BENEATH MIAMI BASEL, VARIOUS, FAENA BEACH, MIAMI

Miami Art Week kicks off next week, descending on the Floridan city with hundreds of events, pop-ups, and artworks. But what does Miami’s art scene really look like? Dazed’s Arts & Culture editor Ashleigh Kane will be asking this as moderator of a panel, in partnership with Perrier-Jouët, to a group of local and international art figures, including gallerist Nina Johnson, writer and critic Monica Uszerowicz, and London-based artist Bethan Laura Wood, who will be presenting new works at Design Miami/.

The talk will take place Wednesday 6 December at 4pm at Faena Beach. Free, RSVP at dazed@perrierjouetevents.com. Keep an eye on @dazed for highlights

ATMOSPHERES, JUDY CHICAGO, NINA JOHNSON, MIAMI

Five decades ago, Judy Chicago began what we now know as Atmospheres, a series of landscape installations and performances staged between 1968–1974. In a year which saw female rage spill over, with movements such as Me Too, Chicago’s work feels as important as ever. Nina Johnson gallery is currently celebrating the feminist luminary by sharing unseen imagery from these happenings. Speaking with Dazed earlier this month in regards to a recent resurgence of her work amongst galleries and museums, Chicago noted, “It is not unusual for it to take decades for people to understand my work.”

Atmospheres runs at Nina Johnson until 2 March 2019. A major retrospective of Chicago’s work is also taking place at Miami’s ICA

TSCHABALALA SELF, FRINGE PROJECTS, MIAMI 

Artist Tschabalala Self is hosting and organising a night of performances alongside producer Michael Mosby for Fringe Projects event “Free Range”. Taking place in Downtown Miami, check out the line up here.

Tschabalala Self’s night for Fringe Projects Miami runs 7 December from 9pm – 12am at Mana Contemporary, Miami

FEMME NOIRES, MICKALENE THOMAS, ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, TORONTO

Mickalene Thomas’ work elevates real black women into goddesses, queens, and superstars. With her use of glitter, rhinestones, sequins, acrylic, and collage, Thomas’ artworks aim to “overturn familiar representations and monolithic notions of black women today”. Just opened at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario, Femme Noires presents new works by the artist and is the first large-scale solo exhibition by Thomas to be staged in Canada.

Femme Noires runs until 24 March 2018 at the Art Gallery of Ontario

MOVING IN THE BLUISH LIGHT, SOLA OLULODE, POST_INSTITUTE, LONDON

The colour blue holds many meanings: sadness, jazz, the ocean. For Brixton-based artist Sola Olulode, the word and its relations to Harlem Renaissance poet Gwendolyn Bennett forms the basis of her latest show Moving in the Bluish Light. The show draws on the historical context of the Harlem Renaissance (liberation, through jazz, dance, poetry and visual art) to explore themes like the representation of black British girlhood, LGBT nightlife, music, and dance in contemporary London. Drawing on the essence of Harlem are Oluldoe’s paintings where flowing figures (which take form photographs Olulode has taken of London nightlife) dance freely – their liberation key to generating a world free from barriers of identity like gender and race.

Moving in the Bluish Light runs until 19 December at Post_Institute, Brixton, London

A SHEET OF PAPER CAN BECOME A KNIFE, VARIOUS ARTISTS, PRINCE CLAUS FUND GALLERY, AMSTERDAM

In A Sheet of Paper can Become a Knife, humanity’s struggle with violence is explored through the lens of 10 artists who use art to explore social, political, and physical brutality. The show, whose title is inspired by a poem which suggests that anything can become a weapon, explores every inch of the planet from city murders in South America, to unjust violence against Sikhs in Delhi. For South African artist Zanele Muholi, oppression as a weapon of social violence is explored through LGBT lives in Africa, while in photographer Newsha Tavakolian’s work, we enter the world of female guerrilla fighters in Colombia.

A Sheet of Paper can Become a Knife runs until 26 April 2019 at the Prince Claus Fund Gallery, Amsterdam

DEAR DIARY, KATJA SEIB, SADIE COLES, LONDON

dear diary, artist Katja Seib’s current show at Sadie Coles is deeply psychological: it’s a space where paint becomes microscope through which to view Seib’s psyche. Doused in deep purples and dark shades, her hazy paintings make you feel like you’re in a dream, their hazy aura exacerbated by recurring motifs and symbols which run throughout the show. Female sexuality is explored through the story of Eve and the serpent, where a painting of a woman reclining on a bed, titled Eve’s Curse, relates to motifs in Real life is stranger than my dreams, where snakes appear in multiple guises.

dear diary runs until 26 January 2019 at Sadie Coles, London

ROADBLOCKS, SHADI AL-ATALLAH, COB GALLERY, LONDON

London based painter Shadi Al-Atallah’s debut solo show Roadblocks is the visual embodiment of ‘catharsis’. Drawing on the ideas posed by Aristotle, Al-Atallah’s paintings zeitgeist that exact moment of emotional and spiritual release when we let go of something, or clean our souls. In addition to this, the painter also draws on his experiences as a queer, mix-raced artist which he translates into paintings about non-normative identities, spirituality, and ideas around mental health. Heads up, this show ends tomorrow. 

Roadblocks runs until 1 December at Cob Gallery, London

ROSIE MARKS, SOFT OPENING, LONDON

Stroll through Piccadilly Circus underground right now and you'll be slightly startled by a group of 18 eager looking holiday markers peering at you through the glass windows of Soft Opening. Everyone’s there: the fabulous old lady with Marlene Dietrich brows, the glamazon enjoying Magaluf, the sunkissed bather. The cardboard cutouts form the basis of London-based photographer Rosie Mark’s debut solo show which draws on photos taken on holidays to Argentina, Spain, LA, Amsterdam, and local places around the UK. As a photographer who notices the intricate details in mundanity, here Rosie Marks celebrates the liberation only afforded by our holidays.

Rosie Marks runs until 16 December at Soft Opening, London

A BLUE PAINTED DOOR, JAMIE HAWKESWORTH, LONDON

Jamie Hawkesworth processes his experiences travelling to places such as Mombasa, Romania, and Louisiana, with a new exhibition, launching in London. A blue painted door will debut the artist’s drawings for the first time, as well as six large-scale photographs, and a film. Speaking to Dazed, he said, “(The show) is basically exploring the idea of what I always touch on, of getting out there, taking photographs… seeing what you come across.” Through this show, Hawkesworth continues to represent the movements and moment as he traverses the globe and brings back what he discovers.

A blue painted door runs 1 December – 19 December 2018 (10am – 6pm) at 1-7 Aylesbury Street London, EC1R 0DR