Exhibition
ACTION, GESTURE, PAINT | WOMEN ARTISTS & GLOBAL ABSTRACTION 1940-70
Whitechapel Gallery is going beyond the male painters usually associated with Abstract Expressionism with this exhibition that celebrates international women artists working in the movement from 1940-1970. 150 paintings from 81 women working around the world will be on display, showing that the movement and its themes of materiality, gesture, and freedom of expression had a wide geographic breadth and were also explored within specific cultural contexts like the rise of fascism in South America and the influence of communism in Eastern Europe. Pieces from the likes of Lee Krasner, Bertina Lopes, Helen Frankenthaler, and Wook-kyung Choi will be exhibited, and it’ll be the first time that over half of the works have been shown in the UK.
STREETS OF NEW YORK
Featuring photography from the 40s through to the 70s, Streets of New York at David Hill Gallery captures a bygone era of the Big Apple. The show exhibits the work of five masters of street photography from what is considered the art form’s ‘golden age’ – Werner Bischof, Mario Carnicelli, Harold Feinstein, Larry Fink and Marc Riboud – including some never before seen images. Taking you on a journey through some of the most distinctive periods of the 20th century, in one of the world’s most recognisable cities, Streets of New York demonstrates the importance of the street photography genre.
FEEDING BLACK | COMMUNITY, POWER & PLACE
Museum of London Docklands is exploring the importance of the city’s African and Caribbean food businesses and showing how they become spaces of heritage, culture and politics as well as somewhere to buy and sell food. This free exhibition spotlights four places and their owners – Livity Plant Based Cuisine, African Cash & Carry, Junior’s market stall and Zeret Kitchen – and includes recipes, objects, recorded stories, Instagram and TikTok cooking videos, photographs from Jonas Martinez and an original soundscape from Kayode ‘Kayodeine’ Gomez.
HEAVEN'S GATE
Marco Brambilla’s new work Heaven’s Gate is being shown for the first time in Europe at Outernet London, where it’ll be projected across 23,000 sq ft of floor-to-ceiling, 360-degree, 16K screens. A satire on pop culture and the Hollywood dream factory, the video is a collage of psychedelic, hyper-saturated images of iconic moments in cinematic history.
BEYOND THE STREETS LONDON
The Saatchi Gallery is hosting BEYOND THE STREETS LONDON, an immense street art exhibition that takes over the entire 70,000 sqft space – the first time in eight years that a show has done so. Featuring work from over 150 artists, including some big names like Goldie, Keith Haring, Guerrilla Girls, Jenny Holzer and Charlie Ahearn, the exhibition showcases a collection of original pieces, rare ephemera, photography, immersive and site-specific installations and archival fashion, with some surprises thrown in there too.
SPAIN AND THE HISPANIC WORLD
The Royal Academy’s first major exhibition of 2023 is an exploration of Spanish and Hispanic art and culture from the ancient world to the early 20th century. There’ll be over 150 objects on show, including masterpieces from El Greco, Goya and Velázquez, and textiles, sculptures, ceramics, jewellery and manuscripts from across Spain and Latin America.
The travelling EDJI Gallery is coming to London next with an exhibition dedicated to showcasing the international Queer artistic scene. Following a successful stint in Paris, Hometown Season #2 is arriving, featuring artists Nadine Faraj, Morteza Khakshoor, Zatara McIntyre and Kevin Sabo whose work challenges our perception of what is normal. EDJI Gallery has also partnered with Le Refuge, an organisation that provides urgent shelter to young LGBTQ+ people who are victims of homophobia and transphobia within their families. Ten per cent of all proceeds from the exhibition will go towards supporting their vital work.
WE ARE ALL CONNECTED
The Migration Museum is hosting its first exhibition of Ukrainian art, featuring the work of six artists from the Lviv Academy of Arts: Anna Dovhan, Illya Turyhin, Ivanna Bahriychuk, Yuliya Yeromina, Sofia Melnyk and Yaryna Shumska. Titled We Are All Connected, the show is a multimedia exploration of responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war through a range of photo collages, videos, installations and performances. The exhibition will not only be free but displayed in the windows of the museum, in the heart of Lewisham Shopping Centre, so it will be accessible to tens of thousands of passersby.
TITANOSAUR | LIFE AS THE BIGGEST DINOSAUR
A patagotitan mayorum skeleton, a member of the titanosaur family and one of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth, is going on display in the Natural History Museum’s Waterhouse Gallery as part of the Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur exhibition. And when we say large, we mean large. The titanosaur frame weighs 57 tonnes, that’s four times heavier than Dippy the Diplodocus, and is 27 metres long, a full 12 metres longer than Hope the Whale. As well as getting up close and personal with this supersize dino, you’ll be able to find out how it grew to be so big from an egg the size of a football and how it found food. The skeleton is on loan from the MEF in Argentina (where it was excavated in 2014) and it’s going home after the exhibition closes, so all you dino fans won’t want to miss this.
