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 Liminal

The Wick Culture - Liminal, Venetia Berry at Alex Eagle, courtesy of Alex Eagle and Venetia Berry

Above Liminal, Venetia Berry at Alex Eagle, courtesy of Alex Eagle and Venetia Berry

Liminal
Alex Eagle, London

1 December 2022 — 31 January 2023
alexeagle.com/products/venetia-berry-liminal

Venetia Berry has developed a name for herself as an exciting young painting talent. A graduate of Leith School of Art and the Royal Drawing School, she is perhaps best known for her abstract nudes rendered with gestural brushstrokes in her distinctive watery palette. In these figurative works she looks to ‘reverse the male gaze, challenging the archetypal sexualised female nude.’

But she’s also a celebrated ceramicist and printmaker, and has collaborated with luxury art and lifestyle brands, including Paradise Row, Matches Fashion and Partnership Editions. She’s exhibited in group and solo shows around London and completed artist residency programmes in Italy in both 2021 and 2022.

Now she’s enjoying a solo show at Alex Eagle’s gorgeous concept store on Lexington Street. Liminal features a new body of abstract paintings that invite a feeling of calm and meditation. Painted in soothing pastel tones, they reference the female form yet are open to interpretation. It’s not to be missed.

Viewing Arthur Timothy: Postcards from a Promised Land

The Wick Culture - Arthur Timothy, GENESIS, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, GENESIS, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

The Wick Culture - Arthur Timothy, THE DESCENDANTS (CHARLOTTE VILLAGE), 2022, 101.6cm x 101.6, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, THE DESCENDANTS (CHARLOTTE VILLAGE), 2022, 101.6cm x 101.6, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

The Wick Culture - Arthur Timothy, ROGBONKO, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, ROGBONKO, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

The Wick Culture - Arthur Timothy, THE GARDENER'S GIFT, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, THE GARDENER’S GIFT, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

The Wick Culture - Arthur Timothy, THE WAY OF THE CROSS, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, THE WAY OF THE CROSS, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

The Wick Culture - Arthur Timothy, triptych, ISABELLA'S HEAD START (LAKKA), 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, triptych, ISABELLA’S HEAD START (LAKKA), 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, GENESIS, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, THE DESCENDANTS (CHARLOTTE VILLAGE), 2022, 101.6cm x 101.6, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, ROGBONKO, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, THE GARDENER’S GIFT, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, THE WAY OF THE CROSS, 2022, 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Above Arthur Timothy, triptych, ISABELLA’S HEAD START (LAKKA), 190cm x 190cm, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957

Arthur Timothy: Postcards from a Promised Land
Gallery 1957, London

9 December 2022 — 28 January 2023
www.gallery1957.com/exhibitions/85-arthur-timothy-postcards-from-a-promised-land-london/

Arthur Timothy’s paintings of deserted beaches, street vendors and abandoned buildings in Sierra Leone will make you stop and stare. Painted from holiday pictures from 1985 until the present day, they showcase the country’s great natural beauty and resilience in the face of adversity, while also revealing its ongoing transformation.

As you meander around the gallery, you’ll encounter the people, places and architecture of this ‘promised land’. (Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, was founded in 1792 as a settlement for freed African American, Afro-Caribbean and liberated African slaves.) Some of the paintings are deeply personal; others less so. What unites them all, though, is ‘the ongoing triumph of beauty over hardship.’

Using vibrant tones and intriguing angles, Timothy offers a nuanced insight into the place he grew up and shows that despite the struggles endured in the wake of slavery, colonialism, Ebola and Civil War, Sierra Leone is a place of outstanding majesty. Catch it while you can!

Viewing George Westren: On the Straight and Narrow

Above George Westren

The Wick Culture - George Westren, Untitled, 2001

Above George Westren, Untitled, 2001

The Wick Culture - George Westren, 'Lighting!' 2009

Above George Westren, ‘Lighting!’ 2009

The Wick Culture - George Westren, 'Hidden' 2005

Above George Westren, ‘Hidden’ 2005

The Wick Culture - George Westren, 'Diamonds Uncut'

Above George Westren, ‘Diamonds Uncut’

The Wick Culture - George Westren, 'Chair', 2004

Above George Westren, ‘Chair’, 2004

The Wick Culture - George Westren by Elizabeth Walker

Above George Westren by Elizabeth Walker

Above George Westren

Above George Westren, Untitled, 2001

Above George Westren, ‘Lighting!’ 2009

Above George Westren, ‘Hidden’ 2005

Above George Westren, ‘Diamonds Uncut’

Above George Westren, ‘Chair’, 2004

Above George Westren by Elizabeth Walker

George Westren: On the Straight and Narrow
Saatchi Gallery, London

6 — 25 January 2023
www.saatchigallery.com/exhibition/straight_and_narrow__the_work_of_george_westren_2

In June 2022 George Westren, a little-known artist who sadly died in 2021 during the UK’s Covid lockdown, made news headlines across the world. Why? Because a neighbour recovered Westren’s portfolio of intricate op art drawings from a skip, following a house clearance one year after his death.

Not surprisingly, Westren’s artwork went viral on Twitter, where his story of humble beginnings, homelessness, addiction and eventual salvation through art touched hundreds of thousands of people. Funds raised through the sale of a small run of prints helped to preserve, catalogue and now exhibit Westren’s artwork.

On the Straight and Narrow features more than 40 works from across Westren’s life. You’ll encounter his simple ‘tunnel’ designs, pulsating stars, battling chevrons, interlocking spears and protruding 3D edges, which hover between subtle op art illusion and muscular, graphic clarity. Curated by Alan Warburton, the neighbour who rescued the works, this captivating free and exhibition presents an unparalleled insight into Westren’s life and art.

‘For George, art was a means of transformation and salvation,’ says Warburton. ‘For those touched by his story, it is a symbol of hope in the face of adversity.’ What better way to start the year?