Embodying the Avant Garde: 9 Must-See Shows
Inscribed within the pages of the manuscript On Organising Anew (c.1921), prominent member of the European avant-garde Luibov Popova presented a pioneering manifesto, declaring ‘breaking with the past’ the means by which to achieve authentic artistic innovation. Despite acknowledging artistic radicalisation’s debt to previous traditions, Popova claimed a ‘new organisation’ of these constant traditions to be the key to unleashing a progressive revolution.
Concurrent with Popova’s manifesto, artists and exhibitions witnessed a wealth of modernisation, reconfiguring the aesthetic traditions of the past with new concepts and approaches. the Suprematists championed abstraction based on creative emotion in the groundbreaking Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10, whilst Dada embraced Anti-Art, creating politically charged readymades and photomontages.
Looking to the avant-garde of today, we present nine exhibitions which contrastively embody a reconfiguration of the past in their organisation of the new.
Waterside Contemporary
3 June - 6 August
Anarchic and brilliantly disruptive, Blood for Light will see Nastivicious interrogate solipsistic critical practices and human frivolity through a series of high octane video instillations. These instillations will fuse music and uptempo visuals with narrative voice overs in a style which references mass distribution of content within popular culture today. Fuck Identity presents the tantalisingly tangible as vanguard; bodily fluids such as blood remind us of our own corporeality, and of our instincts which are often compromised by conscious reasoning. Nastivicious are a collaborative duo who have been working together since 2010, comprised of Nástio Mosquito and Vic Pereiró, the former having garnered the Future Generation Art Prize in 2014.
Georgia O’Keeffe
Tate Modern
6 July - 30 October
Presenting the first retrospective of works by Georgia O’Keeffe (1887- 1986) in the UK in over 20 years, this is a remarkable opportunity to become more aquatinted with one of the pioneers at the forefront of American Modernism. With over 100 works on display and ranging over six decades, this exhibition simultaneously explores recurring themes within O’Keefe’s work, such as the study of nature, whilst outlining her versatility. A trailblazer, O’Keeffe championed modernist photography, using it as inspiration for her infamous abstract flower paintings such as Jimson Weed/ White Flower No. 1 (1932), a groundbreaking piece which promises to be a highlight of the exhibition.
Antony Gormley: Cast
Alan Cristea Gallery
13 May - 2 July
Following the minimalist sculpture series Expansion Field (2014), renowned British sculptor Antony Gormley continues to explore the phenomenological relationship of the human body within space and time in Cast. Taking control of both galleries, Gormley has installed a series of Woodblocks, architecturally reconfigured representations of the human body, and Body Prints, impressions of Gormley’s own body in crude oil and petroleum jelly, alongside smaller aquatints and linear etchings. Cast encourages the audience to ponder their being as restricted in relation to the environment they inhabit; at almost three metres in height the Woodblocks present an architecture of ephemeral beings one must almost navigate, whilst the use of crude oil in the Body Prints delineates our dependency on the earth.
Pablo Bronstein: Historical Dances in an Antique Setting
Tate Britain
26 April - 9 October
British artist Pablo Bronstein delivers a spellbinding spectacle of immersive live performance in the latest of Tate Britain’s commissions, surveying an amalgamation of historical dance and architecture. This site-specific work encapsulates a response to the imposing neo-classical Duveen galleries at Tate Britain’s core; three dancers will move throughout the expansive space along geometric floor plans, interacting with the architecture through a performance of choreographed routines and poses which fuse modern voguing with 17th Century Baroque dance. In a nod to the very drawings which provide the inspiration for his performative works, Bronstein has designed and erected two walls at the northern and southern ends of the galleries which invert the exterior by reimagining the Clore gallery extension and the Milbank façade.
Keith Sonnier: Light Works
Whitechapel Gallery
10 June – 11 September
Light Works exhibits a reconfiguration of four of Keith Sonnier’s (b.1941) iconic early neon sculptures of the late 60’s and early 70’s, works which made a radical break from the conventional confines of sculptural practice. Sonnier challenged preconceived notions of sculpture through experimentation with industrial and ephemeral materials, eventually turning to glass tubing enclosed neon to construct post-minimalist sculptural works. Utilising the linear quality of neon, Sonnier reinvented a material previously associated with planar signage, creating sculptural drawings which erupt into the audience’s realm and illuminate their surroundings.
A Kingdom of Hours
Gasworks
23 June - 4 September
Taking its title from Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet, the astutely conceptual A Kingdom of Hours will showcase an elaborate collaboration between a group of artists including Osías Yanov and Wilson Diaz. Working in sculpture, textile, video and numerous other disparate media, each artist takes as their point of reference Elizabeth Freeman's writings on ‘chrononormativity', the internalised rhythms within societies, and 'erotohistoriography', a study of history embedded within desire. This focus culminates in a series of intriguing works which each seek to demystify conventional chronologies and their effect on social and sexual prejudices existing within contemporary patriarchy.
Francesca Pasquali: Metamorphosis
Tornabuoni Art London
29 June - 17 September
In a first of a series of solo shows throughout summer focusing on emerging artists, Tornabuoni presents the first solo show of Francesca Pasquali’s work in London, exhibiting site-specific interactive instillations which mimic the mutative textures found within nature. Intricate, tactile and playful, Pasquali’s approach draws influence from the Art Povera movement, challenging the commercialisation of art by repurposing everyday objects, such as elastic bands and drinking straws. The acme is surely ScopaMi, an instillation where black plastic broom bristles compactly cover the floor, inviting the audience to touch its surface. The dual meaning of the work’s title, a phrase referring to both the act of copulation and of brushing a floor, highlights the tongue-in-cheek nature of Pasquale’s work.
Richard Höglund
Ronchini Gallery
29 June - 28 August
Prior to exhibiting in Saatchi Gallery’s rousing group show Known Unknowns, Richard Höglund will make his solo debut in the UK at Ronchini Gallery with a series of works titled Sea Pictures. Conceptually derived in relation to studies of mind and language, Höglund’s expressive drawings convey both a sense of primal immediacy and quiet contemplation. After each work departs the studio, the metallic materials used within their conception, such as silver, lead, tin and zinc, endure further interaction and will gradually change the appearance of each Sea Picture. The configuration of the solo show hopes to open an engrossing discourse between each painting, denoting the distinguishing nuances of each work and consequently their cogency as a formal entity.
States of Mind. Tracing the Edges of Consciousness
Wellcome Collection
4 February - 16 October
Innovative and profoundly poignant, States of Mind: Tracing the Edges of Consciousness takes as its standpoint a question which plagues the human condition: what is consciousness? Divided into a series of subsections, from Science and Soul to Language and Memory, and featuring a changing programme of instillations by artists including Kerry Tribe and Shona Illingworth, this exhibition examines the theories of artists, psychologists, philosophers and neuroscientists surrounding the nature of consciousness.
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Feature Image: Blood for Light: Nastivicious
