Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, Copperfield, London
This collaborative moving-image exhibition by artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy is split between two sites across London: Copperfield and Seventeen, with the latter opening 26 June. The display at Copperfield features one of the duo’s most iconic projects, the Finding Fanon Trilogy, which is brought together here for the first time, alongside the work FF Gaiden: Delete, produced in collaboration with paperless migrants in Oslo and commissioned by PRAKSIS, Oslo. All the videos are displayed in the context of a large site-specific installation that has taken over the gallery, with the show exploring the present digital age and disposable technology, plus the mythologies of racism and conflict in the development of science and high fantasy. Read our interview with Larry Achiampong for the a-n Degree Shows Guide 2019 here
Until 20 July 2019. www.copperfieldgallery.com
Natalia Goncharova, Tate Modern, London
The first retrospective of Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962) ever held in the UK outlines how she became one of the leaders of the Russian avant-garde through her experimental approach to art and design. It explores her diverse influences, including Russian folk art, textiles and the latest trends in modernism, which helped inform her monumental religious paintings. The show also highlights Goncharova’s involvement in avant-garde cinema and experimentation with book designs, plus her designs for fashion houses in Moscow and Paris. Most of the works featured have never been seen before in this country.
Until 8 September 2019. www.tate.org.uk
Resist: be modern (again), John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
Curated by Alice Maude-Roxby and Stefanie Seibold, this group show explores the practices of women artists, designers and writers of the 1920s and ’30s through the work of contemporary artists. It highlights how many of their battles against social conventions still reverberate today, and how their actions helped pave the way for current personal freedoms. Among those referenced are writer Virginia Woolf, textile designers Barron and Larcher, painter and designer Enid Marx, photographer Berenice Abbott, writer and art critic Elizabeth McCausland, filmmaker Esther Eng, and artist, performer and poet Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. Exhibiting artists include: Becky Beasley, Madeleine Bernstorff, Tessa Boffin, Ricarda Denzer, Andrea Geyer, Moira Hille, Nick Mauss and Ursula Mayer.
Until 17 August 2019. www.jhg.art
Look Around Your World Pretty Baby, Is It Everything You Hoped It’d Be?, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes
The roots of artist I. Relevant’s work are ‘borrowed’ lyrics from popular songs and familiar childhood experiences, which are designed to spark wider discussions on broader political issues. Known for using playful interactive methods that encourage audience participation, this exhibition in MK Gallery‘s project space includes a new body of drawing created in collaboration with Refugees Welcome. Using a wooden arbour as a canvas, the group have shared their experiences inside empty speech bubbles, with each caption presented in the group’s native language and then paired with an English translation. Viewers can then match the drawings to decipher the messages.
Until 29 June 2019. www.mkgallery.org
Joyce Treasure: Hymns, Cornerblock building, Birmingham
Mixed-media artist Joyce Treasure is currently artist in residence at Cornwall Buildings in Birmingham, a partnership formed between artist-run organisation Grand Union and the property company Bruntwood. Taking place at Bruntwood’s Cornerblock building, ‘Hymns’ is an autobiographical body of work that responds to ‘racial and gendered representation and childhood adversity’. Constructed from various sources, including miniature portraits, traditional crafts, video art, assemblage and a zine, Treasure’s work invites audience interaction in order to further develop her ongoing research and practice.
Until 7 July 2019. www.grand-union.org.uk
Images:
1. Larry Achiampong & David Blandy, Finding Fanon Trilogy, 2015-2017, installation view at Copperfield, London
2. Natalia Goncharova, Peasants Picking Apples, 1911, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2019
3. ‘Resist: be modern (again)’, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, installation view. Photo: Steve Shrimpton
4. I. Relevant. Courtesy: Milton Keynes Gallery
5. Joyce Treasure, ‘Hymns’, Grand Union
More on a-n.co.uk:
Assembly Swansea: “It’s a radical act to accept the place you’re in now”
Coventry Biennial 2019: programme and exhibiting artists announced
Venice Biennale 2019: ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’ puts emphasis on borders, identity and the environment
