Here’s a rundown of what I think are the most interesting and relevant exhibitions currently showing in London. This is the third in a series of articles about the best exhibitions in various cities, including Madrid and New York, and which will conclude with a final article about exhibitions in Paris. Don’t forget to bookmark this page for future reference, as I plan to update it in due course.
Last update: May 2014
Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs. From April 17 to September 7, 2014.
Henri-Émile-Benoit Matisse (1869-1954) suffered from limited mobility in the later stages of his life, so in order to maintain his artistic activity he created cut-outs out of coloured pieces of paper. He would recall from memory his previously painted artworks and recreate them in paper form. This is a unique opportunity to see, for the first time, a large number of the artist’s works from the 1937-54 period.
{youtube}nNCKsz24R3Q|600|450{/youtube}
Peter Doig: Early Works. From May 13 to 21, 2014.
Peter Doig was born in Edinburgh in 1959 and is considered one of the art world’s most important and renowned contemporary artists. The current exhibition at the Michael Werner Gallery holds over 40 works from the 80s, including some drawings exhibited for the first time. The majority of paintings on display, some of which take inspiration from New York City, are surprisingly urban when compared with the natural landscapes he is best known for.
{youtube}ZEqaaLlJmew|600|450{/youtube}
Andreas Gursky. From April 30 to July 6, 2014.
This is the second exhibition of 59-year-old German photographer Andreas Gursky’s work at the White Cube gallery. Gursky, today the world’s most valuable contemporary photographer, is best known for his large-format and long-exposure works and he often employs a technique that allows his photography to capture a larger-than-normal visual area. His work is about the excesses of capitalism and globalization, consumer society, leisure and landscapes that are usually too difficult to grasp in one go just from one view. His series of Formula 1 photos is unmissable.
{youtube}wkcqjN4XcT4|600|450{/youtube}
United Visual Artists: Momentum. Until June 1, 2014.
United Visual Artists is a London-based art practice founded in 2003 by Matthew Clark, Chris Bird and Ash Nehru. Momentum is both a visual and auditory experience — light, sound and movement come together in a curved space to take the viewer on a journey of sensations.
{youtube}B5FjivaKSyA|600|450{/youtube}
The Great War in Portraits. Until June 15, 2014.
The Great War in Portraits exhibition is one of the key activities in the National Portrait Gallery’s effort to commemorate the centenary of World War I. The exhibition offers a series of portraits of historical figures that played an important role in the Great War.
{youtube}uqTxSWqzO8k|600|450{/youtube}
I highly recommend a visit to the works of British sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986), part of Tate Britain’s permanent collection. There are over 600 sculptures on display, 36 of them donated by the artist himself, which can be seen in two of the museum’s galleries.
{youtube}1xioYgUWsHg|600|450{/youtube}
Spring Group Show. George Condo, Albert Oehlen, David Salle, Thomas Schütte and Cindy Sherman. From April 11 to June, 2014.
This unique exhibition at London’s Skarstedt gallery gives us the opportunity to see the works of five great contemporary artists in the same venue.
Zhang Huan. Spring Poppy Fields. Until May 31, 2014.
This exhibition at the Pace marks the first public display of the latest work by 49-year-old Chinese artist Zhang Huan. His work is heavily influenced by his travels across Nepal, India, Tibet and Bhutan, as well as his interest in Buddhism. Upon close inspection of the artist’s colourful paintings, visitors will notice the skulls hidden within, a nod to the Tibetan Buddhist notion of the cycle of life, death, rebirth and journey to Nirvana. In this context the skulls are also representative of the destruction of the I.
{youtube}W0EJsbZFy5I|600|450{/youtube}
This exhibition is about the evolution of the chiaroscuro technique in wood-carvings of the 18th century. The exhibition consists of 150 such wood-carvings, many of them by great Renaissance Masters such as Raphael and Titian. It comes highly recommended, as the time period of the works on display is key in the evolution of the pioneering technique, which to date has only been presented in black and white. Chiaroscuro adds layers depth and volume to the carvings — a fascinating sight.
Pangea is the name given to the subcontinent which existed around 270 million years ago, and which was essentially a giant block of land consisting of the majority of the pieces of land on the planet. It is also the name that Saatchi has given to this exhibition, presenting works by important artists from Africa (54 countries) and South America (21 countries).
{youtube}vEpzvBq2ODY|600|450{/youtube}
