Tabish Khan the @LondonArtCritic picks his top 6 Art Exhibitions to see in London during the hectic Frieze Week, and it’s been expanded from his usual top 5.
Saad Qureshi: Handful of Paradise @ I DE V / l’étrangère, Fitzrovria
I love the intricacy of his sculptures that create fantastical realms based on memories, held in the types of old drawers we fill with keepsakes and on wheels as our memories allow us to travel in time and space. What was new to me was his woven wall works which look like singular pieces but are made from cutouts carefully woven together reflecting on his personal family history and how weaving was a key part of his mother’s life. Both sets of works come together in this stunning exhibition in an upstairs gallery. Until 14th December.
Frank Auerbach: Portraits of London @ Offer Waterman / Francis Outred
This museum-quality exhibition across two spaces and several rooms brings together top-drawer landscape paintings of London by Frank Auerbach – who has lived through London’s development over several decades and is still painting today. Whether it’s Oxford Circus, Euston or Primrose Hill you feel like you could dive right into these thick layered paintings and soak up the smells of the city. Until 7th December.
Jessie Stevenson: from hiding places ten years deep @ Berntson Bhattacharjee
Her latest exhibition at Berntson Bhattacharjee in Fitzrovia sees her returning to childhood memories of Cairo, which you can see in her new colour palette that captures the searing sun you only get in warmer climes. I also love that she’s gone huge so you can immerse yourself in these landscapes, with works embedded into wooden structures so it’s like a window into her world. Until 26th October.
Patricia Domínguez: Three Moons Below @ Cecilia Brunson Projects
Patricia Domingues takes her fantastical art to a new level by including references to quantum entanglement, based on her residency at CERN. The exhibition centres around a film where the artist wanders through the desert with robot birds with laser eyes perched in the gallery watching us as we watch the film. This immersive exhibition is layered and fascinating, and I now want a robot bird with laser eyes. Until 25th October.
Muhammad Ali in Focus: The Greatest by Chris Smith @ Alon Zakaim Fine Art
Will there ever be another boxer with the talent and charisma of Muhammad Ali? Possibly not, but while he was at his peak photographer Chris Smith captured some of his iconic shots inside and outside the ring, including this famous one of him ‘knocking out’ The Beatles. Until 8th November.
Anna Blom: Transference, curated by Jenn Ellis @ Gallery 46
As much as the natural world around us changes, so do we as we go through difficult times and grow emotionally. Anna Blom brings these together in her semi-abstract paintings that incorporate ghostly figures and are painted outdoors resulting in nature’s detritus embedding into the works as they hang on the walls or in one large-scale case are draped across a table, chair and door. Until 13th October.
All images are copyrighted by the respective artists and gallery. Saad Qureshi photo: Hugh Pryor. Frank Auerbach image: © Frank Auerbach, Courtesy Frankie Rossi Art Project. Photographer: Prudence Cuming Associates. Anna Blom photo: James Retief.
