A weighty stone plinth sits on Joss Bilton’s shoulders. Bilton at once becomes an inanimate object but one that denotes power and status, a human monument. Without a face, his personality is eradicated and his body yields to the stone edifice behind him. It is a peculiar sight but one that immediately connects us to the theme of Undersong. This new show, part of Bilton’s ongoing work concerns self, body and land causes us to reflect on the significance of Portland Stone, a limestone quarried on the Portland peninsula in Dorset. Conveying a sense of power and authority, the stone was used extensively as a building material to construct many of London’s landmarks including the Bank of England and St Paul’s Cathedral. The artist considers whether it is possible to find other meanings in Portland Stone besides its usual connotations?

Courtesy of the artist and commissioned by SPACE. Image credit: Tim Bowditch

Undersong is a lyrical work incorporating sound, video and a guided walk through Hackney. It takes the viewer on an exploration of the stone through sound, sight and touch, both in the gallery and out into the cityscape. In Bilton’s video, an intense crackling sound begins as chalky hands strive to release themselves from the strictures of partially dried clay. Eventually, the crackling ceases and gives way to an eerie undercurrent of intoned voices. A clay mask is formed from the contours of the artist’s face and becomes a monument, balanced precariously on a plinth.

Courtesy of the artist and commissioned by SPACE. Image credit: Tim Bowditch

The scene changes to the site of the Albion Stone workshop where water cascades over the vast blocks of stone. A large cutting wheel saws its way through an enormous block of stone. It takes a long time to cut but implores you to see it through. Smaller stones, now audible above the din of the water clink melodically. The dedication of the work coupled with the clinking of the stones creates an almost monastic ambience. It is a very beautiful sound.

When the video closes, it is time to take a piece of Portland Stone from the gallery and follow the route to the bell tower. An audio of sounds and poetry accompanies you on your way through the crumbling grave stones where

“You
can try and read the inscriptions
by your hand, find the lip of tar
or thin edge of white paint
covering the south sur-
face or between the
two where a wild
patch of grass,
the fuck you so delicate
in biro
buries”

Extract from Cairn poem by Holly Corfield Carr

Courtesy of the artist and commissioned by SPACE. Image credit: Tim Bowditch

24 June – 17 September 2016 | 129 – 131 Mare Street, London E8 3RH | www.spacestudios.org.uk

Hiraki Sawa, Drawing for Man in Camera, Man in Camera, 2016, Ink drawing on giclée print, 75 x 95 mm
Photograph © Hiraki Sawa and Parafin, London

The imaginative work of Hiraki Sawa appeals to a subjective mind. This exhibition invites us to contemplate the significance of memories and how they shape our identity. The artist interiorises these themes within the context of domesticity, mingling real life experiences with fictional narratives. These very personal recollections are difficult to empathise with but the aura they impart creates an immersive and sometimes uncanny experience for the viewer. Man in Camera conveys the theme of memory through film, installations, sculpture, drawings and photography.

His surreal video installation, Man in Camera situates Sawa in the context of his studio where memories infiltrate his art. Introducing his occupation as an artist, the film conveys his state of mind through recurring motifs.  A time-worn place with peeling timbers, damp walls and antiquated plumbing, the interior provides a subdued backdrop for his hand-drawn fantastical animations that pepper the scene of his activities. In Sawa’s imaginary world, pencils, lines and ladders spring to life, appearing and disappearing in a rythmical sequence that intensifies the notion of interiority. A tinkling soundtrack suggests that these recurring elements are metaphors for the artist’s creativity. The latter is symbolised by the animated whorls of an enlarged finger print that hovers over him while he works. The recurring motif appears again in his strangely contrived stamp collection of modified family photographs depicting ladders, hatched faces and strangely shrouded cars. Whereas Magritte’s shrouded faces evoke mystery, Sawa’s hatched faces reference concern for the effects of amnesia where memory is literally ‘stamped out’.

Hiraki Sawa, Man in Camera (video still), 2015-16, Single channel video, drawings, mixed media, installation, Duration 8’ 50’’
Photograph © Hiraki Sawa and Parafin, London

Sawa’s interest in the history of photography is evident as the exhibition continues. In his video installation, Envelope  the full-sized bodies of dancing women can be glimpsed through a large mirror on the wall acting as a portal to the developing scenario. Shadowed by their own image as they dance, the women’s conjoined skirts form a whirling hourglass. Their ghostly  doubles recall the concept of the Victorian stereoscope whereby separate images of the same scene are viewed as one three-dimensional image. The recurring theme of the candle in the film becomes an object of meditation as women with darkened faces attempt to recall lost memories.

In Sawa’s Sleeping Machine series, goats wander the cityscape like a dream sequence while cogs, dials and gauges tick away the present to form new memories. Perhaps as time erodes some memories, our identity sadly errodes with it.

Hiraki Sawa, Man in Camera (video still), 2015-16, Single channel video, drawings, mixed media, installation, Duration 8’ 50’’
Photograph © Hiraki Sawa and Parafin, London

15 July – 17 September 2016 | 18 Woodstock Street, London W1C 2AL | www.parafin.co.uk

LONDON

Kenji Yamada | Smurfed remain | Chelsea College of Arts
Kenji Yamada was part of the Chelsea College of Art Exchange Residency Program. Being intrigued by the Morpeth Arms’ underground basement tunnel, a new art project was formed. The public’s attraction to the live CCTV images in the former prison, made Kenji researching this kind of interaction. This week a number of talks will be projected in the tunnel, which will in turn be seen in the pub upstairs.

