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Viewing Jake Wood-Evans: The Edge of Reality

The Wick Culture - After Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, in green, after Sargent, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above After Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, in green, after Sargent, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

The Wick Culture - Study for women in a row boat II, after Francis Coates Jones, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Study for women in a row boat II, after Francis Coates Jones, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

The Wick Culture - Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, after Reynolds, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, after Reynolds, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above After Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, in green, after Sargent, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Study for women in a row boat II, after Francis Coates Jones, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

Above Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, after Reynolds, 2022 by Jake Wood-Evans

22 March – 23 April 2022
Unit Gallery, London
https://unitlondon.com/whats-on/102-jake-wood-evans-the-edge-of-reality/

Dreamlike and ethereal, the East Sussex-based artist Jake Wood-Evans’ newest body of work continues to develop his practice of drawing on the legacy of Old Master paintings to create canvases that veer between abstraction and figuration.

This time, Wood-Evans references a selection of works from the Western classical art canon, including paintings by Joshua Reynolds, John Singer Sargent, George Stubbs and J.W. Waterhouse. But instead of reimagining their subjects, the artists instead uses them as a starting point, stripping back the artwork layer by layer and confronting the viewer with a painting that demands to be looked at further, with new interpretations and meanings to be gleaned. In this way, Wood-Evans compels the viewer to consider the ideas, more than the fixed subject, and challenges the contemporary market for its dismissal of the original historical works.

This is conveyed through the ethereal vignettes and spectral figures that drift across the canvases, seeing subjects that may have been dismissed as sentimental through a new lens that reinforces the original work’s artistic merit and simultaneously presents a work that is fascinating in its own right.

Viewing The 2022 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize

The Wick Culture - Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019 © Deana Lawson, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

Above Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019 © Deana Lawson, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

The Wick Culture - Jo Ractliffe, Roadside stall on the way to Viana, 2007 from the series Terreno Ocupado © Jo Ractliffe, Courtesy of the artist

Above Jo Ractliffe, Roadside stall on the way to Viana, 2007 from the series Terreno Ocupado © Jo Ractliffe, Courtesy of the artist

The Wick Culture - Anastasia Samoylova, Pink Sidewalk, 2017, from the series FloodZone © Anastasia Samoylova, Courtesy of artist

Above Anastasia Samoylova, Pink Sidewalk, 2017, from the series FloodZone © Anastasia Samoylova, Courtesy of artist

The Wick Culture - Gilles Peress, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: from the chapter, The Last Night © Gilles Peress, Courtesy of artist

Above Gilles Peress, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: from the chapter, The Last Night © Gilles Peress, Courtesy of artist

Above Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019 © Deana Lawson, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

Above Jo Ractliffe, Roadside stall on the way to Viana, 2007 from the series Terreno Ocupado © Jo Ractliffe, Courtesy of the artist

Above Anastasia Samoylova, Pink Sidewalk, 2017, from the series FloodZone © Anastasia Samoylova, Courtesy of artist

Above Gilles Peress, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: from the chapter, The Last Night © Gilles Peress, Courtesy of artist

25 March — 12 June 2022
The Photographers’ Gallery, London
https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/deutsche-borse-photography-foundation-prize-2022

Photography enthusiasts, especially those who like to keep their finger on the pulse of the next wave of talent, should not miss The Photographer’s Gallery’s latest exhibition. Curated by Katrina Schwarz, The 2022 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize exhibition presents the nominated projects from this year’s shortlisted artists: Anastasia Samoylova, Jo Ractliffe, Deana Lawson and Gilles Peress. The final winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Gallery on 12 May.

While each of the artist’s projects is deeply unique and personal, they share an ambition and scale both in terms of subject focus and technical skill. Both Jo Ractliffe and Gilles Peress have used their lens to explore new ways to photograph and pay witness to conflict and its aftermath, with Ratcliffe turning her camera on post-Apartheid South Africa and Peress turning his on the streets of Northern Ireland. Representation is also a central consideration of Deana Lawson’s work, who looks to reframe and reclaim the Black experience by creating portraits that challenge the historical representation of Black bodies. For Anastasia Samoylova, climate change is in sharp focus, with her project documenting her personal experience of the environmental damage and changes in Florida, posing a concerning contrast to the typically sun-soaked, relaxer images of the state we’ve been used to.

Be sure to catch the provocative and fascinating works before they tour to Deutsche Börse’s headquarters in Eschborn, Frankfurt on 30 June 2022.

Doing Toklas

Above Toklas

Open now
Toklas Restaurant, 1 Surrey Street, London
https://www.toklaslondon.com/

Art meets food in this exciting new culinary opening from the founders of Frieze. Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, the revered art world names who launched the London fairs and the Frieze magazine, have pivoted to a new venture: Toklas, a modern European restaurant housed in 180 The Strand, the central London site owned by Soho House.

The eatery takes its name from Alice Toklas, the life partner of Gertrude Stein and author of a groundbreaking 1954 cookbook that is notorious for including the first modern recipe for cannabis brownies and for kickstarting the 1960’s passion for edibles. Cannabis may not be a star ingredient here, but instead the chefs curate an evolving seasonal menu that focuses on celebrating the natural flavours and aromas of the ingredients. There is also a bakery on site, where those on-the-go can pick up breads, pastries, sandwiches and breakfast bites — alas, no brownies here either.

Casual yet refined, the Frieze duo have applied an artistic eye to the interiors, decorating the brutalist space with forest green leather banquettes and mid-century furnishings surrounded by art school-like prints, posters and original artworks. With the arrival of spring, though, it’s the terrace that’s sure to be the most coveted spot.