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Viewing Theaster Gates: A Clay Sermon

This magnificent new survey looks at Theaster’s complex investigations into the material and spiritual legacies of clay, while exploring the role the medium has played in craft, labour, community building, racial identity, colonialism and global trade. ‘As a potter you start to learn how to shape the world,’ Gates once declared.

Pottery, sculpture, film and research material spanning the artist’s two-decade career are shown alongside a selection of intriguing historic ceramics from private and public collections, including the V&A. The star of the show is without a doubt A Clay Sermon (2021), a beautifully shot video, which includes archival imagery, gospel music, improvised jazz and footage of the artist sitting at a potter’s wheel in a derelict factory in Montana.

Upstairs, you’ll find brilliant ceramic pieces created by Gates that fuse personal references with African American cultural emblems, among them his large, tarred vessels installed on custom-made plinths of hand-milled wood and stone.

‘Clay has been foundational to Theaster’s intertwined artistic and social practices,’ says chief curator Lydia Lee. ‘This show explores his affinities with potters internationally and the relationships among his various studio, social engagement and urban regeneration projects.’ Add to your autumn to-do list now.

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Dates
29 September 2021 — 09 January 2022
Further Information
Curated by Hayward director Ralph Rugoff, this expansive exhibition brings together 31 contemporary artists who exploit paint as their primary medium. Little else, it turns out, unites their practice.

You’ll come across paintings with cats, dogs, shoes, spitfires, ghosts, invented scenes, historical scenes, swimmers, smokers, and a whole lot more. Paintings made from oil paint and others made with shampoo. Paintings that make you laugh, squeal, squirm and cry.

Mixing It Up is a timely celebration of the material possibilities of paint. After months of scrolling saturated, swipe-able images, it’s fantastic to see paint’s drips, mists and daubs showcased to such dazzling effect. There is a lot here to digest in a single viewing. But persevere and you’ll be handsomely rewarded.

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Dates
09 September 2021 — 12 December 2021

Viewing Humble Works, Colnaghi London

Marina mania has struck. Although the long-anticipated Marina Abramović retrospective at the Royal Academy has been postponed (again), September sees the opening of two exciting Marina shows.

The first can be found at London’s Lisson Gallery. Seven Deaths, which takes over Lisson’s Cork Street and Lisson Street spaces, features a new, immersive cinematic experience centred on the talented and tragic figure of singer Maria Callas. Colnaghi, meanwhile, stages Humble Works, a group exhibition of new pieces by Abramović, Nico Vascellari and Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich that respond to a series of masterworks spanning from Antiquity to the Modern Era.

New installation, photography and video works will be displayed alongside historic paintings or objects of the artists’ choosing, highlighting the creative synergies among artists across different ages. Among the standout exhibits is Diego Velázquez’s full-length portrait of Mother Jerónima de la Fuente from 1620, rarely seen on public view in the UK.

‘It is our privilege to present these artist’s deeply personal artistic responses to their selected masterpieces in this unique site-specific exhibition,’ says Colnaghi senior global director Chloe Stead. ‘I hope that visitors will find the juxtapositions and dialogues between the works thought-provoking, perhaps provocative, but certainly rewarding.’

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Dates
17 September 2021 — 22 November 2021
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