SHOWnews: Frieze Edition

EXHIBITION

SHADOW-BAN at SHOWstudio

This isn't a self-plug, we really couldn't think of a better way of spending Frieze than paying a visit to the SHOWstudio gallery to browse works by some of the most exciting contemporary artists working today, all of which are included in our exhibition SHADOW-BAN, which was born from the desire to challenge the increasingly worrying surveillance that often relegates artists (or those who express so much as a thought) on social media to the shadows. Including art by Harley Weir, Peter Saville, Nobuyoshi Araki and more, the exhibition cuts through the insidious nature of 'censorship' pervading many online platforms today under the guise of 'protecting' and 'safeguarding' users. At its core, SHADOW-BAN isn't there to 'attack' such platforms, it's there to ask questions and, for the most part, ask us - the viewers - to reconsider the nature of what makes an artwork 'obscene' and the moral judgments which led us here.

To familiarise yourself with the exhibition, click here.

POETRY AND PERFORMANCE

I, TOO at SHOWstudio

The beginning of October may belong to Frieze, just as the end of the month signifies Halloween, but they're not the only events to have marked in your calendar as October also means Black History Month in the UK: a period of time allocated for amplifying Black voices and experiences. In order to celebrate this occasion, SHOWstudio has curated its first-ever poetry night titled I, TOO, featuring an incredible lineup of poets and performers including James Massiah, Darkwah Kyei-Darkwah, Otamere Guobadia and more. All proceeds from the night will go towards The Black Curriculum charity including ticket sales which are currently £10 (that gets you a free Moscow Mule by the way). Grab your ticket at this link now before it's too late.

CONGREGATION by Es Devlin at The Courtauld Institute

Curated by Ekow Eshun, CONGREGATION by ES Devlin is most certainly one of the more hard-hitting Frieze events taking place in and around the city. Entirely constructed from chalk and charcoal, Devlin has created 50 portraits of Londoners who have direct experience of forced displacement from their homelands. Presented as a monumental projection-mapped tiered structure within the 18th-century church of St Mary le Strand adjacent to The Courtauld and Somerset House, the exhibition itself acts as an ode to The Courtauld’s collection of 500 years of portraiture from Albrecht Dürer to Frank Auerbach - the latter of whom was exhibited at the institution earlier this year. The sculptural collective portrait will be accompanied by choral music performed outside the church, within the surrounding pedestrianised area of the Strand, at 19:00 BST each evening from 3 - 9 October.

EXHIBITION

I Am The Last Woman Object by Nicola. L at Camden Art Centre

If you're looking for something more lighthearted and playful during Frieze week then make sure Camden Art Centre is on your radar. Their most current exhibition I Am The Last Woman Object encompasses sculpture, performance, painting, collage and film to communicate Just how relevant the feminist artist Nicola. L was and continues to be in 2024. Carrying an equal amount of wit as it does radical subversion, this exhibition refuses to relegate Nicola. L to the history books by shining a spotlight on her life's work and the feminist politics embedded within it.

I Am The Last Woman Object at Camden Art Centre will be on show until 29 December.

EXHIBITION

The Geography of Feelings by Tiffanie Delune at Gallery 1957

Presented at Gallery 1957 in Hyde Park, The Geography of Feelings by Tiffanie Delune centres predominantly around spirituality and geometry, using these two forms as an axis for Delune as she reimagines her own recent experiences travelling the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her compositions - although not entirely dissimilar from the likes of Kandinsky's own, or even the work of Hilma af Klint - are imbued with an element of fantasy that most artists only dream of achieving. Think of the deep sea ocean painted as an abstract explosion of colour with radical forms and geometric shapes interweaving and combining to resemble the most fantastical of sea creatures, this is the visual basis of most of Delune's work, exacerbated by the artist's incredible use of materials, all of which bring a textural element to her works.

The Geography of Feelings by Tiffanie Delune is on show at Gallery 1957 until 20 December.

EXHIBITION

My Weaponised Body by Wynnie Mynerva at Gathering

Challenging long-established notions of chronic illness, Wynnie Mynerva’s latest show at Gathering traverses painting, sculpture and installation to propose a complex ecosystem that is as individual as it is collective, reiterated by the gallery's own transformation that mimics the internal structure of the human body. Although this is very much a painting exhibition, in the centre of Gathering appears a skeletal sculpture puncturing the floor between the upper and lower galleries, (akin to a spinal cord) accompanied by a skin-like installation that's draped throughout the space, emphasising the duality between sculpture and painting to reflect on real-life experience.

