Tabish Khan the @LondonArtCritic picks his favourite exhibitions to see right now, which are South of the river in London. Each one comes with a concise review to help you decide whether it’s for you. Those looking for more shows should check out last week’s top 5 museum shows where all but one remains open.
Suki Chan: Conscious @ Danielle Arnaud
A sound piece and two powerful videos look at what it’s like living with dementia. Listening to a woman talk about not recognising people and recalling how she’ll never do things like go for a run anymore is heart-breaking. It’s an important topic and perfectly suited to the domestic interior of the gallery. Until 7 May.
Jim Grover – Behind the shop façade: The life of Maurice Dorfman @ Clapham Library
Photographs tell the remarkable story on the recently closed haberdashery of Clapham High Street and the man who ran the shop and lived above it. Jim Grover got close to his life and captured his work and home life in detail. The show stretches across Clapham Library’s space and it’s the perfect setting as afer visitors can pop by and the see the now deserted shopfront. Until 28 May.
Joy Yamusangie: Feeling Good @ Now Gallery
Navigate the corridors and neon signs to enter a jazz club, hop on a barstool and read from the book that inspired the exhibition, and also have a play on the piano if you fancy it. That’s the immersive experience that looks at identity through the lens of jazz, at Now Gallery where they are always encouraging artists to take full advantage of the space. Until 5 June.
Ruprecht von Kauffman: In The Street @ Kristin Hjellegjerde, London Bridge
Natural poses abound — young beautiful people, an aristocratic couple and a band on stage but there’s something not quite right as there are holes in them and the works have been scratched with power tools. It’s a subversion of the glossy exterior personae we see on social media, revealing the emptiness that’s often below the surface. Until 23 April.
Ambient Anxiety @ Curious Kudu Gallery
The term ambient anxiety sums up how we all feel these days with the world seeming to lurch from one crisis to another. That’s the message within the abstract works of Elina Yumasheva and Djuro Selec, which look at the environmental burden on the world and how we all appear to be glitching in a world where technology has taken over. This gallery in Peckham is a new find for me plus they have great food in the related restaurant next door. Until 31 May.
All images copyright gallery and artist. Suki Chan photo: Oskar Proctor.