16 John Islip Street, SW1P 4JU Londen | July 25 – 29, 2016 | https://www.facebook.com

Collaboration In Progress | Lewisham Arthouse
Wimbledon MFA graduate Marion Phillini is the key figure in this exhibition, but is definitely not doing it on her own. Amongst her own work, she’s inviting you to be part of this ever-changing one week exhibition. This week is the outcome of an experiment on collaboration, in collaboration with Wimbledon MFA Students. Expect Digital and video installation, shifting down the blacked out project space. Growing and evolving, following the input of the audience.

140 Lewisham Way, London SE14 6PD | July 22 – 29, 2016 | http://www.lewishamarthouse.org.uk

Yuri Pattinson: User, space | Chisenhale Gallery

Yuri Pattison, user, space (2016). Installation view, Chisenhale Gallery, 2016. Commissioned and produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London. Courtesy of the artist; mother’s tankstation limited, Dublin; Helga Maria Klosterfelde, Berlin; and Labor, Mexico. Photo: Andy Keate.

London based Yuri Pattinson is inspired by science fiction and Modern architecture, two opposites one would think, but it works. Resulting in an entirely new body of work, architectural sculptures and out of this world digital art. It sometimes feels like stepping into an abandoned  futuristic office. Pattinson is the produce of the 18 months Chisenhale Gallery Create Residency.

64 CHISENHALE ROAD, LONDON E3 5QZ  | July 7 – August 28, 2016 | http://chisenhale.org.uk

Babak Ghazi | Arcadia Missa

Babak Ghazi, 2016, Installation Shot with Georgi, Courtesy The Artist & Arcadia Missa

Everybody knows the feeling of spending dreamy moments in the attic/basement going through old boxes of memories. Imagine this feeling transported to a gallery space under the railway, sometimes surrounded by cute little dogs, finding boxes full of binders containing pictures of more dogs. And people. Basically Babak Ghazis life in pictures, through which the audience can create its own stories.

69 Lyndhurst Way, London SE15 4RF | July 1 – 30, 2016 | http://arcadiamissa.com
Stephane Graff: A Catalogue of Errors | Almine Rech Gallery
The works by Stephane Graff look like they’re spreads taken out an art catalogue. The double pages hold works by icons like Andy Warhol and Picasso. Giving it a closer look, the texts are as memorable. Combining existing visuals and words to new pairs, gave both text and image a new point of view.

11 Savile Row, 1st floor, Mayfair W1S 3PG London UK  | May 19 — July 30, 2016 | http://www.alminerech.com

NEW YORK

Daydream from 2013 | CANADA
Curated by Matthew Flaherty, ‘Daydream from 2013’ shows works by Sam Anderson, Olivia Erlanger, Anna Glantz, Rose Marcus, Alissa McKendrick, Marlie Mul, Libby Rothfeld. As confusing as the name of the gallery already is, the theme through the exhibition remains quite vague as well: ‘Regarding human presence and obsolescence.’ Although I have to say this sounds quite intriguing already, daydreaming always is. It means transporting yourself to another world where everything is possible. Works that are trying to translate this feeling, creating a new world all together.

333 Broome St, New York, NY 10002 | July 22 – August 26, 2016 | https://www.canadanewyork.com
Sexting | Kate Werble Gallery

MOLLY ZUCKERMAN-HARTUNG| UNTITLED, 2015 | ACRYLIC, OIL, INK, AND BLEACH ON CANVAS AND LINEN
27 X 36 INCHES

The phenomena of sexting is a big thing nowadays. Sending your naked body away from the safe haven called home. Floating through to virtual space to -hopefully- end up with the right person. Carmen Winant once said “[O]ur sexts…careen through virtual networks by the millions per day”. She is one of the artists showing sexting related artwork in this exhibition. What is ‘sexting related’ art? Is it more than ‘naked body related’ art? It is when taking some of Winant’s questions in mind: “When else in history have we been both author of, and witness to, our own bodies in sex?” and “How far away can we get from ourselves?”.

83 Vandam Street, New York | July 21 – August 19, 2016 | http://www.katewerblegallery.com

Katherine Bauer: Of the Quarry Land | Microscope Gallery

Katherine Bauer, “Waterfolds no.2” and “Waterfolds no.3”, 2016, analog c-prints, 36 x 24 inches – Image courtesy of the artist

This is Microscope Gallery’s second solo exhibition by Katherine Bauer. She works essentialy with 16mm film. With this series she is focusing on nature and abandoned industrial quarry, and the interaction between those two. For example the quarry has springs beneath it that were once considered sacred.

1329 Willoughby Avenue, #2B Brooklyn, NY 11237 | July 1 – August 7, 2016 | http://www.microscopegallery.com
Crystal Z Campbell and Richard Garet: SOUND 1 | Cindy Rucker Gallery
Sound 1 is the first of two exhibitions exploring sound as a medium to create art. In stead of entering a gallery filled with visual arts, the art is more hidden here. The few microphones and headphones we see are not the work, only the messenger. A certain tension is created, imagine entering a dark room where you can only hear sounds, knowing that in a few seconds the light will turn on and you will see where that sound is coming from. Feel the tingeling tention yet? Crystal Z Campbell fuses historical narratives with contemporary issues and Richard Garret’s work brings -accidental- background sounds in the limelight.