IN PLAIN SIGHT | WELLCOME COLLECTION
In the Wellcome Collection tradition of telling a history of humanity in surprising ways, their critically-acclaimed exhibition, In Plain Sight, looks at the different ways we see and are seen by others with an expansive collection of contemporary artworks and historical objects. The show explores what happens when we open ourselves up to seeing in different ways through four themes: symbolism of the eye, bias in visual perception, eyewear and identity, and the interconnection between senses. See ancient curiosities, view unusual and extravagant medical devices and experience a VR artwork that documents a writer’s loss of sight at this ambitious and interactive exhibition.
PRESTON PAPERBOY | LONELY CROWDED PLACES
Nathan Preston, aka Preston Paperboy, is back in London with his latest exhibition Lonely Crowded Places at Reem Gallery. The pieces on display showcase his mix of photorealism and abstract expressionism, with layered motifs created using multiple mediums, including charcoal, oil pastels and oil paints. They also include his signature upside-down Smiler logo, a nod to his experiences with depression, and $$ eyes, a reminder to not let his vision be clouded by wealth and fame.
Independent Brighton art gallery Enter Gallery is coming to London and showcasing the work of their roster of contemporary artists. You’ll be able to check out works by the likes of The Connor Brothers, Dave White, Charlotte Rose, Jamie Reid, Magnus Gjoen, and Elizabeth Waggett, and across the ten-day pop-up, there’ll be private views and live art events with Hannah Shillito and Yan Skates for you to get involved in too.
DAVID SHRIGLEY | HANG-UP GALLERY
The Hang-Up Gallery in Hoxton is hosting a solo exhibition featuring 30 works by David Shrigley, including a series of limited-edition prints, colour and monochrome originals, ceramics and posters priced at just £295. Instantly recognisable, Shrigley’s playful prints explore the nuances of modern life with a deadpan sense of humour. David Shrigley: Mainly Multiples, Some Paintings & Other Stuff Too will celebrate Shrigley’s distinct style which has earned him cult status within the art world.
RIBBONS | MATTY BOVAN
Award-winning fashion designer Matty Bovan is taking over the NOW Gallery with an installation that involves an enormous, ceiling-height hand-knitted jumper. Guests will be invited to enter the multicoloured tent-like garment and, once inside, sit on tufted rugs to watch Bovan’s experimental film RIBBONS which documents the making of the jumper. The multisensory commission encourages visitors to get lost in an alternate dream-like world, accompanied by a soundscape as well as the scents of geranium and lavender.
DALI CYBERNETICS | THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE
Dali Cybernetics: The Immersive Experience, which has already been a big hit in Barcelona, will feature 360-degree, floor-to-ceiling digital projections of Dali’s surrealist masterpieces, complete with holograms, sound effects, artificial intelligence and more. You’ll also be able to enter the metaverse and step inside Dali’s artworks with a one-of-a-kind VR experience – your digital avatar will be able to explore a dreamlike space and be immersed in paintings like The Persistence of Memory (that’s the melty clock one) in a whole new way.
Dive into a world of illusions and discover the science behind how they work at Twist Museum. Created in collaboration with experts from the worlds of art, psychology and neuroscience, Twist blends immersive multi-sensory experiences with education and technology to help you understand what happens to the brain when your senses are deceived and how different stimuli shape your sense of reality. There are over 60 exhibits inside, including the Ames Room, which creates the feeling of shrinking; the Life Without Colour Room, where you can experience a world without colour; the Sound Lab, where you can unlock the extrasensory power of your ears; and the Kaleidoscope Room, which reacts and refracts to your presence.
Sophie Green, one of the world’s top wildlife and environmental artists, is showcasing her work with the Impermanence exhibition at OXO Tower Gallery. The free display will feature 14 of her photorealistic paintings of some of the world’s most under-threat animals, like polar bears, elephants and East African lions, to draw attention to the plight these species are facing and to raise money for vital conservation work.
BACK IN TIME EXHIBITION
If the musical wasn’t enough for you, get ready to step through the screen and hop into the DeLorean itself at this dedicated Back to the Future exhibition. With an exclusive glimpse into the world of Marty McFly, Doc Brown, Nike Magnetic Anti Gravity shoes and hoverboards, the Back In Time Exhibition carries the largest collection of memorabilia from the sci-fi classic, including original items used in the production of the trilogy as well as replicas. You’ll get to browse the costumes, set pieces and concept drawings on display, sit in a certified replica of the DeLorean time machine that Universal Studios previously owned, hear about behind-the-scenes secrets through interviews with Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis and more. Plus, there’ll be interactive elements and photo ops – you’ll fly a hoverboard, relax in Lou’s Cafe, have a go at performing a killer guitar solo at the school dance and activate the time machine.