Nadia Lee Cohen gets her first major American solo exhibition, Tracey Emin confronts death, and Frieze hits New York
LONDON GALLERY WEEKEND, LONDON, UK
Two good things are happening this weekend in London. The first: sunshine! The second: London Gallery Weekend. Launching in 2021, the two-day-long, city-wide art takeover spans Deptford, Hackney, St James, etc. There are no entry fees, so check the website to start planning your trek as there are over 150 galleries taking part.
London Gallery Weekend takes place May 13-15 2022 at various locations around London
BLACK VENUS, CURATED BY AINDREA EMELIFE, FOTOGRAFISKA, NEW YORK CITY, USA
A juxtaposition of archival works stretching back to 1973 up to contemporary work, Black Venus, Curated By Aindrea Emelife explores the historical representation of Black women through visual culture. The incredible line-up reads like a who’s who of the greatest artists working with photography, film, mixed media, and sculpture, with Tabitha Rezaire, Sadie Barnette, and Deanne Lawson, among others, all featured. It’s also curated by British art historian, writer, curator, and presenter Aindrea Emelife, who explains: “In a contemporary age, where Black women are finally being allowed to claim agency over the way their own image is seen, it is important to track how we have reached this moment.”
Black Venus, Curated By Aindrea Emelife runs at Fotografiska from May 13 – August 28, 2022
WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: THE WORLD OF ASMR, DESIGN MUSEUM, LONDON, UK
If you’ve ever found yourself drifting off to sleep to the sound of bubble wrap bursting or Bob Ross explaining how to paint a mountain vista, then the Design Museum’s new ASMR show sells itself. But for the uninitiated, ASMR is a sensation from sounds that can reduce anxiety and enhance relaxation for the listener. Some people get it, and some don‘t, but the Design Museum is offering the chance to experience it under one roof with the first exhibition of its kind. There’s only one way to know if ASMR is your thing: go see for yourself.
WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR runs at the Design Museum from May 13, 2022
BOLD TENDENCIES, PECKHAM LEVELS, LONDON, UK
You know it’s almost summertime when Bold Tendencies launches its sculpture commissions. This year’s site-specific works are from various disciplines and subjects: Rhea Dillon, Martin Creed, Gray Wielebinski, Nan Goldin, Paloma Proudfoot, and Dominique White, alongside its permanent rooftop works. While Bold Tendencies gives away very little ahead of the annual unveiling, grab a Campari & Soda from Frank’s Cafe and enjoy being surprised.
Bold Tendencies runs at Peckham Levels from May 20 – September 17 2022
ON LOVE, HOME, LONDON, UK
Curated by photographer Ronan Mckenzie and artist Joy Yamusangie, On Love explores the “search of, enjoyment of, and need to express” love, with this group show of 15 artists. The line-up includes painter Alfie Kungu, collagist Jazz Grant, photographer Abena Appiah, painter Sola Olulode, and more. Channelling the famous bell hooks, On Love promises to be a “response to the indescribable feeling of holding, and being held.” Perhaps something we could all do with.
On Love runs at HOME from May 12 – July 10, 2022
ALIENARIUM 5, DOMINIQUE GONZALEZ-FOERSTER, THE SERPENTINE, LONDON, UK
Based on the questions: “what if aliens were in love with us? What would change?” artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster creates a “speculative environment” to explore the possibilities of other life. A decades-long result of her research in science fiction, deep space, and alien life, Alienarium 5 is a site-specific work and collaboration with writer and philosopher Paul B Preciado, musician Julien Perez, and perfumer Barnabé Fillion, among others. It also includes a multi-user VR piece to help visitors transcend the London gallery to an otherworldly place.
Alienarium 5 runs at the Serpentine until September 4, 2022
HELLO, MY NAME IS, NADIA LEE COHEN, JEFFREY DEITCH, LOS ANGELES, USA
British photographer Nadia Lee Cohen has been making waves globally for the best part of the last decade with her uncanny portraits and characters, but HELLO, My Name Is is her first major solo exhibition Stateside. The exhibition will thematically present work from Cohen’s monographs Women and the more recent HELLO, My Name Is, and also include an immersive installation featuring unseen video works.
