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 Jake Wood-Evans: The Edge of Reality

The Wick Culture - After Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, in green, after Sargent, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above After Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, in green, after Sargent, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

The Wick Culture - Study for women in a row boat II, after Francis Coates Jones, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Study for women in a row boat II, after Francis Coates Jones, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

The Wick Culture - Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, after Reynolds, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, after Reynolds, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above After Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, in green, after Sargent, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Study for women in a row boat II, after Francis Coates Jones, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, after Reynolds, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

22 March – 23 April 2022
Unit Gallery, London
https://unitlondon.com/whats-on/102-jake-wood-evans-the-edge-of-reality/

Dreamlike and ethereal, the East Sussex-based artist Jake Wood-Evans’ newest body of work continues to develop his practice of drawing on the legacy of Old Master paintings to create canvases that veer between abstraction and figuration.

This time, Wood-Evans references a selection of works from the Western classical art canon, including paintings by Joshua Reynolds, John Singer Sargent, George Stubbs and J.W. Waterhouse. But instead of reimagining their subjects, the artists instead uses them as a starting point, stripping back the artwork layer by layer and confronting the viewer with a painting that demands to be looked at further, with new interpretations and meanings to be gleaned. In this way, Wood-Evans compels the viewer to consider the ideas, more than the fixed subject, and challenges the contemporary market for its dismissal of the original historical works.

This is conveyed through the ethereal vignettes and spectral figures that drift across the canvases, seeing subjects that may have been dismissed as sentimental through a new lens that reinforces the original work’s artistic merit and simultaneously presents a work that is fascinating in its own right.

Viewing The 2022 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize

The Wick Culture - Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019 © Deana Lawson, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

Above Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019 © Deana Lawson, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

The Wick Culture - Jo Ractliffe, Roadside stall on the way to Viana, 2007 from the series Terreno Ocupado © Jo Ractliffe, Courtesy of the artist

Above Jo Ractliffe, Roadside stall on the way to Viana, 2007 from the series Terreno Ocupado © Jo Ractliffe, Courtesy of the artist

The Wick Culture - Anastasia Samoylova, Pink Sidewalk, 2017, from the series FloodZone © Anastasia Samoylova, Courtesy of artist

Above Anastasia Samoylova, Pink Sidewalk, 2017, from the series FloodZone © Anastasia Samoylova, Courtesy of artist

The Wick Culture - Gilles Peress, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: from the chapter, The Last Night © Gilles Peress, Courtesy of artist

Above Gilles Peress, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: from the chapter, The Last Night © Gilles Peress, Courtesy of artist

Above Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019 © Deana Lawson, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

Above Jo Ractliffe, Roadside stall on the way to Viana, 2007 from the series Terreno Ocupado © Jo Ractliffe, Courtesy of the artist

Above Anastasia Samoylova, Pink Sidewalk, 2017, from the series FloodZone © Anastasia Samoylova, Courtesy of artist

Above Gilles Peress, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: from the chapter, The Last Night © Gilles Peress, Courtesy of artist

25 March — 12 June 2022
The Photographers’ Gallery, London
https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/deutsche-borse-photography-foundation-prize-2022

Photography enthusiasts, especially those who like to keep their finger on the pulse of the next wave of talent, should not miss The Photographer’s Gallery’s latest exhibition. Curated by Katrina Schwarz, The 2022 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize exhibition presents the nominated projects from this year’s shortlisted artists: Anastasia Samoylova, Jo Ractliffe, Deana Lawson and Gilles Peress. The final winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Gallery on 12 May.

While each of the artist’s projects is deeply unique and personal, they share an ambition and scale both in terms of subject focus and technical skill. Both Jo Ractliffe and Gilles Peress have used their lens to explore new ways to photograph and pay witness to conflict and its aftermath, with Ratcliffe turning her camera on post-Apartheid South Africa and Peress turning his on the streets of Northern Ireland. Representation is also a central consideration of Deana Lawson’s work, who looks to reframe and reclaim the Black experience by creating portraits that challenge the historical representation of Black bodies. For Anastasia Samoylova, climate change is in sharp focus, with her project documenting her personal experience of the environmental damage and changes in Florida, posing a concerning contrast to the typically sun-soaked, relaxer images of the state we’ve been used to.

Be sure to catch the provocative and fascinating works before they tour to Deutsche Börse’s headquarters in Eschborn, Frankfurt on 30 June 2022.

Viewing Ming Smith: A Dream Deferred

The Wick Culture - Freedom by Ming Smith

Above Freedom by Ming Smith

The Wick Culture - David Murray in the Wings, by Ming Smith, Padova, Italy, 1978

Above David Murray in the Wings, by Ming Smith, Padova, Italy, 1978

The Wick Culture - Setting the Stage by Ming Smith, Harlem, New York

Above Setting the Stage by Ming Smith, Harlem, New York

Above Freedom by Ming Smith

Above David Murray in the Wings, by Ming Smith, Padova, Italy, 1978

Above Setting the Stage by Ming Smith, Harlem, New York

18 March – 30 April 2022
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
https://www.houldsworth.co.uk/exhibitions/

Over the past six decades, the African American photographer Ming Smith has captured life in Africa and its diaspora to dazzling effect. By experimenting with blur, double exposure, collage and hand tinting, she imbues her images with an otherworldly feel that makes it difficult to look away.

Smith’s first solo exhibition in the UK features a selection of rare, vintage prints from her Invisible Man series (1988-1991) and previously unseen hand-painted photographs. Also on display are key photographs from the 1970s and 80s showing her varied experiences from her travels across America. You’ll see everything from the jazz clubs of New York and charged protests in Harlem to fairground goers in her home state of Ohio.

With such a variety of images on display, it is a rare opportunity to celebrate an artist of remarkable talent.