Exhibition Roundup - May 2011

An occasional, and highly selective, pick of current and forthcoming exhibitions.

Tracey Emin: Love is What You Want

The first major survey of Tracey Emin's work, Love is What You Want, will be at the Hayward Gallery from 18th May until the 19th August. Read Monica Ali's article: Tracey Emin: 'What you see is what I am'.

Mark Leckey, GreenScreenRefrigerator 2010

Mark Leckey, Turner Prize winner 2008, presents See, We Assemble, at the Serpentine Gallery from 19th May until 26th June. Leckey's approach is described on the Serpentine website as a multi-disciplinary practice that encompasses sculpture, sound, film and performance. For example, the work illustrated is described as follows: In the recent performance piece 'GreenScreenRefrigeratorAction' (2010), Leckey sought to communicate the inner life of a ‘smart’ fridge – one that keeps an electronic tally of its contents – and to render audible its ‘voice’. In his bid to become one with the appliance, the artist inhaled refrigerator coolant and draped himself in a green cloak that, at a certain point in the performance, allowed him to morph into the green-screen backdrop against which the fridge was set. Advancing the notion that we can be in constant communication with every aspect of our environment, that everything feels alive, Leckey’s universe is mediated on multiple levels.

Mitch Epstein, Biloxi, Mississippi  2005

Two new photography displays have been opened at Tate Modern: Photography: New Documentary Forms will be on show until 31st March 2012 and Burke + Norfolk: Photographs From The War In Afghanistan, until 10th July 2011. The first comprises the Tate's acquisition of the work of 5 photographers: Luc Delahaye, Mitch Epstein, Guy Tillim, Akram Zaatari,and Boris Mikhailov.Mitch Epstein (illustrated) was recently awarded the Prix Pictet (see below).

Simon Norfolk, Kabul, 2010

Burke + Norfolk: Photographs From The War In Afghanistan presents the fruit of a project following Norfolk's discovery of an album of photographs by John Burke, seen in the National Media Museum in Bradford and thought to be the first photographs taken inside Afghanistan: In October 2010, Simon Norfolk began a series of new photographs in Afghanistan, which takes its cue from the work of nineteenth-century British photographer John Burke. Norfolk’s photographs re-imagine or respond to Burke’s Afghan war scenes in the context of the contemporary conflict. Conceived as a collaborative project with Burke across time, this new body of work is presented alongside Burke’s original portfolios. (From Tate Modern website). Read article by Ian Jack and In Conversation: Paul Lowe and Simon Norfolk. 

John Burke, Landholders and labourers, Afghanistan, c1880

Simon Norfolk, A team from the mine ­detection centre, Kabul, 2010?

Michael Craig-Martin, Hearing Things, 2003

Michael Craig-Martin: Drawings 1967 - 2002 is at Alan Christea until 4th June and is the first exhibition of drawings by the artist. Read interview with Stuart Jeffries.

Callum Innes, Untitled No.21, 2011

 Callum Innes: New Paintings and Watercolours is at the Frith Street Gallery, 13th May - 31st July.

Ian Hamilton Finlay, Zimmerit, 1992

Ian Hamilton Finlay: Definitions is at Victoria Miro until 1st June.

Ai Weiwei, Moon Chest, 2008

Ai Weiwei's work will be shown at the Lisson Gallery, 13th May - 16th July. As noted on the gallery's website, the whereabouts and situation of the artist remain unknown following his arrest in China: Ai Weiwei was detained by authorities in Beijing while trying to board a flight to Hong Kong on 3 April, and has not been seen or heard from since. Lisson Gallery, along with all his supporters in the UK and around the world, is alarmed by the detention of Ai Weiwei and greatly concerned for his safety. Read the gallery director, Nicholas Logsdail, writing in the Guardian: It feels rotten putting the show on in Ai Weiwei's absence. Read Where is Ai Weiwei? by Adrian Searle, and more articles about the artist here.

John Salt, Pontiac with Tree Trunk, 1973

An exhibition of paintings by the photorealist John Salt is at the Ikon Gallery until 17th July. Though I have long been aware of Salt's work it was something of a surprise to learn that he is not, in fact, American, but was brought up in Birmingham and was actually the first artist to be exhibited at the Ikon back in 1965.

Tadasu Takamine, God Bless America (video), 2002

 Also showing at the Ikon until 17th July is Tadasu Takamine: Too Far to See. God Bless America is a video in which ‘the artist and his wife wrestle with two tons of clay over a period of 17 days'. Read Laura Cumming's review of this Japanese artist's first European show. 

Atkinson Grimshaw, Boar Lane, Leeds

Atkinson Grimshaw: Painter of Moonlight is at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate until 4th September.

Finally, 3 recent graduates of University of Gloucestershire, Martin Abrams, Hannah Stoney and Richard Taylor, and a current lecturer, Paul Rosenbloom are featured in Curatorial Contrast 2 at BayArt Gallery in Cardiff, until 27th May. Four established artists, Cherry Pickles, Andreas Rüthi, Sue Williams and Paul Rosenbloom have each been invited to nominate emerging artist whom they have taught. The installation shot, below, shows work by Richard Taylor.