In London this summer and looking for a way to escape the heat? Try visiting these shows at some of the city’s top exhibition spaces like Tate Modern, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, and Serpentine.
Jodie Carey
Edel Assanti
Now—August 16
Following the most human urge to make an impression on one’s surroundings, artist Jodie Carey’s practice revisits age-old creative methods that yield site-responsive sculptural installations, silently marking the passing of time. The artist’s fourth solo show at Edel Assanti, the exhibition centers around a monumental series of woven canvases, which have been suspended in the air as free-standing structures. Created by weaving together paint-dipped strips of canvas, the works recall folk traditions like the use of tapestries and quilt making to record collective histories. The exhibition also features a selection of freestanding ceramic sculpture created by casting 100-year-old timbers that Carey has reused over the years.
Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life
Tate Modern
Now—January 5, 2020
Olafur Eliasson uses art to change the way his viewers perceive the world around them, employing naturally occurring phenomena like rainbows, reflections, and shadows to bring attention to senses one may overlook. Tate Modern is presenting a selection of works that touch on topics like climate change, energy, migration, society, and environment that are a result of the artist’s interest and research in color theory, motion patterns, and complex geometry. On view are several works never before seen in the U.K. Additionally, the kitchen team from Studio Olafur Eliasson has created a special related menu and events calendar for the museum’s Terrace Bar, based on the organic, locally sourced, vegetarian food served at the artist’s Berlin studio.
Junya Ishigami: Serpentine Pavilion 2019
Serpentine Gallery
Now—October 6
Each summer, Serpentine Gallery invites a renowned architect to create their first built structure in England, to be constructed on the grounds of Kensington Gardens and used as a meeting space for learning, entertainment, and other public programming. For the 2019 commission, the gallery invited Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, best known for creating experimental structures that mirror natural occurrences and reinterpret traditional architecture conventions. For his rendition of the Serpentine pavilion, Ishigama designed a 350 square meter structure inspired by the most common architectural feature across the world—the roof. By arranging discs of slate to create a canopy, Ishigama rendered a nature-inspired shelter that blends in with its surroundings and appears as though it is emerging from the ground of the surrounding park.
Helen Cammock: Max Mara Art Prize for Women
Whitechapel Gallery
Now—September 1
Winner of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, Helen Cammock has debuted an exhibition of new works including a film, vinyl cut prints, and a screen-printed frieze at London’s Whitechapel Gallery. The exhibition features the award-winning series of women’s stories of loss and resilience, interwoven with 17th century Baroque music by female composers, the result of a six-month Italian residency supported by the gallery, Max Mara, and Collezione Maramotti. At the center of the show, Cammock has created a split-screen film of interviews with women she met during her travels for the residency, including social activists, refugees, migrants, and a Catholic nun. By layering these women’s testimonies with footage shot throughout Italy and music by composers like Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini, Cammock memorializes the power of women’s voices from the past up through the present day.
“Artists I Steal From”
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
Now—August 9
“Artists I Steal From” is an exhibition at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac that examines art through the eyes of an artist, based on the fact that artists throughout time have always borrowed from one another, curated by Alvaro Barrington and Julia Peyton-Jones. Featuring the works of 49 creators including Emma Amos, Louise Fishman, Cy Twombly, Nari Ward, Andy Warhol, Georg Baselitz, Ellsworth Kelly, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barrington (whose artwork is also featured) has chosen each artist for their direct influence on his work. Through the exhibition, he has given a unique look at his inner thought process, delving into the “why” of his inspiration to “steal” from each featured artist.
Jeff Wall
White Cube Mason’s Yard
Now—September 7
A series of recent and new works by Jeff Wall, the exhibition at White Cube features a number of photographs marking the start of a new direction in the artist’s practice. Many images bear a documentary style of photography, like Weightlifter, Wall’s most recent black and white image, and Pair of Interiors, a diptych which depicts images of a couple in a living room. Other works on view include Daybreak (on an olive farm / Negev Desert / Israel), made in 2011 during Wall’s trip to Israel and four older landscape photos taken in 2007.
