Whitewaller London 2019: What to See

In London for Frieze this week? Be sure to save time in your schedule to visit these exhibitions, on view at London’s top museums and galleries.

Enoc Perez: The Cinematic Self
Ben Brown Fine Arts
October 2–November 22
In Enoc Perez’s “The Cinematic Self,” the Puerto Rican-American artist steps aside from exterior architecture as his compositional subject, moving on to interiors. The works on view include a series of new and recent “brushless” paintings, in which Perez illustrates a myriad of interiors inhabited by renowned figures of the 20th century—like Francis Bacon’s paint smeared studio door, Le Corbusier’s drafting table, and the bunk David Bowie slept on during his train tour of Russia. Clearly devoid of their human inhabitants, the large-scale paintings use expressive strokes and colors, and demonstrate the power one’s personal effects might have to reveal one’s individuality. This will be the artist’s first exhibition with Ben Brown Fine Arts and his first show in the U.K. after more than 10 years.

Nate Lowman
David Zwirner Mayfair
October 3–November 9
In an exhibition of new works, Nate Lowman has created a series surrounding the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, during which a gunman attacked civilians in attendance at the Route 91 Harvest Festival—an act of terror resulting in 59 deaths. Based on cursory photos taken at the scene of the crime, Lowman’s paintings depict uneasily mundane scenes that, at once, reveal and hide the violent context of his sources—via scenes like a neat hotel room with large firearms laid across the bed.

Sterling Ruby: ACTS + TABLE
Gagosian King’s Cross
October 2–December 14
Featuring sculptural works from two separate series, Sterling Ruby’s exhibition “ACTS + TABLE” gives life to the artist’s thoughts on the authoritarian, exclusionary ideological foundations of Minimalism. For the works from ACTS (short for “Absolute Contempt for Total Serenity), Ruby created glassy sculptural forms from Formica bases and urethane, which were then filled with smoky furls of colored dye. His 2019 work TABLES (DOUBLE LAST SUPPER) explores the concept of personal and cultural archaeology, created around welding tables he salvaged from his studio space in 2015. The German-born artist describes his wide oeuvre as a “schizophrenic labor strategy” with a coherent trajectory.

James Rosenquist: Visualizing the Sixties
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Mayfair
September 10–November 9
“James Rosenquist: Visualizing the Sixties” presents an in-depth look at the 1960s, highlighting Rosenquist’s innovative work of the time, demonstrating why these early years in his career were so ground-breaking, and celebrating a defining decade in the late artist’s career. Featured in the show are some of Rosenquist’s most radical paintings from the era juxtaposed with rarely seen studies and collages, as well as a selection of uniquely shaped canvases, works incorporating lightbulbs, a revolutionary motorized painting and an interactive
hanging piece, explicitly designed to be walked through by visitors.

Mark Bradford: Cerberus
Hauser & Wirth Mayfair
Now–December 21
Mark Bradford’s first presentation with Hauser & Wirth, “Cerberus,” features new works extending throughout the entirety of the gallery’s spaces. Inspired by a fascination with ancient mythology, the show is dedicated to places difficult and in-between, where conflicts arise—like the entryway to Hades. By combining tales from ancient mythology with events from more recent history, Bradford incorporates layered elements in both his physical works and concepts, exploring sociopolitical themes (such as the distribution of power within societal structures) through pieces that are created by forming and stripping away strata of pigmented paper.

Ai Weiwei: Roots
Lisson Gallery Marylebone
Now–November 2
Ai Weiwei has created a new series of monumental works in iron cast from Brazilian tree roots found during the production of the artist’s survey show “Raiz” at the OCA Pavilion in São Paulo. The rare roots come from the Pequi Vinagreiro tree, which can grow for over a thousand years. They serve as a visual representation of Ai’s current state of “uprootedeness,” as he left China in 2015, as well as the current refugee crisis, an ongoing theme in the artist’s work. Also on view are floating sculptures made from stretched silk over bamboo and wall-based work made from LEGO bricks.

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe: Colony Sound
Marlborough Mayfair
Now–October 19
Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe’s exhibition “Colony Sound” invites gallery-goers to make their way through a labyrinth-like installation, which is the fourth chapter in the artistic duo’s San San Universe, engulfing both floors of Marlborough’s space. Focusing on a set of relationships surrounding the obscure 20th-century communication system called The Smile, the exhibition leads its audience through 11 rooms, each transformed into a new location or experience—like a half-incinerated recording studio, an entirely copper room, and a retail outlet.

Song Dong: Same Bed Different Dreams
Pace Gallery Mayfair
Now–November 5
Song Dong’s exhibition “Same Bed Different Dreams” is a survey of the artist’s works from 1995 to the present day, named for his continuous return to the same core ideas through a radical variety of media and methods. The artist developed his career during a time of political and social change in China, and his work often acts as a response to the provocative atmospheres around him—confronting notions of waste, impermanence, memory, consumerism, and the urban environment, while simultaneously exploring connections between life and art. For the opening week only, Dong will present a site-specific installation and interactive performance, entitled Eating the City, where visitors are invited to consume the work itself—inspired by the cities of Asia, in which old buildings are repeatedly knocked down and replaced with new ones.

