Where? Somewhere. Why? That is a good question, the thankless task of dancing around art again, the endless dance that leads us to where? Today it has taken us to the London plushness of the West End. Kearsey & Gold landed on Cork Street late last year, we’ve covered a couple of their recent shows on these fractured pages, Woo Jung Ghil’s show wasn’t the reason for being in Cork Street this time, can’t recall what the reason was now? Probably Bianca Raffaella’s Faint Memories at Flowers and I have been meaning to mention the Misheck Masamvu show at Goodman Gallery and at the same time the Woo Jung Ghil exhibition, although not sure why I am mentioning Woo Jung Ghil exhibition? Why do all this? In fact why do any of it? 

Woo Jung Ghil’s paintings are apparently “meditative odysseys into the depths of the human psyche, each work reflecting a search for mental clarity and stillness” – the paintings  were certainly still, for once there really did need to be silence in the gallery (and for once there wasn’t). Not sure why there’s a need to mention this show actually? We do have a vague reviewing policy, not sure why I am mentioning any show for that matter? What is the point of all this? This particular page is probably more to do with wanting to mention the rather good Misheck Masamvu a couple of doors along the street at Goodman Gallery rather than the Woo Jung Ghil exhibition really. These Woo Jung Ghil paintings feel a little too 70s hippy-dippy to me, I’m not really getting the sensitivity, not really getting her gesture or her emotions, they look like paintings that might have featured on faceless ambient records from the end of the last century. Oh look, so far the shows at Kearsey & Gold have been rather rewarding, that Dillwyn Smith exhibition particularly, that Material Syntax group show as well.  Apparently, through her practice, Woo Jung Ghil visualises an “ideal state of mind”, maybe if the chat in the gallery hadn’t been so damn annoyingly loud? I don’t know, it didn’t connect with me that much.

And Yes it really was the Misheck Masamvu exhibition I had been meaning to mention, almost too late now and well, it really does feel thankless and rather pointless doing all this.  The big bold paintings of Misheck Masamvu are the things of interest in here, there are some small black and white pieces quietly politely hanging there but they can’t really get a word in with those big bold paintings that really do seem a little carefree and rather alive (they’re probably not carefree, probably far from carefree). Goodman Gallery has a positively interesting history, they have several spaces both at home in their South African base and around the world, they have a big space right in the middle of London’s Cork Street, it is often rewarding.

– “For 59 years, Goodman Gallery has championed a leading community of artists who inspire social change and provided a platform for dialogue and healing. In 1966, during South Africa’s apartheid years, the gallery opened its doors to artists of all races, refusing to discriminate against artists of colour and becoming one of the first spaces in the world to exhibit artists who are beginning to gain global recognition as pioneers of 20th Century African Art” –

Misheck Masamvu’s (b. 1980, Mutare, Zimbabwe) works are alive with movement, with colour, with always controlled but not too controlled energy. “As one of the most significant artists from Zimbabwe, Masamvu’s work offers a renewed understanding of visual culture in Africa and the decolonial project more broadly. Rhythmic lines and layered fields of colour have become a prominent language for Masamvu to explore structures of power and how history comes to bear on the contemporary moment, but also how one can adapt to a new way of interacting with the world” – there’s a positive stridency in the room, a confidence in the marks made, a belief, an insistence, almost discordant, exciting, very exciting. It is impossible not to just like and delight in these big paintings, this big room full of these big paintings, it is surely about more than just liking them though? This is powerful expression, these are dramatic combinations of brushstrokes, a feel of an avant-garde expressionist from another time back there maybe? Timeless though, forward looking, now. Paintings that almost have (a) life of their own. It surely is significant  that Misheck Masamvu still lives and works in Harare, Zimbabwe (after a time spent studying in Europe), that his choice is to work in Africa, that his works seek to explore socially-driven and socially-conscious themes, that he wants to use his art to address issues and find possible solutions that will strengthen and voice the African legacy to future generations. Not sure if he is finding those possible solutions solely via his paint and canvas, maybe more with the conversations his work allows him to have? With the places his work allows him to go? I mean here I am viewing it in the one of the richest areas of London, his art is allowing him to speak directly to me in this big gallery today. I am going to go home and think about him and what he has to say, so are many others, he is indirectly doing what he wants to do and at the same time he is making exciting engaging challenging art, which I guess is what we all want to do. Excellent exhibition, must go back and focus on the small black and white pieces before it closes… (sw)    

Goodman Gallery is in the middle Cork Street, London W1S 3ND and well that show just ended as well, sorry, blame the black dog or the apathy or… hey, at least it got covered…

Kearsey & Gold, 19 Cork Street, London, W1S 3LP. The gallery is open Tuesday through to Saturday,11am until 6pm (5pm on Saturdays) although the Woo Jung Ghil has just ended