Exhibition Information

If We Delete Green, If We Start Caring About Plants by Artist Ma Haijiao

Jan 26 – Mar 09, 2022

Tabula Rasa Gallery London

Artist Information

Official website: www.mahaijiao.cn

Sun A Han is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from South Korea, she discovered her passion for art at the age of ten, by encountering Picasso’s masterpiece – “Guernica”. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Art Theory and Philosophy at Central Saint Martins. As a writer, she aspires to write about art that heals the soul, touches the heart, and gives voice to the oppressed.

A new production of the now-iconic play “All My Sons” is currently running at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, putting on stage the suburban life of a typical American family of the 1940s. Written by Arthur Miller in 1946, the story offers a cold criticism of the American Dream, which caused many legal problems to the author at the time of the Cold War. Director Douglas Rintoul follows the original script with amazing fidelity, plunging us into the universe of the Western post-World War Two era with a realistic immersiveness.

August 1946. Joe Keller (David Hounslow) is an American businessman living a seemingly unproblematic domestic life with his wife Kate (Eve Matheson) and son Chris (Oliver Hembrough). The family is still shaken by the grief of losing the younger son Larry to the war, a loss that is symbolised by the broken tree in their garden, a lugubrious image that will gloom on set for the whole duration of the play. Chris is planning to propose to his brother’s past love, Ann Deever (Kibong Tanji), but dreads the reaction of his mother who is convinced that her younger son is still alive and that therefore Ann belongs with Larry. The play introduces us to this already dense initial situation rather instantly but manages to give all the information without dumping it on the audience.

The real twists and turns begin when we discover that Ann is the daughter of Joe’s past friend and colleague in the war, Steve Deever , who caused the death of 26 American pilots by shipping faulty aircraft pieces. But when his first son George (Nathan Ives-Moiba) visits him in prison, he discovers that not everything is as it seems and that he must save his sister Ann from marrying into the Kellers. The plot unveils in a sequence of revelations, familial drama and insightful character psychology, revealing a story worthy of the most cataclysmic Greek tragedy.

Miller’s play is an open letter to his contemporaries, empathising with their traumatic experience of war whilst also criticising the hypocritical ideal of the American dream. He especially explores the difficulty of going back to normality after having faced the horrors of the war. The toxic idea of not facing trauma and obsessively wanting to progress is impersonated by Joe, the patriarch who is ready to bury the past and act immorally in order to keep his business growing. Kate represents the feeling of grief of the countless people that lost loved ones during the war, whilst George characterises the survivor’s guilt of those who didn’t lose their lives on the battlefield.

The play is quite clearly representative of its epoch, which is underlined by the very historically accurate set (Queen’s theatre workshop) and costumes (Nicola Thomas). However, there is a sort of timelessness and relatability to the domestic tragedy of the dysfunctional family, and many of its marking statements will resonate with anyone.

Get your tickets at https://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/show/all-my-sons/

Image from Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch productions.

Reviewed by Céline Galletti- Celine is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from France and Italy, she follows her passion for writing and art by studying Comparative Literature at UCL, London. As an international student living in London, she is determined to fully experience and understand the city’s vibrant arts scene, and be a part of its creative storm.

From dismembered forms to delicately woven fabrics; Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child is an exhibition of multitudes. The works featured, relentless in their psychoanalytic examination, were all made in the final 20 years of Bourgeois’ life. This finality is palpable throughout. Many of the textile-based works, reflect on the tumultuous relationship Bourgeois had with her father, a tapestry repairer by trade. In the artist’s words, ‘the magic power of the needle…to repair the damage’ and to offer ‘a claim for forgiveness’. In each space, there is a definite feeling of emotional reparation – whether it’s ever resolved is hard to tell.

Throughout The Woven Child, Bourgeois continually returns to a few chosen motifs; fabric heads, expectant mothers, hanging bodies. Enclosure is also reoccurring as many of the works are built inside cabinets and cages, contained like specimens ready to be viewed or corpses in coffins. For these pieces, the viewer is always on the outside, looking in but never entering. The work is jarring, a glimpse into Bourgeois’ mental state.   

It’s hard to ignore the relationship between Bourgeois’ works and the Hayward, such a particular building in itself. The lower floors are challenging – harsh angles, low light and a little too much open space to feel comfortable in. The works sit well in these spaces, revelling in the malaise. Upstairs is brighter and the works feel delicate and sensitive. At times, the pieces feel a little disconnected – placed together unwillingly rather than in conversation. 

