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Viewing How Rankin defined Cool Brittania with gritty, raw images of youth

The Wick Culture - Image Credit Rankin
Kate Moss, Whats the First Word That Comes Into Your Head Dazed Confused, Issue 43, 1998

Above Image Credit Rankin Kate Moss, Whats the First Word That Comes Into Your Head Dazed Confused, Issue 43, 1998

The Wick Culture - Helen Mirren, Mirren Mirren On The Wall, Dazed & Confused, Issue 46,1998 (c)Rankin

Above Helen Mirren, Mirren Mirren On The Wall, Dazed & Confused, Issue 46,1998 (c)Rankin

The Wick Culture - Evan Dando, Lost & Found, Dazed & Confused, Issue 25, 1996 (c)Rankin

Above Evan Dando, Lost & Found, Dazed & Confused, Issue 25, 1996 (c)Rankin

The Wick Culture - Debbie Harry, Eyes Wide Shut, Dazed, Issue 20, 1996 (c)Rankin (3)

Above Debbie Harry, Eyes Wide Shut, Dazed, Issue 20, 1996 (c)Rankin (3)

The Wick Culture - Skin, Class of '97, Dazed & Confused, Issue 35, 1997 (c)Rankin

Above Skin, Class of ’97, Dazed & Confused, Issue 35, 1997 (c)Rankin

Above Image Credit Rankin Kate Moss, Whats the First Word That Comes Into Your Head Dazed Confused, Issue 43, 1998

Above Helen Mirren, Mirren Mirren On The Wall, Dazed & Confused, Issue 46,1998 (c)Rankin

Above Evan Dando, Lost & Found, Dazed & Confused, Issue 25, 1996 (c)Rankin

Above Debbie Harry, Eyes Wide Shut, Dazed, Issue 20, 1996 (c)Rankin (3)

Above Skin, Class of ’97, Dazed & Confused, Issue 35, 1997 (c)Rankin

Back in the Dazed: Rankin 1991 – 2001

180 STUDIOS
29 May 2024 — 23 June 2024

He’s photographed them all – and his pictures have been the making of some of them – from cult celebrities to supermodels and celluloid stars, between 1991 – 2001 Rankin defined Cool Britannia as the co-founder and Photo editor at Dazed & Confused magazine.

Now iconic works by Rankin from that prolific decade are gathered for the first time in an exhibition: over 200 editorial shoots for the magazine, pictures that spoke a thousand words, that made as many statements about politics as they did about fashion.

Dazed’s uncompromising, gritty and gung-ho approach heralded a new era for representation that set new standards of who could be seen in a magazine, and how: Rankin brought in LGBTQIA+ subjects and photographed working-class youth, as well as taking defining images of soon-to-be mega stars on the cusp of global fame. Dazed was the chance to give youth an independent voice and reclaim power, setting a precedent for other media. It’s incredible to witness this recent history and feel how much has changed – and what hasn’t.

Viewing A new exhibition explores how artists are employing tech and machinery to enthralling effect

Above

Double Take

LVH Art
30 May – 22 June 2024

Technology and machinery have become increasingly integrated into our daily lives, but how have these contemporary tools impacted the way we see and experience the world? An ambitious group exhibition at LVH Art takes on the topical theme exploring perception and the ways artists over the last century have used visual tricks on the human eye to prompt questions about mechanical and technological intervention.

Artists included range from Andy Warhol, who preempted the possibilities of technology in his creative process, to artists like Nate Lowman, who mines mass produced images and transforms them to create paintings, sculptures and installations that have a strange familiarity (see a 2023 oil painting of stacks of boxes of Tic Tacs). Also included is WangShui, who employs AI “as a kind of oracle”, as critic Brian Droitcour put it, in videos and installations that seek consciousness-shifting.

Housed in a vast, brutalist warehouse on Curzon Street, Mayfair, Double Take is the latest ‘What’s Up’ exhibition curated by the suave, London-based independent art advisor and collector, Lawrence Van Hagen. Van Hagen’s surveys, which he has been organising since 2016, have become known for mixing up established, major names with emerging, rising stars in unusual and unexpected settings. Double Take promises to be just as worthy of a visit – just be sure to book, as viewings are by appointment only.

