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 Alice Neel: Hot Off The Griddle

The Wick Culture - Alice Neel
Mary D. Garrard, 1977 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Mary D. Garrard, 1977 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

The Wick Culture - Alice Neel Rita and Hubert, 1954 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Rita and Hubert, 1954 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

The Wick Culture - Alice Neel Self-Portrait, 1980 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Self-Portrait, 1980 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

The Wick Culture - Alice Neel Benny and Mary Ellen Andrews, 1972 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Benny and Mary Ellen Andrews, 1972 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

The Wick Culture - Alice Neel Geoffrey Hendricks and Brian, 1978 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Geoffrey Hendricks and Brian, 1978 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

The Wick Culture - Alice Neel Marxist Girl (Irene Peslikis), 1972 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Marxist Girl (Irene Peslikis), 1972 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Mary D. Garrard, 1977 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Rita and Hubert, 1954 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Self-Portrait, 1980 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Benny and Mary Ellen Andrews, 1972 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Geoffrey Hendricks and Brian, 1978 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Above Alice Neel Marxist Girl (Irene Peslikis), 1972 © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel.

Alice Neel: Hot Off The Griddle
Barbican Gallery, London

16 February — 21 May 2023
www.barbican.org.uk/AliceNeel

The Barbican’s much anticipated new exhibition puts an influential but largely undervalued artist firmly in her place as one of the most important portrait painters of the 20th century. Born in 1900, Alice Neel painted figuratively in New York during a period in which it was deeply unfashionable to do so. ‘One of the reasons I painted was to catch life as it goes by, right hot off the griddle… the vitality is taken out of real living,’ she said.

The largest UK exhibition of Neel’s work to date presents paintings spanning her 60-year career alongside archival material, including photography, letters and film. Crowned the ‘court painter of the underground’, she favoured subjects who were unfamiliar in art, among them pregnant women, queer performers, and Black and Puerto Rican children.

You’ll see these alongside portraits of famous faces including Joe Gould, Sam Brody and Frank O’Hara, and intimate depictions of friends, lovers and neighbours. No matter the subject, Neel painted with an untrammelled energy that reveals the humanity of her subjects.

Largely unrecognised for her work during her lifetime, Neel has since come to be championed for the candour with which she looked at the world. At last, it seems she is finally getting the widespread institutional recognition she deserves. Run, don’t walk.

Viewing Two Worlds Entwined: Annie Morris and Idris Khan

The Wick Culture - Idris Khan and Annie Morris, Credit: Vikram Kushwah, 2023

Above Idris Khan and Annie Morris, Credit: Vikram Kushwah, 2023

The Wick Culture - Idris Khan My mother, 2019, Jesmonite, pigment, fixings, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, Photographer: Stephen White & Co., 2019

Above Idris Khan My mother, 2019, Jesmonite, pigment, fixings, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, Photographer: Stephen White & Co., 2019

Above Idris Khan and Annie Morris, Credit: Vikram Kushwah, 2023

The Wick Culture - Idris Khan
Infinites Between, 2019
Digital c-type print on aluminium, Courtesy the artist, Photographer: Jason Wyche, from Sean Kelly

Above Idris Khan Infinites Between, 2019 Digital c-type print on aluminium, Courtesy the artist, Photographer: Jason Wyche, from Sean Kelly

The Wick Culture - Idris Khan, Absorbing Light, 2017 Series of 46 bronze blocks, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, Photographer: Stephen White & Co., Installation view from Victoria Miro Gallery, 2017

Above Idris Khan, Absorbing Light, 2017 Series of 46 bronze blocks, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, Photographer: Stephen White & Co., Installation view from Victoria Miro Gallery, 2017

The Wick Culture - Annie Morris Stack 3, Manganese Violet & Stack 8, Ultramarine Blue, Photo credit: Stephen White & Co., 2023

Above Annie Morris Stack 3, Manganese Violet & Stack 8, Ultramarine Blue, Photo credit: Stephen White & Co., 2023

