Eileen Simpson and Ben White: Open Music Archive, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
Eileen Simpson and Ben White explore the performative potential of archives by adapting and reusing copyright-expired material. This exhibition of audio-visual work highlights various projects developed over the last ten years and includes sound recordings from 1920s Atlanta, a lost feature film from 1950s Jordan and samples from 1960s UK chart hit records. The show coincides with the launch of Everything I Have Is Yours, a new film and sound work by Simpson and White at Salford Museum and Art Gallery (4 July – 3 November 2019).
Until 18 August 2019. www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk
Castlefield Gallery and a-n are offering eight artists funded travel to Denmark as part of the Artists’ International Delegation 2019. More information here.
Get Up, Stand Up Now, Somerset House, London
Curated by the artist Zak Ové – whose father Horace Ové was the creator of Pressure, the first feature film by a black British director – this bumper show celebrates the past 50 years of Black creativity in Britain and beyond. Featuring a group of over 110 interdisciplinary artists, working together for the first time, it explores black experience and influence, from the post-war era to the present day. Tracing more than half a century of collective history, many of the works have not been seen publicly before. Highlights include work by participating Somerset House Studios residents, including artist Larry Achiampong, musician Gaika and filmmaker Jenn Nkiru, who is known for having worked on Jay Z’s and Beyoncé’s ‘Apeshit’.
Until 15 September 2019. www.somersethouse.org.uk
Dean Kenning: Psychobotanical, Matt’s Gallery, London
London-based artist and writer Dean Kenning‘s latest show includes a motorised sculptural piece featuring ‘throbbing plant-like protuberances’, plus an assembly of the artist’s diagrams and other text-based graphic works. The works reference avant-garde sculpture and a parallel line of subcultural horror fiction and filmmaking. At first they appear almost like a child’s toys, but closer inspection reveals something more sinister and fleshy, like horror film props. The exhibition is accompanied by a specially commissioned essay by John Roberts.
Until 30 June 2019. www.mattsgallery.org
The Aerodrome, Ikon, Birmingham
This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Michael Stanley, curator of Ikon before becoming director of Milton Keynes Gallery and then Modern Art Oxford, who died in 2012. Its title references one of Stanley’s favourite books, Rex Warner’s 1941 wartime novel ‘The Aerodrome’, which offers a dystopian vision that influenced writers such as George Orwell, Anthony Burgess and JG Ballard. Featuring bleak man-made landscapes and work that explores the psychological effects of technological, social and environmental developments, the exhibition includes a number of artists Stanley worked with such as David Austen, George Shaw, Carrie Stanley, Jenny Saville and Susan Philipsz, amongst others.
Until 8 September 2019. www.ikon-gallery.org
Paula Rego, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes
The first major retrospective of Portuguese artist Paula Rego’s work in England for over 20 years spans her entire career since the 1960s and includes previously unseen paintings and works on paper from the artist’s family and close friends. Much of the work is hard hitting, with the gallery warning visitors that ‘parental and carer discretion may be required’. Paintings and etchings relating to children sold into slavery in North Africa, abortion, and female genital mutilation reveal a woman immersed in urgent social issues and current affairs.
Until 22 September 2019. www.mkgallery.org
Images:
1. Eileen Simpson and Ben White, Auditory Learning. 2016, installation view: British Art Show 8, 2015-17, Bargate Monument, Southampton. (cc) by-sa 4.0. Image courtesy: the artists
2. Dean Kenning, Vegetable Love (Social Body Mind Map), 2019. Courtesy: the artist and Matt’s Gallery, London
3. George Shaw, Scenes from The Passion: The New Star, 2002. Courtesy: Ikon
4. Paula Rego, Angel, 1998. Photograph: CarlosPombo/Paula Rego. Copyright: Paula Rego. Courtesy: Marlborough International Fine Art
More on a-n.co.uk:
A Q&A with… Claudette Johnson, artist exploring black identity and representation
Degree Shows 2019: enjoyable and engaging new work in Bolton, Bath and Bristol
Assembly Swansea: “It’s a radical act to accept the place you’re in now”