Viewing Kenturah Davis invokes trailblazing Black female creatives in drawings, carvings and essays

The Wick Culture - Kenturah Davis, 'clouds XII', 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper, 50.8 x 50.8cm (20 x 20in) Framed: 54 x 54cm (21 1/4 x 21 1/4in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Above Kenturah Davis, ‘clouds XII’, 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper, 50.8 x 50.8cm (20 x 20in) Framed: 54 x 54cm (21 1/4 x 21 1/4in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

The Wick Culture - Kenturah Davis, ‘duration I (jada)’, 2024. Lenticular print , 48.9 x 68.3cm (19 1/4 x 26 7/8in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Above Kenturah Davis, ‘duration I (jada)’, 2024. Lenticular print , 48.9 x 68.3cm (19 1/4 x 26 7/8in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

The Wick Culture - Kenturah Davis, 'volume I (k)', 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper with ash vessels in a walnut frame. Two parts, each 75.6 x 75.6cm (29 3/4 x 29 3/4in) Framed 154.6 x 96.5cm (60 7/8 x 38in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Above Kenturah Davis, ‘volume I (k)’, 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper with ash vessels in a walnut frame. Two parts, each 75.6 x 75.6cm (29 3/4 x 29 3/4in) Framed 154.6 x 96.5cm (60 7/8 x 38in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

The Wick Culture - Kenturah Davis, 'clouds VIII', 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper, 50.8 x 50.8cm (20 x 20in) Framed: 54 x 54cm (21 1/4 x 21 1/4in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Above Kenturah Davis, ‘clouds VIII’, 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper, 50.8 x 50.8cm (20 x 20in) Framed: 54 x 54cm (21 1/4 x 21 1/4in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

The Wick Culture - Kenturah Davis, 'volume II (marjani)', 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper with a walnut and brass vessel in a walnut frame, 75.6 x 75.6cm (29 3/4 x 29 3/4in) Framed: 78.1 x 98.1cm (30 3/4 x 38 5/8in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Above Kenturah Davis, ‘volume II (marjani)’, 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper with a walnut and brass vessel in a walnut frame, 75.6 x 75.6cm (29 3/4 x 29 3/4in) Framed: 78.1 x 98.1cm (30 3/4 x 38 5/8in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

The Wick Culture - Kenturah Davis, 'planar vessel XXVII (jada)', 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper. Four parts, each 75.6 x 75.6cm (29 3/4 x 29 3/4in) Framed: 155.3 x 155.3cm (61 1/8 x 61 1/8in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Above Kenturah Davis, ‘planar vessel XXVII (jada)’, 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper. Four parts, each 75.6 x 75.6cm (29 3/4 x 29 3/4in) Framed: 155.3 x 155.3cm (61 1/8 x 61 1/8in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

The Wick Culture - Kenturah Davis, 'clouds VI', 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper, 50.8 x 50.8cm (20 x 20in) Framed: 54 x 54cm (21 1/4 x 21 1/4in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Above Kenturah Davis, ‘clouds VI’, 2024. Carbon pencil rubbing and debossed text on igarashi kozo paper, 50.8 x 50.8cm (20 x 20in) Framed: 54 x 54cm (21 1/4 x 21 1/4in). Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York, and Matthew Brown, Los Angeles and New York.

Kenturah Davis: clouds

Stephen Freidman Gallery
31 May – 20 July 2024

It’s London Gallery Weekend, and galleries across the city will play host to special exhibitions, talks and events, with many opening their summer blockbuster shows to coincide with the event. At the top of our list is Kenturah Davis’ UK debut solo show, clouds, coming to Stephen Friedman Gallery. New series of drawings and carvings designed by the artist come together with an essay penned by Davis, in which she invokes the spirits of trailblazing figures, such as the choreographer Katherine Dunham, composer Florence B. Price, theorist Saidiya Hartman, author Toni Morrison, and physicist Carlo Rovelli.

Two stunning new bodies of work are portraits, on paper, and carved by Davis’ partner to her designs from ebony and ash. To make them, Davis invited black women to visit her studio and improvise movement, and took long exposure photographs. These photographic studies are translated into drawings, and on closer inspection, parts of Davis’ writing emerges, in which she details the careers of Katherine Dunham – a choreographer who infused dance with anthropology, and Florence B Price, the first Black female musician to compose for a national symphony orchestra.

A further body of work is based on Davis’ photographs of clouds – a muse and metaphor for Davis, and an anchor for this exhibition, which is all about the possibility of metamorphosis and transformation. Davis will discuss the work with Dr. Zoé Whitley on Friday 31 May at a special opening event, and the gallery will extend its opening hours all weekend.