Here we go again then, we’re well into Spring and global warming now, on with another Five Art Things thing, on we go and never mind the bliss or the selfies in front of the art or whatever we said last time. 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 although this week money is needed to get into a couple of the events…

1: A Gesture, An Action …..Touching at APT Gallery – 17th April until 27th April 2025 – This one could be interesting, certainly some interesting painters taking part although they do like their little boxes – “An exhibition by ten abstract painters exploring a collectively deep engagement with the physicality of paint, colour and the visceral impact of gesture, rhythm, and haptic sensation”, and APT is a particularly good art space

“The exhibition ‘A Gesture, an Action…Touching’ brings together the work of ten contemporary artists, all of which are painters for whom the gesture in its broadest context is a principal component to their painting practice. The idea for the exhibition initially derived through reading a John Berger poem ’Twentieth Century Storm’ where the line ‘In origin, a gesture an action touching’ resonated with my practice,  the word ‘touching’ seemed to offer a meeting point not only between the gesture and the action, but also a kind of interface between possible polarities where the result becomes something intangible and sensuous, both delicate and physical. For the title of the exhibition, I wanted to emphasise the ‘Touching’ as a juncture between the gesture and action. Gestures reflect evidence of the hand or body or remnants of past actions, each mark navigating its surface independently, feeling and searching, pressing, and touching. Actions reveal themselves through the history of the making; and touch reflects an action that can present itself as sensitive as a breath, or as physical as a dance. Each artist engages and experiments with these infinite possibilities and offer encounters where the intimate questioning of material, surface, boundaries, and edge can reveal multiple spaces and gestures where the absent self is still somewhere present within. All the selected painters engage with the process of layering in some way, building layers and the erasure of marks create complex compositions that invite the viewer to participate in the process of meaning and making.

The selection of the remaining nine painters was driven by their deep engagement with the physicality of paint, colour and the visceral impact of gesture, rhythm, and haptic sensation. By foregrounding the embodied experience of perception, each painter is engaged in an examination of how the surface of a painting can be explored, not as a settled notion of picture making but as a process that is being constantly renegotiated.

For Stephen Buckeridge, Catherine Long and Steven Walker the gestural application of paint conveys the rawness and sensuality of a bodily experience, whether the physical movement through a landscape or as in the case for Catherine Long the use of gesture as experience is synonymous with physical movement and dance. EC engages with the painted material as a gesture, and in which remnants within the painting are often deconstructed to become the fabric of the painting. Tony Antrobus, Karl Bielik, Dido Hallett and Sabine Tress make visceral process driven oil paintings where the surface evolves out of the encounters between gesture and colour, paintings are often layered exposing their history and evidence of doubt. For Patrick Jones and Lindsay Mapes colour is an important the focus for the work, Patrick Jones who likes to work on large unprimed canvas, improvising a varied technique, like a giant watercolour. The pigment is intense, so working flat on the floor allows the thin washes to overlay and dry. Playfulness and materiality a focal point of Lindsay’s work as is the understanding of how these combinations melt together or scream in separation.

The aim of the exhibition is to present an exhibition which explores gesture both through is historical and contemporary practices and including generational and gender responses where the process is intuitive and incorporates the body as a tool both through its gestures and actions. The exhibition presents both larger scale work and more modest and even tiny works, where the juxtaposition between large and small would engage with each other creating different dialogues in response to the exhibition title. Accompanying essay by Dan Howard-Birt”

APT Gallery is at Harold Wharf, 6 Creekside, Deptford, London, SE8 4SA. The gallery is open Thursday to Sunday, Midday until 5pm – The exhibition runs from 17th April until 27th April 2025.

2: Future Ritual: Ceremony, a festival of performance at Copeland Gallery, Peckham – 18th April until 27th April 2025 – We have featured this event, or series of events a couple of times already, over the last month, it is actually upon us now. “Amidst the fragmentation of contemporary life and the ossifying effects of capitalism in the metropolis, this five-day programme is imagined as an invitation to cross a series of thresholds, to awaken desire, and to rekindle enchantment”.

“Future Ritual is excited to announce Ceremony, a festival of performance art, choreography and ritual action taking place in London this April. The festival will feature new works by Anne Bean, emilyn claid, Alastair MacLennan, n:u, Pianka Pärna, Raisa Kabir, Rubiane Maia and SERAFINE1369, along with the UK premieres of works by Marilyn Arsem, gustaf broms, Liz Rosenfeld and VestAndPage. Alongside 5 days of performance taking place at Copeland Gallery (Peckham), there will also be an evening considering durational performance with Marilyn Arsem at the Live Art Development Agency (Bethnal Green) and an afternoon exploring deep time and altered states through performance art at Queen Mary University of London (Mile End).” 

