Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his top 5 art exhibitions to see in London in April. Check out last week’s top 5 if you’re after more shows to visit.
Emily Gillbanks: Haus & Sharon Walters: Seeing Ourselves @ Hope 93
Emily Gillbanks’ paintings invite you into her life and home, quite literally, as you walk into a house-type structure made up of her paintings, including those showing her as a child and her family life growing up. Downstairs, Sharon Walters has created cut-out portraits that recognise the lack of representation of black female artists in these captivating portraits, including those of herself and many nods to art history. It’s a great pairing of artists and my first visit to this gallery on Eastcastle Street. Until 17th April, free.
Kristina Chan: Habitable Climes @ Canada House
Maps shape how we see the world, and in the past, their creativity was a reflection of artistry and the colonial legacy of the map makers. Kristina Chan has taken inspiration from the Sunderland Collection’s maps to create photographs in the styles of previous eras and has included a cabinet holding a stereoscope and prints of navigational instruments. It’s a fascinating show asking us to examine how we see the world today and how we used to see it. Until 30th April, free.
Emily Hana: Simulacrum @ Red Eight Gallery
Painted pieces of wood interlock at different angles, sometimes jutting out from the wall other times interlocking like they were meant to be placed together. Hana paints bodies and plenty of hands onto these assemblages and this gives each work an additional dimension of intimacy. Until 21st April, free.
Ivana Bašic’s: Temptation of Being @ Albion Jeune
These sculptures are like biological specimens, and they are based on flowers, yet they also possess a distinctly human quality. She was born as her native Yugoslavia was torn apart by war, and there’s a great sense of fragility in these delicate sculptures, either carefully suspended or lying on the floor. The wall-based pieces, in ornate frames, are filled with undulating forms that resemble captured spirits in works that have a clear nod to religious iconography. Until 17 April, free.
On ugliness: Medieval and Contemporary @ Skarstedt
Does art have to be beautiful or can it be ugly? Skarstedt’s current show is a celebration of ugliness in art. It ranges from centuries-old grimacing heads to Cindy Sherman’s pig-headed figure and a crucified frog by Martin Kippenberger by way of a Baroque painting of a boy being bitten by a freshwater crayfish. It’s nice to embrace the ugly side of art history. Until 26th April, free.
All images copyright and courtesy respective artists and galleries. Kristin Chan photo: Kristof Jeney
