Grant Falardeau, Rimantė Mikulovičiūtė, Benjamin Sasserson, Bu Shi, Dylan Williams

A light here required a shadow

★★★☆☆

On until 2 October 2025

If the conceit of this show is that darkness reveals, then its obscure palette is unevenly mixed. Mikulovičiūtė’s nostalgias, measured by pigments fading, are masterly: grandma’s linens, fruit from the orchard, and the Madonna construct an interiority hard to convey with light. Falardeau’s busts – a golden Alice and a clay Pan – turn highlights and shadows into erotic charge with a clumsy contrast of human glow and predatory grit.

But the gallery is overexposed; Sasseron’s and Williams’s oils – despite themselves – reveal too much, while Shi’s icon paintings – try as they might – find no still corner for meditation in this company. This is what it is to live a life of full transparency: catch the wrong end of the spectrum and forever remain in the dark.


notes and notices are short and curt exhibition reviews. Read more:

Eva Rothschild at Modern Art ★★☆☆☆

Eva Rothschild

★★☆☆☆

These sculptures are too clean, too ordered, and too clever for no good reason.

Onyeka Igwe, history is a living weapon in yr hand at PEER ★★☆☆☆

Onyeka Igwe

history is a living weapon in yr hand

★★☆☆☆

The Mavericks wanted a weapon, Igwe leaves them a toy.

Co Westerik, Centenary at Sadie Coles HQ ★★★☆☆

Co Westerik

Centenary

★★★★☆

Westerik catches his figures in deep contemplation in front of the mirror, in the gynaecologist’s chair, or even mid-orgy.

Vinca Petersen, Me, Us and Dogs at Edel Assanti ★★★☆☆

Vinca Petersen

Me, Us and Dogs

★★★☆☆

Close up, Petersen’s innocents today conjure ideas of redneck resistance. At scale, of state-marketed utopia. The middle ground is envy.

Justin Chance, Motherhood at Ginny on Frederick ★★☆☆☆

Justin Chance

Motherhood

★★☆☆☆

If only he stopped there.

Marina Xenofontos, Public Domain at Camden Art Centre ★★★☆☆

Marina Xenofontos

Public Domain

★★★☆☆

There’s an unfortunate ‘emerging artist’ vibe to this handful of readymade sculptures.

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