London Openings & Exhibitions: 13/03

Friday || 13

Callum Innes, Frith Street, opens

Callum Innes, a past Turner prize nominee, adds the importance of the result to the extreme focus of the making on process art. His abstract paintings are created by applying numerous colours to the canvas, colours that layered upon each other often result in black. A portion of the canvas is then treated with turpentine to reveal the thin, brilliant colours underneath that have the same innate fragility and iridescence as Rothko’s. An act of precision and patience for a stunning result.

Xipe Totec Punk, Delfina Foundation, 6.30-9 pm, RSVP only, £5 suggested donation

For the end of his residency at Delfina Foundation, Mexican artist César Martinez will present one of his signature edible sculptures based on the image of Xipe Totec, the Mexican deity of death and rebirth. This will be consumed by attendants on the performance night to evoke the millennial traditions of pre-Colombian sacrifices, which have been revisited and examined under a new light, creating a strong and symbolic connection with consumerism and economic crisis.

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Thursday || 19

Tim Etchells: the Fact on the Ground

This solo show examines the wide possibilities offered by language. Text, neons, drawings and performances reveal the deep engagement of British artist and writer Tim Etchells with the written word, highlighting their versatility and multiple uses across various fields.

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Sunday || 22

Matt Stokes: Cantata Profana, CGP London Dilston Grove, PV 2-5 pm, free

Extreme metal vocalists and classical music composition together might seem a bit of a clash, but in Matt Stokes’ Cantata Profana it is revealed as a perfect combination. Working together with a composer, Stokes has instructed the vocalists to perform following classical choral rules. The result? An outstanding and funny composition of different sound layers and textures. The exhibition runs parallel to a new commission for Matt’s Gallery opening on the 1^st of April: Madman in a Lifeboat.

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Tuesday || 24

Los Carpinteros, Parasol Unit, PV 6.30-9 pm

Irritable and touchy people keep out, this might not be the show for you. Los Carpinteros is a Cuban artist collective that does not like taking things too seriously, or maybe yes, at second thought. Members Marco Castillo and Dagoberto Rodriguez like to play around with forms and colours, encompassing all media with their overly bizarre creations. Yet those are not the result of a whim, on the contrary, they relate strictly to the artists’ personal experiences and conceal – not too much – a political commentary. Indeed Los Carpinteros examine the relationship between art and society, treating such a serious issue with the levity that it perhaps deserves.

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Wednesday || 25

Santiago Taccetti: ISO 9001

We are still far away from a world ruled by machines, yet machines have come to be fundamental in accomplishing everyday activities, from making the morning coffee to setting up the alarm at night. They suck up our inventiveness and diversity to uniform them to a functional standard. ISO 9001 refers to a certified quality management system for organisations who want to prove their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet the needs of their customers and other relevant stakeholders. With a translation, Taccetti relates this minimum standardisation requirement to his art objects, questioning, at the same time, the validity of industry and artistic standards, as well as the methods employed to assess them.

Ydessa Hendeles: From her wooden sleep…, Institute of Contemporary Art, opens

Artist, curator, artist-curator or curator-artist? Beyond what happens to be one of thorniest topics of discussion on the international scene, Ydessa Hendeles established her practice without giving too much thinking to ‘labelling’. Pioneer of the artistic curatorial approach and famous for her wide, site-specific curatorial composition, for the ICA Hendeles combines her experiences and interests in a carefully constructed and orchestrated tableaux vivant. In each, artefacts from the past are charged with a symbolic meaning in reference to the present, becoming aids for a correct interpretation of reality.

Anish Kapoor & Lee Ufan, Lisson, opens

Minimalist painter and sculptor Lee Ufan presents his latest works In Conversation; rocks, organic material, are placed against iron plates, industrial ones. It is an impossible conversation that falls into silence and winds up viewers, whilst carrying on the investigation pursued by the Moho-ha (School of Things), of which Ufan was the fundamental theorist. The dialectic relationship between the core material is repeated on the canvases, where single brushstrokes, applied with the same care and tirelessness of Roman Opalka, gradually fade as the brush unloads, losing ground to the underlying support.

Anish Kapoor, a painter that happens to do sculptures, as he himself stated, is back to the bi-dimensional. The attraction, and result, is literally visceral – the silicon made painting conveys a sense of violence and unease that recalls the anxiety of some XIX century paintings.

Lisson will be divided into two opposites: a peaceful, almost deadly, side and a burning, red hell.

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Thursday || 26

Columbidae, Cell Projects, PV 6-9 pm, free

Many times over we remain trapped in our routine. From bed to desk, skipping breakfast not to lose the train. Curated by Laura McLean Ferris, Columbidae reflects upon the impact of office work on our lifestyle and body. ‘Working’ objects, accumulated stress, break-downs and expectations are the breeding ground for an acute, yet humouristic take on the everyday by Essex Olivares, Mélanie Matranga, Barbara T. Smith and Dena Yago.

Giovanni Ozzola: Dove Nasce il Vento, Gazelli Art House, PV 6-8 pm

There is something poetic and extremely sublime in Giovanni Ozzola’s view of the world. Something melancholic too. Light is his main medium, even though his works of art encompass many.But light is what gives each work significance and guides the viewer’s glance to catch the correct meaning. It is a tool that Ozzola uses to shift the attention to his research of the relationship between the tiny individual and the unknown infinite. In his new work, organic materials, such as copper, bronze, gold, aluminium and gemstones, are employed to describe the importance of discovery and trace a human geography of the world.

Jonathan Horowitz Elizabeth Peyton, Sadie Coles HQ, PV 6-8 pm

Flowers have their own symbolism, this is indeed not a secret. But what Jonathan Horowitz aims at slightly differs from the ordinary. Together with fellow artist Elizabeth Peyton, they have created a show that reflects upon the psychological relationship of humans and flowers. They both invoke the long tradition and highlight the opposition and fierceness of nature in human environments. It is a discourse over beauty trapped and reduced, but sometimes increased, by our intervention.

Caterina Berardi