Hany Armanious

Circle Square

★★☆☆☆

On until 12 April 2025

The lightness of being can turn unbearable. Armanious’ whimsical assemblies of everyday objects – a pair of wire hangers, a broken chair, or an umbrella stand – are so arbitrary that not even Daniel Day-Lewis would welcome them into his loft. It is a pity, therefore, that their gravitas stays firmly on the page of the gallery handout: that the artefacts are all copies of life cast in precious metals and synthetic rubber is barely the plot of a novel.

Silver hangers dangling from golden screws are about as endearing as Tereza’s cough. Even less that the art market, bereft of lasting value, looks to material trickery for meaning. Art loves a good plot twist, but this one’s long spoilt.


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

Carla Åhlander, Aaron Amar Bhamra, Holding Places at Belmacz ★★★☆☆

Carla Åhlander, Aaron Amar Bhamr

Holding Places

★★★☆☆

The illusion is as good as complete.

Sosa Joseph, Pennungal at David Zwirner ★★★★★

Sosa Joseph

Pennungal: Lives of women and girls

★★★★★

The night, finally, recognises despair and witnesses infanticide.”

Ed Webb-Ingall, A Bedroom for Everyone at PEER ★☆☆☆☆

Ed Webb-Ingall

A Bedroom for Everyone

★☆☆☆☆

How can art improve the lives of communities? Wrong answers only.

Liam Gillick, The Sleepwalkers at Maureen Paley ★★★☆☆

Liam Gillick

The Sleepwalkers

★★★☆☆

Gillick’s practice lacks obviously consistent character, save for it is sparseness of means and the ungraspability of its referents.

France-Lise McGurn, Strawberry at Massimodecarlo ★☆☆☆☆

France-Lise McGurn

Strawberry

★☆☆☆☆

McGurn has created the visual equivalent of elevator music.

Entangled Pasts at The Royal Academy ★★☆☆☆

Entangled Pasts, 1768–now

★★☆☆☆

Who could have thought that these mantras would turn into rote?

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