Aditya Sisodia
Returning for its third edition, London Gallery Weekend once again took place across the capital from June 2nd through 4th. To mark the occasion, galleries citywide will present unmissable shows by their leading artists and remain open throughout the weekend to welcome art enthusiasts, budding collectors, and interested members of the public, in a large-scale celebration of London’s vibrant and ever-growing art scene.
The world’s largest gallery-led event of its kind, this year’s edition features over 120 participating galleries—including 13 new additions—and an expanded performance program, developed in collaboration with public art commissioning body UP Projects. Artist-led performances will be unveiled by Li Hei Di, Minh Lan Tran, and Nicole Bachmann, while galleries will seek to draw in crowds with special public events including curator tours, drinks receptions, and workshops.
This year’s London Gallery Weekend featured a mix of established and fledgling spaces to discover: On Friday, all eyes were on Central London’s numerous blue chips alongside newly opened spaces such as Gathering; Saturday spotlights South London spaces, including the well-known Hannah Barry Gallery alongside newcomers such as GROVE; and Sunday looks to the East End, with a stalwart of the scene Victoria Miro and exciting emerging galleries like Guts Gallery and Rose Easton.
Here’s a selection of 10 unmissable shows during London Gallery Weekend 2023.
Three years on from his last U.K. solo show, a monumental exhibition of George Rouy’s work entitled “BODY SUIT” is set to open at Hannah Barry Gallery. The show will feature a new series of large-scale paintings that speak to essential and eternally vexing subjects of human experience—desire, alienation, freedom, and crisis
1. George Rouy, “BODY SUIT”
Hannah Barry Gallery; June 3–Sep. 9
George Rouy’s highly anticipated exhibition ‘BODY SUIT’ at Hannah Barry Gallery presents a monumental collection of large-scale paintings, exploring themes of desire, alienation, freedom, and crisis. As a leading figure among the new generation of figurative painters, Rouy skillfully captures the chaos and complexity of identity in the modern era, depicting contemporary portraits that mirror the tumultuous nature of life in a capitalistic and technologically driven society. The exhibition serves as a profound reflection on the challenges of individuality and societal transformation in the 21st century.
2. Sasha Gordon, “The Flesh Disappears, But Continues To Ache”
Stephen Friedman Gallery
June 1–July 22
Sasha Gordon, a rising young artist, has made a remarkable impact since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design. With solo shows in New York and Los Angeles, and her first institutional solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, on the horizon, she is now set to captivate the European art scene with her debut solo show at Stephen Friedman Gallery titled “The Flesh Disappears, But Continues To Ache” for London Gallery Weekend. Gordon’s sardonic and surreal paintings depict her transformation into various embodiments, including animals, plants, and geological forms, as she explores the complexities of her identity as a young queer Asian American woman. A standout piece from the exhibition, “Trimmings,” portrays the artist in a garden, creating a topiary model of herself, symbolizing the pressure of idealized female beauty and the ongoing process of reconstructing one’s identity and image for self-preservation.
3. Chris Ofili, “The Seven Deadly Sins” Victoria Miro
June 2–July 29
Victoria Miro Gallery is preparing to showcase a significant solo exhibition titled “The Seven Deadly Sins” by renowned artist Chris Ofili. Known for his distinctive use of materials, including elephant dung, Ofili gained acclaim in the 1990s, winning the Turner Prize and representing Britain at the Venice Biennale. Over the past six years, he has created a new body of work that delves into sin and the experience of sinfulness, drawing inspiration from paradisiacal, otherworldly, and cosmic themes. Through surreal and fantastical imagery, Ofili explores a realm where opposing forces and transgressive behaviors coexist, blurring boundaries and challenging dichotomies. Accompanying the exhibition is a publication featuring the writings of seven invited authors, including Hilton Als, Marlon James, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, providing further insight into the exhibition’s theme
4. Soojin Kang, “To be you, whoever you are” Gathering
May 11–June 17
Korean artist Soojin Kang presents her first solo exhibition at Gathering gallery, showcasing monumental textile works that focus on the figure. The installation creates an eerie and shrine-like atmosphere, immersing the viewer in a space of contemplation. Kang’s use of hand-dyed linen, jute, and silk in the form of limbs and torsos evokes a sense of ancient statuary. In the basement, larger-than-life figures with steel bones and fabric skin exude both imposing presence and vulnerability, emphasizing our shared fragility. Kang’s exhibition challenges the boundaries of textile art, breaking free from traditional notions and empowering the medium while exploring themes of femininity and impermanence.
