Emii Alrai, House of Teeming Cattle, Two Queens, Leicester
A large-scale sculptural installation inspired by diorama displays in Western museums. With built structures and fabricated objects Emii Alrai investigates personal and historical identities, provoking dialogue around lost oral histories of ancient lands where cattle graze. Drawing from Mesopotamian liturgies written by women – in which themes of pasture and cattle represent masculine and feminine forms of power, sexuality and afterlife – the artist creates narrative-led works to explore ‘chasms and caveats’ of femininity and identity.
Until 18 May 2019. 2queens.com
Rhona Foster and Meg Jenkins, The Glow is Real, Embassy, Edinburgh
This exhibition features a film installation and live performance by Rhona Foster and Meg Jenkins. Foster presents a new video work, alice__alice — a DIY pop song and music video that takes form through Instagram posts by ‘Alice’. With costume and green screen photography, the artist places her character into a digitally animated environment. Jenkins presents Keep it together, a new video installation that draws on subjects including identity, mental health and the digital (or multiple) self.
Until 2 June 2019. www.embassygallery.org
Lucy Willow, Solitude, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Newlyn
A new collection of work focussing on Lucy Willow’s relationship to wild places, their solitude and silence. Walking in The Seven mountain range in Bergen, Norway, the artist ‘gathered’ a range of marks inspired by the landscape. The compositions on show, influenced by Chinese watercolour painting, display an emptiness and transience. Using black ink and brushes, Willow creates loose, free impressions of place that are emotive and ephemeral.
Until 15 June 2019. newlynartgallery.co.uk
Blue Innovations: Contemporary Czech Indigo Prints, The Czech Centre, London
An exhibition curated by fashion designer Alice Klouzková, showcasing contemporary Czech designers who create hand-made items with traditional indigo printing techniques integral to Czech culture. A workshop led by Klouzková will guide participants through each technique’s application to contemporary fashion and applied arts. The exhibition also presents photography of the only two remaining block printing workshops in the Czech Republic. Video documentation and the display of ‘components’ create a didactic focus to highlighted methodologies and techniques.
Until 14 June 2019. london.czechcentres.cz
Michael Fullerton, Tales from the Anglosphere, Koppe Astner, Glasgow
The first exhibition in Koppe Astner’s new gallery space features an beguiling collection of new paintings and prints by Glasgow-based artist Michael Fullerton. Drawing upon the swirl of (mis)information that increasingly defines our online lives, while lamenting a collective collapse of memory amidst this barrage of data, it includes a portrait of ‘Paris Hilton’s sperm donor’ and a ‘Harry Potter version’ of the director general of UNESCO. Underpinned by Fullerton’s snappily informative text, this quietly impactful exhibition is about the facts and stories hidden beneath the surface.
Until 18 May 2019. koppeastner.com
Images:
1. Emii Alrai, House of Teeming Cattle, installation view, Two Queens, Leicester. Courtesy: artist and Two Queens © 2019
2. Rhona Foster, alice__alice, 2019, DIY pop song and music video, installation view at Embassy, Edinburgh
3. Lucy Willow, Norway 2, ink on paper
4. Monika Drápalová. Photo: Viktorie-Macánová
5. Michael Fullerton, ‘Tales from the Anglosphere’, 2019, installation view at Koppe Astner, Glasgow. Courtesy: artist and Koppe Astner, Glasgow
More on a-n.co.uk:
Venice Biennale 2019: Eva Rothschild’s sculptural universe at the Irish pavilion
Jerwood Arts asks artists to charge more for their work as new bursaries recipients announced
Turner Prize 2019 shortlist: from sound as architecture to boundary-pushing painting
