Five art things, on we go then and never mind whatever we said last time, that was then, this, once again is about this week and next and needing more (just more, nothing less) and yes you are right. Here, for what any of this is worth are 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 so we are the start of the so called London Art Season, I never did get that, from where I stand it never stops and starts, it never takes a break, I guess those establishment gallery people head off on their yachts for a month to two during the Summer, lock up their galleries, I guess the art critics who never go anywhere beside those establishment places suck it all up and fall into line, we’ll all be in Frieze week next and it will be like the only week anything happens and heaven forbid anyone should have an opinion that differs…
And we should add, that entry to these recommended exhibitions and events, unless otherwise stated, is free.
1: Blink at Safehouse, Peckham, London SE15 – It is a case of blink and you’ll miss it, a show only on for weekend (well hiring space is stupidly expensive now), Blink happens on 14/15th September 12-6pm with an opening night on Friday 13th (6-9pm) all in the deliciously distressed space that is Safehouse, a pretty much derelict semi-detached terrace type house in Peckham, South London (I love the place, I love showing at the place, those are my kind of white walls). This weekend you have 5 Rooms, 5 Curators, 37 Artists… Actually, it looks like this is all happening in Safehouse 1, there looks to be something happening in Safehouse 2 as well, for those who don’t know he space, we’re talking a couple of almost falling down derelict semi-detached houses side by side, both used as gallery space of for photo shoots or whatever, there’s a couple of links to recent shows just down there if you need a flavour or two. And here comes a list of artists taking part in Blink. The beauty of a group show like this is there’s always a couple of artists who you’ve not encountered before who are going to jump off the wall and demand your attention as well as further investigation (do hope they’ve got the work labelled so we know who is who, I know that isn’t a fashionable opinion and the new breed of curators think it cool to be obtuse and not tell you, oh please let there be a simple label with a an artist name under each piece and not a bloody QR code or something)
Blink: 5 Rooms, 5 Curators, 37 Artists…
Downstairs Front Room – The Hallett Room – Noemi Conan, Beverley Doyne, Emma Franks, Dido Hallett, Anna Sebastian, Sarah Pickstone, Dave and Tony
Downstairs Middle Room – The Johnson Room – At Home With The Copelands, Issy Eberlin, Tom Farthing, Luke Hannam, Lee Johnson, Henrietta Roeder, Jonathan Schofield, Zebedee Jones
Downstairs Back Room – The Angel Room – Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth – Min Angel, Ruth Calland, Lara Davies, Andrew Ekins, Juliette Ezaoui, Vanessa Mitter, Monica Perez Vega, Paige Perkins, Lottie Stoddart
Upstairs Mezanine Floor – The Soni Room – Hanging By A Thread – Karolina Albricht, Paul Kindersley, Lindsay Mapes, Martha Lowres, Ella Soni, Lucy Soni, Mita Vaghela
Upstairs Front Room – The Bedlow Room – Bijan Amini-Alavijeh, Helen Barff, Eleanor Bedlow, Johanna Bolton, Janet Currier, Amanda Knight, Tim Spooner
Peckham Safehouse 1 and 2 are both found at 137 Copeland Road, Peckham, London SE15 3SN. There’s a Private View on Friday 13th September 6pm – 9pm, the show runs from 14th until 15th September, the space is open midday until 6pm each day.
Previously at Safehouse…
2: Ella Walker, The Romance of the Rose at Pilar Corrias, Savile Row – “Pilar Corrias is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by artist Ella Walker at its Savile Row gallery” so says the gallery, the show has just opened, it runs until 9th November (so you do have time to blink with this one), “For her first exhibition with the gallery, Walker intricately weaves imagery from broad swathes of history and popular culture – medieval manuscripts to modern ballet, the cinema of Fellini and Pasolini to fetishwear magazines – to produce emotive, stage-like scenes. Interrogating traditional depictions of women throughout art history, Walker’s paintings offer a counterpoint to the traditional casting of female subjects as exemplars of vice and virtue. Freed from this moral framework, her figures are recalibrated, reentering the world of images as complex, contradictory, unruly beings.”
