Alex Prager, Lee Bul, Heinz Mack, and More Must See London Shows

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The London art scene has no shortage of new and exciting exhibitions this summer. If you’re in the city this month, make sure to visit these gallery and museum shows.

Sarah Sze at Victoria Miro
Now—July 28
Sarah Sze’s show at Victoria Miro is comprised of two site-specific installations in which the artist continues her exploration of how the proliferation of images changes our relationship to time, memory, and physical objects. The exhibition features Afterimages, a display of wall-based works, which reproduces pieces from the artist’s studio, and a multi-sensory installation including a selection of objects, lights, videos, images, and sound titled, Images in Debris.

Alex Prager
Crowd #3 (Pelican Beach)
2013
© Alex Prager Studio and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

“A New Way of Walking” at Timothy Taylor
Now—July 28
Timothy Taylor presents “A New Way of Walking,” a group exhibition, which explores Guy Debord’s 1950s theory of psychogeography. The concept investigates the impact of the environment on the individual, and the idea of familiar places still offering a possibility of revelation. The show includes works from artists like Vija Celmins, Philip Guston, Eddie Martinez, Jean Dubuffet, Matthew Brandt, Robert Adams, Kiki Smith, and more.

Alex Prager at Photographers’ Gallery
Now—October 14
“Silver Lake Drive” is the first mid-career survey of photographer and filmmaker Alex Prager. Following the last decade of her work, it fills two floors of the Photographers’ Gallery, featuring over 40 photographs reminiscent of mid-20^th century Hollywood cinema. Included in the show is Prager’s acclaimed “Crowd” series of carefully staged scenes that bear a sense of dramatic intensity, brought on by tiny glimpses into the interior lives of each figure pictured.

Katharina Grosse
Prototypes of Imagination
Installation view of the exhibition
© 2018 Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Photo by Lucy Dawkins
Courtesy of Gagosian

Lee Bul at Hayward Gallery
Now—August 19
Lee Bul’s first solo show in London is a compilation of 118 of the artist’s pioneering works, which fills the entirety of the Hayward Gallery. The exhibition, titled “Crashing,” features work ranging from the 1980s up to the present day—including some of the artists most celebrated pieces and a group of 16 works that have never before been seen.

Heinz Mack at Olivier Malingue
Now—July 28
Olivier Malingue Gallery presents a solo exhibition of German artist Heinz Mack featuring a selection of works created between 1954 and 1968. Mack, a co-founder of the ZERO group, sought to create a new artistic language that would distance his work from movements like Art Informel and Abstract Expressionism. Through this mission, Mack and the ZERO group created a style characterized by the exploration of light, form, motion, and time—seen in the exhibition through works like Untitled (Grey-Black Waves) and Die Vibration der Stille.

Heinz Mack
Sand Relief
1968
Synthetic resin and sand on wood, in artist’s frame
89.5 x 100 x 9.3 cm
Photo by Plastiques Photography
Courtesy of Olivier Malingue

Katharina Grosse at Gagosian
Now—July 27
“Prototypes of Reality” is Katharina Grosse’s first major gallery show in London. Known for creating work under the premise that there is no boundary between reality and imagination, Grosse’s exhibition at Gagosian Gallery features a series of explosively colorful canvases that have been painted using a spray gun in order to distance the artistic act from the artist’s hand.

“Spiegelgasse (Mirror Alley)” at Hauser & Wirth
Now—July 28
“Spiegelglasse (Mirror Alley)” is group show of worky by Swiss artists dating from the 1930s to the present day. The exhibition title refers to the address of Cabaret Voltaire—the birthplace of the Dada movement. Curated by Gianni Jetzer, it treats art history as though it were a hall of mirrors where artists’ practices reflect one another through time. “Spiegelglasse (Mirror Alley)” includes works by Urs Fischer, Jill Mulleady, Jean Tinguely, Manon, and others.