Anish Kapoor

★★☆☆☆

On until 18 October 2026

One has to pity Anish Kapoor. He’s spent a lifetime pursuing an alchemy of voids. He’s hung tonnes of steel from ceilings that cry for reinforcement, becoming in so doing beholden to steel magnates. He’s dreamt of cutting through mountain ridges. He’s polished mirrors until they gave him the squint, placing him solo in the centre of his creation.

Many of the sculptor’s grandest proposals don’t get beyond the maquette, however, and with good reason. This Hayward salvo is one such dead end IRL. Kapoor’s forms seem here restrained by visitor capacity concerns. Their profound substance, if any, hides in a glibly colour-coordinated Instagram aesthetic.

Fibreglass mountains hang from the ceiling, lacerations and outgrowths mark canvases and pedestals. Polished steel and Vanta black abound. Yet nothing here overwhelms the senses. Is this the abyss Kapoor dreams we dream of? If so, pity the artist: Kaspar David Friedrich got to it in a single canvas.


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

The Otolith Group, I See Infinite Distance Between Any Point and Another at greengrassi ★★☆☆☆

The Otolith Group

I See Infinite Distance Between Any Point and Another

★★☆☆☆

The exhibition is a private memorial for Etel Adnan accessible only to members of the art world’s inner circle. And that’s a pity.

Dickon Drury at Seventeen ★★★☆☆

Dickon Drury

The Preceding Cart & POV: You are Beans

★★★☆☆

Painting needs prophets, Drury plays a jester.

Leonardo Drew, Ubiquity II at South London Gallery ★★☆☆☆

Leonardo Drew

Ubiquity II

★★☆☆☆

There are many ways to misunderstand entropy.

Max Hooper Schneider, Twilight at the Earth’s Crust at Maureen Paley ★★☆☆☆

Max Hooper Schneider

Twilight at the Earth’s Crust

★★☆☆☆

Mad Max meets Waterworld in a crossover sequel conceived by a film studio’s marketing department.

Dominique Fung, (Up)Rooted, at Massimo de Carlo ★★☆☆☆

Dominique Fung

(Up)Rooted

★★☆☆☆

All this tries to be macabre and surreal like in Bosch or Miyazaki but is instead laughably twee.

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.

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