This week is Christmas shopping central, but just in case you’re at a loose end one evening, here’s t5m’s top three gallery exhibitions to visit in London in December.
The Penultimate Straw. Scott King. Herald Street Gallery, 2 Herald Street, London, E2 6JT
Straight away you realise this is going to be a bold and confrontational experience. One wall is painted bright red with HALT! Im Namen der Liebe (STOP! In the name of love) written on it, with a ceramic bust on a plinth called Diana-as in Ross- (At the Frontier). Scott King is a graphic designer turned artist who has previously worked at i-D and Sleazenation. Sadly the amazing DONLON bookshop has moved from Herald Street, but not far (210-3 Cambridge Heath Road), so if you are in the vicinity call by.
Andro Wekua Camden Arts Centre Arkwright Road, London, NW3 6DG
Known for his colourful collages, Wekua’s first solo show in the UK brings with it a new installation. His work is rich yet has an innate melancholy, slowly revealing a haunting atmosphere. He uses wax and rubber to accentuate lifeless faces of mannequins as if they are waiting to come to life. His collages are crafted from fashion magazines with abstract shapes of paint that emphasize features. They are truly beautiful pieces, and a show not to be missed.
Sphinxx Group Show. Stuart Shave Modern Art, 23-25 Eastcastle Street, W1W 8DP
Conceived and curated by Alexis Vaillant.
Stuart Shave’s group show is named after an ancient Greek creature who had the body of a female human, head of a lion and wings of an eagle. Known for being vicious and single minded, she guarded the threshold to the city of Thebes and travellers failing to answer her mystic riddles were immediately devoured. She is a sum of contradictory forces and is a curious figure that both attracts and paralyses thoughts. Vaillant reflects the mythology of the Sphinxx throughout the show with gilded portals that hint at the original gates, and rooms that wind around rooms, with the likes of Kenneth Anger, Eva Rothschild, Marc Quinn whose work is merged together towards the idea of a contemporary place of admiration.
