Our top picks of exhibitions together with cultural spaces and places, both online and in the real world.

All, Art, Auctions, Exhibitions, Travel & Hospitality, Initiatives

Viewing Asian Art Week London

The Wick Culture - Anonymous | Pheasants beneath wisteria | Edo period, late 17th - early 18th century
Courtesy of Sotheby's

Above Anonymous | Pheasants beneath wisteria | Edo period, late 17th – early 18th century Courtesy of Sotheby’s

The Wick Culture - Morita Shiryu (1912-1998) | Fuku | Showa period, 20th century

Above Morita Shiryu (1912-1998) | Fuku | Showa period, 20th century

Above Anonymous | Pheasants beneath wisteria | Edo period, late 17th – early 18th century Courtesy of Sotheby’s

Above Morita Shiryu (1912-1998) | Fuku | Showa period, 20th century

Asian Art Week London

Various Venues
30th October – 8 November, 2024

Taking place every Autumn for more than two decades Asian Art Week London aims to bring together leading international dealers and auction houses from the UK, Europe, USA and Asia in the UK capital, focusing on galleries and auction houses specialising in in a wide variety of ancient to modern Asian art, ranging from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Islamic and Middle Eastern and Himalayan to Central Asian, Southeast Asian regions.

Exhibitions showcase and offer for sale important Asian artworks, and are often accompanied by academically researched publications, while the many receptions, lectures and special events create a unique occasion to engage with Asian art. The 27th edition of the event begins on 30th October. At auction, we are especially excited about Sotheby’s online sale (29 October – 5 November) Art of Japan showcasing rare masterpieces spanning the 12th Century to today, including 17th-Century screens, and Senju Hiroshi’s waterfall painting, a Shadow Painting by Takamatsu Jiro, as well as minimalist white ceramics by Kurado Taizo.

Elsewhere, among the gallery participants, be sure to head to specialist dealer Raquelle Arzan’s presentation of Vietnamese contemporary and Indochine Art, and don’t miss a visit to new gallery, Ming Gu, on New Bond Street, established last year by Guming Song, to exhibit emerging and mid-career artists of East Asian heritage, bringing artists who are steeped in traditions and yet to challenge it with their modern interpretation. The annual Asian Art in London Gala Party takes place on Wednesday, October 30 at the V&A.

Viewing Barbara Walker Being Here

The Wick Culture - End of the Affair (2023) Barbara Walker © Barbara Walker. All Rights Reserved, DACS/Artimage 2024.

The Wick Culture - Barbara Walker, The Sitter, 2002 © Barbara Walker.
All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2024.

Barbara Walker Being Here

Whitworth Art Gallery
4 October 2024 – 26 January 2025

Her paintings and drawings take months of research into neglected archives, and are the result of empathetic and intense observations; Barbara Walker’s arresting figurative works represent Black stories, histories and contributions to Britain in astonishing and evocative detail. “I’m very interested in visibility and non-visibility in terms of marginalised communities. I use erasure as a metaphor for how the Black community is overlooked, ignored, and even dehumanised by society.” Walker has said.

Being Here at The Whitworth is Walker’s first major survey, and presents over 70 extraordinary artworks made over 25 years, including rarely seen paintings, her Turner Prize nominated drawing series Burden of Proof (2022-23), and a newly commissioned printed wallpaper Soft Power (2024) inspired by the Whitworth’s collection and paying tribute to the Windrush generation, who Walker has continued to represent in her work. Also presented are major series Private Face (1998-2005), Louder Than Words (2006-09), Show and Tell (2008-15), Shock and Awe (2015-20), Vanishing Point (2018-ongoing).

Walker’s breath taking oeuvre ranges from delicate, intimate graphite drawings on archival documents to the monumental charcoal wall drawings she is celebrated for, but her themes are persistent and urgent – immigrant, Black life, and challenging what art history tells us about our past and present. An unmissable exhibition on one of the UK’s most important artists.

Viewing Conversations at National Museums Liverpool

The Wick Culture - Courtesy of Walker Art Gallery

Above Courtesy of Walker Art Gallery

Conversations

Walker Art Gallery
19 Oct 2024—9Mar 2025

An ambitious group exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery opens this weekend, bringing together the work of nearly fifty phenomenal Black women and non-binary artists who are significantly shaping Britain’s art scene today. Coinciding with Black History Month, the celebratory exhibition focuses on very recent works – all made in the last ten years – by artists at different stages of their career. Many of the works are on loan directly from the artists themselves.

Some of the major names featured range from Anthea Hamilton, Alberta Whittle and Lubaina Himid, to Maud Sulter and Claudette Johnson. There’s also a strong contingent of younger, London-based painters, including Joy Labinjo, Michaela Yearwood-Dan, Sahara Longe, Rachel Jones and Sola Oludade. We also can’t wait to see works by Rene Matic – who recently presented lightboxes at Frieze – and Joy Yamusangie, who creates vivid characters and colours in drawing, painting and printmaking.

“While the exhibition acknowledges the impact and importance of their work, we want to focus on the vital conversations that contemporary artists are having with each other and with audiences right now.” The curator, Liverpool-based artist Sumuyya Khader says. “Through joyful, timely and thought-provoking pieces, they are responding to our current cultural climate – demonstrating how art can provide an avenue for interaction, exploration and learning.” The exhibition is part of a wider research project at the Walker Art Gallery to acquire more works by Black women and non binary artists, currently underrepresented in the institution’s collection.