Above Idris Khan and Annie Morris, Credit: Vikram Kushwah, 2023

Above Idris Khan My mother, 2019, Jesmonite, pigment, fixings, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, Photographer: Stephen White & Co., 2019

Above Idris Khan and Annie Morris, Credit: Vikram Kushwah, 2023

Above Idris Khan Infinites Between, 2019 Digital c-type print on aluminium, Courtesy the artist, Photographer: Jason Wyche, from Sean Kelly

Above Idris Khan, Absorbing Light, 2017 Series of 46 bronze blocks, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, Photographer: Stephen White & Co., Installation view from Victoria Miro Gallery, 2017

Above Annie Morris Stack 3, Manganese Violet & Stack 8, Ultramarine Blue, Photo credit: Stephen White & Co., 2023

Two Worlds Entwined: Annie Morris and Idris Khan
Newlands House Gallery

11 February – 07 May 2023
newlandshouse.gallery/exhibitions/annie-morris-idris-khan/

‘Two Worlds Entwined: Annie Morris and Idris Khan’ will explore the artistic practices of British contemporary artist couple Morris and Khan within the historic and intimate setting of Newlands House gallery. Wander through floor boarded rooms of mustard honey hues throughout the iconic Georgian house to view over 60 works from the artists as they invite you into their creative realm – where their multi-disciplinary works sit side by side in stunning juxtaposition.

Presented in vibrant and playful hues, Annie Morris’ stack sculptures punctuate the space. The stacks of spheres are strong but also delicate and fragile: a duality seen frequently in Morris’ work referencing personal experiences around still birth and her journey of grief and latter creativity. Symbols and characters repeat across Morris’ body of work through her needlework and drawing, with her now known ‘Flower Woman’ a bulbous figure exploring mother and child appearing in drawings, tapestries and even armchairs.

Drawing also on personal experience, Idris Khan, draws inspiration from his own journey – investigating layered experience of memory and creativity as well as the history of art and music. His work draws reference upon philosophical and theological texts, including explorations around religion. Khan captured the attention of the wider art world with Every…page of the Holy Qur’an. In this work, photographs of each page of the holy book are layered to create an illegible pattern. It speaks of an ambivalence toward his birth religion, an anxiety about his past but still a need to connect with it.

Curated by Maya Binkin, she says of Morris and Khan, “Their lives are entwined, yet their practices are separate. The dynamics of this relationship will be present in the exhibition… As in most relationships, there is love and conflict cemented together.”

Playful and contemplative, this is a must see. Well worth the train ticket.

Viewing BIG WOMEN

The Wick Culture - Yoko Brown, Untitled 2022, Tana Lawn cotton, Credit: © Yoko Brown.

Above Yoko Brown, Untitled 2022, Tana Lawn cotton, Credit: © Yoko Brown.

The Wick Culture - Vanessa Fristedt, still details: BRITISH ARTISTS IN ROME, ITALY, 1996 Gavin Turk, Gary Hume, Sam Taylor-Wood, Jay Jopling, Cerith Wyn-Evans, Gigi Gianuzzi, Fransesca Amfitheatrof. Vanessa Fristedt features in Sam Taylor-Wood’s film KNACKERED courtesy White Cube. VANESSA’S ART DIARIES 1993 – 2007: A personal glimpse into the British art scene and its creative spirit, shot with her Hi8 camcorder. By Swedish Vanessa. 2023, Credit: © Vanessa Fristedt, courtesy The Artist. Edited by Phil Smith and Vanessa Fristedt

Above Vanessa Fristedt, still details: BRITISH ARTISTS IN ROME, ITALY, 1996 Gavin Turk, Gary Hume, Sam Taylor-Wood, Jay Jopling, Cerith Wyn-Evans, Gigi Gianuzzi, Fransesca Amfitheatrof. Vanessa Fristedt features in Sam Taylor-Wood’s film KNACKERED courtesy White Cube. VANESSA’S ART DIARIES 1993 – 2007: A personal glimpse into the British art scene and its creative spirit, shot with her Hi8 camcorder. By Swedish Vanessa. 2023, Credit: © Vanessa Fristedt, courtesy The Artist. Edited by Phil Smith and Vanessa Fristedt

The Wick Culture - Georgina Starr, The History of Sculpture (Head-standing) 2013, Credit: © Georgina Starr, Courtesy the artist.