Upstairs, the large metal sculpture Spider (1997) fills the space. The spider is a recurring device in Bourgeois’ practice. For Bourgeois, the spider is the mother – they are weavers, makers, protectors, ‘I come from a family of repairers. The spider is a repairer. If you bash into the web of a spider, she doesn’t get mad. She weaves and repairs it.’  Further, spiders seem to be reflective of the way Louise Bourgeois made work – forming architectures from their bodies, extensions of themselves. However, there is also an ambivalence to these works, people fear spiders. This intersection between love and hate is where a lot of Bourgeois’ work sits.

In the final space, there are 4 works, each one is a large wooden vitrine with blue-tinted glass windows, containing various sculptural forms. Inside Untitled (2005) there is a cluster of sagging, discoloured fabric pouches strung from a pole like an IV drip. They are skin-like and breast-like. The works here feel depleted and clinical, perhaps a direct reflection of the artist, as they were made during the 5 years before her death. A quote to the side of one of the pieces reads ‘To me, a sculpture is a body. My body is my sculpture’.

Incredibly confronting, Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child is full of sexual ambiguity, depression, maternal ambivalence and ageing bodies. It’s sad – a final attempt at healing deep emotional wounds.

Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child runs from 9 February to 15 May 2022 and tickets are available here. It is curated by Hayward Gallery Director Ralph Rugoff, with Assistant Curator Katie Guggenheim and Curatorial Assistant Marie-Charlotte Carrier.

Photo of large metal sculpture ‘Spider’, 1997 taken by Amy Melling.

We are currently living in a time where the “Van Gogh mania” is at its peak: you can find anything Van Gogh themed, from Tiktoks, items of clothing and immersive experiences. Something about the dreamy and nostalgic universe of Van Gogh’s paintings is especially appealing to today’s audience, as they represent a form of escapism and dreaminess that our generation tragically lacks. Yet, the Courtauld Gallery’s new exhibition “Van Gogh Self-Portraits” manages to stand out from the abundance of Van Gogh content and iconography. The impressionist Gallery sheds a light on the persona of the artist through fifteen of his most famous self-portraits and takes a very introspective approach to the artist. Even those who might have seen “The Starry Night” and “Sunflowers” a thousand times will discover something totally new.

As soon as one surpasses the first emotion of seeing so many widely famous paintings hanging one next to the other, the first thing one notices is the interesting diversity within the repetition of the same subject. The man in the frame is never-changing: same sparkly bright eyes, defined and lean lineaments, dashing red hair and concentrated expression of someone analysing his own features in a mirror whilst trying to paint them. And yet every single one of the fifteen canvases exposed is indisputably different from the other. How can such variety be achieved when the subject is always the same, posing in a similar position every time?

Firstly, the painting technique is rarely the same: the animated dashes of paint in one painting can turn into a detailed and conventional brushstroke in the next; the backgrounds can be bare, detailed or abstractly colourful; the colours can be neutral or explosively vibrant. It is the technique of an artist searching for himself and his art, exploring new possibilities and artistic realities in a seemingly impossible and never-ending quest. The second element of change is the subject himself: spanning from 1886 to 1889, the paintings act as a real visual autobiography as they reveal the deep changes in the artists’ last years of life. We witness it all, from physical changes like different outfits, hairstyles and locations to the more nuanced evolution of a man slowly drifting to madness.

The real star of the show is indeed the man himself as he is a subject of observation and representation for Van Gogh the artist. The goal was reportedly to achieve something that portrait photography could not achieve and therefore prove that despite the technological advances, painting remained the superior art. And something is undoubtedly achieved, as each painting studies the relationship of the artist with himself and the interchangeable role of artists and subjects in art.

Get your tickets for the exhibition, as well as the Courtauld Gallery’s wonderful permanent gallery of Impressionist and post-Impressionist works at https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/van-gogh-self-portraits-22/.

Vincent Van Gogh, Self-Portait with a Bandaged ear, 1889, The Courtauld, London (Saluel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

Reviewed by Céline Galletti- Celine is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from France and Italy, she follows her passion for writing and art by studying Comparative Literature at UCL, London. As an international student living in London, she is determined to fully experience and understand the city’s vibrant arts scene, and be a part of its creative storm.

