Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his top 5 art exhibitions to see in London in mid – April. Check out last week’s top 5 if you’re after more shows to visit.
Barbara Hepworth: Strings at Piano Nobile
This is an excellent selection of sculptures made by Barbara Hepworth, across the gallery’s two spaces across the road from one another. It’s a selection of her string sculptures, where solid forms are connected with delicate strings, from throughout her career. It’s a rare treat as it’s the kind of collection of works you’re unlikely to see outside a museum. Until 2nd May, free.
R.I.P. Germain: Anti-Blackness Is Bad, Even The Parts That We Like @ Cabinet
This exhibition about the UK drill (rap) scene highlights how many of them have ended up in prison. However, it’s the way this is driven home that’s truly spectacular. A police van, complete with flashing lights, is in the downstairs space and you can clamber into it for a claustrophobic film-viewing experience. Until 10th May, free.
Cesar Santos: Manuscripts @ Robilant & Voena
From a distance, these look like Renaissance paintings, but when you get up close, it’s all abstracted, so there are none where you expect to see limbs and heads. It ranges from a ‘cyberpunk’ annunciation, the van he travelled in across the USA, and heavily textured impasto works. I’ve never seen anything like these before and I’m a fan. Until 9th May, free.
Drawing on Matisse: An exhibition by Sylvie Fleury @ Luxembourg + Co
It’s a case of spot the Matisse in this exhibition where Fleury’s drawings are mixed in with Matisse’s, including her choice of framing for the latter, all hung on furry walls. It’s a playful exhibition that includes mannequin legs pointing into the air and hands projecting from the wall. Until 2nd May, free.
This group show is filled with artists looking at AI and virtual worlds. These include navigating virtual worlds via a gamepad or a virtual reality headset or imagining a positive AI-enhanced world. I was doubly impressed by the screens on racks that you can slide along, and that movement changes the screen’s viewable content – it’s a technology I’ve not seen before, and it’s very impressive. Until 4th May, free.
R.I.P. Germain Photograph: Mark Blower/Mark Blower, courtesy RIP Germain and Cabinet. Sylvia Fleury Photo: Damian Griffiths. Arebyte image Devika Bilimoria. All other images are copyrighted and courtesy of the respective gallery and artist.
