The Shock of the Now - Issue #172
Afternoon All - Welcome to Issue 172 of The Shock of the Now! I hope you’re having an enjoyable week.
This week, the full issue includes fourteen Recommended Exhibitions, as well as eleven fresh Artist Opportunities.
I hope you enjoy Issue 172, and if so do forward it along! As always, questions and comments are welcome, so feel free to get in touch, H x
Recommended Exhibitions Opening This Week :
Jerry Buhari - ‘Jápa’ Solo Exhibition - Ed Cross, Shoreditch (8th May - 7th June, opening Wednesday 7th May, 6-8pm)
Ed Cross presents Jerry Buhari’s solo exhibition ‘Jápa’.
“I am honoured to be presenting this exhibition by Professor Jerry Buhari, a distinguished and much revered Nigerian artist, scholar and arts educator. This exhibition is a meditation on the phenomenon of migration - sparked by the current situation in Nigeria where an increasing number of younger people see it as the only option in the face of a dysfunctional political and economic environment at home. Jápa, from the Yoruba word meaning “to flee” has become a slang term for leaving Nigeria - at virtually any cost.” - Ed Cross
Hannah Murgatroyd - ‘An Unbidden Quest’ Solo Exhibition - Blackbird Rook at The Florence Trust, Islington (7th May - 8th June, opening Wednesday 7th May, 6-8pm)
Blackbird Rook presents Hannah Murgatroyd’s debut London solo exhibition ‘An Unbidden Quest’ at The Florence Trust, in collaboration with the Tom and Chai Hall Collection.
“Hannah Murgatroyd’s paintings depict women in midlife - white-haired, painterly presences standing with quiet strength, shaped by experience and painted with fierce tenderness. Born in the tight windows between caring for a young child, the works feel urgent, intimate, and defiantly alive. Her raw, beautiful brushwork carries weight and wit. These are paintings that look inward, then outward - unflinching and luminous.” - Blackbird Rook
Eli Ping - ‘Hard Goods’ Solo Exhibition - Bernheim, Mayfair (7th May - 21st June, opening Wednesday 7th May, 6-8pm)
Bernheim presents Eli Ping’s debut UK solo exhibition ‘Hard Goods’.
“This new body of work reimagines the history of sculpture, pushing the limits of materiality and form. Expanding on his earlier Monocarp series, Ping transforms canvas into haunting, textured sculptures through a meticulous process of resin application and sandblasting. The resulting works hover just above the ground, slicing through space in a compelling tension between motion and stillness.” - Bernheim
Ilona Sagar - ‘Other Actors’ Solo Exhibition - Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston (8th May - 19th July, opening Wednesday 7th May, 6-8pm)
Stanley Picker Gallery presents Ilona Sagar’s solo exhibition ‘Other Actors’.
“Other Actors is a new, three-channel film piece by Stanley Picker Fellow Ilona Sagar, exploring the links between bodies and buildings, health and architecture through the lens of the Paimio Sanatorium in Finland. Designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto and completed between 1929 and 1933, the sanatorium represents a radical shift in the design for health. Conceived as an “instrument for healing” the Aaltos’ proposed an architecture designed not for the verticality of the healthy body but for the horizontal perspective of the sick. At the time of filming, the sanatorium is at a significant moment in its transition from hospital to a new purpose. As restoration progresses, the film examines its status as a building in flux.” - Stanley Picker Gallery
‘Fake Barn Country’ Group Exhibition - Raven Row, Spitalfields (8th May - 6th July, opening Wednesday 7th May, 6:30-8:30pm)
Raven Row presents ‘Fake Barn Country’, a group exhibition organised by Ruth Angel Edwards, Lawrence Leaman and Oliver Williams. Featuring Terry Atkinson, Rachal Bradley, Andrea Büttner, Adam Gallagher, Solomon Garçon, Gilbert & George, Judith Goddard, Nicola Gunnarsson, Alexander Guy, Samuel Jeffery, Yuki Kimura, Kitty Kraus, Oscar Laughridge, Vera Lutz, Stuart McKenzie, Stuart Middleton, Josiane M.H. Pozi, Carol Rhodes, Gianna Surangkanjanajai, Lise Soskolne, Dan Szor, Gili Tal and Rhianna Turnbull.
“Fake Barn Country speculates on a shared sense of practice between an expanded network of artists. It brings together formal and material associations, established conversations and fledgling connections, and draws on local, international and intergenerational references. Co-organised by three artists based in London, the selection describes a year of discussion and negotiation between sensibilities. Like many of those exhibiting, the selectors have been involved in artist-run projects in London and elsewhere – including Piper Keys, previously hosted within Raven Row – and the exhibition contains a number of artworks that recall specific shows in these spaces.” - Raven Row