Daniel Turriani Selection of the 10 most memorable London Gallery Shows of the Year
6 December 2015
1. Danh Vo, “Homosapiens”, Marian Goodman
January 15, 2015 – Febuary 21, 2015
Danh Vo a Vietnamese-born Danish artist presented his current exhibition, “Homosapiens,” at Marian Goodman London. Like many of his previous works, Homosapiens explores the intersection of the personal and historical through documents, artefacts, and photographs—fragments, begging to be seen by the viewer. To find the context between the fragments, that brings into question the nature of belonging and identity.
2. Ibrahim El- Salahi, “Flamenco”, Vigo Gallery
May 29, 2015 – July 31, 2015
Ibrahim El-Salahi a Sudanese artist is known for his elegant and visionary paintings. Ibrahim’s approach to work distinctly personal and his compositions beautifully mirror the internationalism of the 21st century. El-Salahi combines the traditions of Arabic calligraphy with European abstraction and ornamentation. The crafts and colours of his native country as well as his personal experiences influence his work. El-Salahi work will be exhibited at Vigo Gallery’s booth at Frieze New York this year. Work from the artist archives will be on show “Flamenco” including rare paintings and drawings from the 1960s and multi-part compositions from the 1980s and 90s.
3. Gunther Forg, “Untitled Abstractions”, Almine Rech
June 4, 2015 – July 25, 2015
Günther Förg’s a painter, sculptor and photographer is known for his commitment to vivid colour palette within minimalist abstract compositions. The Grid paintings that he exhibited at Almine Rech this summer are a contemporary reinvention of Paul Klee watercolour from the 1930s, with their interwoven lines of colour and block design. The legacy of modernism was captured in postmodern colour with a dynamic movement of colour across the gallery wall, canvas and frame.
4. Lauren Keeley, Supplement gallery
June 13, 2015 – July 11, 2015
Lauren Keeley tricks her viewers through several forms of media, including fabric, Photographic printing processes, intricate wooden cut-outs and paper. Lauren manipulates the relationship between each material and the composition of the environment to create optical illusions in two and three dimensions. Each “image” which is a sculpture as well as a mixed-media collage—resonates with a sense of reflective mystery cast by Lauren’s use of starkly contrasted lighting and colours. This scene often extends beyond the frame, creating an idea of a single moment within a larger narrative.
5. Lee Ufan, “From point, from line, from wind”, Pace gallery
September 15, 2015 – October 31, 2015
Lee Ufan is a renowned Asian contemporary artist. His first solo exhibition in London presents four of his seven major series—“From Point” (1972–84), “From Line”(1972–84) “From Winds”(1982–86) and “With Winds”(1987–91) at the Pace gallery in Edinburgh. He work gives insight into the artist prolific career. This series exemplifies the notion of Mono-ha, which literally means “the school of objects”—a concept promoted by Ufan. The sequence of Ufan’s marks on canvas takes on a different compositional structure, although the rhythm is still consistent with the artist viewpoint – reordering the elements without affecting their harmony.
6. Robert Irwin, “Light and space”, White Cube
September 23, 2015 – November 11, 2015.
Irwin has always been a pioneer of the ‘Light and Space’ movement and is one of the most influential artists in the US. The main focus of his work is on perceptual phenomena, such as light, scale and volume, with connections that are conditioned by the environment in which they occur. The way the work is presented and their placement is as important as the object itself. In developing this concept, Irwin sought to dissolve the difference between the edge of the sculpture and its environment. For his exhibition, he presented two new installations at White Cube Mason’s Yard, which features a sequence of floor-to-ceiling parallel scrim material panels that the viewer must navigate, thus varying the perceptual field of the space. Furthermore, Irwin position two square lacquered black painting at the west and east walls to alter the optical conditions of the room.
7. Kara Walker “Go to hell or Atlanta, whichever comes first”, Victoria Miro
October 1, 2015 – 7 November 2015
The art of American artist Kara Walker is not for the faint-hearted, walker arts leaves little space for fancy tickling or wry humour. In ‘Go to Hell or Atlanta, Whichever Comes First’, her first show at London’s Victoria Miro gallery, Kara’s work explores the strains and power struggle of racial and gender relations. Walker’s work brings to light historical narratives and the various ways in which these stories have been distorted, suppressed and falsified. The exhibition at the Victoria Miro further depicts her exploration of the brutalising histories of slavery and colonialism, and the ensuing psychological and political consequences that follows in contexts of violence and oppression. Walker creates scenarios that expose prejudices underlying personal and political relationships. Kara utilizes historical decorative styles such as the silhouette to create sophisticated narratives, emphasising the different ways in which narratives and images can be subject to stereotyping.
8. Oscar Murillo, David Zwirner
October 10, 2015 – November 20, 2015
The artist’s large-scale paintings may suggest action, chaos and performance, but in actual fact they are composed of methodically stitched canvases that usually integrate text fragments and studio debris such as dust and dirt. Oscar Murillo’s paintings, performances and video works are significantly tied to a concept of community arising from the artist’s cross-cultural ties to London, where he resides currently and works, and his birth place Colombia. Oscar presented a set of newly commissioned work titled “Lucky Dip” in New York.
9. Rudolf Stingel, Sadie Coles
November 4, 2015– December 18, 2015
Rudolf Stingel presents a new set of painting for his fifth exhibition with Sadie Coles HQ. In a series of square canvases, Rudolf brings to light the painting’s capacity to both transform and translate a photographic image, widening a lightning moment into a meditation upon memory and time. The painting portray animals seen in their natural settings – a pair of birds, a fish, a fox, or a woodpecker stretching its head from a hole in a tree trunk. Each of the animals are reproduced in the faded colour or subdued grisaille of Rudolf’s photographic sources.
10. Gerhard Richter, “Colour Charts”, Dominique Levy Gallery
October 13, 2015 – January 16, 2016
Gerhard Richter, “Colour Charts” is an exhibition featuring a set of paintings carefully chosen from the 1966 original nineteen Colour Charts produced by the artist. Along with the support of Gerhard Richter Archive, this exhibition is the first to focus on the earliest work of the “Colour Charts” series since they first appeared at Galerie Friedrich & Dahlem, Munich 1966. Both coalescent and paradoxical, the Colour Charts” focus on a vital moment in the artist’s career and are set across several leading art movements of the 20th century.
Daniel Turriani
Founding Director at JT Art Asset