141 Attorney Street, New York, NY 10002 | July 19 -August 12, 2016 | http://www.cindyruckergallery.com

Tarantallegra | Hester
Be ready to enter a room full of organic wooden shapes. Those are not the sculptures or art work, but the pedestals, definitely contributing to the work itself. Once you’re past the wonders of the overall look, it’s time to dig deeper. You will find yourself in between curiosities, treasures and quirky artefacts.. Sculptures, drawings, collages, even pieces of clothes seemingly random, but oh so perfect in he whole composition.

July 7 – august 7, 2016 | 55-59 CHRYSTIE ST, SUITE 203, NEW YORK, NY 10002 | http://hester.nyc

The work of Sam Austen, Marte Eknaes and Andrew Mealor combines in an absorbing new exhibition at Laure Genillard in London. The group show is curated by Hana Noorali and Lynton Talbot and comprises sculptural works, video installations, found objects and unconventional interior detailing. Embellished or unmodified, mundane objects and dull corners find their moment, linking interior with exterior and gallery with grime. Consequently, meanings blur as irreverent materials and some less familiar items are displaced from their usual contexts and associations which together or on their own produce unexpected scenarios.

The show opens with Sam Austen’s ‘Somehow Eaten in the Dark’, a striking video installation of clipped wire fragments that systematically build, double-up and disappear. Intermittent strobing jars the eye as his harmonious barbs seek order from an entangled mass. Things soon turn sickly, though as the wires begin to enmesh impudent slogans, and poke through goo. As the exhibition progresses, Austen’s scaffolding of wiry filaments form larger structures in empathy with concurrent themes.

Sam Austen, Somehow Eaten in the Dark, 2016, 3 channel video installation, 9:11 mins, silent. Photograph © the artist and Laure Genillard Gallery

Marte Eknaes is inspired by escalators, plastic bollards and bristles on revolving doors. Here, bristles from her loaded toothbrush oscillate a whirling pattern of curly hairs. The busy motif continues in Angel Pubes where her eccentric aluminium wall coverings enliven a store cupboard door. Downstairs, the artist’s humour turns sour. Overbearing and ominous, two dark inflatable rings carry warnings for summer fun. Further on, a flaccid yellow tube wriggles its chemical contents to stave off an imminent disaster. Andrew Mealor’s battered cabinet has been  carelessly left unlocked. A seepage of spilt chemicals kill the company Christmas tree as they merge towards the ‘sock’.

Marte Eknaes, Lubetech, 2016, Absorbent Superior Chemical Sock. Photograph © the artist and Laure Genillard Gallery

Andrew Mealor, Filth/scum/pig + breakfast 4 Tiffany (suggested) failed novel, 2016, Grinded locker and Christmas Tree. Marte Eknaes, Hi Performance (Super Fun), 2016 and Lubetechs, 2016 Photograph © the artists and Laure Genillard Gallery

9 July – 3 September 2016 | Laure Genillard Gallery, 2 Hanway Place, London W1T 1HB | www.lglondon.org

LONDON
I Found This Supernova In Your Summer House | The Dot Project
How does summer look like? Hot? Dreamy? Steamy? Both Goia Mujalli and George Rouy do quite good at translating the summer into art. Their dual painting show bring our favourite season in one room. The reference to a supernova can be seen as an explosion in the vivid images, as though they could never be still, but always moving. Another element their work has in common is the use of layers, as if your looking from behind a see-through screen, observing from a distance.

94 FULHAM ROAD, LONDON, SW3 6HS | July 7 – August  31 | http://thedotproject.com/exhibitions
Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick | Somerset House

© Licensed to London News Pictures. Works by artists Philip Castle and Paul Insect Photo credit: Peter Macdiarmid/LNP

Film makers, musicians and  contemporary artists have been been invited to respond to Kubrick’s work. A scene, a movie, a character influences new artistic creations. Certainly not to be missed is the VR installation, transporting you to the 2001:A Space Odyssey Space Capsule. No worries even without the VR glasses you’ll be part of Kubrick’s interior, if you recognise the carpet. The exhibition is supported by Mrs. Kubrick.

Strand, London WC2R 1LA | 6 July – 24 August 2016 | http://www.daydreamingwith.com | https://www.somersethouse.org.uk
JIM HODGES | STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY
Not only his work is eye candy, also the way his paintings, drawings and sculptures are presented. Stepping in a black room where the only light comes from tree paintings, surely gives you the feeling of being in a mysterious forest. Alone, and surrounded by green. All contributing to the theme of time, fragility and temporality, expressed through concepts of nature.
11 Old Burlington Street, London | June 10 – July 23, 2016 | http://www.stephenfriedman.com/
JEFF GILLETTE: POST DISMAL | LAWRENCE ALKIN GALLERY

Jeff Gillette: Mickey Nagasaki Orange

The artist that prefers Dismaland over Disneyland exists, and no it’s not Banksy. The so called ‘demusement park’ was originally inspired by the work of Jeff Gillette, because it shared a similar theme overthrow of disney and its characters, as Banksy had in mind. Now the roles are reversed when Gillette shows 15 paintings, inspired by Dismaland. Although he has been creating this kind of post-apocalyptic scenes (and visiting them) for over 20 years now, this is his first UK solo show.

42 New Compton Street, London WC2H 8DA |June 24 – July 23, 2016 | http://www.lawrencealkingallery.com
MIKE DARGAS | Opera Gallery
German artist Mike Dargas isn’t a photographer, but a painter. His work might trick you with it’s extreme realistic details and precision. His large scale portraits all have a certain sensuality over them, mostly created by unidentified liquids flooding his subjects faces. This might not sound as sensual as it looks, but believe me it’s true.

