Christopher Williams opens For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle (Revision 18) at David Zwirner, London, this Friday. Running 17 May until 15 June, the exhibition is a critical investigation into the medium of photography and the nature of industrial culture. Williams studied at the California Institute of the Arts under the first wave of West Coast conceptual artists, including John Baldessari and Douglas Huebler, only to become one of his generation’s leading conceptualists.
Daniel Gordon: The Green Line, Los Angeles
The Green Line is Daniel Gordon’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, and from 18 May until 29 June his colourful and striking works will adorn the walls of M+B. The exhibition title is a nod to Matisse’s well-known 1905 portrait of the artist’s wife and is visually referenced in several of Gordon’s works including large scale still lifes and portraits, along with a selection of smaller works operating as isolated studies. Available at the gallery will also be Gordon’s fourth monograph titled Still Lifes, Portraits & Parts, published by Mörel in conjunction with the exhibition.
Interview with Emilie Pugh
Natural Perception was an art show recently curated by Aretha Campbell at 68 Dean Street, a Georgian House in Soho. The apt and stunning venue showcased the work of eight artists including Henry Hudson, Mat Chivers, Emilie Pugh, Nancy Fouts, Dr. Victor Schroeder, Guy Archard, Phoebe Dickinson, Adeline de Monseignat, Sam Pelly, Yun-Kyung Jeongs and Camilla Emson amidst the wooden beams and cobwebs. The show was a take on Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. Emilie Pugh, whose work consists of a gentle union between the permanence of ink and the volatility of burning incense-marks into paper, was one of the artists. Emilie has recently secured an artist residency in Berlin to begin this year, and Aesthetica speaks to Emilie about her work.
Leslie Thornton: Luna, New York
For the second time, New York artist Leslie Thornton returns to the Winkleman Gallery, New York, to exhibit an inspiring new work. Luna is a detailed examination of nature and technology, utilisng the interplay of place, memory, and abstraction to produce a piece glittering with colour and character. Running, 11 May to 22 June, Thornton’s practice crosses the borders of cinema, video, digital media and installation.
Annegret Soltau: ZeitErfahrung L’esperienza del tempo, Brescia
German artist Annegret Soltau’s current solo show, ZeitErfahrung L’esperienza del tempo, at Maurer Zilioli Gallery Brescia, is described as somewhat of a “mini retrospective.” Upon entering the gallery, the viewer is immediately transfixed by the numerous photographs of body parts sewn together and reassembled on to other bodies. Large silver framed photographs display what are acknowledged as her family members, the images depict individuals and groups posed carefree and relaxed.
Safwan Dahoul: Repetitive Dreams, London
For the first time Syrian painter Safwan Dahoul exhibits his work in the United Kingdom at Ayyam Gallery, London. Runing 9 May until 15 June, Repetitive Dreams includes the first series of paintings Dahoul has created since leaving Damascus for Dubai last year. The exhibition in London coincides with an exhibition of large-scale works by the artists as Edge of Arabia, London, from 8 May until 15 June.
Essential Film Festivals this May
To celebrate the final month of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) call for entries, Aesthetica presents the essential film festivals to follow or attend this May. The deadline to submit a short film is the 31 May, and the final selection will be screened in York, 7 – 10 November. Covering the genres of drama, documentary, animation, comedy, music video, thriller, experimental and artists’ film, the festival showcases the films across 15 distinct and historic locations in the city of York. Here are our top film festivals this month.
Palace Art and Craft Fair, London
For the third year, the Palace Art and Craft Fair returns to London, 17 – 19 May. Organised by the team behind the highly successful and well established Brighton Art Fair, MADE LONDON and MADE BRIGHTON, this year the fair becomes an art, craft and design fair; a small scale more intimate event showcasing highest quality and original contemporary art and design across all media. Located in the beautiful grounds and main building of Fulham Palace, the historic Tudor/Georgian Palace, formerly the country home of the Bishops of London right by the river at Putney Bridge, is the perfect spot for perusing and purchasing art.
Interview with Previous ASFF Best of Fest Winner, Rich Williamson
The deadline for submissions for the Aesthetica Short Film Festival is fast approaching. There is just under a month left to submit short films to the festival that runs across the city of York in November, and the final deadline for submissions is 31 May. Aesthetica speaks to the director of The Sugar Bowl, Rich Williamson, (co-directed with Shasha Nakhai), about his enjoyment of ASFF and his advice for future applicants.
Review of Saloua Raouda Choucair at Tate Modern
The world’s first major museum exhibition of the Lebanese artist Saloua Raouda Choucair is long over-due and can finally be seen at the Tate Modern. Choucair, now 96 years old, has dedicated her entire life to enriching art through her interest in a vast array of subjects such as architecture, painting, science, mathematics, Islamic art and poetry. When considering Choucair’s work one must look at it from a point of view that delivers the difficulties of the times she has experienced and endured as a female artist living in Beirut, the capital and largest city of Lebanon. It would be correct to assert that Beirut was and is the Paris of the Middle East. In this respect it is not shocking to see fascinating art emerging from the city and its environs. However, it would also be correct to say that, where there is political and social upheaval, art thrives; as seen in Choucair’s life-long work.
Aesthetica Offer at Hans Josephsohn, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
The first UK major indoor and outdoor Hans Josephsohn exhibition launches this week at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, showcasing work from a career which spanned almost 60 years. To mark this celebration of the late Zurich-based artist, visitors can pick up a free copy of Aesthetica when they spend £10 or more in the YSP shop from Friday 10 May. The largest sculpture park of its kind in Europe, YSP is situated on the 500 acre, 18th century Bretton Hall estate in West Yorkshire and is open daily from 10.00 – 16.00.
Mariele Neudecker, HOUSE Festival of Visual Arts, Brighton
Running in parallel with Brighton’s festival season is HOUSE, a celebration of visual art and domestic space. The lead artist for the sixth edition is Mariele Neudecker, who presents, Heterotopias and Other Domestic Landscapes at the Regency Town House, Brunswick Square, Brighton. Running 4 until 26 May, the exhibition is the artist’s most ambitious installation to date and utilises the building, treating it as a container for an increasingly immersive body of connecting works. The showcase includes sculpture, video, photography and imagery of the Arctic, the Azores, Australia, American and the world’s deepest oceans.