Art
MARK LECKEY | O' MAGIC POWER OF BLEAKNESS
Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey is taking over Tate Britain with a new large-scale installation exhibition. Featuring new work, including a life-size replica of a bridge on the M53 in the Wirral and an audio play inspired by foklore and his pre-teen experiences, as well as his seminal pieces Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore 1990 and Dream English Kid 1964–1999 AD 2015, the show will be an atmospheric audio-visual experience.
This independent double-level gallery space has been around since 2008 and it’s an established Banksy specialist – as well as regularly showing his pieces, Hang-Up is the world’s largest dealer in authentic limited edition Banksy prints. The gallery also exhibits a range of contemporary artists like Harland Miller, David Shrigley, KAWS, The Connor Brothers, Lauren Baker and Nina Saunders.
Victoria Miro is a contemporary art gallery that showcases a mix of established and emerging artists, although it’s probably best known for showing Yayoi Kusama’s spotted pumpkins and infinity mirror rooms (you can tell when there’s a Kusama show on as there’ll be queues snaking out the door). The Islington space even has its own garden, which is often used to host installations.
Deptford Does Art does exactly what it says on the tin, and then some. Run by Zuzana and her husband Dan, it’s a gallery that exhibits local art, with the artists that show in the space providing workshops and talks. There’s also a shop selling prints, cards and gifts in there, and a vegan cafe.
There are 16 Gagosian exhibition spaces around the world and one of those is on Britannia Street. The gallery showcases modern and contemporary art with the likes of Chris Burden, Vera Lutter, Nancy Rubins and Katharina Grosse showing in King’s Cross in the past.
Art, comedy, spoken word, music; you can enjoy it all at King’s Place. The art space hosts regular festivals and series (examples include Jewish Book Week and Venus Unwrapped on music by women) and it’s also home to both the Pangolin London and Piano Nobile galleries.
A HOME AWAY FROM HOME | THE INDIA CLUB
The National Trust is showcasing the rich history of the India Club with this audio-based exhibition inside the iconic venue. The India Club has been a significant meeting point and community space for Anglo-Indian organisations as well as immigrants, journalists, artists, writers and students. The venue recently came under threat from redevelopment but was saved following an extensive campaign, with the likes of food writer Sejal Sukhadwala, critic Marina O’Loughlin and Will Self lending support. The oral history interviews feature a range of people connected to the Club, from the late 50s to today, and provide a real insight into how important a place it is.
ROBERT FRASER'S GROOVY ARTS CLUB BAND
Gazelli Art House is hosting this celebration of gallerist Robert Fraser, who bridged the worlds of art and music in the sixties. The show brings together artists that Fraser championed, including Clive Barker, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Bridget Riley, Ed Ruscha and more, and there’s also an accompanying double vinyl album featuring songs in tribute to Fraser.
HANNA MOON & JOYCE NG | ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
A new photography exhibition exploring the feeling of “being lost in translation” by two most acclaimed fashion photographers Hanna Moon and Joyce Ng is coming to Somerset House. Driven by the feelings of being immigrants in London, the work showcased by the two artists will celebrate the vitality of international perspectives within our multi-cultural society, challenging the concept of ‘otherness’ and the power fashion photography holds in shifting our perceptions of beauty, style and taste.
BILL VIOLA | MICHELANGELO
The Royal Academy is bringing together the works of Michelangelo and Bill Viola, who though born centuries both explore the themes of the cycle of life. A selection of Michelangelo’s drawings will be on display, as will the Virgin and Child with the Infant St John, his only marble sculpture in the UK. Twelve of Viola’s installations will feature in the show, including the five-metre high projection Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), which depicts the ascent of the soul after death.
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG | SPREADS 1975 - 83
Large-scale pieces (with one stretching to six metres) from Robert Rauschenberg are on display for the first time in the UK at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. The Spreads series, inspired by “autobiographical feelings”, feature many of his best-known motifs like doors, lights and tyres though they are used with a brighter colour palette. If you liked the retrospective the Tate held in 2016, you’ll want to come and check these out.