134 New Bond Street, London W1S 2TF | July 6 – 20, 2016 | http://www.operagallery.com
NEW YORK
The Female Gaze, Part Two: Women Look At Men

Kathe Burkhart WHORE: from the liz taylor series (the only game in town) 2013 Acrylic, fabric, composition leaf, condom, fake pearls and gems, decorative papers and digital prints on canvas Courtesy the artist

The female gaze: part one, was ‘Women looking at women’ in 2009. With “Would we react different if portraits were made by men?” as the main question. Women are often seen as the oppressed, which results in feminist art, by strong independent female artists. This exhibition is taking a step further. 32 women fix their gaze on men and translate it in paintings, photographs and sculptures, making them ‘the oppressed’. Intimidating? Not really. Interesting? Yes. Mostly surprising that artworks still have to be read through the artist, and not be judged on the quality of the work itself. This exhibition shows some inspiring and innovative artworks, that should be the reason to give it a look.
547 WEST 25TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10001 | June 23 – September 2, 2016 | http://www.cheimread.com
MELODRAMA, ACT 2: NEW YORK | LUXEMBOURG & DAYAN

Melodrama, is taking place in the London (Act one) and New York (Act two) gallery of Luxembourg & Dayan. A melodramatic play composed by six sculptures, a series of photographs, and one video. Amongst the characters are Vincenzo Gemito’s 19th century wax Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi and Jeff Koons’ Italian Woman, demonstrating their lifelong drama since departed. Another pair going hand in hand are Urs Fischer’s ‘Foxtrot’ and Richard Serra’s Hand Catching Lead. This chair sculpture and black and white video are crossing two- and three-dimensional media, ‘instigating a movement between grounding and uncertainty’.

64 EAST 77TH STREET NEW YORK NY 10075 | 14 JULY – 17 SEPTEMBER 2016 | http://www.luxembourgdayan.com
SCHOOL’S OUT! | MIKE WEISS GALLERY

Trush Holmes, Balcony, 2016 Gel medium, oil stick and neon on canvas mounted to panel

School’s out! Freedom! What does this mean to artists Deborah Brown, Thrush Holmes, Jerry Kearns and Liao Yibai? For them it is playfully breaking from the ordinary and letting the imagination run wild. Their works also have a certain innocent childish expression, which gives the title more meaning than just a link to freedom.

520 West 24th Stree, NY | June 28 – August 8, 2016 | http://www.mikeweissgallery.com

No Free Tax Art Month | 247365

Artists Gavin Brown, Leah Guadagnoli, Henry Gunderson, Scott Keightley, Nathaniel de Large, Christina Leung, Molly Lowe, Raúl De Nieves, Walter Price, Benjamin Reiss bring contemporary sculptures, paintings, mixed media to the traditional gallery space. Sculptures on white pedestals, paintings on white walls. Vibrant and fresh, as if they want to rip loose from the classic setting. The American patriotic poster contradicts the dreamy sugarcoated art.

57 Stanton St. NY 10002 |July 1 – 31, 2016 | http://twentyfourseventhreesixtyfive.biz
Radical Plastic: Curated by Rachel Reese | Cue Art Foundation
‘Radical Plastic: Curated by Rachel Reese’, is the winning selection from 2015-2016 call for curatorial projects. Rachel Reese is the founder of ‘Possible Projects’ in Brooklyn and brings now together artists Becca Albee, Carolyn Carr, Catherine Czacki, Rachel Debuque, Carson Fisk-Vittori, Michelle Grabner, Mia Goyette, Ria Roberts, and Carolyn Salas. The exhibition’s themes are the problematics of bodies and gender based constructs. This is hard to find when giving the works a first look, it is more in the way they are constructed. The crossed identity of the in-betweens is expressed by crossing media and subjects.

137 West 25th Street, Ground Floor, NY 10001 | July 16 – August 20, 2016 | http://cueartfoundation.org

Bob and Roberta Smith, I Found Love, 2016 © Bob and Roberta Smith

When Laure Prouvost woke up to find her Stong Sory Vegetables had fallen from the sky she was imagining things. This time the artist’s humble legumes have tumbled below stairs to join a medley of curiosities at Found, a new show curated by Cornelia Parker for the Foundling Museum in London. The exhibition is about the significance of the found object, an entity that has fired the imagination and re-kindled the memories of more than sixty artists. The curator gave them one condition, “In order for something to be ‘found’, it has to be at some point in its history been ‘lost’ ’’.

Fading on the wall above mildewed playing cards is Vicky Parson’s unframed painting depicting a scrap of yellow blanket. Bright on one side and worn on the other, it is a timely reminder of the ‘tokens’ or scraps of fabric given by fallen women who gave up their babies to the Foundling Hospital, which is now the museum. The other half of the token was retained by the mother to present as proof on her return, if her situation became more favourable. The archives of the Museum are filled with these tiny scraps.

Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (Found), 2016 © Rachel Whiteread

Phyllida Barlow’s painted household rubbish embodies the found object as an artist’s material. In fact, Mona Hatoum created her fine wire sculptures when no other material was to hand. As the exhibition progresses, it becomes apparent that the idea of the ‘found’ object becomes more subjective, even in the way of finding yourself or even love. What started as a plausible statement, now becomes blurred in the myriad of found definitions that these artists unearth. Was Dorothy Cross’s Tube Worm Bottle with strange, fossilised tentacles once lost? Or was its barnacled body just a discarded item? Found suddenly becomes an absorbing subject.

