“Art is the stuff you can’t say,” believes Haroon Mirza, Northern Art prize winner, Lisson Gallery artist and the man whose art work gives the exhibition its title. His work, a video installation including the ritualistic sound of Kenyan men drumming during a Muslim wedding, and a student giving a speech, offers a sense of urgency that is unmistakably politically charged. His work in this instance addresses cultural difference, even amongst those who share the same faith. Here his work reveals two different Muslim populations and there different, contradictory beliefs (music is banned by some Muslim leaders).

a

In addition to Mirza, there are works from Broomberg and Chanarin, Allora and Calzadilla, Liu Xiaodong and Rashid Rana. Divine Violence from Broomberg and Chanarin features plates from the King James Bible, annotated à la Bertold Brecht and superimposed with imagery from the Archive of Modern Warfare. Artist duo Allora and Calzadilla tackle a contamination incident at a Puerto Rican GlaxoSmithKline factory in their 20-minute demolition video, complete with wrecking ball bell. Meanwhile,  Xiaodong’s paintings depict mine workers in one of China’s most politically tense regions.

Needless to say, the exhibition contains some provocative stuff which the language of art addresses with a suitable, vital tone. Not to be missed. (Words: Laura Thornley)

From 30th January to 7th March.  For more info visit: www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/cross-section-of-a-revolution

The post Something you should see… Cross Section of a Revolution appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.

Whitechapel director Iwona Blazwick OBE, and Magnus af Petersens, Curator at Large, take on the curatorial task of transforming the Whitechapel into a space devoted to abstract form as it collides with political thought. They begin with Kazimir Malevich’s radical ‘black square’ paintings which first made bold, manifesto-esque claims to the idea of non-representational art as a tool that leads to Utopian life.

Dóra Maurer Seven Rotations 1 – 6, 1979, collection of Zsolt Somlói and Katalin Spengler © Dóra Maurer

The concept of non-representational art took hold beyond the Russian movement when a series of artists including Wassily Kandinsky, Robert Delaunay and František Kupka broke away from tradition and made artwork with no recognisable subject matter. The movement evolved over the 20th century and into the 21st century, and its effects are included in the work in the show.

The show wanders through history, separated by four themes: Communication; Architectonics (how abstraction can underpin socially transformative spaces); Utopia and The Everyday, bringing the show right up to date with abstraction in corporate logos and textile design. The rest of the Whitechapel spaces are filled with displays, commissions and special events including work by David Batchelor and Bart Lodewijks. A vital exhibition, don’t miss it! (Words: Laura Thornley)

From 15th January to 6th April. For more info visit:www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/abstract-art/

The post Something you should see… Adventures of the Black Square: Abstract Art and Society 1915 – 2015 appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.

The show will focus on her work in the 1970s, much of which has not been shown before. The exhibition’s title piece White Space, originally installed in the Student Cultural Centre in her hometown of Belgrade in 1972, has not been remade since its first showing. The show will also include two important sound pieces, previously unseen video documentation of seminal performances and a number of newly discovered photographs, all dating from 1971-1975.

Much of her work deals with time and the immaterial, what defines art and how we can experience higher plains, love and openness through art. While its clear Abramovich came up in the ranks alongside the feminist movement and fellow earth mothers such as Ana Mendietta, her work still bears a quiet power to still even the most cynical London minds. A great encore to shed some light on this fascinating artist. (Words: Laura Thornley)

On until 1 November.  For more info visit: www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/marina-abramovic-white-space

The post Something you should see… Marina Abramovic: White Space appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.

Taking its inspiration from Stalin Wasn’t Stalling, a protest song covered by Robert Wyatt on his seminal album Nothing Can Stop Us Now, Grayson’s artwork features modern day citizens as they drift through their homes, central London and places of financial interest. Each individual performer sings Wyatt’s song of solidarity and praise for the Red Army throughout their video. They are united by a song but separated by time and space, coordinated to a harmony by the artist conductor. The artwork addresses the tension between the cohesion, of sorts, brought about by the Internet, but also highlights the physical distancing that communicating in our digital era has led us to. Will the artist ever be able to engage in acts of protest like  Wyatt? Well, that’s where the debate starts.

