Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Maureen Paley, London
Beirut-based artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s film Rubber Coated Steel was a highlight of the 2016 Liverpool Biennial. At Maureen Paley, the 2016 Nam June Paik Award winner presents two new works: Saydnaya (ray traces) in the downstairs gallery and This whole time there were no land mines upstairs. The former consists of projected diagrams that illustrate the unseen architecture of a notorious Syrian prison, while This whole time… uses found mobile phone footage and audio recordings made in The Golan Heights to create a series of looped video works.
Until 28 May 2017, www.maureenpaley.com
Graphic Witness, Drawing Room, London
This group show explores the way drawings can both document injustices and also become agents that encourage us to act. The wide variety of work on show features evidence of conflict and suffering, and while offering a commentary on injustice the aim is to prompt social change. Artists include: Mounira Al Solh, Catherine Anyango Grünewald, Andrea Bowers, Nidhal Chamekh, Eugenio Dittborn, Joy Gerrard, Leon Golub, Beatriz González, George Grosz, Erik van Lieshout, Lorna Simpson, Nancy Spero and Rirkrit Tiravanija.
Until 9 July 2017, www.drawingroom.org.uk
Graham Fagen, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
This evocative video installation was previously exhibited at Scotland + Venice 2015, when Glasgow-based artist Graham Fagen represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale. It mixes Roberts Burns’ poem ‘The Slave’s Lament’, written over 200 years ago, with a moving score written by Sally Beamish and performed by the Scottish Ensemble and reggae singer Ghetto Priest. The results are a fascinating soundclash.
Until 29 October 2017, www.nationalgalleries.org
Ray Richardson, Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow
Returning for his third solo show at Glasgow Print Studio, it’s easy to see why GQ Magazine referred to Ray Richardson as the ‘Martin Scorsese of painting’. His works may be drawn from his own experience of living and working in London, but wider influences come from cinema and photography. Highlights include a new series of panoramic format screenprints entitled Lucky 7, which are on display as a full suite for the first time.
Until 9 July 2017, www.gpsart.co.uk
Krzysztof Wodiczko, Northlight Mill, Brierfield
Originally commissioned for the 53rd Venice Biennale and shown at FACT for last year’s Liverpool Biennial, Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko’s large-scale installation, Guests, is a timely reflection on the current migratory crisis. Presented in a Grade II listed derelict cotton mill in Pendle, Lancashire which dates back to 1832, the work takes on a new dimension.
Until 11 June 2017, www.biennial.com
Images:
1. Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Saydnaya (ray traces), 2017, inkjet prints on acetate sheets on overhead projectors. Exhibition view: ground floor gallery, Maureen Paley, London 2017. Courtesy: Maureen Paley
2. ‘Graphic Witness’, installation view, 2017. Photo: Lucy Dawkins; Courtesy: Drawing Room, 2017
3. Graham Fagen, The Slave’s Lament, 2015, still. © Graham Fagen
4. Ray Richardson, Kirk Vidas, oil on linen. Courtesy: Glasgow Print Studio
5. Krzysztof Wodiczko, Guests, 2009, installation view at FACT, Liverpool Biennial 2016. Photo: Jon Barraclough
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