Wynnie Mynerva's exhibition at Gathering is open until 9 November.

EXHIBITION

Memories of the Future, Curated by Marco Capaldo at Almine Rech

The conversation of fashion and art intertwining and influencing each other will never not be relevant, just ask Almine Rech, who's recently collaborated with 16Arlington designer Marco Capaldo for their latest exhibition Memories of the Future. Including works by the likes of Rhea Dillon, George Rouy, Jesse Pollock and Francesca Woodman as well as an installation in the form of John Giorno’s seminal Dial-A-Poem ‘free poetry service’, (first shown at MoMA in 1970), the exhibition muses on the idea of how memories and objects help form our identity as well as reflecting on Capaldo’s own longstanding enthusiasm for contemporary art.

Memories of the Future at Almine Rech is open until 19 October.

EXHIBITION

Orixás: Personal Tales on Portraiture by Gustavo Nazareno at Opera Gallery

Armed with a breadth of references from Orishas (divine spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa) to the fashion photography of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, the paintings of São Paulo-based artist Gustavo Nazareno are as eclectic as you might expect: unapologetically bold as they are elegant and meditative. Never has an artist so clearly been able to find a harmonious balance between such conflicting references and make it entirely his own. Moving on from the technical paintings lay a culmination of sharp charcoal drawings downstairs which delight in Nazareno's own interests in shape and form, characterised by twisting bodies and poses taken straight out of a fashion editorial. If anything, Orixás: Personal Tales on Portraiture is nothing short of a delightful take on fashion, as envisioned through the lens of a contemporary painter.

Orixás: Personal Tales on Portraiture at Opera Gallery is open until 9 November.

PERFORMANCE

Julianknxx to Perform at Vinyl Factory and 180 Studios' Reverb Exhibition

Magical, exuberant and truly a one-of-a-kind show, Reverb is nothing short of a spellbinding showcase that revels in the beauty of the moment, particularly if that moment relates to music. Want to experience such enchantment yourself in real-time? Get yourself down to 180 Studios this week on Tuesday 8 October to capture performances by exhibiting artists, including Julianknxx, that elaborate on the stories that make up the exhibition.

Want to know what happens when the music takes hold? Wonder no more and experience the power of music while immersing yourself in some of the best cinematic artwork there is as the evening will uncover the foundational stories and languages of Africa, presented alongside contemporary sounds and voices. Both a collective and a broader artistic practice, the project unites artists from the Bantu diaspora to explore, progress, and express the beauty of Bantu culture, guided by Julianknxx himself.

EXHIBITION

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolves? by Anna Weyant at Gagosian

Marking Weyant's first exhibition in London, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolves? at Gagosian will see Weyant's symbolic wit come to life as the painter gets comfy in her signature blend of terror and surrealism to construct the sublime. Not only layered with meaning but with texture too, there's something to glean from Weyant's spectacular painting portfolio for all - why don't you see for yourself?

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolves? by Anna Weyant is on show at Gagosian in London until 20 December.

EXHIBITION

Mourning Marsyas by Marlene Dumas at Frith Street Gallery

On the subject of unsettling art, nothing quite beats Marlene Dumas, whose ghostly portraits of anyone who is someone have become something of an enchanting fable in the art world, equally enticing and repulsing critics alike. Remaining darkly provocative while also communicating something deeply profound, no one can escape from Dumas' wrath once you're up close with one of her works, as proven in the artist's latest show at Frith Street Gallery, Mourning Marsyas; an exhibition of new works by Dumas that play on the artist's ever-evolving love of contradiction.

Mourning Marsyas by Marlene Dumas is on show at Frith Street Gallery until 16 November

The Bleed, Part 1 by George Rouy at Hauser & Wirth

Desire and alienation are two subjects inherent to Rouy's work, as apparent in Late Nights - currently on show as part of SHADOW-BAN - as in his new body of work The Bleed, Part I, which is currently on view at Hauser & Wirth, continuing the artist's inquiry into collective mass, multiplicity and movement. Blending and merging together to become a sea of contorted limbs entangled and enmeshed as one, it could be said that Rouy's paintings act as mirrors to the world around us, but that would be a rather simple viewpoint to take in the context of incredibly complex work by one of the most talented contemporary painters we have today. Head down to Hauser & Wirth in London and see for yourself.

The Bleed, Part 1 is currently on show at Hauser & Wirth, London, until 21 December.