Another week, another Five Art Things thing, We are in the body of something of other now, surely it is all going to pick up a little? Shall we go on and never mind the bliss or the selfies in front of the art or whatever we said last time. Normal service miles away from being resumed, am I falling out of love with art? Did I say that 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…
1: The Art of Flying at Uncle – 31st October until 4th November 2025 – Now as someone who has fly posted for hundred (thousands) of gigs and events and indeed fought a battle or two with flyposting teams this looks rather intriguing. “An immersive event exploring the maverick and remarkable world of fly-posting”
“The Art of Flying isn’t simply an exhibition. Born from an oral history project documenting the untold stories of commercial fly-posters active across the UK between 1973 and 1993, The Art of Flying dives headfirst into the renegade spirit of an urban subculture that lived – and still lives – just outside the lines. Spread across three spaces at 1 Quaker Street — The Sandbox, The CarWash and The Platform — the exhibition blends archive, sound, moving image and live activity. Visitors can explore photographic histories of street fly-posting, hear first-hand accounts from the people who worked “on the brush”, and join free public screen-printing sessions with Jealous Gallery across the weekend of 1–2 November.
Highlights include documentary interviews and cinematic montages of fly-posting in film and TV, talks by artists and activists on Sunday 2 November, and an interactive poster site featuring Martin Rowson’s reworking of an Atelier Populaire design. Six new The Art of Flying booklets will be available, sharing the first instalments from twelve vivid oral histories gathered for this ongoing project”.
Uncle is found at 1 Quaker Street, Shoreditch, London, E1 6SZ. The event is open Friday 11am until 7pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am until 5pm, Monday and Tuesday 11am until 7pm. Visit The Art of Flying website to find out more. *TAOF is FREE and open to the public from 31st October to 4th November. Booking is essential for the Lunchtime Talks on Sunday 2nd November.
2: The Painted City at Well Hung – 31st October until 21st December, with an opening on Thursday 30th October, 6pm until 9pm – An exhibition of urban landscapes by Michelle Heron, Ryan Everson, Jen Orpin, Mandy Payne, and Andrew Torr – now we can’t claim to be Well Hung’s biggest fans ever, but they do have Jen Orpin in this show and her slightly brutalist motorway bridge paintings are rather delicious
“In a world increasingly mediated by technology, where quick consumption and throwaway experiences are the norm, The Painted City brings together five painters who choose to slow down and look closely. Through direct observation and lived experience, they explore the urban environment as a space filled with memory, meaning, and emotional weight Each artist offers a grounded, intimate view of the built world. Their paintings draw attention to the quiet presence of shopfronts, rooftops, motorways, housing estates, and overlooked corners of the city. These are not imagined spaces, but real ones — seen, remembered, and reinterpreted through paint.
While their techniques and tones vary, all five artists share a deep connection to place and a belief in painting as a form of witnessing. Michelle Heron’s work captures the character and vulnerability of changing high streets. Jen Orpin’s motorway bridges mark the emotional routes of personal history. Ryan Everson paints familiar architecture with a still, almost meditative atmosphere. Mandy Payne examines the social and political history embedded in concrete, while Andrew Torr finds quiet shifts of light and form in the everyday structure of the city. Together, their work presents a view of urban life that is not flashy or idealised, but human, emotional, and honest. The Painted City is about the way we inhabit our surroundings and how those surroundings, in turn, inhabit us”.
Well Hung Gallery is found at 239 Hoxton Street, London, N1 5LG. The Gallery is open Tuesday through to Saturday, 10am until 5pm, Midday until 4pm on Saturdays. The show runs from 31st October until 21st December, with an opening on Thursday 30th October, 6pm until 9pm
3: Jason Shulman, Wax & Relax at Wax & Relax – from Saturday 1 November until Saturday 29 November – “Jason Shulman is a multi-disciplinary artist based in London. Wax & Relax is his latest site-specific installation, curated by Ashley Saville”.
“Inhabiting a derelict East London beauty parlour, the piece is a recreation of Shulman’s seminal Candle Room. Comprised of a single candle burning in darkness the installation tricks the eye into perceiving light as a tangible form. It is presented here in a playful tribute to the former-salon’s name.
