Exhibition

WHEN FORM COMES ALIVE

7th February - 6th May 2024

The Hayward Gallery is looking back over the past 60 years of contemporary sculpture with its major exhibition When Form Comes Alive, exploring how artists interpret movement, flow and growth. Featuring works from 21 international artists, the show presents these dynamic and energetic sculptures that physically bloom across the space in contrast to the increasing digitisation of our everyday life, reminding us that the world is always shifting and transforming.

THE ART OF THE BRICK

6th March - 12th May 2024

The Art of The Brick, appropriately opening on Brick Lane, will feature more than 90 LEGO sculptures – that amounts to over a million bricks – that reinterpret some of the most recognisable artworks on the planet, including Michelangelo’s ‘David’, Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’, Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’, Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ and Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’. The exhibition is the work of artist Nathan Sawaya, who is also displaying some of his original pieces in the show, like a giant version of his ‘Yellow’ sculpture and ‘Perniciem’, which showcases endangered species in their natural environments. The works will be accompanied by 3D video mapping and a musical score, and there’ll also be a play and build area where you’ll be able to make your own LEGO creations.

AI VS AI AT PICCADILLY CIRCUS

Until 31st March 2024

Digital art platform CIRCA (short for Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts) has launched a new exhibition for 2024, part of their takeover of the iconic Piccadilly Circus screen. And they’re going back to their roots, with Ai Weiwei – their first collaborator – on the project. Across 81 days, Ai will pose 81 questions which will be displayed on the expansive screen for two minutes, starting at 8.24pm (or 20:24, geddit?), asking everything from ‘Is Edward Snowden guilty?’ to ‘Do plants have feelings?’. The questions are directed to a generalised ‘AI’ – hence the show’s name, Ai vs AI – in “both an endeavour to reinvigorate the ancient convention of philosophical dialogues (from Socrates to The Enlightenment Salon) and a hand-drawn map of Ai’s own mind”. You’ll be able to catch the artwork until the end of March, but if you can’t get down to Piccadilly Circus to see it in person, it’s also being streamed each night on the CIRCA website.

QUENTIN BLAKE | NOW

31st January – 18th February 2024

Sir Quentin Blake, the renowned illustrator best-known for his work with Roald Dahl, is hosting his first commercial exhibition in decades at the Arc Gallery at Cromwell Place. NOW features new artwork made in the past twelve months, created with pen, ink, watercolour and wax markers. The pieces on show, which include large-scale portraits, display his signature style but with more of an adult feel than the work that made him famous. And if you like what you see, you can actually purchase one of his original artworks.

HOUSEWARMING

1st - 15th February 2024

A free exhibition is taking over a derelict townhouse in Stoke Newington for two weeks this February, organised by non-conventional and inclusive gallery Art Friend in support of homelessness charity Crisis. Expect to see pieces by some of London’s most exciting alternative artists – including Adam Bartlett, Charlotte Farmer, Craig Keenan, Dave Buonaguidi, Dawn Beckles and Hannah Gilson – as well as entire walls painted especially for the event. All of the works on display will also be for sale and a portion of any proceeds made will go towards supporting Crisis’ vital work in providing education, employment, housing and well-being services to those experiencing homelessness.

FROM THE ASHES

21st - 25th February 2024

A five-day exhibition is coming to The Truman Brewery this February, featuring works by 29 Indigenous and non-Indigenous contemporary artists, including Cornelia Parker, Aislan Pankararu, María Berrío, Richard Long, Shezad Dawood and Tacita Dean. The show, which has been organised by social enterprise Migrate Art, will be followed by an auction at Christie’s in March, the proceeds from which will go towards providing vital support to Indigenous Associations of Upper Xingu in the Amazon Rainforest. These communities have seen their land extensively targeted by illegal deforestation and the funds raised will supply them with the likes of firefighting equipment, reforesting initiatives, and monitoring technologies in the villages.

UNRAVEL | THE POWER AND POLITICS OF TEXTILES IN ART

13th February - 26th May 2024

Stitching, weaving, braiding, beading; who doesn’t love the magical world of textiles? That’s why we can’t wait to see the Barbican’s next landmark exhibition, Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, that looks at the transformative and subversive potential of textiles. Bringing together over 100 works by 50 international, intergenerational artists, the exhibition explores the various ways in which artists have used textiles to tell stories that challenge power structures, transgress boundaries and reimagine the world around them. Expect to see works from textile art powerhouse Sheila Hicks, a leader of the fibre art movement in the 1960s; Igshaan Adams, who explores themes such as race, religion and sexuality in his intensely crafted work; and Feliciano Centurión, who embroidered poetic reflections onto found fabrics to process his HIV diagnosis in 1993. Yinka Shonibare CBE RA’s figurative sculpture ‘Boy On A Globe’, Cecilia Vicuña’s spatial installation ‘Quipu Austral’ and Harmony Hammond’s large-scale work ‘Bandaged Grid #9’ are on show, alongside eye-catching pieces by Tracey Emin, Tschabalala Self, Jeffrey Gibson, Mounira Al Solh and the late Mrinalini Mukherjee.

