Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his top 5 exhibitions to see in London. If you are looking for more exhibitions, check out his previous top 5.
(Icon)oclast: BLCKGEEZER & Cas Campbell at Sherbet Green
This show brings together two sculptors reflecting on different aspects of iconography. Cas Campbell combines human and animal elements to represent historic queer women who recognised that we aren’t so separate from nature, whether through a praying mantis or a seahorse in period costume, or two ancient, fierce millipedes entwined in an embrace. These are shown alongside the works of BLCKGEEZER, who merges elements of pop culture and religious iconography. Until 21st February.
Wayne McGregor: Infinite Bodies at Somerset House & Wayne McGregor: On The Other Earth at Stone Nest
McGregor’s love of all things innovative includes interactive mirrors that turn to face you, an AI interface you can dance in front of that continues the dance based on its catalogue, and live performances in which dancers interact with a responsive light installation. It’s not an archival show but an experience that makes contemporary dance come to life. There’s also a separate immersive 3D film at the Stone Nest in Covent Garden, where the dancers surround you and perform in different locations, and the 3D technology makes you feel like they are dancing right next to you. Until 22nd February, ticketed.
Cairo Dwek: 1,642 at Berntson Bhattacharjee
From a distance, these works look like galaxies or wormholes. mappings of data or visualisations of sound that pull you in with their depth. Get up close, and you see they are made up of lots of dots in the style of the Pointillists, creating an optical illusion of both depth and colour, with some appearing monochrome at first, but are much more colourful close up. It’s a patient technique that definitely rewards slow looking. Until 21st February.
Roger Mayne: ‘Football’ at OOF
Playing football in the street is a tradition many British children grew up with, jumpers for goalposts, and anywhere could become a pitch. Roger Mayne captured the poverty and hardship of inner-city life in West London in the late 1950s, but these photographs also feature moments of joy and dynamism. Until 28th February.
Quantum untangled at Science Gallery, London
All the works in this show relate to quantum physics, as running our hands across a panel of doorstops creates colourful ripples, and another work creates poetry from the language used in scientific papers. The highlight is a work by Conrad Shawcross: two seemingly identical offices with subtle differences, and a gyrating work that references the sound of two black holes colliding – a concept beyond our imagination, interpreted through two bells that come together. Until 28th February, free.
All images are copyrighted and courtesy of the respective gallery and artist. Sherbet Green image: photography by Damian Griffiths Studio. Somerset House image courtesy of Company Wayne McGregor. OOF Gallery image: © Roger Mayne Archive / Mary Evans Picture Library. Quantum Entangled image is of Robin Baumgarten’s Quantum Jungle. Photo credit: Ida Hoyrup