Artwork either contains found items or is simply deemed as ‘found’ because the artists have re-discovered their pieces years later. With that revelation, they have discovered a new meaning or story. John Smith reveals a very poignant narrative in Dad’s Stick, an item that he kept all his life as a souvenir after redundancy. His found ruler revealed much about his father’s mind-set.

An object’s initial discovery is a moment treasured by Jeff McMillan. His Man with a Necktie was top and tailed in paint to partially conceal the image from the viewer. Likewise, Tacita Dean’s reversed her purchased embroidery to hide its words and present a new story for her Found Fortress. Some found objects have less appeal, such as a lost strand of hair drooping under a bit of Cello tape. Once lustrous and bouncy on a woman’s head, perhaps it ended up in her soup.

Thomas Heatherwick, Seventy Years of Stirring, 2015 © Thomas Heatherwick. Photograph by Ed Lyon

40 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ | May 27 – September 4, 2016 | www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk

Massimo Bartolini, Manca Anima, 2016, neon, 60 x 3 cm. Photograph © the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London

A sudden deluge of rain ushers in unsuspecting visitors to the gallery. Inside, it is quiet and dry but smells faintly of tobacco. The faint aroma draws the patter of wet footsteps towards a high shelf where a strange Heath Robinson style contraption pumps smoke from a Toscano cigar. Massimo Bartolini’s new exhibition begins here, taking its name from a famous place in London known as Golden Square. Enthused by its fascinating history, the sculptor develops his extraordinary findings in an unusual and evocative way. The real Golden Square is bound to a gloomy and desperate time in London’s history for beneath this oasis, in the hubbub of Soho lies a mass grave for victims of the Black Death. A temporary homage to this melancholy narrative, Bartolini’s new works impart an ecclesiastical and otherworldly quality. Grey, stately and respectful, the ghostly ambience of this transient mausoleum is broken only by the dulcet sounds of a vinyl record, playing beneath a golden cube. The sculptor has made mechanical pieces before, in particular Afterheart, a curious organ which plays a melodic and haunting tune.

Massimo Bartolini, Toscano, 2016, cigar, vacuum pump, mouthpiece, 10 x 80 x 19.5 cm.
Photograph © the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London

Vast like a tomb and central to the space is Georgius. On first sight, its irregularity simply resembles geographical features until the story unfolds. Haphazardly carved from a marble slab, it is a tribute to an undervalued aspect of the sculptor’s artistry, the base of a statue where a form begins. This idea connects to Golden Square’s George II outside, a statue of painted lead weathered through rain and time. Bartolini deliberately leaves what he describes as ‘footnotes’ or particular pieces that bare no relation to one another. Oddly, they do connect via a strong pervading theme of past human activity and departing souls present in a trail of empty birdcages, dust-coated drawings and blood red graffiti.

Massimo Bartolini, Georgius, 2015 – 2016, Bardiglio Imperial Marble, paint, wood, metal, 161 x 300 x 95.5 cm.
Photograph © the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London

Airplane (over 4000), 2016, Bardiglio Imperiale Marble, 1200.5 x 28 x 20 cm. Photograph © the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London

25 May – 30 July 2016 | 17 – 18 Golden Square, London W1F 9JJ
http://www.frithstreetgallery.com

(The exhibition, Golden Square also continues at 60, Soho Square, London)

LONDON

David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life | Royal Academy of Arts

David Hockney, Lord Jacob Rothschild, 5-6 February, 2014 © David Hockney. Photo credit: Richard Schmidt

Remember picture day, where the photographer stands behind his camera, ready to push the button hundreds of times. Every single student in the same chair, in the same pose, but each with a different story. CLICK. next. CLICK, next. Looks like Hockney went through a similar proces. His portraits show 82 people in the same chair, people who were in his life the last two years. New work that is as colourful and breathtaking as his old work.

Burlington House, Piccadilly London W1J 0BD | July 2 –  October 2, 2016 | http://www.artfund.org

Peter Howson: A Survey of Prints | Flowers Gallery

The Noble Dosser | Peter Howson | 1988

These sturdy, dark drawings are quite the opposite from what we just saw from Hockney. Peter Howson also chooses to portray people in his lithographs, focussing on the underdog types. Work from over four decades will be presented at the Flowers Gallery, including his Bosnian war works.

21 Cork Street, London W1S 3LZ | July 6 – August 6, 2016 | http://www.flowersgallery.com

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE | Tate Modern

Georgia O’Keeffe Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 1932

Although she made her debut  about one century ago, Georgia O’Keeffe’s vibrant flower paintings still look very contemporary. We all know her as the woman that stood strong in a world of male painters, and it’s definitely a unique chance to see her work, since it’s the only in public collections in the UK, for now.

Bankside, London SE1 9TG | JULY 6 – OCTOBER 30, 2016 | http://www.tate.org.uk

ALMA HASER: COSMIC SURGERY | The photographers’ gallery

Luke, from the series Cosmic Surgery

Another portraits series, this time by German born Alma Haser. She makes stunning collages, using special origami techniques. Small adjustments give the subjects in these soft sober portraits an over worldly vibe.

16 – 18 Ramillies St, London W1F 7LW | 8 July – 14 August 2016 | http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk

MIKE MEIRÉ OUTSIDE THE VISIBLE | Bartha Contemporary

Element 79, (Eternal News Series), 2016, Bronze cast of a newspaper

The Bartha Contemporary shows a solo exhibition by German Mike Meiré. Expect everyday objects from an artist’s point of view, translated through classic art media: paintings and sculptures. For example this newspaper in bronze shows the beauty of its simple yet elegant shape.