Pilar Corrias is found at 2 Savile Row, London, W1S 3PA. The Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday, 11am until 6pm so I guess if you work a regular nine to five Monday to Friday then you’re stuffed The Romance of the Rose is on until 9th November.
3: Horacio Quiroz, Cosmic Debris at JD Malat Gallery – haven’t caught up with Horacio’s work or a bit, he had a rather strong East London show a couple of years ago, actually it was only this time last year – ORGAN THING: Mexican painter Horacio Quiroz and his great big blocks of beautiful brutalist colour, deliciously painted, happening now at East London’s Annka Kultys Gallery… Cosmic Debris has just opened in the glossy West End and runs until 5th October – “JD Malat Gallery is delighted to announce its upcoming solo exhibition “Cosmic Debris” featuring the works of acclaimed Mexican artist Horacio Quiroz. The exhibition will be open to the public from 12th September – 5th October 2024.
Born in 1985, Horacio Quiroz is a self-taught contemporary artist based in Mexico City. Since embarking on his artistic journey in 2013, Quiroz has developed a body of work that combines inherent oppositions, blending the beautiful with the grotesque, utopia with dystopia, and the familiar with the unknown. His innovative and complex techniques explore themes of gender, identity, and the environment, deeply reflecting on the fluidity of identity and the interplay between chaos and order.
Quiroz states, “In my paintings, bodies are rendered with rich volumes that defy traditional binaries, presenting themselves as non-binary and intersex. These bodies are fertile, sexual, and exotic, challenging conventional norms and celebrating diversity. Inspired by queer theory, my work seeks to dismantle rigid boundaries and embrace the fluidity of identity. By doing so, I aim to create a visual dialogue that honours the complexity and multiplicity of human existence, inviting viewers to see beyond the confines of conventional gender and sexuality.”
Horacio Quiroz’s latest series, “Cosmic Debris”, evokes the cosmic and divine figures of Greek mythology, where gods and titans embody transformations and fluid states of being. Rocks in Quiroz’s art represent cosmic, geological, and human time, embodying the idea of containing chaos within a volume. This creative flexibility allows him to construct bodies that challenge conventional forms and perceptions, enhancing the perception of the body as both a geological and mythological construct. The rocky formations in his works echo Greek mythology’s tales of creation and transformation, where geological compositions are often tied to divine stories and celestial beings.
JD Malat Gallery is found at 30 Davies Street, London, W1K 4NB. The gallery is open Tuesday through to Saturday, 10am until 6pm, midday until 6pm on Saturdays
4: Morag Caister, Peacetime at Rhodes Contemporary Art – The show opened last night and runs until 5th Oct 2024. The gallery say they are “delighted to announce Peacetime, the upcoming solo exhibition of celebrated portrait artist Morag Caister. Peacetime showcases a series of deeply humanising portraits that capture the essence of stillness and acceptance amidst the chaos of contemporary life”.
“Peacetime reflects Caister’s profound interest in the intricacies of human nature. Each portrait is a testament to her gentle and compassionate gaze, offering a therapeutic space where the dualities of human existence are observed without judgment. Much like a therapy session or confessional, these sittings provide a moment of reflection and understanding, resulting in works that are both emotionally resonant and profoundly human. Set against domestic backdrops, the portraits in Peacetime reveal subtle motifs that signify the quiet disorder of everyday life – a creased shirt, a crumpled towel, an abundance of cushions. These elements hint at the cyclical habits and inevitable behaviours that characterise our existence, creating a temporary space of peace and acceptance”.
Rhodes Contemporary Art is found at 65 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 7LW. The gallery is open Tuesday through to Saturday, 11am until 6pm besides Saturday when they have an extra hour in bed and don’t open until midday.
