NOW SHOWING #185: The week’s top exhibitions

Helene Appel, the Approach, London
German artist Helene Appel makes paintings based on familiar or discarded objects seen from an aerial view. Her latest series of works includes large-scale seashore paintings with a one-to-one scale and perspective of looking down at the beach from eye level. The size of the works is further emphasised by creating a contrast between the vast sea paintings and a miniature canvas with a single piece of pasta on it. Also included in this solo show are paintings of fish cuts on wet sand.
Until 26 March 2017. www.theapproach.co.uk

…In Dark Times, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
This group show explores the potential of cheap, disposable, domestic and industrial materials to express their tactile qualities. The aim is to focus on the direct experience of objects and things, something that seems lost in an age increasingly mediated by the internet and screen-based technologies. Artists include: James Ackerley, Zadie Xa, Bex Ilsley and Rebecca Halliwell Sutton (winner of the 2016 Woon Prize) amongst others.
Until 15 April 2017. www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk

Eduardo Paolozzi, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Considered the ‘godfather of pop art’, Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) created collages, sculptures and prints from the 1950s through to the mid-1990s. This major retrospective show – which coincides with the recent unveiling of Paolozzi’s renovated 1980s mosaics at Tottenham Court Road tube station – features over 250 works, with highlights including his early brutalist concrete sculptures, his large-scale Whitworth Tapestry (1967), and the 1963 sculpture, Diana as an Engine.
Until 14 May 2017 www.whitechapelgallery.org

Bacon to Doig, National Museum, Cardiff
This group show features little-seen work by some of the 20^th century’s best known British artists, taken from an anonymous private collection. Artists include Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Barbara Hepworth and David Hockney, plus more recent work including paintings by Peter Doig and two vases by Turner-prize winner Grayson Perry.
Until 31 January 2018. www.museum.wales

Elisa Alaluusua, Drawing Projects, Trowbridge
Last chance to see this intriguing exploration of how sketchbooks are used by contemporary artists. 2015 Jerwood Drawing Prize runner-up Elisa Alaluusua‘s video installation features sketchbook pages on screens and projections, with the voices of interviewed artists blending into one another as they discuss their sketchbook practices. Artists featured include: Stephen Farthing, Dennis Gilbert, Nigel Hall, Eileen Hogan, Anne Howeson, Michel Sandle and architect Naomi Shaw.
Until 4 March 2017. www.drawingprojects.uk 

Images:
1. Helene Appel, Fish Fillet, 2017. Courtesy: the Approach
2. Rebecca Halliwell Sutton, Untitled, 2016. Courtesy: Castlefield Gallery
3. Eduardo Paolozzi, The Whitworth Tapestry, 1967. Courtesy: Whitechapel Gallery
4. Francis Bacon, Henrietta Moraes, 1966. Copyright the Estate of Francis Bacon, All Rights Reserved DACS, 2017
5. Elisa Alaluusua, Sketchbooks: An Obsession featuring the sketchbooks of Naomi Shaw and Michael Sandle. Courtesy Drawing Projects UK

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