25 Margaret Street  London W1W 8RX  | July 8 – October 17, 2016 | http://www.barthacontemporary.com

NEW YORK

Rodney McMillian: Landscape Paintings | MoMa PS1

What does Rodney McMilian need to put class & identity and gender & sexuality to the question? Nothing more than twelve bedsheet paintings, and one video. The second hand fabrics hold their own stories, which is an important detail for the artist. They have a soul and a past, giving a certain power to the non visual side of the works.

22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY | April 3 – August 29, 2016 | http://momaps1.org

Beauty―Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial

Aaron Koblinand Vincent Morisset for Arcade Fire (Montreal, Canada, founded 2001); Still, Just a Reflektor, 2013; Video, 7:33 minutes | Image courtesy of Vincent Morisset

The fifth Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial brings us design in all its formats: fashion, architecture and even some tech (game) design. 63 designers stick together for this years Beauty themed edition. The title refers to the shiny materials designers ought to use.

2 East 91st St, New York, NY, 10128 | Until August 21 | http://www.cooperhewitt.org

Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive | MoMa

Liberty Magazine Cover. 1926. Color pencil on paper. 24 1/2 × 28 1/4″ (62.2 × 71.8 cm). (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

Frank Lloyd wright, the designer who was always experimenting with new techniques and embracing the ever evolving technology, was so eager that MoMa can now present us over 450 of his works. Arching different media, put next to each other and taking the best out of this enormous archive.

11 West 53 Street, New York | June 12 – October 1, 2017 | http://moma.org

SUMMER ANAGRAM | NURTUREart

Cortney Andrews, Hole 2011. C-print

It keeps raining summer exhibitions, a fact that can confuse, and apparently so can ’Summer Anagram’. “You shouldn’t think to much about it”, is what NURTUREart suggests. This show is put together with the sumerfeeling on top of the mind. Easy, breezy, but an ever high quality.

With works from Cortney Andrews, Courtney Childress, Theresa Daddezio, Amanda Friedman, Rachel Phillips and Cheon Pyo Lee. Curated by Marco Antonini.

56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206 | July 1 – August 28, 2016 | http://nurtureart.org

The Woman Destroyed | PPOW Gallery

Lauren Kelley, Backside Float 2006, digital c print

A group exhibition named after Simone de Beauvoir’s 1967 book, showing work of  Elizabeth Glaessner, Lauren Kelley, David Mramor, Allison Schulnik, Jessica Stoller and Robin F. Williams. The approach to woman and feminism found in the book, is brought into their artworks. That is what connects them, keeping a interesting mix.

535 West 22nd Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10011 | June 30 – July 29, 2016 | http://www.ppowgallery.com

Hans Hartung, T1956 -23, 1956, oil on canvas, Photograph © Waddington Custot Galleries

Vibration of Space focuses on the painting of Patrick Heron, Nicholas de Staël, Hans Hartung and Pierre Soulages, British and European artists working within the style of lyrical abstraction after the Second World War. These artists sought to find new ways to define pictorial space through their bold gestural brushstrokes, emotive use of colour and textural application of paint. The exhibition opens with Hartung’s frenzied mark-making reminiscent of nought and crosses. A distant watery light beyond the earthy brown foreground evokes a strong sense of depth suggestive of a landscape.

Hans Hartung, T 1949-4, 1949, oil on canvas, Photograph © Waddington Custot Galleries

Heron, also an art critic, was initially sceptical about the emerging work of American abstract expressionists, regarding it as prescribed and lacking spontaneity. He believed that content was an important ingredient in non-figurative work and that an illusion of depth and form could be conveyed by colour.

Square Leaves was his first attempt at abstraction, a painting in predominantly neutral colours in which thick slicks of paint give the impression of depth on the canvas. In the mid-1950s, Heron returned to live in Zennor in Cornwall, an area of rugged landscape where he grew up. He began to experiment with abstracted forms by painting wide stripes in autumnal hues. These works covered the entire canvas in a carnival of vivid tangerine, mauve and lime green. At the time, his stripe paintings were regarded by some as too simplistic, and as one critic remarked ‘many of the canvases contain nothing but…bands of colour’.

Patrick Heron, Ochre Skies: April 1957, 1957, oil on canvas, Photograph © Waddington Custot Galleries

The illusion of depth is more successful in Green on Blacks 1956 in which shades of turquoise and terracotta are glimpsed behind a cascade of dark dripping streaks of paint. White Vertical May 1956 alludes to an over-painted door that attempts to conceal the cracks and scrapes of its perpetual use.

Patrick Heron, Green on Blacks: 1956, 1956, oil on canvas, Photograph © Waddington Custot Galleries

The artists’ preoccupation with the materiality of the paint prevails throughout the exhibition. This is evident in the heavy black statements apparent in the work of Soulages and the delicate impastoed surface of de Staël’s breezy seascape. Whether overbearing, familiar or nostalgic, these particular paintings both impart a strong sense of place.

Pierre Soulages, Peinture, 81 x 60 cm, 3 juin 1957, 1957, oil on canvas, Photograph © Waddington Custot Galleries

Vibration of Space: Patrick Heron, Hans Hartung, Pierre Soulages, Nicolas de Staël  is at Waddington Custot Galleries, 25 May – 9 July 2016 www.waddingtoncustot.com

LONDON

ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES | ICA

It’s The Buzz, Cock! By Linder (2015), Courtesy of Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London

In this exhibition, connections between 80s-90s art and design in the UK are explored. The main artist here is Judy Blame, other works on display are by artists who were inspired by him or linked to him. Linked in both a personal and artistic way. Works range from film to graphic design and photography.

