What's hot? With Francesca Gavin: September Edition
After the warmest summer on record, the magic and majesty of the world of flora and fauna feels notably resonant in the world of exhibitions. These three exhibitions remind us what makes petals, soil, leaves and trees so special.
Philadelphia-born artist Autumn Wallace creates work that veers from sculptures to super-sized paintings, exploring the language of ritual and love. Their sculptures, in particular, represent glittery hybrid creatures. Part animal, part human, part flower that resembles characters or scenes in an Afro-folkloric Alice in Wonderland. Wallace’s vibrant figurative paintings give the work a more erotic tone: here bodies kiss, touch and swirl across canvas like blooms. In this context, the exhibition's title - a Victorian talisman for good luck at weddings - becomes a poem of ritual, connection, loss and optimism. There is joy in this work and its connection to the natural world.
Gardens, planting and growth are the central themes in the current group show at Phillida Reid, "Eyes in the Soil." The exhibition brings together five artists (Nova Paul, Neal Jones, Shikh Sabbir Alam, Vivian Lynn and Sabian Baumann) working in media from film to sculpture, drawing to painting. Nova Paul's 16mm film "Puawānanga" opens the exhibition in a darkened room, a monochrome projection work examining the idea that every tree has a story. The process-led work is made using plant-based inks. This is accompanied by an installation of Anglepoise lamps topped and tailed with plant pots, lending a moody atmosphere to paintings by British artist Neal Jones inspired by his experience on his allotment at Alexandra Palace. His makeshift garden furniture also peppers the show. Another gem in this intimate exhibition is a graphite flora scene, "Wounded Garden" (1984), by Vivian Lynn. This is a sensitive show about humanity's relationship to nature, the concept of care, and what it means to engage with looking at the earth we inhabit.
Jimmy Wright, on show at Thomas Dane's smaller space on Duke Street, St James's, has a thing for flowers as symbols of a deeper engagement with "nature and self." Born in 1944, he trained in Chicago and worked in New York during the height of the AIDS crisis, making his name with graphic images capturing the city's gay scene, resembling a queer take on George Grosz or Toulouse Lautrec. "Flowers for Ken" began while he was caring for his partner during the final three years of his life. Vases of blossoms remained the focus of 35 years of the artist's work - a literal memento mori. Van Gogh is undoubtedly an influence on these big canvases, many depicting sunflowers. The pieces work best when the forms of the blooms appear to fall apart, almost into abstraction. Decay hovering on the edge of beauty.
Autumn Wallace, Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Until Oct 3, Josh Lilley, 40–46 Riding House Street, London W1
Eyes in the Soil: Until Oct 1, Phillida Reid, 10-16 Grape Street, London, WC2
Jimmy Wright: Until Oct 1, Thomas Dane, 11 Duke Street, St James's, London W1