Five art things, on we go then and never mind the bliss or whatever we said last time, although this week, after what happened in the United States last night it jsut got a little harder to just carry on with the five art things thing as well as everything else. Franckly last night’s election result was depressing, the world jsut got a little more dangerous and well, let’s hope that art is still some kind of force for good and once again this is about this week and next and needing more (just more, nothing less) and yes you are right, I guess, for that is what we do now, guess, I guess we need to post another five. 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 as we repeat ourselves. 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: Ding Hongdan, Still Mad at Mamoth – Mamoth say they are “delighted to present Still Mad by artist Ding Hongdan”, the show runs from 29th Nov 2024 until 25th Jan 2025 – “This exhibition marks the culmination of Ding’s residency as MAMOTH’s 2024 Artist-in-Residence and presents a new body of work developed during her time in London. Ding’s paintings explore the real-life and spiritual states of her contemporaries within the context of a new reality. Through a realistic approach, Ding captures contemporary women’s multifaceted reflections on daily life and social relationships”.
Mamoth is found at 3 Endsleigh Street, London, WC1H 0DS. The gallery is open Wednesday until Saturday, midday until 5pm, 1pm until 6pm on Saturdays. Still Mad runs from 29th Nov 2024 until 25th Jan 2025. Opening reception, Friday 29th November, 6-8pm
2: Turn and face the strange at Bunny Contemporary – 28th Nov until 11th December 2024 – Now this looks hopeful, back there, before the gallery kind of lost direction, there were quite a few of really strong shows at Pure Evil, that big first show by Mad C, the always interesting Marina Fages, that really good Gustavo Ortiz show back in May 2014, that Cosmo Sarson show is 2015 was particular good although once again the East London gallery never really took a massive amount of interest in East London’s own artists, something that’s about par for the course here in East London, wonder if things will be any different this time? So Pure Evil Gallery is evolving, not seen that much besides Pure Evil’s own work in the space in recent years, not been in there for ages, walk past the the packed front windows regularly on the way to other galleries though. Pure Evil Gallery is now called Bunny Contemporary and well here’s what whoever says these things on behalf of the gallery just said – “Welcome to Bunny! Previously known as Pure Evil gallery we are now taking a new path towards working with up and coming contemporary artists and plenty of already established artists”.
“Welcome to Bunny! Previously known as Pure Evil gallery we are now taking a new path towards working with up and coming contemporary artists and plenty of already established artists. We welcome everyone to come down for a free drinks and a chin wag with artists and fellow art enjoyers.
We’re told Turn and face the strange will be “a landmark group show at Pure Evil Gallery. This group show marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of Pure Evil Gallery. As artists, we must continuously adapt to the changing tides of the art world, and as an artist-owned gallery, we too must evolve with the times. With this exhibition, we are proud to introduce Bunny Contemporary—a new chapter that positions us as a dynamic force in contemporary art. Featuring a curated selection of artists whose work embodies our fresh direction, this show is a statement of intent and a celebration of the innovative spirit driving us forward. We are evolving and would love to have you down to experience our first step into the strange with us. We will be showing works by artists Gemma Holzer, David Horgan, John Uzzell Edwards, Emily C Woodard and Rhys Brown.
Bunny Contemporary (although I haven’t passed in the last few days, have the signs changed or does it still say Pure Evil Gallery?) is found at 108 Leonard Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 4RH. Just around the corner and over the road from the Old Blue Last if that helps. The Gallery is open Thursday through to Sunday, 10am until 6pm. Turn and face the strange is on from 28th Nov until 11th December 2024 with an opening event on on Thursday evening 28th November. Watch this space.
3: Rabia Farooqui, Synthetic Skin at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (Wandsworth) – 27th Nov until 20th Dec 2024 – “A giant teddy bear lounges in a rocking chair while women embrace its arms and legs, stroke its fur. In Synthetic Skin, a solo exhibition of miniature paintings by Karachi-based artist Rabia Farooqui at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Wandsworth, the teddy bear transforms from a simple childhood toy into a complex symbol of longing, desire, connection and detachment.
Farooqui is interested in the performance of identity, particularly in relation to gender roles and social interactions. She likens her compositions to theatre sets in which gestures as well as the arrangement of characters and objects in space work to suggest multiple narrative threads. Take, for instance, the painting in which a woman lies on a bed hugging a teddy bear close to her body. Her embrace appears both sexual and childlike, with the teddy acting as both surrogate lover and a reminder of the unconditional love we associate with childhood. On the teddy’s back, a real bear perches – perhaps symbolising desire or danger. To the right, a man appears oddly out of place, his crouched, passive posture contrasting with the dynamic tension in his shadow, where his hand reaches toward the bear. What is the relationship between these figures? Are they partners in conflict, siblings, or friends? Farooqui invites us to step into these ambiguous scenes, leaving space for us to bring our own experiences and interpretations to the narrative.
Texture also plays an important role in this series as both for its emotional resonance and as a storytelling device. Throughout the works, Farooqui juxtaposes soft and hard surfaces, smooth and rough, synthetic and natural materials. In one painting, two women wrap their hair around a teddy bear in an act that suggests ownership, devotion and a desire to merge with the toy, to return to a childlike state. ‘For me, hair is like a symbol of your true self, it connects to your roots,’ Farooqui says. Alongside this interaction, we also encounter a real bear whose fur is of a distinctly different texture to that of the teddy as well as a wooden sculpture of bear. Each version of the bear conveys a unique tacility, evoking different moods and types of connection.
