PHOTOGRAPHY: LONDON
On Photography People and Modern Times
Beirut-based artist, curator and photographer Akram Zaatari is staging his first solo London show, On Photography People and Modern Times, at Thomas Dane Gallery. Zaatari has played a critical role in developing the infrastructure of Beirut’s contemporary art scene and recently represented Lebanon at the Venice Biennale. For the London show, Zaatari highlights Lebanese cultural outlets such as fellow photographer Hashem El Madani’s Studio Sheherazade and other archival material held in The Arab Image Foundation, an expanding collection of over 600,000 images exploring and preserving photos from across the MENA region.
Thomas Dane Gallery, 3 & 11 Duke Street, St James’s. Open Tuesday to Friday 11.00-18.00pm, Saturday 12-18.00pm. Until 1 February 2014.
thomasdane.com
EXHIBITION: VANCOUVER
Archiving
As the name suggests, Archiving is a selection of artistic works drawn from the past 40 years taking place at Vancouver’s Trench Gallery. The works on display are by major contributors to Vancouver's artspace. They include painter Michael Morris who founded The Morris/Trasov Archive; a platform for the artistic exchange of ideas and information among artists, and also from photographer Glenn Lewis – known for his surreal and comic images. The show is a crash course on Vancouver art – some of the older works ask questions that we still do today. Morris’ abstract acrylic-on-canvas painting “Problem of Nothing” dating back to 1966 uses a speech bubble full of colour bars instead of text to question whether art is really saying anything at all.
Trench Gallery, 102, 148 Alexander Street. Open Wednesday to Friday, 12.00-18.00; Saturday 12.00-17.00. Until 18 January.
trenchgallery.com
EXHIBITION: FLORIDA
Shadow and Substance
The Gallery at Windsor in Vero Beach, Florida, is joining forces with the Whitechapel Gallery in London to present a collection of lithographic and etching works from American artist Jasper Johns, who had his first UK show at Whitechapel in 1964. Johns’ exploration of the human shadow and silhouette in the 1960s gave birth to a bounty of creative ideas and this exhibition showcases his overlaying of images of human figures to capture a sense of movement and transitional journeys.
The Gallery at Windsor, 3125 Windsor Boulevard, Vero Beach. Open daily by appointment from 12.00, closed Tuesday; see website for details. Until 30 April.
windsorflorida.com
EXHIBITION: BEIJING
Guan Jingjing: Painting for Stimulation
For one week only, Today Art Museum in Beijing presents Chinese contemporary artist Guan Jingjing’s first solo exhibition, which features artworks from two series she created between 2008 and 2013. The pieces, drawn from her “Untitled” and “Remnant Mountain” series, explore Guan’s experiments in marrying western techniques with the properties of Chinese ink paintings. Guan infuses Chinese ink into acrylic to create works that refresh the ancient art of Chinese landscape painting.
Today Art Museum, Building No 2, 32 Baiziwan Road, Chaoyang District. Open daily, 10.00-18.00. Until 19 December.
todayartmuseum.com
MUSIC: GLOBAL
Sumie: Sumie
Sandra Sumie Nagano comes from the same Swedish music scene that birthed fashionable electronic Scandi-pop types Little Dragon – her sister Yukimi is the is the singer in that band. But anyone expecting something similar from Sumie will be in for a (quiet) surprise, as her debut album is all hushed acoustic folk balladry rather than dayglo pop explosions. With a refreshingly unshowy voice that’s given the space to resonate clearly, the album unfolds with a simplicity that recalls the warmth of Karen Carpenter’s more misty-eyed moments – through an icily cool Swedish filter, of course.
Sumie is available to buy now.
sumienagano.com
