Avery Singer

Free Fall

★★☆☆☆

On until 22 December 2023

It’s officially no longer “too soon” for mediocre 9/11 art. Singer’s installation mimics the lobby and office spaces of the World Trade Center which she remembers from visiting her mother at work. This could be a trauma theme park but is instead an excuse to show off a handful of paintings of characters associated with the attacks. The stylised photorealistic canvases have titles that suggest deepfakes and are elaborate in their making: a 3D artist, a model maker, and a make-up specialist are involved. 

Singer has the benefit of ‘lived experience’ to defend her method but the content and extravagance of this production in central London are puzzling. This show would be better without the baggage of the artist’s personal story and even better without the Twin Towers altogether. The qualities of the image and Singer’s idiosyncratic construction of her subject are enough to deal with the event’s excess.


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

Adriano Costa, ax-d. us. t at Emalin ★★★☆☆

Adriano Costa

ax-d. us. t

★★★☆☆

Form triumphs over detritus.

Nikita Gale, Blur Ballad at Emalin ★★☆☆☆

Nikita Gale

Blur Ballad

★★☆☆☆

Even though the show brings together a few unusual tricks, they are disjointed and leave little for the eye to linger on.

Alexandre Canonico, Still at Ab Anbar ★★★☆☆

Alexandre Canonico

Still

★★★☆☆

Conanico’s slight structures look like they could take flight at any moment.

Christine Ay Tjoe, Lesser Numerator at White Cube ★★☆☆☆

Christine Ay Tjoe

Lesser Numerator

★★☆☆☆

Aj Tjoe’s paintings could make great scenic backdrops to a David Attenborough documentary on the life of wild rodents

Pope.L, Hospital at South London Gallery ★★★☆☆

Pope.L

Hospital

★★★☆☆

This project lands in the joke section of Animal Farm and not as a prophecy of the Jan 6th insurrection.

Condo: The Ambassadors at Wien at Ginny on Frederick ★☆☆☆☆

Sophie Giraux, Albert Dietrich

Condo: The Ambassadors

★☆☆☆☆

Everything about this show feels lazy.

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