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Viewing Go Figure! 

Figurative art is seen through a contemporary new lens in this new group exhibition curated by Brad Keats. Each of the 11 featured international artists has reimagined the figurative style to explore their culture, heritage and pressing societal issues — many of which have historically been overlooked by the art world. The result is an intriguing and visually diverse exhibition that provides an exciting look at new names to watch.

A mix of painting, sculpture and textile pieces, the 30 featured works each adapt the figurative style to comment on or shed light on their own culture and the issues faced by their people. Highlights of the exhibition include Caroline Wong’s Caroline, Katharine, and Alisa, (2022) an exuberant colourful play on classical portraits that provides a fresh, contemporary perspective on East Asian women. Another striking work is Anne von Freyburg’s Trickster (After Fragonard, the Toilet of Venus) (2022), which sees the artist hand stitch fabrics over her paintings to comment on today’s consumerist society and the excesses of the fast fashion industry. In other works, such as the evocative pieces by Hanna Murray, Ivana Štulić and Wilba Simson, the subversion of figurative art is made through absences or anonymity, raising questions about the individuals who are ignored in current socio-political conversations.

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Viewing Forever Etched On My Mind: Gareth Nyandoro, and Mostaff Muchawaya

Since its founding in 2001, London gallery Tiwani Contemporary has established itself as one of the world’s most prominent and influential champions for African and African diaspora artists. That mission continues with their latest exhibition, featuring the works of Zimbabwean artists Gareth Nyandoro and Mostaff Muchawaya.

The focus of this show is Ruwa, in Zimbabwe’s Harare Province, where both artists live and work, with each artist offering their own depiction of the town that they call home, in both its physical and psychological senses. While their styles and mediums differ, both Nyandoro and Muchawaya brilliantly capture daily life and the mood of the town.

Nyandoro’s ink on paper works, mounted on wood panels, provide an intimate observation of the town’s urban development, and the dichotomy of the public-private ‘partnership’. Meanwhile, Muchawaya’s energetic, colourful portraits layer together the real people he observes with his memories, creating rich, textured works that capture the mood of Ruwa and its inhabitants. Together, Nyandoro and Muchawaya’s works invite London viewers to experience the place they call home with their psychogeographical portraits that are visually striking and evocative in equal measure.

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Dates
20 July 2022 — 13 August 2022

Viewing Kristof Santy: La Grande Bouffe

A carton of eggs, a succulent strawberry and a steaming coffee pot: this is an exhibition dedicated to the simple pleasures of everyday gastronomy. The 17 new paintings currently on display at Unit London are by Kristof Santy, the Belgian artist best known for his use of flat planes, bright colours and universal imagery that eludes any sense of narrative.

Inspired by a range of artists and aesthetics, from Philip Guston and Jean Brusselmans to Pop-Art and folk art, Santy considers himself a visual translator of the everyday. ‘The expressive way of painting plain subjects felt like an enormous freedom to me,’ he once said of his distinctive aesthetic.

Shown alongside close-up paintings of kitchen essentials like toasters, coffee pots, graters and corkscrews are larger works depicting points of sale such as a butcher’s shop and a fresh fish stall. There’s also a vibrant painting of a moored fishing boat, featuring a nonplussed dog and a trio of hungry birds eyeing up their prey. Not surprisingly, La Grande Bouffe is a visual feast to be savoured. Enjoy.

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Dates
05 July 2022 — 06 August 2022
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Photo: © David Parry/ Royal Academy of Arts

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Storehouse, including over 100 mini
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Happenings V&A East Storehouse

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