Copeland Gallery is at 133 Copeland Road, Peckham, London, SE15 3SN. Discursive events are free or pay what you can, performances are ticketed at £14/£17/£20 and there are festival passes available for £50/£60/£75. Times and more via the Ceremony website or here via Copeland’s website

Previously –

ORGAN THING: Ceremony, a quick update. A Festival of Performance is something that will happen at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham, South London this April 23rd until 27th…

ORGAN PREVIEW: Ceremony – A Festival of Performance is something that will happen at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham, South London this April 23rd until 27th – “London hasn’t seen a performance art festival like this in some time despite the demand and interest”

3: Jai Chuhan at The Approach – 24th April until 24th May 2025, with an opening on April 23rd – “The Approach is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by London based artist, Jai Chuhan”, did have an “accidental” preview of this last week, the brief glimpse looked rather good and for one yes, that over used word vibrant is the right one (how early do they hang their shows at The Approach? Oh the mysteries of galleries).

“Jai Chuhan’s vibrant paintings depict the human body in abstracted room-like spaces. Using vivid cadmium pigments, Chuhan’s visceral visual language incorporates contorted limbs, raw flesh and quivering muscle to suggest bodies in struggle or in intimate embrace. Her familiar motifs of the birthing body, brides in Indian wedding ceremonies and the dancer are captured through smudged caresses and violent gestures. These ambiguously gendered figures initially appear in a private world and yet their architectural surroundings act as if a stage for viewing. Working from life, photographs and personal memories, Chuhan’s paintings reconsider notions of voyeurism, eroticism, race and the gaze.

Jai Chuhan is an Indian-born British artist. Her paintings have been exhibited internationally in Italy, Belgium, Singapore and America, and in the UK at Tate Liverpool; the Barbican Art Gallery, London; Bluecoat, Liverpool; Ikon, Birmingham; Tramway, Glasgow; Arnolfini, Bristol; the Commonwealth Institute, London; Horizon Gallery, London; Waterman Arts Centre, London; and Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery London.

Forthcoming and previous solo exhibitions include; Dancer, Harbour House, Devon (2025); Small Paintings, Qrystal Partners, London (2023); Paris Internationale with Champ Lacombe, Paris (2023); Remodel: Painting Studio, Asia Triennial, Manchester (2018); Decanting Desire, Liverpool Biennial (2014) and Jai Chuhan: Recent Paintings, Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool (2013). Her work is currently on view at Dundee Contemporary Arts as part of the Hayward Touring exhibition Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, curated by Hettie Judah, and features in In our idleness, in our dreams, Niru Ratnam, London (2025). Her paintings and drawings are in the collections of the Tate, the Arts Council and Cartwright Hall in Bradford”.

The Approach is found on the first floor above the pub, 47 Approach Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 9LY, Access to the gallery via The Approach Tavern pub, there’s a brown door at the end of the left side of the bar that the staff may or may not feel like pointing out to you. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday (although some places say Tuesday) 12–6pm or by appointment. The Jai Chuhan show runs from 24th April until 24th May 2025, with an opening on April 23rd (6pm until 9pm)

There is also this happening on the same dates – “The Approach is pleased to present Kind of… an exhibition of new paintings by Peter Davies and Mary Ramsden. The two person exhibition underscores the influence of collaboration, dialogue and friendship in the evolution of both artists’ approaches to abstraction, colour and form”. Although the last time we encounted Peter Davies at the Approach it was as cutator – ORGAN THING: On Feeling – a group show at The Approach, East London, July 2024 – is it really a special time for contemporary art in London? Are you sure? Some of us may not see it like that…

Previous Approach coverage on these pages (there has been a lot over the years)

4: In Black and White at Tower Gallery, London E13 – 18th April until 4th May 2025 – The first exhibition of 2025 at the Tower Gallery takes its inspiration from monochrome. It includes a diverse selection of almost 100 works “in black and white” by over 60 artists. Alongside works in a range of media, there are two interactive installations: take part in a series of communications through time and space spanning the central stairwell or go home with a message wrapped around a stone from the top floor from artist Mire. 

Tower Gallery is at 395 Barking Road, Plaistow, London, E13 8AL. The gallery is open 3pm until 7pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday (or by appointment) in Black and White runs from 18th April until 4th May 2025

5: Rita Says and the Jerico Orchestra – Tell me What You Want at The Horse Hospital, 17th April, 7pm until 9pm – “Rita Says and The Jerico Orchestra present 8 films produced over the last 3 years. These performances are a new direction for the project pushing further into queer biography and body based live art”.

“On the evening of Thursday April 17th Rita Says and The Jerico Orchestra present 8 films. All produced over the last 3 years these performances are a new direction for the project pushing further into queer biography and body based live art. This screening will also include an in progress fragment from Stalins Honey the follow up movie to I Found Malevich. Rita Says and The Jerico Orchestra are a live art project dedicated to exploring the connection between Fine Art Performance and the history of experimental music”. You might have caught Rita Says as part of our Mixtape shows.

The Horse Hospital, Colonnade, London WC1N 1JD. Doors 7pm, Screening Begins 7:30pm. Tickets £5-8 Sliding Scale

Previous Horse Hospital coverage on these pages

And the latest on line Mixtape exhibition is now open via the link you just passed…