Now Showing #254: The week’s top exhibitions

Mark Wallinger: The Human Figure in Space, Jerwood Gallery, Hastings
Turner Prize winner Mark Wallinger’s new show is inspired by the seaside setting of its location, the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings, with its title coming from the 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge’s book The Human Figure in Motion. Famously devising a method for motion picture capture, Muybridge had a long lasting influence, with Wallinger adopting his techniques for a number of works specifically created for this exhibition. Highlights include Birdman, which features cropped details taken from images of contestants at the International Birdman competition, which takes place on the Sussex coast.
Until 7 October www.jerwoodgallery.org

Aquatopia, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester
This group exhibition explores the impact of water scarcity and water pollution from different global perspectives. It includes work by six artists from China, Hong Kong and the UK, including moving image, film, photography, sculpture and installation. Highlights include Kingsley Ng’s Horizon, which is a playful installation which invites visitors to share water, plus Lucy+Jorge Orta’s Water fountain, a sculptural installation that evokes the cycle of gathering, purifying and distributing water. Other artists taking part are: João Vasco Paiva, Chen Qiulin, Liu Shiyuan and Liu Yujia.
Until 7 October www.cfcca.org.uk

Yves Klein, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock
A key figure in post-war European art, French artist Yves Klein is well known for the role he played in the development of performance art, Minimalism and Pop Art. This show is the most comprehensive exhibition of his practice in the UK to date, featuring over 50 artworks including painting, sculpture and large-scale installation. It also explores how Klein developed his own ultramarine pigment, International Klein Blue (IKB), which became a symbolic part of his practice, with Blenheim Palace’s baroque interiors offering an intriguing juxtaposition.
Until 7 October www.blenheimpalace.com

Sean Scully, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Coinciding with the opening of the John Moores Painting Prize 2018, which is also showing at the Walker Art Gallery, this exhibition takes a look at the early work of two time prize winner (1972 and 1974) Sean Scully. A key artist in post-minimalist abstraction, it explores how he contributed to the evolution of abstract painting through the use of grid systems of intersecting bands and lines, using the shapes and forms of concrete geometry.
Until 14 October www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Joey Holder – Adcredo: The Deep Belief Network, QUAD, Derby
This intriguing show explores how online communications network can be manipulated by online groups and individuals, giving rise to new narratives and ideologies. Featuring digital videos of talking head versions of political leaders including Trump and Putin, it is themed around a company called Adcredo. The whole thing acts as a kind of allegory for the 2016 Brexit and Trump campaigns, which both used the private company Cambridge Analytica to influence voters during the run up to the UK referendum and the US election. The result is an examination of the rise of unjust ideologies and how these are capable of affecting our worldview. Scary stuff.
Until 21 October www.derbyquad.co.uk

Images:
1. Mark Wallinger, The Human Figure in Space, 2007, approx. 4,800 m (3 miles) of kite string, mirrors, stencilled numbers, nails, wood, dimensions variable. Installation view at Donald Young Gallery, 2007. Photo: Tom Van Eynde
2. Lucy+Jorge Orta, ‘Aquatopia’ installation view at CFCCA. Photo: Michael Pollard
3. Installation view, Blenheim Palace, Yves Klein, Untitled Sponge Sculpture. Courtesy: Blenheim Art Foundation. Photo: Tom Lind
4. Sean Scully with Diagonal Light, 1972. Image courtesy: the artist. © Sean Scully
5. Joey Holder, Adcredo The Deep Belief Network. Credit: Charlotte Jopling

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