Another week, 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. Normal service almost resumed, am I falling out of love with art? 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: Perpetual Motion Machines at Pilar Corrias Gallery on now and until 20th Sept 2025 – “Pilar Corrias presents Perpetual Motion Machines, a group exhibition featuring work by Pacita Abad, Loie Hollowell, Christina Quarles, Tschabalala Self and Mickalene Thomas”. This one opened last week, we went to see it last week and now it has been seen we’ll recommend it – “Upstairs at Pilar Corrias is entertaining, upstairs in the big big high-ceiling white wall space with the windows and light and street life passing by, the show is entertaining, striking, exciting” – ORGAN THING: James Owen at Pilar Corrias, Perpetual Motion Machines in the same gallery, a couple of intriguing London art shows just opened…
“Taking as its starting point the concept that perpetual motion machines create energy indefinitely, this exhibition brings together works that explore the tension between movement and stillness in painting. Painting, though traditionally a still medium, has long sought to capture movement, energy and the fluidity of thought and emotion. Within these new and historical works, there is an extraction and projection of energy that has been distilled to communicate the intricate lives of women. Unique approaches to painterly techniques fuse, playing with pace and impressions of movement.
Pacita Abad was a Filipino American visual artist whose pioneering work is characterised by vibrant colours and an accumulation of processes and materials. She is best known for her trapunto paintings, a form of quilted painting the artist originated by stitching and stuffing her painted canvases as opposed to stretching them over a wood frame. Abad’s richly detailed abstractions are inspired by Korean ink brush painting and Indonesian Batik (a textile that uses wax and dyes to create dots widely arranged in stunning patterns and designs). Exploring a range of materials and textures, Abad’s abstraction paintings play with line and colour to imbue energy through carefully constructed static patterning. Notes from musical genres such as Jazz and the Blues, both essential to Abad’s life and studio environment, echo across the artist’s abstracted canvases, shaping the physicality of her paintings.
Loie Hollowell’s practice explores the intersections of abstraction, figuration and optical tensions drawn from the bodily landscape. Working with geometric symbolic shapes such as the mandorla, ogee and lingam, Hollowell anchors her compositions in a central, singular axis, melding sculpted, protruding forms that confound expectations of painting. References from the California Light and Space Movement and Neo-Tantric painters are woven into Hollowell’s visual lexicon. Within her new suite of works, the concentric shapes and reverberations of colour create a visual play that hints at different anatomical imaginaries. Primary colours create formal spaces that hold and direct energy points within Hollowell’s compositions. This sense of depth and gradual pulsation considers the dramatic evolutions of the female body in particular and the idiosyncracies of our interior worlds.
Through her paintings, Christina Quarles depicts entangled, ambiguous figures that defy rigid definitions, echoing the instability of identity and perception. Through expressive, gestural mark-making and a rejection of fixed perspective, Quarles creates compositions that appear to be in constant motion. Her work extends beyond the physicality of all-over painting to explore themes of personal and cultural hybridity, blurring the boundaries between body, space and abstraction. On Yull Always Be a Part a Me, 2025, Quarles writes: ‘Forms, both in the figuration and the tree, are repeated and distorted, a shadow of what was, a projection of what is yet to be (or perhaps can never be). There’s no way for me to hide my emotional state while making the work; there are moments of sadness with this painting, but also moments of vibrancy and a sense of liberation.’
Tschabalala Self’s figures are kaleidoscopic and layered. Through the use of various materials and textiles, including cut canvas itself, her paintings are deconstructed and rearranged. Her works transform traditional spatial organisation. There is an cyclical energy evident in each work that transcends linear understanding. The complexity of her oeuvre reflects the dynamic quality of her figures, predominately women. The formal and conceptual aspects of Self’s work seek to expand her critical inquiry into selfhood and human flourishing. Her work extends beyond the physicality of painting and explores themes of personal and cultural hybridity, the boundaries between body and mind, figuration and abstraction.
Mickalene Thomas brings a vibrant and layered approach to all-over composition, using collage, photography and sculptural surfaces to infuse her paintings with a palpable sense of motion. In her Tete de Femme series (translated as ‘head of a woman’), Thomas merges 20th-century Cubism and contemporary pop references, playing with the formal qualities of portraiture whilst simultaneously reclaiming and reimagining representations of Black femininity and beauty. Thomas’s geometric collaged cut-outs shimmer with energy as materials reflect layers of movement across the picture plane. Rather than focusing on a single subject or element, her paintings invite viewers to engage with every part of the surface, absorbing a complex interplay of patterns, textures and forms”.
Pilar Corrias is at 51 Conduit Street, London W1S 2YT (don’t mic it up with the other Pilar Corrias space at the other end of Saville Row). Both shows (there’s a rather good James Owen show in the basement of the same space) are on until September 9th 2025. The gallery is open Tuesday–Friday: 10am–6pm and Saturday: 11am–6pm.
