"We are quirked, we are goated, we are bruh, we are bestie"
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This Week
š¦ Donald Judd-esque precise rows of single trainers, stuffed with nightmare-inducing abandoned baby dolls
š¦ Londonās answer to New Yorkās shed
š¦ Stonehenge transformed to celebrate one of Britainās oldest women
Events
Despite it being a three-day working week in light of the Queenās Jubilee, with most of us holding our breath for the four-day weekend, *shockingly* the art world seems not to stop revolving! spittle are particularly looking forward to Nicolettiās group show exploring the climate change emergency ā followed by an afterparty in East London.
š§ 31 May | 6ā9pm | Two Sisters (group show), Roman Road [Notting Hill]
š§ 1 June | 6.30ā8.30pm | Publication launch of Bad Gays: A Homosexual History at Studio Voltaire [Clapham]
š§ 1 June | 6ā9pm | Tim Stoner, Vardaxoglou (new space) [Tottenham Court Road]
š§ 1 June | 6ā8pm | The Places We Go (āāIona Hutley and Harriet Gillet), Soho Revue [Piccadilly Circus]
š§ 3 June | 6-9pm | In Dedication (Film Screening) The Koppel Project x We Exist London, VSSL Studio [Deptford]
3 June | 6ā9pm | Free Spirits, Brockley Cross Pop-up [Brockley]
š§ 2 June | 5ā8.30pm | Total Climate Part I, Nicoletti [Cambridge Heath] | Afterparty at A Glove That Fits (tickets available for Ā£5 on door)
Exhibitions
Shamiran Istifan, Precious Pipeline at Moarain House, until 11 June, information here
Women wearing black, with long, dark hair follow each other in a circle. All eyes are cast downwards ā each wears a nose job bandage. Hazily lit, their movement is hypnotic and the scene is dreamy. A sense of purpose and conviction pervades. Titled, āTrip to Jerusalemā, Shamiran Istifanās video work foregrounds the sacrificial religiosity of a generation that is seeking out and paying for cosmetic surgery to combat a sense of alienation. The artist is Assyrian - Assyria being a historic region spanning sections of present-day northeastern Syria, northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran - and the work in this exhibition speaks of the untold stories of members of the diaspora community who straddle decolonial dreams and western cultural hegemony. Lining one wall are a series of angels embroidered on metallic, cushiony fabric; elsewhere hang crossed ceremonial knives with love heart handles, rendered in luminous neon acrylic. Drawn into playful dialogue is a photograph of a white wedding dove, clutched by hands with long red acrylic nails. Hinting at the cross section of violence and romance, these works represent individual stories from Istifanās family. While we arenāt told these accounts, we can sense both reverence and conflict emanating from the sharp acrylic and the chrome fabric, perforated and bound by embroidery stitches as it is. Istifan foregrounds aspects of the mundane - āethnicā rhinoplasty, weddings, acrylic nails - to explore the forces that produce a sense of alienation in her community. Forces that are, as Roisin Tapponi writes in the exhibition text, āribboned tightly like a corsetā.
POTENTIALS, curated by Arthur Poujois at 122 Minories, until 9 June, information hereĀ
āThe hours between dog and wolf, that is, dusk, when the two canāt be distinguished from each other, suggests a lot of other things besides the time of dayā¦ the hour that comes down to us from at least as far back as the early Middle Ages, when country people believed that transformation might happen at any momentā¦ā Quoting vagabond and queer novelist Jean Genetās text Prisoner of Love as a teaser for his exhibition, Arthur Poujoisā ambitiously-curated group show explores transformation in two guises: materials and play with light and surface, alongside the subversion of figurative icons ā both human and symbolic. Taking over a pandemic-abandoned EAT store in the corporate hotspot Farringdon, Poujois eloquently staged a gothic ā and somewhat sinister āĀ exhibition centred on sculpture as an expanded form. Lichen ā an organism that arises from a mutualistic relationship between algae and fungi ā crept in a crevice on one wall, growing like ivy in a living piece by gardener-cum-artist Isla Rae-Smith; while French artist Salome Ploudennyās contribution consisted of Donald Judd-esque precise rows of single trainers, stuffed with nightmare-inducing abandoned baby dolls. Poujoisās own contributions, consisting of kaleidoscopic mini-stained glass windows, brought the sacral architecture technique into the cyberpunk nu-gothic 21st century, much like Harry Appleyardās 3-D printed totem pole of distorted heads and bodies. spittle was particularly enamoured with friend of the āsletter, Daniel Burleyās, bewitched dagger-like wall-pieces that seem plunged out of some kind of mediaeval videogame, somehow simultaneously resembling both birds and bondage āĀ spittle was intrigued to learn they formed portraits of his Whitechapel studiomates: Sophie Spedding and Tom Hardwick-Allan. Cheers Arthur, and to more all-sculpture shows in the age of figurative art - because, alas, the dominating trend toward neo-surrealist painting cannot last forever. As Genet indicates, transformation might happen at any momentā¦
Hot links
š¤āWe are quirked, we are goated, we are bruh, we are bestieā - For The Baffler, Will Harrison psychoanalyses the fabled Dimes Square area of New York, in his words with a āreputation as a playground for the ultra-rich that supposedly doubled as a mecca for transgressive thought and politics.ā Beware the hagiographic, he insinuates, for we are living in a corrupt age, āof shibboleths and passwords.ā
š”ļøāa neat, violent crop of the goddessās face from Sandro Botticelliās Venus and Marsā - 50 years after John Bergerās Ways of Seeing was released, frieze contributors reflect on the cult art school classic that serves as āa blueprint for interpreting how images old and new structure our understanding of ourselves and how we want to be seen.āĀ
šāItās not just about plants; itās about seeing movement, having change, hearing sound, and smelling smellsā - Thomas Heatherwickās Tree of Trees living breathing sculpture structure has been unveiled outside Buckingham Palace for the Platinum Jubilee. Dubbed Londonās answer to New Yorkās Shed āĀ the sculpture holds 350 trees in suspended plant potsā¦ like a less-glitzy Christmas tree for the summer. spittle hates to predict that ā post the 2021 Marble Arch Mound of Doom āĀ public support will be lackingā¦
šæāhow to sing whistle tone like mariah careyā - When asked to name her top three art or photography books Shariman Istifan just recommended this Youtube video, and weāre here for it.Ā
š°āAn ancient monument whose function is now completely unknown, projected onto Stonehenge.ā - In more jubilee-related monument news, one of Britainās oldest cultural sites has been ātransformedā to celebrate one of Britainās oldest women. 7 images of the Queen, selected to showcase her broad interests, will be projected onto Stonehenge over the coming days.
Add-to-cart
Ithell Colquhounās 1977 Tarot deck incorporating surrealist semi-automatic techniques has been re-released by Fulgur Press and remains a unique and enigmatic contribution to Western esotericism. It includes an āāessay by Richard Shillitoe that explores Colquhounās relationship with the taro, and Colquhounās own explicative text āTaro As Colourā. Read more in a write-up for elephant that concludes how the artist āhighlights the dangers that strike women who choose to transgress the social order.ā
Parting Shot
It must be pretty common for the admins of celebrity fan accounts to get messages intended for the celebrity themselves, but how often do admins of celebrity fan accounts get messages from international-superstar-curator-at-large Klaus Bisenbach?! Klaus was trying to get hold ofā¦ Lana del Rey (he misses her and heās moved to Berlin). A reminder for us all toĀ double check the recipient before we press send.Ā
Londonās beating āartĀ <3 <3 <3