereotypes and patriarchal image culture, including famous series such as Domestic Warfare (1975) and Approaches to Fear (1977). Esteemed art critic, Lucy Lippard, writes about Hunter’s works from this period: “Fetishism and a hint of S&M lurk just beneath the surfaces of Hunter’s photographs … Her rage at capitalism is focused upon the mass media which have, as Judith Williamson puts it, been ‘selling us ourselves’ for profit.”

Recognising the pernicious effect of advertising in promulgating gender norms, Hunter devised the photo narratives to unfold over a minimum of ten seconds, mirroring the space of attention of watching a TV advert. The exhibition draws attention to Hunter’s relationship to moving image and mass media, disrupting the conventions of both to stage ambiguous unfolding scenes that interplay desire, liberation, containment, and violence. These works remain relevant at a time in which women’s equality remains unrealised in many areas of life and is unevenly distributed.

The photo narratives, made up of grids of photographic images that lead sequentially from action to action, demonstrate her engagement with conceptual art, feminist film theory, psychoanalysis and socialism, as part of a collective conversation with fellow artists, curators, and activist groups. The works strain towards the medium of film, which Hunter had worked in previously but rejected as being too resource heavy to produce. Hunter used photography for its instantaneity, and reference to both TV and women’s magazine adverts. It was central to her to use a visual language that could be read by audiences outside of the confines of an elitist and male dominated art world.

Typically featuring red nail varnished hands performing various actions, the works demand that we read the unfolding actions from a woman protagonists’ perspective; a radical rejoinder to a visual culture built on the male gaze. They are however anything but didactic, leaving room for visceral response and multiple interpretations. Images show stiletto shoes on fire, a wall being demolished, and grease covered hands caressing motor parts, in what can be read as incisive political critiques of misogyny, capitalism’s deployment of gender as a facet of consumer society, but also as an exploration of the deep fears and anxieties that underwrite embattled relationships between men and women, and women’s nascent self-realisation”.

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

4: Stewart Swan, Square Go at Rhodes Contemporary – 2nd February until 2nd March 2024. Rhodes say they are “delighted to announce Square Go the UK debut exhibition from Scottish artist Stewart Swan”.

“This new collection from Swan is shaped by his imaginative and grotesque style. Forms of man and beast become one as his signature subject, emerging as surreal and darkly humorous portraits.

A contemporary Glasgow-based artist, Swan’s creations reflect the city in which he lives and works. He draws inspiration from the people and characters he encounters day to day, which find their way into his canvases through facial features, expressions, and turns of phrase. These portraits feel tangible and emotive, despite their often-unhuman subjects. Each piece almost acts as a caricature of Scotland itself, gritty and intimidating yet tongue-in-cheek, indicating the artist’s genuine warmth for his homeland.

The almost human, sometimes animalistic subjects play into the perceived reputation of Glasgow – seemingly bleak and possibly dangerous. Swan’s characters are nonetheless permeated with the distinct character of this city, tough and hard-wearing yet playfully witty. The works are grounded and devoid of pretence, offering a familiar melancholy and contemplative cynicism through the artist’s keen understanding of human expression, emotion, and body language.

The pieces are created through layers of intricately applied oil paint, a slow drying medium which allows Swan to continuously work back into his paintings, moulding and mediating his subjects like a sculptor working with clay. The artist feels more akin to a draughtsman or sculptor than a painter; his practise is physical and active, involving carving, etching, and drawing into his paintings. Careful mark-making imbues the portraits with texture and form, evocative of animal fur, human hair, wrinkled skin, and creased fabric. Soft backgrounds of lilac, pink and pale blue bring a lightness to Swan’s works, offsetting the capricious characters of his subjects.   

Dogs, deities, and rabbits are recurrent motifs of this collection, speaking to the artist’s interest in folklore, mythology, and ancient Egyptian gods. The artist frequently tries to depict animalistic traits in his characters, drawing profound parallels between man and beast within his work. Despite their menacing first impression, Swan’s subjects are creatures of human depth and emotion that, like Glasgow, need patience and time to be understood”.

Rhodes Contemporary is at 65 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 7LW. The gallery is open Tuesday until Saturday, 11am until 6pm (Midday until6pm on Saturday). The Steward Swan show runs from 2nd February until 2nd March 2024 There’s also a rather interesting looking show from South Korean painter Yool Kim running at the gallery for the same time period.

5: Lawrence in Fitzrovia – Unveiling of the Marble Head at The Fitzrovia Chapel – on now and until 9th Feb 2024 – Not caught up with yer ever-interesting man from Denim’s latest show yet, last time we did he was hauling a Mellotron around a venue;  “The Fitzrovia Chapel presents Lawrence in Fitzrovia – Unveiling of the Marble Head, the first public display of sculptor Corin Johnson’s marble sculpture of mononymous cult musician Lawrence, curated by Martin Green”.

“For more than 30 years singer, songwriter and musician Lawrence, a former resident of Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, has remained firmly on the periphery of mainstream popular music. He has released over 20 albums of highly original, idiosyncratic influential work with his groups Felt, Denim, Go Kart Mozart and Mozart Estate. The acclaimed 2012 documentary ‘Lawrence of Belgravia’ portrays the artist recording music and performing as he combats adversity, hardships and homelessness in a tough city and a commercially driven industry.

Corin Johnson is a highly skilled sculptor who creates his own work independently in his small Camberwell studio. His passion for music has led to collaborations with Nick Cave, Grace Jones, James Johnston and now with Lawrence. Corin has also collaborated with Paul Noble (entered for the Turner Prize ), Edmund de Waal and Ibrahim El- Salahi.

Johnson’s incredible Portuguese pink marble sculpture of Lawrence is a beautiful display of resilience and reflection and is being shown for the first time alone in the unique and meditative setting of the Fitzrovia Chapel. The sculpture provides an object of pilgrimage in the former sacred space of the chapel, lit up on a podium by the altar.

Lawrence modelled for Corin’s sculpture over the course of two years, his distinctive visor and hood evoking a monk in contemplation, an urban rebel and a public figure in disguise

The exhibition is curated by Martin Green of Duovision Arts and local Soho Radio who works extensively with LGBTQ creatives, outsiders and older artists. He gains recognition for those he works with and draws large diverse audiences to many exhibitions, having worked with over 100 trailblazers including Marc Almond, Andrew Logan, Pam Hogg, Jarvis Cocker, Peter Doig, Roxanna Halls and currently Holly Johnson. He is also co-curating a large exhibition about Leigh Bowery and Taboo for the Fashion and Textile Museum in October 2024″.

The Fitzrovia Chappel is found at Fitzroy Place, 2 Pearson Square, London, W1T3BF. The gallery is open seven days a week, 11am until 6pm (Midday unril 5pm on Sundays)