5: Paul Dash, Joie De Vivre at Felix and Spear Gallery – This show runs from 15th Sept until 31st Oct 2024. Felix & Spear are pleased to present Joie De Vivre, an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Paul Dash (b. 1946). Now we don’t put these five weekly recommendations in any particular order but if we did then this would probably be at the top of the page, I love the strength of Paul Dash’s work, he’s a really nice guy as well, last time we bumped into him was at his East London studio on one of those opening days – ORGAN THING: Hackney WickEd Part Two, the delight of Paul Dash, Jeanette Barnes and exploring some of those artist studios…
“My career in art and design started during the Windrush era and while I was still at school. I felt isolated from other kids as the only Black West Indian student of my age there and arguably in the whole of Oxford. My parents knew most of the West Indian people in the city as my father cut hair at the weekends and was the only West Indian ‘barber’ in the city. Black people were sensitive about exposing their hair to the gaze of white people then, including barbers, so we got to meet in our home on a regular basis, most 1950s / 60s West Indian men in Oxford and their families.
I became absorbed in painting as a fourteen-year-old. You could say it was the only friend I had, and the art teacher, Mr Goodwill, allowed me to paint whatever I liked during his essons.
My mother and I went on the bus to shop at Cornmarket in the centre of town each Saturday morning – she would be on the lower deck while I was on the top one. From there I feasted my eyes on the ancient architecture of the university buildings, and was fascinated by the complexity and beauty of it and then the people mingling and interacting with each other: students wearing their long colourful scarves, the various postures many visitors adopted when relaxing or just talking, etc. I drank it all in.
Many years later while visiting a friend in Holland, I saw an exhibition of Eritrean art in Amsterdam and was struck by the aerial views in which most of the compositions were set. They echoed that experience of my travel into central Oxford on the upper deck of a bus. I loved the work and enjoyed the way it allowed the viewer to attain a more complete view of each figure represented. I worked some of their technique into my art. I have always tried to define myself as an African Caribbean artist and have resolved to make work that speaks from my African identity. In that regard I am inspired by other artists in the African Diaspora who make work in different media, particularly music and the visual arts. I think of musicians who use improvisation as a key factor in making music as in the improvised rifts, say, of John Coltrane and in the ‘street art’ of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
I never work from sketches though I sketch a lot, so you won’t find enlargement grids embedded in my work. Instead, I start from a scheme of semi-abstract mark-making. These could be based on cross-hatching when making large drawings, or a mass of dots and dashes when starting a new painting. Such open beginnings allow me to work freely from what I find in the abstract forms already inherent to the marks in each work. In that sense my art has more in common with Jazz than with traditional European approaches to composition. It also means that each piece is truly unique in that I cannot replicate the route taken to the development and completion of it.” – Paul Dash (August 2024)
About Paul Dash
“Paul Dash moved to Britain in 1957 to join his parents in Oxford. He excelled at art at school and was enrolled into the Chelsea School of Art in 1965. He joined the ‘Caribbean Artists Movement’ and began teaching part-time, eventually establishing a successful career in schools and as a lecturer at London University. In his later years in Oxford and at Chelsea, he played in funk rock bands, which inspired some of his artwork, such as ‘Dance at Reading Town Hall’, which is currently housed in the Fitzwilliam Museum collection. He continued to paint, participating in a variety of renowned exhibitions in important venues, including the Colombia Threadneedle Prize at the Mall Galleries, The London Open at Whitechapel Galleries, ‘No Colour Bar’ at Guildhall Galleries and ‘The Arrivants’ Exhibition at the Barbados Museum. He has previously shown at the Royal Academy Summer Shows, most recently in 2023, when the convenor of the Open Exhibition, David Remfry, RA, invited him to present two works. He was also invited to participate in this year’s Venice Biennale. Dash held his first one-person exhibition at the 198 Gallery in Brixton in 2019, which was then crowned up by his participation in ‘Life Between Islands’ at Tate Britain in 2021, a groundbreaking Caribbean and British exhibition. This same exhibition toured the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), where it was on display from December 2023 to April 2024. Paul Dash was invited to present at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge in 2022, together with fellow Caribbean artists Errol Lloyd and John Lyons. Dash’s works have been acquired by the Government Art Collection, the Tate, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and Kettle’s Yard”.
About Paul Dash – born 1946, Barbados. Paul Lives and works in London, England
Felix and Spear Gallery is found at 71 St. Mary’s Road, London, W5 5RG. The gallery is open Wednesday until Sunday, 11am to 6pm weekdays, midday until 3pm at the weekend.
THE ORGAN 