Sheela Gowda, Ikon, Birmingham
This exhibition of new installation works by Indian artist Sheela Gowda has been created in response to Ikon’s gallery space. Drawn to the meditative aspect of making by hand, Gowda has made use of local skills and craftsmanship, employing these methods herself. For one work Gowda sourced sheets of flattened metal drums – often used to transport tree resin or oil – to recycle into ‘Bandlis’: metal bowls, used extensively in the Indian construction industry to carry concrete slurry, sand and other building materials. The process yields forms that the artist places at the centre of her work.
Until 3 September 2017. www.ikon-gallery.org
Ed Gold, Firstsite, Colchester
The work of Essex-based documentary photographer Ed Gold explores isolated communities. Embedding himself with the people he records, Gold lives with them for up to three years, sharing their experiences and forming close relationships with those he portrays. This show features around 100 photographs taken over a period spanning almost 30 years, selected from Gold’s personal archive.
Until 17 September 2017. www.firstsite.uk
Rita Parniczky, Crafts Study Centre, Farnham
This installation by London-based artist Rita Parniczky works with weaving, photography and light. Parniczky’s new X-Ray Series features an intriguing translucent material she has developed, investigating ideas based on materiality, change, time and human experience. The unique objects interact with light in the gallery space to mark time while also evoking a sense of chance.
Until 21 October 2017. www.csc.uca.ac.uk
Kate Davis, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh
Glasgow-based artist Kate Davis’ first solo exhibition in Edinburgh brings together a new photographic series with drawings and recent moving image works including the first gallery screening of her Margaret Tait Award film, Charity (2017). Across mediums including moving image, drawing, photography and bookworks, Davis’ practice questions how historical narratives are produced and perpetuated. Taking found negatives of archetypal monuments as her starting point, Davis has drawn into and then printed these images to redefine the subjects they commemorate.
Until 8 October 2017. www.stills.org
Soul of a Nation: Art in the age of Black Power, Tate Modern, London
This show, described by a-n News writer Fisun Güner as ‘a gut-punch of an exhibition’, explores the vital contribution of black artists to a dramatic period in American art and history. It starts in 1963 at the height of the Civil Rights movement, with works illustrating how artists responded to the times by provoking, confronting, and confounding expectations. A huge variety of artwork is on display, including paintings, murals, collage, photography, revolutionary clothing designs and sculptures made with hair, melted records, and tights.
Until 22 October 2017. www.tate.org.uk
Images:
1. Sheela Gowda, installation view at Ikon Gallery, 2017. Courtesy: the artist and Ikon
2. David and Sky Atchley, Nowitna, 2017. Courtesy: Firstsite
3. Kate Davis, ‘Nudes Never Wear Glasses’, installation view at Stills, Edinburgh, 2017. Photo: Alan Dimmick
4. Barkley L Hendricks, Icon for My Man Superman (Superman Never Saved any Black People–Bobby Seale), oil, acrylic and aluminium leaf on linen canvas, 151x122cm, 1969. Collection of: Liz and Eric Lefkofsky; © Barkley L Hendricks; Courtesy: the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
More on a-n.co.uk:
Tate’s Black Power exhibition: a timely clenched fist in the gut
Platforms for change: what do artists really want from arts organisations?
A Q&A with… Nicola Naismith, 2017-18 Clore Visual Artist Fellow