Have you ever noticed where birds rest? Flying high in the air, birds usually rest also somewhere high up, dwelling close to the edge of the sky and thus connecting heaven and earth. In this sense, birds have traditionally been regarded as the messengers of God. In Japan, people symbolically assigned a specific place for these special creatures to rest, known as the Torii (鳥居, birds perch), which marks the boundary between the sacred and the mundane land, and serves as the symbol and entrance to Japanese Shinto Shrines. As one would expect Toriis to typically be found in eastern settings, the unexpected encounter with the Torii in St Saviours Church was quite memorable from the start, for its unique juxtaposition of East and West.
Against a solemn backdrop of the 19th-century building with a glistening triptych lit only by delicate candle lights, a silent sublime filled the air prompting you to expect the Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, to alight on the Torii at any time. This is how “Enshrine”, the collaborative exhibition by Yuka Namekawa and Steven Allbutt came to me at first glance.
Upon closer look, one can see that the exhibition was quite small and simple. Only three works were on display: The first is “Monumental Words”, a piece of recycled studio timber with broken concrete casts of “Das Kapital” and “The Bible” in a box. Across from it is “Enshrined”, a resin-covered copy of “Das Kapital” found in a charity book shop; and sat between the two is the Torii “From the Mundane to the Sacred and Back Again”, made of recycled paper, wire and led lights.
Despite the simplicity of the visual, the symbolism within each piece was profound. It seems like the act of walking through a Torii has the connotation of Misogi (禊, the ritual of purification), implying the Torii is not merely a gate, but a gate that purifies people as they pass through it. Under it, going back and forth, I experienced the sensation of transferring “from the mundane to the sacred and back again”, as the title suggests. It also occurred to me that we always look back after passing through somewhere, like a tunnel, reflecting on our passing days and our pasts. Even with the lesson of the myth of Orpheus, we cannot help but always look back. As I shifted my gaze under the Torii, broken casts of Das Kapital and the Bible, hardened like ruins appeared on the edge of my vision. What does this juxtaposition between the Bible, which represents a traditional religion, and the Capital, which has become our new religion, represent? What kind of divinity have we secularized and what kind of secularity have we sanctified? Without any answer, the Torii, the opaque boundary between the past and the future, glimmered under the weight of the church.
The title of the show, “Enshrine” also evokes a unique feeling, since enshrinement always refers to the remembering and the preserving of someone or something that is valuable and admired. As the last ever show organized by The Florence Trust at St Saviours Church, the exhibition itself enshrines 33 years of the precious memory and history of the organization. Founded as an educational charity by painter Patrick Hamilton, the trust opened its doors to artists in 1990, providing a year-long residency for 12 international artists ever since. Two such artists, Yuka Namekawa and Steven Allbutt met at The Florence trust on their residency in 2008/09 and married in 2014. By encapsulating all the memories of the church for the last time into a poetic image, it can be said that they once again enshrined what had already been enshrined, and referred back to the quote that inspired the artist Patrick Hamilton to found The Florence Trust:
“Unless one says goodbye to what one loves, and unless one travels to completely new territories, one can expect merely a long wearing away of oneself and an eventual extinction” (Jean Dubuffet)
With the enshrined memory as such, The Florence Trust will certainly move forward, unwaveringly in search of a new home, so as to avoid their own “long-wearing away” and “eventual extinction.”

For more information about The Florence Trust and the artists, please visit: http://www.florencetrust.net/

Exhibition Poster for “Enshrine”. 2022. Image provided by: The Florence Trust

Sun A Han is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from South Korea, she discovered her passion for art at the age of ten, by encountering Picasso’s masterpiece – “Guernica”. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Art Theory and Philosophy at Central Saint Martins. As a writer, she aspires to write about art that heals the soul, touches the heart, and gives voice to the oppressed.

Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature feels gloriously full-circle. Although Potter disliked London, describing her Bolton Gardens townhouse as her ‘unloved home’, she found solace during visits to the V&A, earlier known as the South Kensington Museum. As a child, she would spend hours making drawings of the collections, some of the pieces even feature in the children’s books she went on to write. Now, through a major partnership with the National Trust, the V&A presents Drawn to Nature, an exhibition celebrating Beatrix Potter’s life and work in all its facets; artist, conservationist, businesswoman, natural scientist and storyteller. 

