Carole Ebtinger, Esther Gatón

phosphorescence of my local lore

★★☆☆☆

On until 13 January 2024

Autumn, eh? Ettinger’s pastel drawings look like Monet’s water lilies but caught late in the year after the garden died down and the artist’s vision faded. Gatón’s hanging of sticks and frayed plastics, once a proud scarecrow, has seen better days. Rot overpowered this subject and came for the object next. 

This could have been a scene from an ‘eco’ remake of The Blair Witch Project or an homage to Metzger. Instead, this slight show barely justifies its five-word title. A star docked for splitting the gallery in half to concurrently host an atrocious solo exhibition instead of working this local lore into a serious proposition.


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

Eva Kot’átková, The Czech pavilion in Venice ★★☆☆☆

Eva Kot’átková

The heart of a giraffe in captivity is twelve kilos lighter

★★☆☆☆

The giraffe’s taxidermied corpse is host to an ideological stunt.

RM, A Story Backwards at Auto Italia ★★☆☆☆

RM

A Story Backwards

★★☆☆☆

Having forgotten what the ‘dramatic’ in art stands for, visual artists today too often mistake hacked theory for stage directions.

Yin Xiuzhen: Heart to Heart at Hayward Gallery ★★☆☆☆

Yin Xiuzhen

Heart to Heart

★★☆☆☆

Xiuzhen remediates commodities, turning second-hand fabrics into ‘immersive’ experiences.

Paper Tiger Television at Goldsmiths CCA ★★☆☆☆

Paper Tiger Television

It’s 8:30. Do you know where your brains are?

★★☆☆☆

Hand-painted backdrops and cardboard props appeal to institutional leaders stuck in Blue Peter nostalgia.

Nanténé Traoré at Sultana and Amanda Wilkinson ★★☆☆☆

Nanténé Traoré

She says it's the high energy

★★☆☆☆

Bodies clash with lights in front of Traoré’s Narcissus camera.

Chronoplasticity at Raven Row ★☆☆☆☆

Chronoplasticity

★☆☆☆☆

This may have been a good joke but it’s just too exhausting to look at.

×