Art in Touch presents: Just Under the Surface, the Crypt

until 19 May 11 (ENDED)

The Crypt’s current occupants require and request that you tread slowly; to walk patiently through the eerie subterranean galleries. ‘The Crypt is the 5th collaborator’ mentions the press release and I couldn’t agree more. The exhibits/films/sculptures are not what they are themselves but what they become inside the Crypt, whose bricks are often the canvas. Water, phantoms, unsettling noises, hanging gardens, animated headstones, are all there, as long as you take the time to see them.

Tereza Stehlicova’s expanded cinema is a beautiful film, straight out of the gothic tradition. It didn’t take long until I was immersed in the collective’s claustrophobic garden of death. Branches and ivy, like little claws escaped the projection every so often, making me nervous. ‘That’s it, nothing more really happens’ said a young student to her visiting parents next to me in disapproval. She hadn’t noticed the forest coming to get her.

other info:

http://www.cryptgallery.org.uk/current_exhibitions.htm

http://artsphere.co.uk/2011/05/art-in-touch-presents-just-under-the-surface/

Wolfe von Lenkiewicz - 'I Have an Excellent Idea....Let’s Change the Subject', All Visual Arts

until 14 Jul 11

Alice fighting Bosch devils, cartoons replacing characters in famous paintings, superimposed on elaborate, decorative floral motives: these paintings, you cannot ignore; large in scale, powerful colours, they are there. But where is the feeling? I stood before them amazed, even impressed, but cold. Too decorative? Too tongue-in-cheek? Too self-aware? Their technical perfection and hard work convinced me to include this exhibition here. But a future diversion in style and ideas can only tip the balance.

other info:

http://www.allvisualarts.org/artists/wolfe-von-lenkiewicz/categories/IHaveanExcellentIdeaLetsChangetheSubject.aspx


http://www.fadwebsite.com/2011/05/12/wolfe-von-lenkiewicz-i-have-an-excellent-idea-lets-change-the-subject-at-ava-private-view-thursday-12th-may-2011/

Richard Wathen - "New Paintings", Max Wigram Gallery

until 21 May 11 (ENDED)

Staring back with a luminous gaze, these portraits, resembling old masters with surreal overtones, are direct. It isn’t often anymore that I try to decipher a portrait’s subject. But these portraits are alive. I would expect them to roam the gallery at night, when not watched. My only worry was that the techniques and the style used seem to go around in circles. I hope these portraits and the portraits to come, escape to a different style and reality soon, and not remain forever in that dreamy place they now wonderfully occupy.

other info:

http://www.artrabbit.com/all/events/event/25504/richard_wathen_new_paintings

http://www.artlyst.com/events/richard-wathen-new-paintings-max-wigram-gallery

Gennadii Gogoliuk - "Shooting Peacocks is Easy", John Martin Gallery

Until 28 May 11 ****** ENDING SOON ******

The heavily painted canvases give the impression of frescos. The title of the exhibition is reflected in the predominantly folk art motifs that feel so reassuring. It’s a comfortable, beautiful place we find ourselves in. I was reminded of 30s Greek painting for some reason. And at that moment I also realised what was that bothered me from the start; like the 30s generation, these frescoes seemed regressive. They were not modern, neither were they classicist. Is there still place for regressive art? Always. But I know that when I left, though delighted, I was wearily nostalgic.


other info:
http://www.jmlondon.com/pages/eventthumbnails/621.html

http://en.kendincos.net/video-hnpjpfl-gennadii-gogoliuk-edinburgh-art-festival-2009.html

Helen Pynor - 'Breath', GV Art

until 2 Jul 11

Not certain if appalling or appealing, definitely captivating, the images of BREATH dragged me down with them in those serene deep waters, occupied by absent silhuettes, where drowning becomes mesmerising and a grotesque dance of transparent clothing and connective tissue becomes a dreamy instance. Tragedy as beauty and song.

other info:

http://www.gvart.co.uk/

http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/spooners/tom-699/helen-pynor-breath-at-gv-art-5139/

Ged Quinn - Stephen Friedman Gallery

until 1 Jun 11

Ged Quinn's landscapes are full of enigmas, mythology, modernity, clues and contradictions. They are infused with the feeling of impeding violence, or its aftermath while at the same time inviting the viewer to join in the game of symbols and their juxtapositions. Somehow the first impression is that they remind me of H. Bosch more than classicists. Whether someone's cup of tea or not, the vast amount of work and mastery invested in these works gains my respect singlehandedly. My only worry was whether the games I felt invited to join in were not there at all, that these works take themselves too seriously. Even so, totally enjoyable. Not to be viewed in haste, and I will be looking forward to future works.


other info:
http://www.stephenfriedman.com/

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/ged-quinn-stephen-friedman-gallery-london-2279685.html