Tabish Khan the @LondonArtCritic picks his favourite exhibitions to see right now in London. Each one comes with a concise review to help you decide whether it’s for you. Those looking for more exhibitions should check out his top 5 museum shows where all but one remain open.
Levi van Veluw: Symbols of Persuasion @ Rosenfeld
Drawing upon the ideas of religion and reverential artefacts Levi van Veluw has created objects and paintings all using colour of blue to give them a fantastical feel. A darkened installation filled with blue items surrounded by water is the most spectacular element of the exhibition and it’s stunning. Until 16 June.
Olivia Jia: Ex Libris @ Workplace
These hyper-real paintings act as extensions of Olivia Jia’s memories and while the compositions are imagined, the photographs in the books and scrapbooks are based on her own personal memories and family history. All in the colour palette of dusk they appear as if on the edge of where memory meets imagination, as they pull you into her world. Until 17 June.
Henri Affandi: Roots @ Huxley-Parlour
It’s the fact it’s filled with people from different countries and cultures that makes Britain great. Henri Affandi has brought this together with textiles from different cultures and their voices through headsets in an installation where the strips of cloth and headphones hang off a root-like sculpture, reflecting on both our diversity and what unites us. Until 16 June.
Oisin O’Brien: Sometimes in Sequence, Sometimes in Sequins @ SET, Woolwich
The SET studio space in Woolwich has a playful exhibition on its ground floor that looks at bizarre correlations such as how the rise in Elvis impersonators after his death is mirrored by the growth in the number of SET studios and therefore by 2027 SET studios will have enough space to house all the Elvis impersonators. It’s a fun show and is placed throughout a fantastic old office building on small screens, and text. Until 12 June.
Boo Saville: Ma @ TJ Boulting
Lose yourself in her large scale colour field paintings and their gentle gradations or get stuck into the intricate details of her paintings of symbols of motherhood including a nest and an egg – reflecting on both Boo Saville’s own struggles with fertility treatment and losing her mother. Boo Saville’s exhibition is a deeply personal exploration of motherhood and what it means. Until 25 June.
All images copyright artist and courtesy gallery.