FORSAKEN AT OUTERNET

11th January - 25th February 2024

The climate crisis is taking centre stage at Outernet this winter with FORSAKEN playing daily on its 8k, 360-degree, floor-to-ceiling screens. The film, directed by Roland Lane, highlights both the beauty and fragility of nature through the regenerative life cycle of the Immortal Jellyfish and serves as a reminder that there is hope in the face of the mass extinction of life on Earth if we act now. Greenpeace ambassadors will be at Outernet on 13-14th January and 6-7th February, providing more info on how to support a deep sea mining ban and take action to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

KARMA KHAZI | SH!T SHOW

26th - 28th January 2024
133 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 7DG

Guerrilla artist Karma Khazi is celebrating London’s toilet graffiti with his new exhibition Sh!t Show in Shoreditch. Almost 100 pieces inspired by the messages he found on a 250-pub crawl will be on show, including a single black door featuring 63 different bits of graffiti all pulled from different toilet cubicles, 63 individual canvases, fibreglass pub signs and more. A short film by double-BAFTA winning filmmaker Lee Phillips will also feature in the show and music created at Courtyard Studios will also be played during the exhibition. And in the spirit of graffiti, there’ll be space for you to add your own scribblings to then become part of the collection.

BALLOON MUSEUM

Until Sun 14th April 2024
1 Old Billingsgate Walk, London EC3R 6DX

Currently showing in Naples and New York, and with over two million people visiting it on its stops in Paris, Rome, Milan and Madrid, the Balloon Museum bills itself as the first inflatable art museum and only includes works where air is a distinctive element. The London edition of the Balloon Museum, with its exhibition entitled EmotionAir, will open at Old Billingsgate this December and feature pieces from 20 artists. The display will be a mix of new works and installations seen in other cities, including pink rabbits, a kaleidoscope of colour, and sound trapped in floating bubbles.

JENNY SAVILLE | EKKYKLEMA

Until 10th February 2024

Gagosian Davies Street is showing new paintings and works on paper by Jenny Saville. Ekkyklema, named after the wheeled platform used to move interior scenes during old productions of Greek dramas, has been inspired by digital display screens used at major events and showcases Saville’s style that blends figuration and abstraction, the material and the screen-based. The figures in her work reference figures in Greek mythology, Cubist portraits by Picasso, and windows in computers and news broadcasts.

33 ⅓ VINYL EXHIBITION

29th November - 13th December 2023

Take a trip back to 1990 and relive the music of the time with the 33 ⅓ Vinyl Exhibition at The Vinyl Cafe in Tileyard. The display features album sleeves of 33 records from 1990, from the likes of Happy Mondays, Prince, Madonna, Jane’s Addiction, Charlatans, Pixies, Ride and George Michael, 33 ⅓ years after their release and 33 ⅓ years since music manufacturer and exhibition organisers Key Production Group started making vinyl for the industry.

SHIFTING LANDSCAPES

1st - 10th December 2023

Emergence Magazine is hosting Shifting Landscapes, a free exhibition at Bargehouse running during COP28, to explore the way the Earth is changing during the climate crisis. The immersive exhibition features works from nine international artists, who have created installations, soundscapes, large-scale photography and film, including a film on the destruction of rainforests in Cambodia, an installation on the role of bees and beekeepers in ecosystems, photographs that highlight the impact of rising temperatures in Tunisia and the changing landscape of the Arctic, and a VR experience that transports you to the Hoh Rain Forest in North America to understand the impact of human-generated sound on the living world.

DIRECT FROM GRACELAND | ELVIS

Until 25th February 2024

Immersive events space Arches London Bridge has debuted its latest major exhibition – and this one’s all about Elvis. Direct From Graceland boasts more than 400 artefacts, many of which (as the name suggests) have been shipped to London straight from Elvis’ Memphis home and over half are being displayed in the UK for the first time. Expect to see some of the most recognisable objects from the legendary singer’s career, including his gold lamé suit, Las Vegas-era jumpsuits and aviator sunglasses, alongside more personal pieces such as a gold-plated telephone, his wallet and go-to cologne. Plus, mega fans can even select the ‘White Glove Experience’ when booking for the chance to hold Elvis’ international belt and gold microphone used in Las Vegas in 1969. If you’ve always wanted to make that trip to Graceland but never quite got round to it, this is the next best thing.

GINGERBREAD CITY

2nd December 2023 - 7th January 2024
Westfield London, Ariel Way, London

Forget gingerbread houses, there’s an actual gingerbread city at Westfield London. Created by the Museum of Architecture, this is the seventh year of the project and this time, the theme for the exhibition is ‘Water in Cities’. The aim is to explore how cities could be designed to be more water resilient (something that’s becoming more and more pressing each year), only doing it through the mediums of biscuits, sweets, cakes, and icing. Not only is this a sweet way to help get the public excited about architecture and innovative, sustainable design, but a little holiday cheer never hurt anybody.

ACCIDENTALLY WES ANDERSON | THE EXHIBITION

Until 13th April 2024
85 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London SW7 3LD

Accidentally Wes Anderson is coming back to London IRL with an exhibition featuring over 200 photos of buildings and landscapes from around the world that look as though they could be backdrops in a Wes Anderson flick. The show will be spread out across seven themed rooms, including ‘Classic Facades’ ‘Transport’, ‘Maritime’ and ‘Hotels/Motels’, each filled with photographs that evoke Wes Anderson’s distinct style in different ways, whether through Art Nouveau exteriors, pastel hues, vintage modes of transportation or an abundance of symmetry. The second to last room – ‘The London Room’ – will centre around Accidentally Wes Anderson photos of the city and guests will be able to submit their own photos for the chance to be featured.

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