HELLO, My Name Is runs at Jeffrey Deitch from May 22 – July 9, 2022
A JOURNEY TO DEATH, TRACEY EMIN, CARL FREEDMAN, MARGATE, UK
Launched in late April, Tracey Emin’s A Journey to Death is a solo exhibition of new works from the YBA, featuring prints, large-scale monotypes, and bronze sculptures. Comprehensive in its scale, A Journey to Death likely reflects the artist’s current state of mind, where she was, until 2020, battling cancer – having her bladder and womb removed as a result of her treatment. Emin’s work has always shaken her viewers to their cores, and in true Emin style, these will too, as she grapples with life and death.
A Journey to Death runs at Carl Freedman Gallery until June 19, 2022
STEPPING ON THE TAIL OF A RAINBOW, TAKASHI MURAKAMI, THE BROAD, LOS ANGELES, USA
Few artists command God-like levels of recognition like Takashi Murakami, whose “expansive artistic universe” is being laid bare in all its glory at the Broad in Los Angeles. It’s not just the reach of his reputation but the scope of the works themselves that are deeply impressive, and the institution will exhibit his monumental 82-foot-wide painting “In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow” (2014). Alongside this, visitors can expect sculpture, wallpaper, and new immersive environments that explore globalisation, Japan, pop culture and religious iconography.
Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow runs at The Broad from 21 May – 25 September 2022
I COULD ALWAYS CRACK A JOKE, ELSA ROUY, GUTS GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Painter Elsa Rouy debuts a new body of her signature visceral works: ridiculing, empathising and embracing the human condition. The exhibition includes a series of paintings, a sculpture installation, and a printed publication where Rouy “toys with alternate versions of her own psyche”. Materials include hair, latex and fluids. As usual, expect the work to get under your skin – in the best way possible.
I Could Always Crack a Joke runs at GUTS Gallery until May 26, 2022
TRIPTYCH, HOLLY BLAKEY, KOKO, LONDON, UK
Choreographer, dancer and director Holly Blakey returns with a new short film, commissioned by The Francis Bacon Estate’s publishing house, Cheerio, and soundtracked by Gwilym Gold. Comprising three sections, the film morphs “the idea of the physical body through gender and perversion” in the form of “two dancers appearing separately, together and sometimes one of the same”.
Triptych debuts at KOKO London on May 16, 2022
PIECE OF MIND, GALLERY 31 AT SOMERSET HOUSE, LONDON, UK
At the centre of Harlesden High Street’s Piece of Mind exhibition is a bedroom – a domestic space whose function is increasingly shifting to a site where work, social, and leisure activities overlap. Curated by Lucía Ríos González and Jonny Tanna, Piece of Mind features artists Ocean Baulcombe-Toppin, 雅 YA + Casandra Burrell, Farrah Riley Gray, Tyreis Holder, KO___OL, and Anna Sebastian, and “seeks to unpack how a space once intimate, private, and familiar, can becoming increasingly contested by outside influences”.
Piece of Mind runs at Gallery 31 at Somerset House until 17 July 2022
WONDER WOMEN, JEFFREY DEITCH, NEW YORK CITY, USA
A truly unmissable show lands Jeffrey Deitch on this list twice – although this show happens at its NYC outpost. More than 30 Asian artists from around the world showcase their works in Wonder Women, curated by Kathy Huang – from Sasha Gordon, Anna Park, Zadie Xa and more. The show’s title borrowed from Genny Lim’s 1981 poem “Wonder Women”, which is an observation of the everyday lives of Asian women.
“The increasing violence against Asians Americans, particularly against Asian women and the elderly, emphasises the need to tell our own stories,” explained Huang in the show’s press release. “Figuration allows the artists to present themselves, their communities and their histories on their own terms.” Expect a “cross-section” of works and experiences that “celebrates difference and points of connection simultaneously”.
Wonder Women runs at Jeffrey Deitch until June 25, 2022
FRIEZE ART FAIR, NEW YORK CITY, USA
Another month, another edition of Frieze Art Fair. This time, the fair pops up in the Big Apple at the Shed with over 65 major galleries, alongside the Frame section which shines a light on younger (less than ten-years-old) spaces. Outside of its white walls, expect to see city-wide interventions by artists like Tom Burr, whose 1997 essays Eight Renovations: A constellation of sites across Manhattan are being re-printed and re-posted, alongside a new text.