5. Maisie Cousins, “Walking Back To Happiness” TJ Boulting
May 10–June 17
Maisie Cousins presents her solo exhibition “Walking Back To Happiness,” drawing inspiration from her experiences of motherhood and a longing to relive her own childhood. The exhibition takes viewers on a strange and nostalgic journey, featuring close-up images of everyday objects and childhood toys, evoking a sense of collaboration between mother and child. Cousins also explores the use of AI technology to recreate lost memories, capturing the unique and absurd nature of UK amusement parks. Alongside the photographs, sculptures of unconventional characters add to the whimsical atmosphere. The exhibition blurs the line between reality and imagination, inviting viewers to reminisce and reflect on their own British upbringing.
6. Amanda Moström, “itsanosofadog *It’s an arse of a dog” Rose Easton
May 4–June 10
Rose Easton Gallery in Bethnal Green presents a captivating solo exhibition by Amanda Moström, exploring themes of nostalgia, memory, mental illness, and healing. Through a carefully curated selection of works, including keyhole-shaped photos encased in alpaca hair, the exhibition delves into the artist’s personal storytelling and psychological experiences. A standout piece features a video still captured by a friend, depicting a mother dog teaching her puppies to be calm, symbolizing techniques for managing a mental illness. The exhibition offers a unique and powerful exploration of these profound themes.
7. Qualeasha Wood, “TL;DR” Pippy Houldsworth Gallery
May 5–June 4
Qualeasha Wood’s solo exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth delves into racial, gender, and sexual identities, particularly focusing on the Black femme body. Using technology as a lens, the New York-based artist challenges the fetishisation of Black women in physical and online spaces, while exploring vulnerability and safety. The standout pieces are Jacquard weave tapestries featuring the artist dressed in white amidst error messages, creating a visual language that merges religious symbolism and modern technology to examine inherited trauma and racialised experiences. Wood also incorporates tufting works, adopting a naive aesthetic to confront racial stereotyping in cartoons and invite viewers to reflect on their role in perpetuating racial oppression.
8. Florence Peake, “Enactment” Richard Saltoun Gallery
May 30–July 15
Richard Saltoun Gallery presents “Enactment,” an exhibition featuring works by Florence Peake in conjunction with the artist’s major solo exhibition at Southwark Park Galleries. Peake’s pieces expand on her performance “Factual Actual” at the National Gallery, challenging the traditional Western painting canon and pushing the boundaries of performance art. As a queer multidisciplinary artist, Peake’s work explores queerness as both an identity and a creative approach, incorporating bodily movement into her paintings. With a blend of political, intimate, and sensual elements, her work offers a vibrant exploration of the human experience and redefines the process of artmaking.
9. “Bite the Hand” GROVE
June 2–July 8
GROVE’s exhibition titled “Bite the Hand” is an elusive and subversive exploration of duality and duplicity. Through works by emerging artists like Filippo Cegani, Noelia Towers, and Malte Zenses, the exhibition critiques the contradictions of the art world while acknowledging its own complicity. It takes aim at the systems and individuals that support the art world, challenging them with irony and sarcasm. By risking offense and undermining the very world it operates in, GROVE invites viewers to question and confront established norms and power dynamics.
10. Victoria Cantons, “What Birds Plunge Through Is Not The Intimate Space”
Guts Gallery
May 12–June 4
Victoria Cantons’s solo exhibition at Guts Gallery showcases a new direction in her practice, emphasizing the space between things as a charged realm. The paintings feature off-white washes interrupted by moments of intense and gestural paintwork, evoking themes of desire, loss, and time. Cantons draws inspiration from a diverse range of literary and artistic influences, incorporating lines from poems by renowned figures such as Leonard Cohen, Kazuo Ishiguro, and William Shakespeare. Through her distinct blend of visual and textual elements, Cantons invites viewers to delve into the artistic and literary journey that has shaped her identity as an artist.
These exhibitions offer a diverse range of artistic experiences, covering a wide range of themes and mediums. From large-scale paintings to textile works and immersive installations, London Gallery Weekend 2023 promises to be a celebration of London’s vibrant art scene.
Featured image Courtesy: Freize
