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Viewing Conrad Shawcross: UMBILICAL at Here East

The Wick Culture - Conrad Shawcross, UMBILICAL. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Richard Ivey

Above Conrad Shawcross, UMBILICAL. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Richard Ivey

The Wick Culture - Conrad Shawcross, UMBILICAL. Courtesy of the artist

Above Conrad Shawcross, UMBILICAL. Courtesy of the artist

The Wick Culture - Conrad Shawcross, Ode to Difference. Courtesy of the artist

Above Conrad Shawcross, Ode to Difference. Courtesy of the artist

The Wick Culture - Conrad Shawcross, Yarn. Courtesy of the artist

Above Conrad Shawcross, Yarn. Courtesy of the artist

Above Conrad Shawcross, UMBILICAL. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Richard Ivey

Above Conrad Shawcross, UMBILICAL. Courtesy of the artist

Above Conrad Shawcross, Ode to Difference. Courtesy of the artist

Above Conrad Shawcross, Yarn. Courtesy of the artist

Conrad Shawcross: UMBILICAL

Here East
11 September – 02 November 2025

It’s a week of extraordinary public art and monumental sculpture in London – next up is Conrad Shawcross’ UMBILICAL, a new work commissioned for Tasmania’s The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).

UMBILICAL is part of the artist’s ‘Rope Makers’ rope machines – but this iteration is the most ambitious and complex to date, reaching 10 metres high and stretching to more than 12 metres in diameter.

Shawcross began to think about making rope machines more than two decades ago, while still a student. From a wild late night idea, they are now a reality: this one consists of 40 interlocking arms that move in circular motions that never repeat – a feat of both creativity and mechanic ingenuity – to weave a spiralling rope. Inspired by astronomy, they map the awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping chaos, instability and the inevitable passing of time.

Here East on the Olympic Park Stratford is London’s home for making. It’s a dedicated campus in Hackney designed by and for the makers of the future.

Viewing Frieze Sculpture at Regent’s Park

The Wick Culture - Simon Hitchens Bearing Witness to Things Unseen, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and CLOSE Gallery

Above Simon Hitchens Bearing Witness to Things Unseen, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and CLOSE Gallery

The Wick Culture - Erwin Wurm, Ghost (Substitutes), 2022, Aluminium, paint; 320 kg 300 x 87 x 56 cm (118.11 x 34.25 x 22.04 in) © Erwin Wurm / Bildrecht, Wien 2025. Courtesy Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, Photo: Markus Gradwohl

Above Erwin Wurm, Ghost (Substitutes), 2022, Aluminium, paint; 320 kg 300 x 87 x 56 cm (118.11 x 34.25 x 22.04 in) © Erwin Wurm / Bildrecht, Wien 2025. Courtesy Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, Photo: Markus Gradwohl

The Wick Culture - Abdollah Nafisi, Neighbours, 2025 Steel and acrylic polyurethane paint, Courtesy of Dastan and Abdollah Nafisi

Above Abdollah Nafisi, Neighbours, 2025 Steel and acrylic polyurethane paint, Courtesy of Dastan and Abdollah Nafisi

The Wick Culture - Elmgreen & Dragset, Life Rings, 2023, Stainless steel and lacquer, 4 m (13' 1-1/2

Above Elmgreen & Dragset, Life Rings, 2023, Stainless steel and lacquer, 4 m (13′ 1-1/2″), SCULPTURE © Elmgreen & Dragset, courtesy Pace Gallery

The Wick Culture - Burçak Bingöl, Unit Terrenum Rosa, 2025 detail, Courtesy of Galeri Nev Istanbul

Above Burçak Bingöl, Unit Terrenum Rosa, 2025 detail, Courtesy of Galeri Nev Istanbul

The Wick Culture - Henrique Oliveira, Desnatureza 5, 2022, La Seine Musicale (Les Extatiques) - Paris, France Found plywood, plywood construction, resin paste, metal mesh, metal rods. Credit for the images: Henrique Oliveira Almeida & Dale and Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois

Above Henrique Oliveira, Desnatureza 5, 2022, La Seine Musicale (Les Extatiques) – Paris, France Found plywood, plywood construction, resin paste, metal mesh, metal rods. Credit for the images: Henrique Oliveira Almeida & Dale and Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois

The Wick Culture - Lucía Pizzani, The Tale of the Eye, the Snake and the Seed, 2025 Digital render. Courtesy the artist and Galleria Doris Ghetta & Victoria Law Projects

Above Lucía Pizzani, The Tale of the Eye, the Snake and the Seed, 2025 Digital render. Courtesy the artist and Galleria Doris Ghetta & Victoria Law Projects

