Our top picks of exhibitions together with cultural spaces and places, both online and in the real world.

All, Art, Auctions, Exhibitions, Travel & Hospitality, Initiatives

Viewing Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child

The Wick Culture - Louise Bourgeois
Spider, 1997
Steel, tapestry, wood, glass, fabric, rubber, silver, gold and bone
449.6 x 665.5 x 518.2 cm.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2021. Photo: Maximilian Geuter

Above Louise Bourgeois Spider, 1997 Steel, tapestry, wood, glass, fabric, rubber, silver, gold and bone 449.6 x 665.5 x 518.2 cm. © The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2021. Photo: Maximilian Geuter

The Wick Culture - Louise Bourgeois
Conscious and Unconscious, 2008
Fabric, rubber, thread and stainless steel
175.3 x 94 x 47 cm.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2021. Photo: Christopher Burke

Above Louise Bourgeois Conscious and Unconscious, 2008 Fabric, rubber, thread and stainless steel 175.3 x 94 x 47 cm. © The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2021. Photo: Christopher Burke

The Wick Culture - Louise Bourgeois
Couple IV, 1997
Fabric, leather, stainless steel and plastic
50.8 x 165.1 x 77.5 cm.
© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2021. Photo: Christopher Burke

Above Louise Bourgeois Couple IV, 1997 Fabric, leather, stainless steel and plastic 50.8 x 165.1 x 77.5 cm. © The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2021. Photo: Christopher Burke

9 February – 15 May 2022
Hayward Gallery, London
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/art-exhibitions/louise-bourgeois-woven-child

Opening in February is a major exhibition dedicated to the fabric works that Louise Bourgeois made during the last two decades of her career. In this final but brilliant chapter, Bourgeois re-examined many of her lifelong concerns such as sexuality, family relationships, repair and memory in new and provocative ways.

The exhibition features over 90 works, among them her celebrated installations and figurative sculptures as well as a wide selection of her fabric drawings, books, prints and collages. Notable highlights include her monumental Cell installations in which hanging configurations of old dresses, slips and nightwear directly reference her personal history. Also worthy of note is her imposing Spider installation (1997) and the related Cell piece, Lady in Waiting (2003), which incorporates fragments of antique tapestry.

Rich and compelling, these fabric works prompt us to ask questions that seem more urgent than ever. Add this to your spring agenda now.

Viewing Samantha Thornton

The Wick Culture - Me, Myself & I, Samantha Thornton

Above Me, Myself & I, Samantha Thornton

The Wick Culture - Olive, Samantha Thornton

Above Olive, Samantha Thornton

The Wick Culture - Letting Go, Samantha Thornton

Above Letting Go, Samantha Thornton

Above Me, Myself & I, Samantha Thornton

Above Olive, Samantha Thornton

Above Letting Go, Samantha Thornton

Bernard Chauchet
8 – 13 February, then by appointment
https://www.chauchet.com/

After years spent as a specialist at Sotheby’s Old Master Sculpture Department, Samantha Thornton decided to try her own hand at creating striking sculptural works — a cancer diagnosis inspired her to waste no time. Now, a selection of her bronze and stone creations are on view at Bernard Chauchet Contemporary Art, demonstrating her interest in exploring different techniques and effects with the alternating materials. With her bronze works, Thornton starts with wax, building realistic figures whose fluid body movements contrast with the rigidity of the medium. However, her stone carvings are far more abstract, painstakingly hammered, chiseled and hand polished with sandpaper to create curving arcs with unexpected angles and points. Through these two styles, Thornton meditates on her interest in the human form, prompted by her illness and her experience of using that time to focus on her body and its healing.

Viewing Creating Abstraction

The Wick Culture - Yto Barrada, Untitled (indigo grey), 2021. © Yto Barrada, courtesy Pace Gallery Photo: Damian Griffiths

Above Yto Barrada, Untitled (indigo grey), 2021. © Yto Barrada, courtesy Pace Gallery Photo: Damian Griffiths

The Wick Culture - Saloua Raouda Choucair
Trajectory of a Line, 1957-59. © courtesy CRG Gallery and the Saloua Raouda Choucair Estate. Photo: Melissa Goodwin

Above Saloua Raouda Choucair Trajectory of a Line, 1957-59. © courtesy CRG Gallery and the Saloua Raouda Choucair Estate. Photo: Melissa Goodwin

Above Yto Barrada, Untitled (indigo grey), 2021. © Yto Barrada, courtesy Pace Gallery Photo: Damian Griffiths

Above Saloua Raouda Choucair Trajectory of a Line, 1957-59. © courtesy CRG Gallery and the Saloua Raouda Choucair Estate. Photo: Melissa Goodwin

3 February – 12 March 2022
Pace Gallery, London
https://www.pacegallery.com/exhibitions/creating-abstraction/

Head over to Pace’s recently opened Hanover Square Gallery to see an exhibition of works by seven female artists whose experimental approach to material and engagement with Modernism pushed the boundaries of abstraction.

You’ll encounter paintings, textiles, works on paper, video, photography and installations by such celebrated names as Barbara Hepworth, Yto Barrada and Louise Nevelson. Also worthy of note are the modular sculptures of Saloua Raouda Choucair, a pioneer of abstract art in Lebanon; and the graphic works of Italian artist Carla Accardi, which explore the formal and spatial effect of line, shape and gesture.

By including works by 20th- century and contemporary artists this exhibition shows Modernism’s enduring legacy and the ways in which various Modernist movements have been disseminated and interpreted by artists around the world. It offers a chance to discover each artist’s ground-breaking work and the broader context of their practice.