Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his top 5 exhibitions by Women Artists to see for International Women’s Day in London. If you are looking for more exhibitions, check out his previous top 5.
It takes something special to fill White Cube’s largest gallery, and Hosnedlova has pulled it off. Sandstone sculptures on the wall look like parts of a fossilised creature that’s been uncovered, and the central piece feels like an archaeological dig, with organic-looking sculptures amid a bed of leaves. Alongside her hanging tapestry in the smaller gallery, it’s an ambitious and impressive installation. Until 29th March.
This playful exhibition takes our usual interactions with art and messes with our expectations. We paint a life model while sitting at an easel that spins and moves, so they aren’t always in sight. We spot some keys on the floor, thinking someone’s lost them, when an arm shoots out from under the wall and snatches them back. Frozen artworks can be handled by exposing them to room temperature, and we must navigate a remote control parasol that spins around the room. It’s also great to see an ICA exhibition utilise both floors. Until 29th March, ticketed.
Playboy bunnies have been objectified for decades, and Cristine Brache examines their role and that of one, Dorothy Stratten. She wrote poetry, yet was only viewed for her body and has been largely forgotten after she was murdered by her husband. The show includes paintings based on photographs, both of which feature nudity, as well as ghostly close-ups of Stratten’s face. It turns us into voyeurs as we must look down the chimney into a scale model of the Playboy mansion. Until 2nd April.
Many of us will see the ramps and the lifts that make public transport accessible to those with disabilities. Here’s a chance to celebrate the activists who have fought to make that a reality, who continue to fight, and to show some of the horrific experiences people face when the support system lets them down. This important exhibition of portraits highlights the need to make mobility and transport accessible to all. Until 23rd March.
Close-ups of men delivering political speeches, singers performing, and people watching the news on television sets visible through shopfront windows. Naira Mushtaq captures a snapshot of Pakistan at a time when tensions were rising with its neighbour, India. We never get the whole picture, and it moves us between being a voyeur and being in the thick of it, all painted in sepia-like tones as if we’re viewing it through the haze of history. Until 20th March.
All images are copyrighted and courtesy of the respective artist and gallery. White Cube Photo © White Cube (Theo Christelis). Bernheim Photo Eva Herzog and Annie Cherrie. ICA Photo credit © Anne Tetzlaff.
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Art Critic for both FAD and Londonist. See as many exhibitions as possible and write reviews, opinion pieces and a weekly top 5 for FAD.