A couple of days in London - some 'just not
interesting shows' but
interspersed by some truly marvellous ones. Monika Sosnowska at Hauser and
Wirth is truly sublime. It really is a beautiful display of work in its steady
use of materials. T, Rebar 12 and Pipe are stunning. https://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/3030/monika-sosnowska-structural-exercises/view/
Zach Blas at Gasworks has some interesting video
work which seeks to enable us to critique the internet which is never a bad
thing.
Just a thought - if you think Rachel Whiteread is interesting look at
two pieces of work by other artists - both predating this exploration of this negative space
malarky - Bruce Nauman - a cast of the space under my chair 1965-8 and Joseph
Beuys piece Unschlitt - 1977, 20 tonnes of beef fat which casts the underneath
of a pedestrian walkway. Both fundamentally more interesting than the room full
of stuff at Tate Britain and both artists have many approaches to making
within their practice.
The work to see at the Tate is Marguerite Humeau where paint is infused with artificial breast milk and snake venom is
pumped around the room. http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/marguerite-humeau-echoes
The Jerwood Space has 3-phase an exhibition which
has a new piece by Mark Essen supported by an excellent gallery text by Angels
Miralda. The display includes a cabinet of alternative currencies and defaced
coins which are fascinating. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov at the Tate was a tour de
force. Highlights include the obvious (The Man Who Flew Into Space from His
Apartment) and the not so - model for healing with paintings and my highlight
of the show - model for where is the place. Both simultaneously dark and
humorous while commenting on hierarchy, value and access. A wonderful piece.
At the ICA their new front of house set up means
that there is more space for what is one of the most exciting and relevant to
the current economic and social climate book shops in London but also they have
kiosk. I last saw its iteration in New York at the Cooper Hewitt museum but
couldn't bring anything back due to bag size but that's not a problem now so
purchases from their curated shop included pegs from Japan and lottery tickets
from America. https://kiosk.ica.art/