As Farooqui notes the lingering presence of the childhood toy is problematic not just on an emotional level, but also materially: it is a product of consumerist society and the synthetic materials from which it is made are harmful to the planet. This adds another layer of meaning: her paintings explore the ways we form attachments but also subtly critique humanity’s complex, often contradictory relationship with the natural world. After all, a teddy bear is essentially a miniature domesticated version of a real bear whose predatory nature, in these paintings, is either directly ignored or subdued by the artificial setting. Instead, the real bear takes on the role of a forlorn, dejected character, while all attention and intimacy is directed at its inanimate likeness.
Herein lies the true irony of the work: as Farooqui’s figures seek comfort in an object that cannot reciprocate, opportunities for real connection – to nature, to others, and to self – remain unfulfilled. In this way, she prompts us to consider how and where our attention lies. Are we, like her figures, drawn to safe illusions, even as real intimacy slips quietly out of reach?”
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (Wandsworth) is found at 533 Old York Road, London, SW18 1TG. The gallery is open 11am until 6pm Monday to Saturday. Synthetic Skin runs from 27th Nov until 20th Dec 2024
4: Philip Michael Martin, Flipside at JM Gallery, London W11 – 28th November until 3rd December 2024 – “Philip Michael Martin is a British painter originally from Sheffield. Philip now lives in West London and paints full time after a career as a creative in advertising. Many of the disciplines and craft he employed in that career can be found in his current work: bold images that grab our attention; acute understanding of composition combined with a striking use of colour. Each of Phil’s paintings is rendered in his signature style. Part abstract. Part figurative. Often a blend of both. All laid out in glorious technicolour. The works are almost always on canvas, sometimes on board. He works with many different layers of paint, glue, oil and resin to build texture that gives the work a delicious physicality when seen in the flesh”.
“I sometimes start off with a complete idea of what the finished painting will look like, but most often the starting point might be a photograph I’ve seen or taken, or a random image, or a subject or a place that I think might be interesting as a part of a painting rather than the whole thing.” Philip Michael Martin
JM Gallery is at 230 Portobello Road, London W11 1LJ. The gallery is open from 11am until 6pm for every day of the show that runs from 28th November until 3rd December 2024
5: Elsa Rouy, A Screaming Object at Guts Gallery – 29th Nov until 21st Dec 2024 – Guts, as annoying as they are, can be forgiven for saying they are “incredibly excited to present A Screaming Object; a solo presentation of ambitious, boundary-pushing new work by London-based artist Elsa Rouy”.
“A Screaming Object features Rouy’s largest and boldest work to date: a 7.5 metre long frieze made up of five large-scale canvases depicting one continuous scene. In this grand, imposing new work, Rouy continues to explore and navigate the unsettling boundary between hellish, visceral brutality and soft, tender beauty. The result is a complicated, transgressive and labyrinthine emotional landscape in which the repressed, troubling elements of the human subconscious are explored.
There is a pervasive and palpable sense of tension in Rouy’s new work. Throughout the exhibition, ghostly visages are twisted into distorted expressions that occupy an uneasy, unknowable realm between orgasmic pleasure and abject pain. In the vast, eponymous central work, a probing finger can be seen plunging into a bleeding open wound in a moment of masochistic, sexually charged self-mutilation. Elsewhere, two figures are captured engaging in an amorous embrace. Their visages have been effaced; suggesting the total annihilation of the self in the thrall of sexual communion. However, this is not a private tryst, it is watched jealously by self-conscious figures whose eyes burn with a bitter sense of yearning.
Throughout the piece, the silky, lustrous skin of Rouy’s fragmentary forms is illuminated against a dark, brooding backdrop of bruise-like, nebulous colour. At the same time, a harsh, central dividing line intersects the entire painting and transforms the background into a distorted facsimile of a theatre stage. In the centre of the work, the backdrop is punctuated with spectral clothes that hang eerily from a washing line; utterly frozen in the uncanny stillness of the painting’s stifling atmosphere. These phantom-like garments are imbued with a strange psychosexual power as they transform into emblems of fetishistic desire and situate the scene uncomfortably within the realm of the domestic.
Alongside the vast, central work, Rouy presents three smaller, more intimate paintings which each depict a singular figure. Much like the larger work, these figures are similarly distorted and fragmentary, but instead of suffering the changes wrought by others’ violent actions, these bodies are undergoing a much more solitary, lonely transfiguration. They twist and contort themselves into warped, uncomfortable forms; each of them appearing to be burdened by their overgrown, disproportionate limbs. Two of these figures are half-shrouded in a dusty, black miasmatic vapour that creeps in ominously from the corners of each canvas, while the other sits strikingly against a wash of lurid, maddening yellow: the colour of sickly-sweet rot.
Throughout A Screaming Object, Rouy alternates between a variety of painting techniques to capture the volatile and unstable nature of the human body. At points, Rouy’s forms are depicted in soft, sumptuous detail which hearkens back to the style of classical nudes. This ‘softness’ is immediately troubled as Rouy creates scratched out, obliterated surfaces to cause separate bodies to blend together in a visceral representation of frenzied, kinetic motion. At other points, Rouy’s brushstrokes are imbued with a more gestural, expressionistic feel; leaving only ghostly suggestions of knee caps, elbow joints and desperate clasping hands.
A Screaming Object is accompanied by an original score composed by Oscar Defriez. This soundtrack provides an all-encompassing, unsettling sensory experience and serves to accent the harrowing drama of the colossal central painting”.
Guts Gallery is found at Unit 2, Sidings House, 10 Andre Street, London, E8 2AA. Guts is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am until 6pm. There’s almost certainly an opening on the Friday 29th, 6pm until 9pm, those openings do get crowded though, and the gallery is far better during daylight hours. A Screaming Object runs from 29th Nov until 21st Dec 2024
Previously at Guts –
and coming soon
A solo show from Yasmin Grant
THE ORGAN 