Above Simon Hitchens Bearing Witness to Things Unseen, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and CLOSE Gallery

Above Abdollah Nafisi, Neighbours, 2025 Steel and acrylic polyurethane paint, Courtesy of Dastan and Abdollah Nafisi

Above Elmgreen & Dragset, Life Rings, 2023, Stainless steel and lacquer, 4 m (13′ 1-1/2″), SCULPTURE © Elmgreen & Dragset, courtesy Pace Gallery

Above Burçak Bingöl, Unit Terrenum Rosa, 2025 detail, Courtesy of Galeri Nev Istanbul

Above Lucía Pizzani, The Tale of the Eye, the Snake and the Seed, 2025 Digital render. Courtesy the artist and Galleria Doris Ghetta & Victoria Law Projects

Frieze Sculpture

The Regent’s Park
17 September – 2 November 2025

The Autumn season officially begins in London with the unveiling of the annual Frieze Sculpture, now in its 13th edition in The Regent’s Park. Curated by Fatoș Üstek, the 2025 edition promises to be a special one – as it’s the first time artists have been selected according to a theme. The event also coincides with London Sculpture Week, a city-wide celebration of public art that begins on 20th September.

Work by 14 artists will be displayed throughout the Park’s picturesque English Gardens, and will remain on view to the public for free until November. Titled ‘In the Shadows’, this year’s cohort were chosen to represent and reimagines the shadow as “a creative and generative space where memory, material, and myth intersect.” Artists this year include Reena Saini Kallat, who will present a giant sound sculpture, acclaimed Austrian artist Erwin Wurm, known for his fat car series and sending up of everyday objects, and Elmgreen & Dragset, who present their large-scale stainless steel installation Life Rings, a comment on consumer culture and power structures.

Also worth looking out for are Lucia Pizzani’s The Tale of the Eye, the Seed and the Snake, a new, site-specific sculptural installation and sound piece is composed of three ceramic forms, each symbolising an archetypal motif from ancient iconography, and drawing performances and workshops by Simon Hitchens, to activate and accompany his piece Bearing Witness To Things Unseen, a new iteration of a 2022 work from his acclaimed Shadow series, an imposing, irregular, polished black portal, a reflective void carved from space and matter itself.

Viewing Paul McCartney: Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris at Gagosian

The Wick Culture - At London Airport for Pan Am flight 101 to New York City, 7 February 1964, 2025. Courtesy Paul McCartney

Above At London Airport for Pan Am flight 101 to New York City, 7 February 1964, 2025. Courtesy Paul McCartney

The Wick Culture - Dressing room at the Lewisham Odeon, London, 8 December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above Dressing room at the Lewisham Odeon, London, 8 December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

The Wick Culture - George, Ringo, and John backstage at The Beatles Christmas Show, Finsbury Park Astoria, London, December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above George, Ringo, and John backstage at The Beatles Christmas Show, Finsbury Park Astoria, London, December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

The Wick Culture - John backstage at the London Palladium, 12 January 1964, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above John backstage at the London Palladium, 12 January 1964, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

The Wick Culture - John on the Champs-Élysées, Paris 15 January 1964, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above John on the Champs-Élysées, Paris 15 January 1964, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

The Wick Culture - Self-portrait in my room at the Asher family home, Wimpole Street, London, December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above Self-portrait in my room at the Asher family home, Wimpole Street, London, December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above At London Airport for Pan Am flight 101 to New York City, 7 February 1964, 2025. Courtesy Paul McCartney

Above Dressing room at the Lewisham Odeon, London, 8 December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above George, Ringo, and John backstage at The Beatles Christmas Show, Finsbury Park Astoria, London, December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above John backstage at the London Palladium, 12 January 1964, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above John on the Champs-Élysées, Paris 15 January 1964, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Above Self-portrait in my room at the Asher family home, Wimpole Street, London, December 1963, 2025. Courtesy of Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney: Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris

Gagosian
August 28 – October 4 2025

Arriving in London at Gagosian Davies Street last week, Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris is an exhibition of photographs by Paul McCartney that chronicle McCartney and his fellow Beatles. This iteration of McCartney’s exhibition follows the period in which Beatlemania began to spread far beyond Liverpool and London from December 1963 to early February 1964.

Using a 35mm Pentax, McCartney documents the band candidly, as both an insider and an observer, giving a unique insight into what life was like for the world’s most famous group as their career skyrocketed. The pictures include backstage concert and tour images in the UK and Paris, and moments between the milestone, major moments such as their appearance on BBC’s Juke Box Jury.

The exhibition follows McCartney’s presentation at Gagosian Beverly Hills earlier this year, and coincides with the touring exhibition Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm, which opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2023 and which is currently on view at the de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.