Charles Atlas, Dave Baby, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Malcolm Garrett, Derek Jarman, Barry Kamen, Jim Lambie, Mark Lebon, Linder, John Maybury, Jamie Reid, Peter Saville, Juergen Teller, Trojan, Nicola Tyson and Tim Noble & Sue Webster.

The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH | June 29 – September 4, 2016 | www.ica.org.uk

HUNTING SEASON | GEDDES GALLERY

The Geddes Gallery is a POP UP gallery in what was previous ‘K C Continental’, the local Italian Deli of artist Jim Geddes. Exhibitions there are always very short, yet very powerful. For ‘Hunting season’ they chose to show a mix of video, sculptures and paintings.

Andrew Saunders, Flora Grosvenor-Stevenson, Wes Gilpin, Jordan Mouzouris & Andrew Wyatt, Thomas Jon Walker , Cecelia Johnson, Joe Richardson , George Bularca 

26 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DT | 27 – 29 June, 2016 | geddesgalleryblog.com

MARK GROTJAHN: PINK COSCO | GAGOSIAN GALLERY

Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Pink Cosco III Mask M40.d), 2015, painted bronze, 59 1/2 × 33 1/4 × 36 1/2 inches (151.1 × 84.5 × 92.7 cm) © Mark Grotjahn. Photo by Douglas M. Parker Studio

Mark Grotjahn has practices various styles during his career. In ‘Pink Cosco’, visitors see a series of large-scale masks. These painted (predominantly yellow and pink) bronze sculptures present tall stretched faces, complete with date. Because there is always a certain time or history connected to a work or object, no matter the style.

20 Grosvenor Hill, London W1K 3QD | June 24 – September 17, 2016 | www.gagosian.com

LEWIS TEAGUE WRIGHT: YEAH WE SELL HALF PINTS, BUT YOU HAVE TO ORDER TWO | WESTMINSTER WASTE

Westminster Waste isn’t only a recycling station, but also an art gallery. Their current show is a solo exhibition of Lewis Teague Wright. Just like his long titles, his work contains a lot of humor. No obvious clowny slapstick humor, but combining found objects with metal and wood into smart, simple sculptures.

Ilderton Wharf, Rollins St. London SE15 1EP | June 25 – July 5, 2016 | www.westminsterwaste.biz

ART BELOW | The Tabernacle

Submissions for this 10th year of ‘Art Below’ had been extended because of its grand succes. In the end the organisation made a good selection of emerging and established international artists. All selected works are on view in the Tabernacle (originally built as a church), and also pictured on billboards across London tube stations.

Nasser Azam, Jim Anderson, Louise Barrett, Holly Carlson, Olly Chaplin, Noah Da Costa, Anthony Ferreira, Nina Fowler, Carne Griffiths, Keith Haynes, Natalie Ioannou, Antoon Knaap, Robert Lee Davis, Anson Liaw, Alex Lovell, James Mylne, Ernesto Romano, Eloise Wall, Amanda Wigglesworth, Kerry Zacharia

June 28 – July 3, 2016 | 34-35 Powis Square, London W11 2AY | www.artbelow.org.uk

NEW YORK

STUDIO JOB MAD HOUSE | MAD MUSEUM

Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel in foundry

Studio Job was originally founded in 2000 in Antwerp, Belgium. Conceived uniquely for MAD, this artist couple is bringing an immersive installation which contains art objects, furniture, sculpture, lighting, interiors, and wall and floor coverings, to New York. Interdisciplinary pieces that are difficult to put in one specific category, creating the modern version of a cabinet of curiosities.

JEROME AND SIMONA CHAZEN BUILDING, 2 COLUMBUS CIRCLE, NEW YORK, NY 10019 | March 22 – August 21, 2016 | madmuseum.org
PUBLIC, PRIVATE, SECRET | ICP Museum

Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin
The Revolutionary, from Spirit Is a Bone, 2013
Gelatin silver prints
Courtesy of the artists

The premiere ‘New Museum of Contemporary art’ has new neighbours: ICP Museum. ‘Public, Private, Secret’ is their premiere exhibition. Curator Charlotte Coton brings together artists that explore privacy in visual culture, with familiar (some surprising) names as Kim Kardashian, Andy Warhol, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman and other promising active artists like Natalie Bookchin (video) and Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin (gelatin silver prints). The exhibition should be seen as a physical experience.

250 Bowery, New York, NY 10012 | June 23, 2016 – January 8, 2017 | www.publicprivatesecret.org

SCREENS SERIES: AGNIESZKA POLSKA | New Museum of Contemporary arts

Agnieszka Polska , I Am the Mouth II, 2014 (still). HD video, sound, color; 5:45 min. Courtesy the artist and Żak | Branicka, Berlin

Just like its new neighbour, The New Museum brings a wind of change. ‘Screens Series’ is introduced: every Wednesday video works by emerging contemporary artists are screened.
On now are Agnieszka Polska’s dreamlike films.

235 Bowery, New York, NY 10002  | June 29 – August 3, 2016 | www.newmuseum.org

WHO WILL WEAR MY TEETH AS AMULETS? | MOTEL

In collaboration with BunkClub (BE), Motel hosts a solo exhibition of Aline Bouvy. Drawings, digital paintings, photography  and sculptures represent details of the human body in a non classical way. The work feels very personal, yet universal.

