Tabish Khan visits lots of London art exhibitions to bring you six you should visit during the week. Each one comes with a concise review to help you decide whether it’s for you. There are a lot of closures in May so this edition has been expanded from the usual five, and they all close this week:
Installation image
1. Jason File @ The Ryder
What happens when £4,999 is spent on promoting a £1 coin as an artwork? Does it suddenly gain value or does it expose that way value is ascribed to art. A challenging and thought provoking exhibition from this project space that’s had some great exhibitions to date.
Photo Tabish Khan
2. Polly Morgan @ Horniman Museum
The always enjoyable work of Polly Morgan returns with more playful taxidermy, including tentacles emerging from a fox’s corpse. Amongst the taxidermy collection of the Horniman Museum makes it the perfect setting for these specimens.
Copyright David Price
3. Dreamland: David Price @ Art First
Piranesi was an artist famous for his etchings of Rome, but he probably didn’t see this coming. Artist David Price has co-opted his works and made them into a corrupted and garish theme park called Dreamland. It’s surreal, in your face and great fun.
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4. Clare Strand @ Grimaldi Gavin
Clare Strand challenges the borders of contemporary photography with an exhibition where a pendulum gradually degrades the image beneath it and a machine that is constantly blowing images around within a dome.
Copyright Lalla Essaydi
5. Lalla Essaydi @ Kashya Hildebrand
Moroccan photographer Essaydi takes on traditional calligraphy and transposes it with henna on to women’s bodies. This work challenges the role of women in North Africa and how they fit into wider culture.
Copyright Christine Drummond
6. Christine Drummond @ French Art Studio
An exuberantly colourful collection paintings of Brazil. The texture and the bold choice of palette give this exhibition a carnival feel to it.