Drawn to Nature sees Beatrix Potter’s journey from her childhood in South Kensington to the Lake District, where she spent the latter part of her life. Potter noted she had an ‘irresistible desire to copy any beautiful object which strikes the eye’ and it’s clear from the works on display that from a young age, she was an accomplished artist. The exhibition is filled with Potter’s sketches; from nature, from illustrations in her favourite books and most fantastically, from her own imagination. Under one drawing of rabbit fishing from a stepping stone is a quote, ‘Half believing the picturesque superstitions of the district, seeing my own fancies so clearly that they became true to me, I lived in a separate world’. This unique perspective continued throughout Potter’s life, resulting in the publication of over twenty ever-popular children’s books, including The Tale of Peter Rabbit.  

The display of over 200 objects, from fungi illustrations to rarely seen letters, echoes Potter’s multifarious interests perfectly. However, it’s her love of nature that is at the heart of this exhibition. It is shown through her botanical watercolours, rock collections and well-worn walking clogs. In the latter part of her life, conscious of the threats of modern development, Potter partnered with the National Trust to ensure the green spaces she loved so much were preserved. Lovely, then, to consider their involvement now in this exhibition celebrating her life. Beatrix Potter was a champion of access to nature for all, a mission that is even more important today.

Visiting Beatrix Potter: Drawn To Nature is like stepping into a storybook. Every corner presents something to be discovered; an intricate sketch to marvel at, a squeaking mouse hole to investigate, a microscope to peer through. Immersive and nostalgic, it’s the sort of exhibition that leaves you wanting to get dirt under your fingernails. 

Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature runs from 12 February 2022 – 8 January 2023. Tickets start at £14 and are available here. The exhibition is co-curated by Annemarie Bilclough, Frederick Warne Curator of Illustration at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Helen Antrobus, Assistant National Curator at the National Trust. Supported by Kathryn Uhde.

Beasts, violence and carnality: The Royal Academy is currently exhibiting Francis Bacon’s famously gut-wrenching works with the new exposition “Man and Beast”. The artist blurs the line between human and animal, showcasing unnervingly monstrous humanoid figures in contrast with animals full of expression and humanity. A very human horror show of flesh and beastliness that shows us Bacon’s vision of the human: “We are meat, we are all potential carcasses”.

At first glance, one might claim that the figures are the furthest thing from human: we do not want to associate ourselves to those contorted screams, raw flesh and monstrous deformities. However, the creatures chillingly hold some undeniable human features, such as teeth, lips or ears. We have to face the harsh truth: we are indeed looking at a human, at ourselves, the ugliest and yet most real version there is. Something in the muted screams of the paintings is extremely relatable, and acts as an expression of the violence typical of human nature that we all hold inside and die to express. Even religious themes, such as the head of the pope or the crucifixion are stripped of their spiritual meaning and turned into representations of violence. In contrast, animals are represented as curiously full of humanity, as they adopt humanoid poses with a vivid spark in the corner of the eye. Once again, the line between man and animal is erased.

A common characteristic ties all the subjects, whether human, animal or beast: They are all seemingly in motion, and even the canvases seem to be barely able to pin them down. The strong and repetitive brushstrokes as well as the different contrasting colours give an impression of strength, vitality and violence in movement, which is further explained by the fact that Bacon used stop motion images as a base of study. The creatures represented are hardly pinned down by the canvas: they are agitated, violent and loud.

The exhibition works chronologically and thematically, and gives a rich biographical insight to the works exhibited. It is usually preferable to avoid any comparison between an artist’s life and their work, as it can often take away from the universality and the message of their art. However, Bacon’s paintings are so intimate and raw, and modeled on personal people in his life, that the biographical aspect of his work is hard to ignore. Born and raised in Dublin in a horse-breeding family, he learned everything there is to know about life by observing dogs and horses: birth, violence, sexuality and death. The exposition retraces his tormented life, from his experience of World War II to his dangerous asthma, as well as the deaths of friends and family, his tumultuous love affairs and the discrimination faced because of his open homosexuality.

This exposition is a chance of rediscovering the artist for those who are already familiar, and a perfect introduction for newcomers to his core ideas and signature style, as well as his biography. Get your tickets at https://www.royalacademy.org.uk 

Francis Bacon, Figure Study II, 1945-46. Oil on canvas. 145 x 129 cm. National Galleries of Scotland. Lent by Huddersfield Art Gallery, Kirklees Council (Presented by the Contemporary Art Society to Bagshaw Museum, Batley) © The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2022. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.