Grayson is an internationally renowned artist, working predominantly in digital media. He writes, curates and makes. He most recently worked as curator in the 2014 Adelaide international exhibition Worlds in Collision. (Words: Laura Thornley)

On from 23 May–15 June 2014. For more info visit: www.mattsgallery.org/artists/grayson/exhibition-5

The post Something you should see… Richard Grayson: Nothing Can Stop Us Now appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.

Famed for his ‘scientific’ approach, Gursky has always claimed his interest in the ‘encyclopedia of life’, which perhaps explains why his works often feels like a window into a beehive or an ant farm. Rarely does Gursky do intimate. His observations examine the modern world on mass, the busyness of the human race… for better or worse. His past subjects have included landfills, factory lines of workers, the modern dwelling of the tower block, and swarms of ravers at a festival in Germany. His meditations on the repetitiveness of our society are both unsettling and sublime.

What this exhibition does reveal is a new subject matter for his work: pop culture. The exhibition centers around works created from appropriated images taken from Hollywood ‘superhero’ feature films. Drawing on stills from the Ironman, Spiderman and Batman, Gursky has created imagery that observes the pervasiveness of pop culture into our collective unconsciousness.

The technical skill that goes into the production of these photographs is breathtaking and dictates that only very few are produced within a year. Don’t miss this chance to see this true master up close. (Words: Laura Thornley)

On from 30th April to 6th July. For more info, visit: http://www.whitecube.com/exhibitions/andreas_gursky_bermondsey_2014/

The post Something you should see… Andreas Gursky appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.

Working in Brooklyn, New York, her inspiration comes from her surroundings: a hand painted sign or a piece of graffiti. She works mostly in shop bought enamels and charcoal, embedding a throw away aesthetic within her work. Her preoccupation with the caricature makes her work unmistakeably American and a not so distant relation to the pop art scene, although the artists prefers to think of her inspirations as Giacometti and the Abstract Expressionists.

Her first solo show, I Killed Kenny started its tour in 2013 in Santa Monica Museum of art and continued to further venues throughout the States. Pensato’s exhibition at Lisson Gallery this March will be her first major exhibition in the UK. In 2012 the artist was awarded the Merit Medal for Painting, given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as well as other awards from the Guggenheim and Pollock-Krasner Foundation.

As part of her first show in London, the artists will be transporting her studio, otherwise known as, Joyceland, complete with plastic action men, paint pots, scraps of paper and all other paraphernalia that results from her painting methods. The artist will also be creating a site-specific mural along one of the gallery walls, during the month before the exhibition. (Words: Laura Thornley)

The exhibition is on at the Lisson Gallery from 26 March – 10 May. For more info visit: www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/joyce-pensato

Watch a video of Joyce Pensato in New York  discussing her work via the Nowness website. 

Joyceland
on Nowness.com

The post Something you should see… Joyce Pensato: Joyceland appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.

Prouvost’s touching reaction at her Turner Prize win echoes the charm and innocence often found in her art work. And, undoubtedly this is what has brought her to fame. Her work moves between installation, video and performance, engaging with the viewer and experimenting with the relationship of artist and audience.

Laure Prouvost, Monolog 2009, video, 9 min Film stills © the artist, courtesy the artist and MOT International

As a French artist living in London, there is also a notable concern with language and translation in her work, a pre-occupation with the unwieldy nature of language, text, and the language of her medium of choice, film. Prouvost charms her way through the frustrations engaging a mix of make-believe, honesty and wit, often spelling out the limitations of art to the viewer. Mocking the engine of the art world and its own recently named ‘art-speak’, the artist bonds with the audience, dispelling the pre-supposed hierarchy that often consumes the gallery space.

The exhibition centres around the video Monolog, an artwork that won Prouvost the Principal Prize at the 56th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 2010. The film was bought by the Contemporary Art Society for the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester, but makes a guest appearance down south for this exhibition. Prouvost may well be the artist of the moment – so don’t miss it.   (Words: Laura Thornley)

On until January 17th 2014.  For more info visit: www.contemporaryartsociety.org/event/displays-laure-prouvost

The post Something you should see… Laure Prouvost at the Contemporary Art Society appeared first on The Cultural Exposé.