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Doing Ilana Savdie: In Jest; Danica Lundy: Stop Bath; Louise Giovanelli: As If, Almost

A trio of solo shows lands at White Cube Bermondsey this month. In Jest, the first solo exhibition in London by Colombian artist Ilana Savdie, features new large-scale paintings and drawings which look at themes of performance, transgression, identity and power. Inspired by the Colombian ‘Carnaval’, she explores theatrical themes relating to the circus, as well as repeating motifs including curtains, hooves, balls and hoops.

Danica Lundy’s first exhibition at White Cube, meanwhile, includes a group of monumental paintings — produced in the wake of her father’s death — that employ disorienting perspectives and narratives to explore the inner workings of bodies, machines, power structures and loss. Expect compositionally complex paintings filled with a rich bank of references, from the epic to the banal, and the torrid to the ecstatic.

Then there’s an exhibition of new paintings by Louise Giovanelli which explores new modes of devotion and worship — notably the cult of celebrity — in an era when so much of society is disengaged from religious and spiritual belief systems. Also on show are paintings that explore themes of performance and social rituals such as drinking.

These are three very different shows, but all are well worth a visit.

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Dates
08 July 2022 — 11 September 2022

Viewing The Male Gaze: From Larry Stanton to Now

Explore the power of the male-on-male gaze at The Artist Room this July as works by a radical group of contemporary artists go on display alongside unseen drawings by Larry Stanton, the New York-based portrait artist who tragically died in 1984 of AIDS-related complications, aged just 37.

Over the course of his short life, Stanton documented in his sketches and paintings the liberating pre-AIDS queer scene and the bohemian spirit in the city and beyond. ‘People make their own faces and Larry knew this instinctively,’ said Stanton’s friend and artist David Hockney.

Elsewhere, you’ll find works by Kenneth Bergfeld, Jimmy DeSana, Paul P. and Leon Pozniakow, the multi-disciplinary artist who draws inspiration from personal memories to explore the gay experience and love. Also included are works by Cary Kwok, who is best known for his graphic drawings which depict erotic — even fetishist — scenes.

Shown together, these works reveal the beauty found in fleeting and unexpected encounters. The result is superb and will leave you wanting more.

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Dates
05 July 2022 — 30 July 2022

Viewing Beatrice Hasell-McCosh: Of Silence and Slow Time

This bijou show is one to tell your friends about. Installed across the Garden Museum, now housed in the magnificently restored church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, Of Silence and Slow Time features a series of monumental oils and small works on paper by Beatrice Hasell-McCosh. Based between London and Cumbria, the British painter looks to natural forms and the tradition of landscape painting to explore emotional themes linked to place and human connection.

Inspired by the Cumbrian garden she grew up in, this body of new work charts the seasonal changes during the 2020 lockdown. ‘I drew comfort from the routine of making small watercolour sketches in the garden,’ she says. ‘As humans shrunk away from each other the reassuring continuity and cycle of nature became completely absorbing to me. Over a period of six months, I watched and drew from the same spots continuously seeing plants grow up, crowd together (in antithesis to human society) blooming and dying and being replaced with the new.’

As you meander around the lofty Nave, you’ll encounter verdant foliage, alliums, primulas and tulips, executed in a palette of rich, earthy hues, every which way you look. Cocooned from the hustle and bustle of London’s busy streets, you’ll experience a sense of calm immediately woosh over you. Never has the Garden Museum looked — or felt — so good.

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Dates
29 June 2022 — 24 July 2022
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