Latest visual arts reviews

The architecture of history: Julie Mehretu's Liminal Squared at White Cube, Bermondsey

Julie Mehretu's Liminal Squared at White Cube, Bermondsey is a powerful exploration of the interaction between space, architecture and power. Using clean architectural plans as a base, Mehretu builds up a chaotic and dizzying aesthetic that challenges to the viewer to consider the contested space where architecture meets the community it is intended for. The result is stunning.

Friday 17th May 2013 Read more...
Making sensations: Jacob Epstein at the National Portrait Gallery

Jacob Epstein is rare among sculptors in that his work can be divided into two camps: on the one hand, his bronzes of the rich and famous; and on the other his more experimental work, often monumental and fascinating, which was often regarded as "controversial". The National Portrait Gallery, most tellingly, has chosen to display a collection of busts which only hint at his wider output.

Tuesday 14th May 2013 Read more...
Awaken your eyes: Hanging soft, standing hard at Sprüth Magers Gallery

Featuring a cross-section of Robert Morris's minimalist work, Hanging Soft and Standing Hard is now on show at Sprüth Magers Gallery's London branch. Brace yourself for a small but conceptually rewarding sculptural installation, where geometry and space confabulate to challenge our skewed perception, just as non-traditional art materials test the laws of nature.

Tuesday 14th May 2013 Read more...
An expressionist masterclass by Leon Kossoff: London Lanscapes at Annely Juda Fine Art

A collection of drawings and impasto paintings by Leon Kossoff capture the energy and chaotic nature of London as it has developed over the last 60 years. Here, Kossoff demonstrates why he is held up as one of the greatest living British artists – exhibited at Annely Juda Fine Art gallery in London.

Sunday 12th May 2013 Read more...
Yayoi Kusama's Paintings and Accumulation Sculptures at Victoria Miro

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, now 84 years old, brings her latest polka dot-inspired psychedelic works to a one-room gallery at Victoria Miro, London. Here is a chance to see new works by one of the world's most famous living artists.

Saturday 11th May 2013 Read more...
Trade Routes at Hauser & Wirth Piccadilly

Trade Routes at Hauser & Wirth, Piccadilly, brings together works by 15 international artists, which together paint a picture of a new global society – where exchange and cosmopolitan society are not limited to Europe. With works ranging from Chinese calligraphy to sculptural installations, some very funny and thought-provoking video pieces make this well worth a visit.

Tuesday 7th May 2013 Read more...
Strange bedfellows: The Art of India in the Images of Nature gallery, Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum's four-part display Art of India tackles the fascinating subject of botanical and zoological drawings commissioned and collected by members of the East India Company in the 18th and 19th centuries. Aside from its size, this display is a rather missed opportunity to explore the subjects of colonialism and cultural exchange in greater depth.

Monday 6th May 2013 Read more...
Voices of dissent in the East End: ...how is it towards the East? at Calvert 22 Gallery

Taking William Morris's Victorian London as its point of departure …how is it towards the East? at Calvert 22 Gallery offers a fascinating portrayal and critical reflection of East London at a time of severe social precariousness, with its rampant class struggle and successive influx of immigration from Eastern Europe.

Monday 6th May 2013 Read more...
Not just another art prize: The Catlin Art Prize 2013 at Londonewcastle Project Space

The Catlin Art Prize, now in its seventh year, is an annual award that celebrates the UK's most exciting graduate and postgraduate artists, and acts as a springboard for their future careers. Natalie Ferris gives us her highlights of the prize exhibition at Londonewcastle Project Space.

Friday 3rd May 2013 Read more...
Brightly-coloured plasticine and an unexpected journey under the sea: Ellen Gallagher's AxME at Tate Modern

Subersive collage, brightly-coloured plasticine and manipulated pop culture proves AxME to be a delightfully intriguing retrospective of one of America's most exciting artists, Ellen Gallagher, at Tate Modern.

Thursday 2nd May 2013 Read more...
Balanced charm, delicacy and simplicity: Calder After the War at Pace Gallery

Alexander Calder's mobiles and sculptures will charm you at the Pace Gallery in London. There is something comfortingly domestic about Calder's mobiles – perhaps because of the design objects they later inspired. It's almost as if the 1960s couldn't have happened without him.

Thursday 2nd May 2013 Read more...
Andreas Eriksson's Coincidental Mapping at Stephen Friedman Gallery

Andreas Eriksson's first solo exhibition in the UK at Stephen Friedman Gallery, straddles the gap between representational painting and abstraction: there is a subtlety to these mysterious, muted landscapes that merits further exploration.

Wednesday 1st May 2013 Read more...
Sony World Photography Awards 2013 at Somerset House

The Sony World Photography Awards 2013 provide an open competition for photographers professional, amateur, or student, in categories from documentary to commercial photography. But the most affecting and powerful images are those that tell human stories with remarkable truth and insight. On display now at Somerset House.

Friday 26th April 2013 Read more...
Ultra-red: RE:ASSEMBLY and St. Marylebone Church of England School

How does a nine-member strong sound art collective like Ultra-red, make a multi-site collaborative art project with students and teachers from an inner-city London high school? Through the art of listening, of course. This off-site Serpentine Gallery project gets to the heart of listening, the radical way. 

Thursday 25th April 2013 Read more...
Henny Acloque: Life After Magic at Ceri Hand Gallery

Life After Magic, Henny Acloque's third exhibition at Ceri Hand Gallery, is a fusion of landscape painting and "mysterious happenings". Acloque is a talented painter and the idea behind these works is powerful, but overall I felt that there was something missing from these pieces.

Thursday 25th April 2013 Read more...
Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2013 at The Photographers' Gallery

This exhibition is a chance to see some of the beautiful and highly-affecting work by artists shortlisted for this year's Deutsche Börse Photography Prize at The Photographers' Gallery. It is fantastic, and a really good way to experience four entirely different approaches to contemporary political art photography in one place. 

Thursday 25th April 2013 Read more...
New Order: British Art Today at the Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi Gallery's New Order: British Art Today is the first in a new exhibition programme of emerging UK artists. With its combination of satire and macabre political humour, these works by up-and-coming contemporary artists won't fail to disappoint.

Thursday 25th April 2013 Read more...
Saloua Raouda Choucair retrospective at Tate Modern

A diverse, well-formed exhibition at Tate Modern that celebrates the artistic talents of Lebanese artist Saloua Raouda Choucair, and firmly asserts her inclusion in the art canon of the 20th century. Hitherto relatively unknown in the UK, Choucair transcends comparisons Matisse or Léger, as her talent speaks for itself.

Wednesday 24th April 2013 Read more...
Eoghan Ryan: Oh Wicked Flesh! at South London Gallery

The multi-faceted Oh Wicked Flesh! weaves together fragments of contemporary culture in the city, from dog shows and churches to deep fried chicken and Henry Moore's sculptures. Undeniably Eoghan Ryan, the second MA graduate to take up the Nina Stewart residency at South London Gallery, brings us an experience as intriguing as the exhibition title suggests. 

Wednesday 24th April 2013 Read more...
A Canvas against the grain: Rebecca Ward's Cow Tipping at Ronchini Gallery

In her first solo exhibition at Ronchini Gallery, young NYC-based artist Rebecca Ward pushes the boundaries of 21st-century abstraction. This is a fresh selection of works that are both aesthetically vibrant and politically critical of gender stereotypes and Ward's own Texan roots.

Monday 22nd April 2013 Read more...
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