“Shulman is a brilliant illusionist. A poacher of the imagination, he distorts and sticks a finger right through the rafters of your brain, without you realising it, without pomp, and with the accuracy and precision of a scientist”. – Harriet Verney
Shulman’s Candle Room was shown at White Cube in an exhibition curated by Harland Miller. It has also been shown at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art as part of the third Moscow Biennale, and at the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania.
“Regrettably, the venue is not wheelchair accessible due to tight turning spaces. The installation is most effective when viewed by one person at a time. For this reason, a maximum of three visitors are permitted per booking slot. Please contact us if you require assistance arranging larger group visits”.
Wax & Relax is found at 111 Downs Road, London, E5 8DA. The venue is a fourteen minute walk from Hackney Central Overground Station and a nine minute walk from Clapton Overground Station, making it easily reachable by public transport (lots of buses). Wax & Relax will be open daily by appointment from Saturday 1 November – Saturday 29 November, with a press preview on Friday 31 October. Booking via this link
4: Julia Maddison, Even your shadow will abandon you at Hundred Years Gallery – talking of galleries that aren’t our favourite (or who don’t like what we do much – this time it goes back to our questioning the practice of treating artists like cash cows and charging said artists a fee to just make a submission to a selection process – it is well documented on the Cultivate website. We’ve not been welcome at Hundred Years since we questioned it and yes it is a shame a few of our fellow artists didn’t stand with us rather than just go on asking us to shout about it and yes, it would be easy to just ignore everything that goes on there, but this looks rather worth the time of those welcome at the East London space and sometimes relatively minor things need to be set aside)
“During the past two years, where some artists have been shocked, stunned and bewildered into (quite understandable) creative inactivity by the atrocities being committed in Gaza, I have found myself producing a series of work related to the genocide. Bombarded by images of the slaughter, maiming and constant displacement of thousands of people, and furious at our government’s complicity in this, and the lack of international condemnation or intervention, whilst the mainstream media flaunted its appallingly unbalanced allegencies, I have made work that fluctuates between images of death and violence, and a hope for peace. As children and adults have had their lives, limbs and homes decimated, my urgency to produce something has resulted in a large number of swiftly executed, very low tech work; sewing, drawing and monoprinting onto anything that came to hand: tattered textiles, some scavenged old household linens, scraps of paper and cardboard packaging. I wanted to show these simple pieces now, to keep up the conversation about what is still happening, despite a supposed ceasefire, in Gaza and the West Bank – and what has been happening for years”. Julia Maddison
The title of the exhibition comes from the poem No Art by Mosab Abu Toha, a Gazan poet, unable to return to his homeland, whose words and images on social media have been an important source of information during this time of half-truths, untold stories, deceit, destruction and despair.
Hundred Years Gallery is found at 13 Pearson Street, London, E2 8JD. The exhibition opens on Thursday 6th November, 6pm to 9pm and then continues at the sapce until 16th November. Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Friday 2pm until 7pm, Saturday 4pm until 7pm
Recent Julia Maddison coverage:
5: Gail Seres-Woolfson, Sharing Space at Art@111 – 4th November until 23rd November 2025 – “Gail Seres-Woolfson returns to Art@111 Gallery to share her ongoing journey exploring abstraction, collage and the built environment. And from 11th November the exhibition evolves with the addition of artworks from fellow local artists Afsoon Hajihasani, Ed Herten and Sara Meidan.
“Gail Seres-Woolfson engages with structures, spaces and the built environment through the act of collage. Layering drawing and painting with fragments of photography she seeks out juxtapositions, rhythms and chance connections, and dances between the familiar and the extraordinary. Angular shapes meet loose and fluid gestural marks, dynamic lines and mixed materials create illusory depth, and compositions evolve until they offer both an anchored set of component parts and an invitation for future transformation and rearrangement. Sharing Space includes drawings, paintings and a glimpse at multi-disciplinary work, as well as limited edition prints and cards”.
Art@111 is found at 111 Highbury Park, London, N5 1UB. The gallery is open Tuesday through to Sunday, 11pm until 5pm. Sharing Space is on from 4th November until 23rd November 2025
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