Reviewed by Céline Galletti- Celine is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from France and Italy, she follows her passion for writing and art by studying Comparative Literature at UCL, London. As an international student living in London, she is determined to fully experience and understand the city’s vibrant arts scene, and be a part of its creative storm.

Celebrating the launch of his debut novel, The Dark Lady, Akala joined us for a conversation at the Southbank Centre, delving into the context of his new book and the ideas around which it revolves.  Joined by Canadian poet and singer, Mustafa the Poet, this event marked the release of this novel whilst opening up a fundamental conservation about race, identity, class, and society.

The Dark Lady is about a young, black, orphan boy living in the streets of Elizabethan London, who is haunted by dreams of the mysterious Dark Lady. Inspired by Shakespeare, the novel refers to Bard’s Sonnets and attempts to paint a realistic picture of street life in Renaissance England.

In parallel to his first book, Natives, Akala centres this novel around issues of class and race, which are ever-so prominent in both Elizabethan and modern society. Akala discussed how Shakespearean theatre was the only place where the working class and elites would intersect for entertainment. As most period novels and dramas focus on the lives of the royals and elites, he wanted to emphasise this in his novel by experiencing London through the eyes of a character who is largely unrepresented in British and London’s history.

As he described the process of research behind his novel and the scholarship around African presence in London at that time, he talks about the importance of weaving in this history and creating a new conception of London’s history through his novel.

As well as persuading the audience to purchase and read this gripping tale, this event was amazingly inspiring! An evening filled with knowledge and talent, this flowing conversation left me with new perspectives and thoughts to reflect upon. It was a real joy to hear the BAFTA and MOBO award-winning hip-hop artist, writer, Akala, share his wisdom and passion, regarding history, issues of division in society, and how we can rise against them.

Tickets are still available for the Akala in conversation livestream, which is available to watch online until Until⁠ 6 March – tickets for £8.50.

Look out for more events at the Southbank Centre here: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Reviewed by Ridha Sheikh – Ridha is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. She is a recent History and Politics graduate from Queen Mary – University of London. Ridha is excited to explore and share her strong passion for London’s art scene.

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The Chosen Haram is an LGBTQ circus performance dealing with different themes such as faith, sexuality and addiction. It’s not Adam and Eve but Ahmad and Steve! This circus piece tells the story of two queer men, meeting through a dating app and trying to overcome their socio-cultural differences. In this non-verbal performance, Sadiq Ali who graduated from the National Centre for Circus Arts plays a young man torn apart between his religious beliefs and his sexual orientation. Facing him is the actor and circus artist Hauk Pattison who has appeared in productions at the National Theatre and plays a young man hungover in the middle of bottles of alcohol, living a life of excess. When they meet, they start a powerful sexual relationship that will not last as the collision of their different worlds puts them in an identity crisis.

The Chosen Haram was part of the Jacksons Lane program for the London International Mime Festival running from the 14th January to the 6th February 2022. ‘Haram’ is an Arabic word to describe something that is forbidden by Islam. Sadiq Ali, the lead artist and performer created this production performance following his own experiences in life.

“Growing up I had the realisation that my sexuality didn’t connect with what I was being taught about the world. This left me as a young queer person confused, self-loathing and full of shame. Unfortunately, to deal with those feelings I had to numb the world around me and then found myself shrouded in addiction.”

He chose to use two Chinese poles which both performing artists specialise in. They play around these poles as they are in the early stages of their relationship and they take refuge on top of them when they are afraid of the consequences of their sexual relationship. The two actors play beautifully with those poles, integrating them as storytelling tools and moving their bodies in the air as they are stuck in their identity crisis. This circus piece is a multiple-sens experience where you will be immersed in a nightclub atmosphere after entering the peaceful atmosphere of a mosque and before living the tumult of city life.

The Chosen Haram portrays a contemporary theme about the highs and lows of relationships in the modern world and the challenges faced due to sexuality and faith.

You can learn more about Jackson Lane and get your tickets for future performances at: https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/.

Reviewed by Alix Berthelot–Moritz- Alix is a volunteer writer for Abundant Art. Originally from Normandy, France, she follows her passion for journalism and art by studying at the European Political and Social Sciences of UCL, London. As an international student living in London, she is determined to fully experience and discover the entirety of the city’s vibrant arts scene and share the beauty of it through her writing.