Luchita Hurtado: I Live I Die I Will Be Reborn
Serpentine Sackler Gallery Kensington Gardens
Now–October 20
“I Live I Die I Will Be Reborn” traces Luchita Hurtado’s expansive 80-year career, finally giving the 98-year-old artist the recognition deserved. In her work, the Venezuelan artist takes on unexpected perspectives, looking up at the sky or painting straight down the body, offering a vision of humankind that is part of the world, not separated from nature. Though she is a woman of many talents (including areas like fashion, poetry, ecology, feminism, activism, and more) and rarely exhibits her work, Hurtado’s friends and family often associate her paintings with movements like the Dynaton Group, Magical Realism, and Surrealism. Also on view is Albert Oehlen’s exhibition with a musical performance and digital commissions like The Deep Listener by Jakob Steensen and Suzanne Treister’s From SURVIVOR (F) to The Escapist BHST (Black Hole Spacetime).

“Richard Serra Drawings”
Paul Coulon Mayfair
Now–November 15
Paul Coulon is presenting works on paper by Richard Serra. Best known for his large-scale sculptures in steel, the artist has maintained a strong drawing practice since the 1970s. Included in the show are graphic pieces from several series. Serra describes drawing as a foundation to his work and a source of inspiration. On view are recent drawings, as well as Rail Box Vertical, a monumental work from 1982.

Kara Walker: Hyundai Commission
Tate Modern South Bank
Now—April 5, 2020
Commissioned for Tate Modern’s annual Hyundai Commission, Kara Walker will create a site-specific installation, to be revealed in the museum’s Turbine Hall on October 2. Known for her candid and fearless explorations of race, gender, sexuality, and violence, the practice of the New York–based artist ranges through multiple mediums, including drawings, prints, murals, shadow puppets, projections, large-scale installations, and more. Walker has worked on projects like a musical installation for the Prospect.4 triennial in New Orleans, entitled The Katastwóf Karavan, and A Subtlety—a 10-by-23-meter sculpture of a Sphynx-like woman made of sugar, which she built in Brooklyn’s abandoned Domino Sugar Refinery.

Tim Walker: Wonderful Things
Victoria and Albert Museum South Kensington
Now–March 8, 2020
In the largest exhibition of photographer Tim Walker to date, the Victoria & Albert Museum is presenting more than 150 works celebrating his extraordinary career and the inspiration the V&A’s collection has provided Walker over the years. Beginning with 100 photos from the artist’s previous projects, the exhibition presents Walker’s work alongside the objects that inspired them, as well as a selection of short films, props, sketches, and other items. The highlight of the show, on view in the V&A’s main exhibition space, is a series of 10 new major projects, which were directly influenced by the museum’s collection.

Grayson Perry: Super Rich Interior Decoration
Victoria Miro Mayfair
Now–December 20
Grayson Perry’s tongue-in-cheek humor returns with his exhibition, which casts an anthropological view on an amalgamation of art, money, power, and desire. While poking fun at cultural and consumer choices, Perry’s new works—including pots, sculpture, a tapestry, a carpet, and large-scale prints—broach the topics of meaning and significance with a playfully satirical approach. The show includes works like Selfie with Political Causes (depicting the artist riding a motorcycle, surrounded by slogans); Thin Woman with Painting, which features an art patron at home with her collection; and a pot titled Shopping for Meaning, adorned with images in which the artist was photographed by Eleni Parousi standing in front of designer stores, dressed in wig, headscarf, and various outfits.

Mona Hatoum
White Cube Bermondsey
Now–November 3
Mona Hatoum’s exhibition at White Cube features a series of new and recent installation, sculpture, and works on paper. Subjects like mobility, confinement, the architecture of surveillance, and systems of confinement, are addressed using a wide range of materials like steel, brick, rubble, glass, and concrete, adding a poetic charge to her exploration of minimal forms like the grid and sphere. On view are works like the major installation Remains to be Seen (in which Hatoum transforms industrial building materials into a suspended cube), the globe-like structure Orbital, and a curtain woven of human hair, entitled Hair Mesh.

Anna Maria Maiolino: Making Love Revolutionary
Whitechapel Gallery Whitechapel
Now–January 12, 2020
“Making Love Revolutionary” is a retrospective of work by the Italian-born artist Anna Maria Maiolino. Living and working in Brazil, Maiolino employs simple materials like clay, ink, and paper to create her artistic world, rooted in explorations of the human condition and touching on subjects like longing, fragility, motherhood, language, and resistance. Maiolino’s artistic practice brings tangibility to her experience of exile, deprivation, and survival under authoritarian and patriarchal regimes and is frequently inspired by her experience as an immigrant, and 60 years of political, personal, and cultural changes. On view are 150 works ranging from the late 1960s through the present day.

Shana Moulton
Zabludowicz Collection Belsize Park
Now–December 15
The annual solo exhibition at Zabludowicz Collection is a presentation of works by American artist Shana Moulton. A selection of her key projects (such as the operatic work Whispering Pines ∞) and a new piece commissioned especially for the exhibition are included in the show. Moulton uses video, sculptural installation, and performance to create a distinctive realm centered around her alter-ego, Cynthia. Linked by an exploration of feminist spirituality, specifically the motif of the trapped or imprisoned woman, the exhibition reflects on themes that are at the forefront of cultural debate today: the personal wellness industry, ecological protest, and alternative models of living.