Above Georgina Starr, The History of Sculpture (Head-standing) 2013, Credit: © Georgina Starr, Courtesy the artist.

The Wick Culture - Renata Adela, Lilith I - Hammerhead Venus, 2018, wax and steel, 38 x 22 x 22 cm / 15 x 8 ⅝ x 8 ⅝ in, Credit: © Renata Adela, courtesy The Artist.

Above Renata Adela, Lilith I – Hammerhead Venus, 2018, wax and steel, 38 x 22 x 22 cm / 15 x 8 ⅝ x 8 ⅝ in, Credit: © Renata Adela, courtesy The Artist.

The Wick Culture - Sarah Lucas, Yellow Chair Hair, 2022, Credit: © Sarah Lucas.

Above Sarah Lucas, Yellow Chair Hair, 2022, Credit: © Sarah Lucas.

The Wick Culture - Gillian Wearing, Claudia and Me, 2009, digital c-type print, Credit: © Gillian Wearing, courtesy The Artist and Maureen Paley, London.

Above Gillian Wearing, Claudia and Me, 2009, digital c-type print, Credit: © Gillian Wearing, courtesy The Artist and Maureen Paley, London.

Above Yoko Brown, Untitled 2022, Tana Lawn cotton, Credit: © Yoko Brown.

Above Renata Adela, Lilith I – Hammerhead Venus, 2018, wax and steel, 38 x 22 x 22 cm / 15 x 8 ⅝ x 8 ⅝ in, Credit: © Renata Adela, courtesy The Artist.

Above Gillian Wearing, Claudia and Me, 2009, digital c-type print, Credit: © Gillian Wearing, courtesy The Artist and Maureen Paley, London.

BIG WOMEN
Firstsite, Colchester

11 February – 18 June 2023
firstsite.uk/event/big-women/

Firstsite Colchester lands with a blockbuster – BIG WOMEN curated by one of Britain’s most celebrated artists, Sarah Lucas (YBA) – and we can guarantee it’s going to be BIG.

Under Lucas’ curatorial eye, the Colchester gallery led by Sally Shaw MBE will showcase work by leading female artists across sculpture, painting, film and fashion: Renata Adela, Erica Åkerlund, Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Kate Boxer, Yoko Brown, Angela Bulloch, Phillippa Clayden, Sonia Coode-Adams, Vanessa Fristedt, Maggi Hambling, Pam Hogg, Rachel Howard, Merilyn Humphreys, Patricia Jordan, Princess Julia, Abigail Lane, Tory Lawrence, Millie Laws, Polly Morgan, Clare Palmier, Georgina Starr, Milly Thompson, Gillian Wearing, Sue Webster, and Lucas herself.

The exhibition promises a wealth of diverse artworks to enjoy – from women who all celebrate the freedom of expression in their work. The seed BIG WOMEN was planted when Lucas took a trip to Venice with her friend, fellow artist Kate Boxer, in 2017. As Sarah explains: “I can’t put an exact age on when we stop being ‘Miss or ‘Señorita’ and start being ‘Madam’, or ‘Señora’, but by the time you’re in your mid-fifties you’ve definitely arrived.”

People of a certain vintage may recognise the show’s title, as it is inspired by a popular TV drama made in the 1990’s. Big Women followed the progress of a group of feminists during the 1970’s, after they established a book publishing company. The television show was itself based on Fay Weldon’s novel, Praxis.

A celebration of fierce feminism, expertise and achievements in the creative industries, Lucas explores the greatness of older women in an ageist society. The exhibition takes viewers on a feast for the eyes and down multiple human experiences – strength, imagination, motherhood and menopause.

The Wick prescription for anyone worried about ageing. You’ll be wishing for the years to pass.