1078 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11221 | June 25 -July 24, 2016 | bkmotel.org
BJÖRN MEYER-EBRECHT: PLACES FOR PEOPLE | STUDIO10

Another solo exhibition, this time with work of Björn Meyer-Ebrecht. Collage-like large scale ink drawings, copying found images of public architecture, where tape functions as a barrier between them.

56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206 | June 17 – July 17, 2016 | studio10bogart.com

LONDON

RA School Show 2016 | RA Schools Studios

Exams are finished and summer is in sight, starting of with the Art School Show season.
One you can’t miss is the Royal Art Academy’s Final Student’s exhibition.
Every year The Academy selects a maximum of 17 students, who once a year open their studios to show paintings, sculptures, installations, videos and performances. This is the perfect opportunity to spot upcoming talent at the beginning of their career.
Burlington House, Piccadilly,

London, W1J 0BD | 23 June — 3 July 2016 | https://www.royalacademy.org.uk

S.T.A.T.E. | The Drawing Room

This solo exhibition by Viktor Timofeev shows installations based on digital aspects going from interactive games to digital generated images or performances. S.T.A.T.E. is the 2003 title given by Timofeev to the installations and the drawings that were the basics of these inventions. S.T.A.T.E. is a psychological platform and will remain the title of Timofeev’s oeuvre through its development.

Unit 8 Rich Estate, 46 Willow Walk, London SE1 5SF | 19 June – 14 August 2016 | https://drawingroom.org.uk

Making & Unmaking | Camden Arts Centre

This exhibition is the last one in a series of artist-selected shows. Making & Unmaking is curated by  fashion designer Duro Olowu, and contains a combination of antique textiles with his own fabric designs. In total more than 70 artists from over the world are represented, producing an eclectic mix of colours and cultures, carefully curated. At the same time influences that can be found in his own work.

Arkwright Rd, London NW3 6DG | June 19 – September 18, 2016 | http://www.camdenartscentre.org

Undergraduate Summer Show 2016 | Wimbledon College of Arts

Laurel Hadleigh, ‘Motherland’, 2015

Another Art School show. There are so many of them, but we kept it down to these two, very promising looking exhibitions. This time it shows the work of BA students in sculpture, costume design, painting and print. More information about the presented courses can be found on their website.

Merton Hall Road London, SW19 3QA | June 16 – 25, 2016 | http://events.arts.ac.uk

In Darkness, Light | The Print Space

A series of photographies by Lawrence Watson show the faces of several victims of addiction. The portraits are the result of a collaboration with charity Spitalfields Crypt Trust. Raw black and whit images reflect the thoughts and life of these people, not that much different from who we are.

74 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DL | June 17 – 27, 2016 | http://blog.theprintspace.co.uk

NEW YORK

Long Lasting Loveliness | MOIETY 

Long Lasting Loveliness is a collaboration between sound artist Cammisa Buerhaus and fine arts artist Lia Lowenthal. It still is a mystery how the exhibition exacty looks like, all we can say is it’s compared with the presence and absence of the language of consumption as a ghost, translated in piano music.

166 NORTH 12TH STREET, WILLIAMSBURG BROOKLYN  | June 18 – July 17, 2016 | http://moiety.nyc

Tony Oursler: Imponderable | MoMa

Imponderable is a film, a 5D experience containing the  intersection of technological advancements and spirit world over the last two centuries.
This experience goes back to a technique called Pepper’s ghost: the 19 century version of the now known hologram, that made 2pac and Michael Jackson come back to life.
In this film many great actors (Kim Gordon is one of them) represent famous characters and Oursler’s family members. Imponderable is in conjunction with ‘Tony Oursler: The Imponderable Archive’ in the Center for curatorial Studies.

11 WEST 53 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10019 |  June 18, 2016 – January 8, 2017 | http://www.moma.org

Joseph Buckley: The Demon of Regret | ISCP

Buckley showcases four new works, including writings, video and sculptures.
Influenced by both science fiction and daily -mainstream- life, Buckley’s bright coloured cartoons  come alive in the exhibition space. The space itself is seen as a battleground between two opposing but interconnecting forces.

1040 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211 | June 16 – July 22, 2016 | http://iscp-nyc.org

DANNY LYON: MESSAGE TO THE FUTURE | Whitney Museum of American Art

Danny Lyon, Tesca, Cartagena, Colombia, 1966. Cibachrome, printed 2008. Image 25.7 × 25.7 cm (10 1/8 × 10 1/8 in.). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Lyon’s message to the future is a series of street Photography and related films, where social political issues and their influence on individuals are the main subject. His motivation is to show an other view on ‘the american life’ as we know it through mainstream media. ‘Message to the Future’ is the first overal presentation of Lyon’s career in 25 years.

99 Gansevoort Street, New York, NY 10014 | June 17 – September 25, 2016 | http://whitney.org

Martin Creed: Understanding | Brooklyn Bridge Park

Martin Creed’s installation is part of ‘Art in the Park’, where both experimental and traditional art is shown in many park locations. Creed is inspired by neon road signs and advertising logos, and wants to sell a word, rather than a product. He is making people think and create an own story or interpretation behind the word. Understanding is literally seen in different perspectives when rotating with an ever changing computer-defined speed.

Pier 6, Brooklyn Bridge Park | May 24 – October 23, 2016 | http://www.publicartfund.org