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

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Viewing KAWS: New Fiction

The Wick Culture - KAWS: NEW FICTION at Serpentine. GETTING THE CALL (2018) and WHAT PARTY (2020). © Jonty Wilde (courtesy KAWS).

Above KAWS: NEW FICTION at Serpentine. GETTING THE CALL (2018) and WHAT PARTY (2020). © Jonty Wilde (courtesy KAWS).

The Wick Culture - KAWS: NEW FICTION at Serpentine. FAMILY (2021) and UNTITLED (2019). © Jonty Wilde (courtesy KAWS).

Above KAWS: NEW FICTION at Serpentine. FAMILY (2021) and UNTITLED (2019). © Jonty Wilde (courtesy KAWS).

The Wick Culture - KAWS, COMPANION (EXPANDED), 2020, augmented reality sculpture at Serpentine North Gallery. Courtesy of KAWS and Acute Art.

Above KAWS, COMPANION (EXPANDED), 2020, augmented reality sculpture at Serpentine North Gallery. Courtesy of KAWS and Acute Art.

Above KAWS: NEW FICTION at Serpentine. GETTING THE CALL (2018) and WHAT PARTY (2020). © Jonty Wilde (courtesy KAWS).

Above KAWS: NEW FICTION at Serpentine. FAMILY (2021) and UNTITLED (2019). © Jonty Wilde (courtesy KAWS).

Above KAWS, COMPANION (EXPANDED), 2020, augmented reality sculpture at Serpentine North Gallery. Courtesy of KAWS and Acute Art.

18 January — 27 February 2022
Serpentine North
https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/acute-art-presents-kaws-new-fiction/

Now’s your chance to see new and recent works by KAWS in physical and augmented reality. Developed in collaboration with Acute Art and the online video game Fortnite, the artist’s first major solo exhibition in London presents his paintings and celebrated toys, including KAWS WHAT PARTY (2020) and KAWS, FAMILY (2021), in an exciting new way. A virtual recreation of the show will launch simultaneously in Fortnite, allowing players from all over the world to engage with the exhibition.

What’s more, all the paintings and sculptures on display as well as a miniature version of the entire show will exist as AR works on an app developed by Acute Art. The works can be placed and viewed at home by viewers globally and shared on social media.

‘I always like exploring new mediums for my art,’ said KAWS. ‘I became interested in working with AR when I realized the quality that can be achieved now. Then came the invitation to work with Fortnite. Now all these things come together in a complex exhibition that takes place in parallel realities.’

For Daniel Birnbaum, Artistic Director of Acute Art and Curator of New Fiction, this ground-breaking exhibition marks ‘the beginning of a new chapter of art living in parallel worlds and reaching local and global audiences simultaneously.’ Get thee to the Serpentine sharpish.

Viewing Victor Vasarely: Universe

Above Victor Vasarely

13 January — 31 March 2022
Selfridges, London
https://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/features/articles/corner-shop/vasarely-paco-rabanne/?cm_re=homepage-_-hero-_-the-selfridges-corner-shop-universe

For a dose of arresting art, pop down to Selfridges where you’ll see an exhibition of works by Victor Vasarely, the Op Art pioneer who rose to prominence in the mid 1950s for his geometric designs and mesmerising optical illusions.

Installed across the Oxford Street store, Universe features 55 works by the artist, none of which have been shown in the UK for over 50 years. 37 of these will be available for sale, along with a series of specially commissioned NFTs created by London-based NFT platform, Substance. Funds raised will go to the Fondation Vasarely Museum in Aix-en-Provence.

In celebration of Vasarely’s innovative practice, Substance has also created a virtual reality environment, accessible online at Decentraland, in which visitors can interact with Vasarely’s calibrated patterns and hypnotic oscillations. The companion NFTs will be available to purchase in store or online via Substance’s platform from Friday 28 January.

As if that wasn’t enough, the project also celebrates the launch of Paco Rabanne’s Spring Summer 2022 collection, which is inspired by Vasarely’s designs. Expect some of Vasarely’s celebrated geometric patterns reimagined on printed, jacquard, chainmail and sequined fabrics. Ready-to-wear and accessories from the new collection will launch throughout the season at Selfridges (available to buy or rent).

Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of Vasarely’s death, this multi-layered creative collaboration offers an unparalleled opportunity to see the extent of his artistic universe. Stop by the Selfridges Corner Shop before leaving to browse the Vasarely-inspired gift edit. We’ll take a hand-painted timepiece from Bamford Watch Department please!

Viewing Antonia Showering

Above Antonia Showering

The Wick Culture - Omit, Antonia Showering 2020

Above Omit, Antonia Showering 2020

Above Antonia Showering

Above Omit, Antonia Showering 2020

26 January — 5 March 2022
Timothy Taylor, London
https://timothytaylor.com/exhibitions/antonia-showering/

If you haven’t yet heard of Antonia Showering, you soon will. The London-based painter, who counts Katy Hessel and Sofia Mitsola among her friends, has long been a favourite of the art glitterati but is poised for widespread acclaim thanks to her first solo show at Timothy Taylor in London.

Showering’s dreamlike compositions explore the emotional experience and the ephemeral nature of memory. ‘Paint allows me to record the cycles of time,’ she says. ‘I want to recreate intimate, universal moments drawn from my own experiences, desires and worries, but painted with enough ambiguity for the viewer to recognise something from their own realities in the work.’

Using dense, inky brushstrokes, Showering builds her canvases layer by layer. The resulting compositions are filled with coded storylines, cryptic symbols and figures she calls ‘the people I love or have loved’. Head on over and you’ll soon see what the hype’s all about.