2: Rebecca Adams, Sasha Spyrou and Jessica Arcana, Something Calls: Encounters with Spirits at Crypt Gallery (St.Pancras) – A short sharp event on for just two days on July 18th/19th with an opening on Thursday evening July 17th (6pm until 9pm). Now this looks and sounds rather intriguing and it is the perfect space for the event; “Presenting an interdisciplinary array of works exploring encounters with the spirit world through visual and performative mediums. Visitors will experience mixed-media artworks by Rebecca Adams, Sasha Spyrou, and Jessica Arcana. Each piece delves into the theme of spiritual encounters and unseen presences. Complementing the visual works, the opening night will feature fusion belly dance performances by professional dancers Rachael Redfern as well as the exhibiting artists Rebecca Adams and Jessica Arcana plus surprises. These performances embody spirits through movement, channelling themes of transformation, connection, and renewal to present a visceral expression of the exhibition’s spiritual narrative”.
Crypt Gallery is found underneath St Pancras New Church on Euston Rd, London NW1 2BA (kind of in between St Pancras railway station and Euston station). Dates : July 17th (Thurs) : private viewing, everyone welcome, no invite necessary, optional small donation on the door, 6-9pm. July 18th / 19th : public viewing 1-6pm.
3: Mr Martin A. Smith, Where The Roses Grow at Muse Gallery at 269 – 17th July until 27th July 2025 (with an evening opening 17th July, 6pm until 9pm) – The Muse at 269, Portobello Road, celebrates the sound and art of Martin A. Smith, composer, artist and curator, with a solo exhibition of his work.
“Over the last four decades, Smith’s expansive body of work has profoundly influenced London’s sonic art scene. His signature sound of rich ambience is well known within the music industry and by sound artists alike. Observing a need for a platform for the emergent group of sound artists, Smith commenced the series Sound Art at the Muse in 2005, one of the few galleries that continues to exhibit work by sonic artists in London today.
Where The Roses Grow focuses on Smith, as an artist, rather than his role as a collaborator and curator who modestly creates space for synergetic teamwork. The exhibition showcases selected works which highlight Smith’s skilful compositions, poetic soundscapes, video art and the pure generosity of his collaborative nature.
Smith’s art is concerned with the spirit of place and the creation and reflection of atmosphere, and he states, ‘I create immersive, multi-layered pieces that reinterpret or enhance our emotional response to the nature of place, memory and environment.’
Throughout his career, Martin A. Smith’s benevolent collaborations are prolific: from musical scores for film and video art to immersive soundtracks for art installations, his work has been exhibited in London galleries GV Art, October Gallery and The Muse at 269, in theatres and on television. He has worked with numerous artists; including Eleonore Pironneau, Alex May and Ramuntcho Matta; musicians, such as Goldfrapp; film makers, composers, fashion designer Elizabeth Emanuel, poets and music producers, the latter often drawing upon Smith’s vast knowledge of atmospheric sound to create unique resonance within their own work.
The Muse at 269 is at 269 Portobello Road, London, W11 1LR. The gallery is open Tuesday until Sunday, midday until 6pm, 17th July until 27th July 2025. (evening opening 17th July, 6pm until 9pm) – www.martinasmith.co.uk / Facebook
4: A Day at the Seaside at Oliver Projects Gallery – 18th July until 16th August 2025 (with an opening on Thursday 17th, 6pm until 8pm) – ‘A Day at the Seaside’: a group exhibition guest-curated by Eileen Cooper RA.
‘A Day at the Seaside’: a group exhibition guest-curated by Eileen Cooper and featuring work by Sikelela Owen RA, the late Jeffery Camp RA, Eileen Cooper RA, Alice Macdonald, Gavin Lockheart, R&F Mo, Archie Franks and Ruth Dupré.
“Having worked as a nomadic curator and art dealer since 2014, Oliver Projects founder Katherine Oliver is to open a new contemporary art gallery in East Dulwich this July. Based in a domestic-scale space close to East Dulwich railway station, the new gallery will continue Oliver Projects’ mission to exhibit the diverse range of south east London-based and international artists’ work – including painting, printmaking and ceramics – that Oliver Projects is known for. The gallery’s playful inaugural exhibition, ‘A Day at the Seaside’, has been guest- curated by Royal Academician Eileen Cooper. Brockley-based Cooper has pulled together a cross-generational group of south east London-based artists for the show, both emerging and renowned”.
Oliver Projects Gallery is found at 51 Grove Vale, London, SE22 8EQ. A Day At The Seaside runs from 18th July until 16th August 2025. Open Wednesdays – Saturdays 12- 6pm/Sundays 12-4pm. Monday and Tuesday by appointment only.
5: Fist at Dalston Superstore – The Bishopsgate Institute and the UK Fetish Archive is home to the most expansive archive of UK queer history. They preserve the stories of extraordinary individuals and collectives who strived for political, social and cultural change. “This exhibition scratches the surface of London’s vibrant, unique and unapologetically outrageous LGBTQ+ rave and fetish scenes throughout the 80s to the 00s via flyers, photography and ephemera” which means it should be rather, well, in your face we hope. “For the duration of display we’re running a series of web interviews with Bishopsgate archivists, promoters and scene queens of the era. Delve into London’s queer lineage & explore how it has shaped the scene around you today”.
Dalston Superstore is found at 117 Kingsland High St, London, E8 2PB. We’re guess this runs for all of July (watch this space for updates)
For more Art coverage hit the Art option on our menu at the top, there’s years and years of it
THE ORGAN 