Gillian Ayres, National Museum, Cardiff
This retrospective show explores the work of the painter Gillian Ayres and features over 40 works from the early 1950s to the 1980s that highlight the influence of Wales on her practice, a period when the experience of the landscape had a powerful impact on her paintings. Presented in reverse chronological order, it ends with her pioneering abstract paintings that feature poured, dripped and stained paint.
Until 3 September www.museum.wales
Cerith Wyn Evans, Tate Britain, London
The latest Tate Britain Commission responding to the Duveen Galleries is by Welsh conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans. Forms in Space…by Light (in Time) is constructed from almost 2km of neon lighting, suspended from the ceiling and configured into straight lines, sweeping curves and spiralling forms. Evans’ practice has at various points incorporated everything from sculpture and photography to film and text but this is his most ambitious work to date.
Until 20 August www.tate.org.uk
Jessica Warboys, Tate, St Ives
Tate St Ives reopens after refurbishment with this show of large scale paintings, films and sculptures by British artist Jessica Warboys. It showcases specially commissioned works which highlight her interest in personal and collective memories related to mythology and landscape. The Tate’s ocean facing galleries are the perfect setting for work’s such as Sea Painting, Zennor 2015, which was made on the Zennor coast near St Ives. To create the painting Warboys worked on the beach, casting mineral pigments directly onto a damp, folded canvas, which was then submerged under the sea before being pulled ashore.
Until 3 September www.tate.org.uk
Erik van Lieshout, South London Gallery, London
Dutch artist Erik van Lieshout’s work explores themes often rooted in his experience of living and working in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, there are wider socio-political issues at play. Here he presents three video works, housed in an immersive architectural environment in South London Gallery’s main space, that explore marginalised identities and the role of the artist in society.
Until 11 June www.southlondongallery.org
Ipek Duben, Fabrica, Brighton
Turkish artist Ipek Duben presents THEY/ONLAR, a multi-screen video installation. Through the stories of several individuals the artist goes behind the scene in Turkish society, allowing us to glimpse her country’s diversity of ethnic, religious and gender positions. It also presents the perceptions of members of the Sunni majority, and the everyday discrimination and resistance that it engenders. Fascinating stuff.
Until 29 May www.fabrica.org.uk
Images:
1. Gillian Ayres, Lure, 1963, Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London (c) the artist. Courtesy National Museum Cardiff
2. Cerith Wyn Evans, Tate Britain Commission. Tate Photography/Joe Jumphreys
3. Jessica Warboys, Sea Painting, Curve 2017. Pigment on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Gaudel de Stampa, Paris. Installation at Tate St Ives, 2017. Photo: © Tate
4. Erik van Lieshout. Untitled, 2012. Courtesy South London Gallery
5. Ipek Duben, THEY/ONLAR. Courtesy: Pi Artworks Istanbul/London and the artist
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